Lee 2 cavity or 6 cavity

[lordgroom]

Haven't even started casting yet. Trying to assemble equipment. Should I start with a 2 cavity or 6 cavity? I am choosing Lee for cost sakes. That being said. . . I don't want to spend money on a 2 cavity mold and quickly decide I should upgrade to a 6 cavity mold. What are the reasons to start with a 2 cavity mold? Could I learn on a 6 cavity mold by only using 2 cavities initially? Thanks in advance.

[Buckshot]

..............A 2 cavity Lee is good to start with. If you ruin it while getting the hang of the deal then you're not hurt. However there is lots of good info floating around here about the ins and outs of Lee aluminum moulds. How to kill one quickly or how to make one live for a long time. While a 6 cavity mould's reason for being is production, you really can't think of it as three 2 cavity moulds in one. It requires a bit of finesse plus it costs 2.5 X as much.

Get the 2 cavity, get some time under your belt casting, lubing, loading and shooting first. Getting ahold of the Lyman Cast Bullet Manual would be a good idea too. As you work along and stuff comes up, just ask. Ordinarily most all of us have been there, done that and have the raggeyass T shirt to show for it.

...............Buckshot

[Ricochet]

The 2 cavity is a lot easier to use.

[mooman76]

You can still crank out allot of bullets with a 2 cavity!

[Blammer]

2 cav

I have a Heck of a time getting any of my 6 cavs to crank out 6 good uns at a time.

I can crank out a LOT with a 2 cav, plus it's easier to learn on.

[miestro_jerry]

I have many 2 cavity molds and you can do a lot of casting with those. The problem I see with the 6 caity ones is what is available in the 6 cavity molds, not all shapes come in 4 or 6 cavity molds.

Then it is the problem of speed with the 6 cavity mold, one end will be cooling down, while the other end still very hot. So you have to pace your self and not over do the mold, it may warp.

Jerry

[georgeld]

I started with single's then doubles.
Decided production was too slow for the time and effort involved and went to six holers and haven't looked back.

When I get started casting. I'll sit there doing it til I can't sit anylonger. Generally a session will last 2-6 hours. When I quit, a parts basket in the bottom of a five gallong bucket is nearly full. Most of the time my production goal is a full two gallon bucket. That's generaly around 9-12 hours time depending on problems and interferrence's that have cropped up.

I cast, size, alox, and load in batche's of hundreds because I shoot by the coffee can's full much of the time. It's not rare for me to burn three or four coffee can's full in a weeks time.

Get the learning done on the two's or single's, then IF you're doing enough shooting, go to the six holers. but, get the two's the first year at least. There's a whole lot to learn about the game and you CAN sink a bundle of money into dies, molds, melters, and equipment.

I'm not into as deep as some of the others on here, but, I'm sure there's at least a dozen six holer's and probably 20 other molds on my shelf. That don't even take a look at the melting equipment in the shop. I've melted more than four ton of scrap bullets from the pistol range in three years. Am down to about 1200# ingots now from over 3500, plus three ton of scrap.

It's quite a game once you get into it. Welcome to the club, hope you enjoy it and hang around til you're a worn out old man like some of the rest of us.

[NuJudge]

The facilities I used for single and double cavity molds were different from what is required for a 6-cavity mold. A 10 pound furnace will be sucked dry in just a few minutes by a 6-cavity mold, so a 20 pounder is required, and actually I operate an old 10 pounder as a pre-melter. A Lyman 450 was fine for lubing/sizing the output of a single or double cavity mold, but a Star lube/size machine is necessary when you start using 6-cavity molds.

Even with a 2-cavity Lee, look into the threads here about Bullplate lube for the Sprue Plate, about mold cleaning before use, spraying or smoking cavities, and lubing the contact points.

[black44hawk]

I have a few Lee molds in various calibers, and I cast all my bullets simultaneously. I don't have experience with molds larger than two cavaties. But I have wondered how hard you would have to whack a sprue plate on a 6 cavaty mold. Lee molds are fine but their sprue plates are much thinner than Lyman and RCBS. Plus you have to buy 6 cavaty mold handles separately.

[Woodwrkr]

If you decide to start with the 2 cavity mold and it shows any signs whatsoever of not cooperating like it should, look for the sticky on "leementing", follow the instructions and don't skip any of the steps.

[Shiloh]

Rarely can I get six good boolits from a pour. It's usually four and often five. Double cavity molds,
my rifle boolits, cast easier and I get good boolits from both cavities most of the time.

For sheer volume though, in the shortest amount of time, a six cavity mold serves the purpose

Shiloh

[Blammer]

You may want to ask yourself how much shooting you will REALLY be doing, not what you WANT to do but what you will be doing.

That will help decide what number of cavities to get.

My max comfortable level of cavity's is 4. I can generally get good boolits from all 4 holes in a 4 cav, but 6 seems to be just beyond my limit and skill.

[Steve in TN]

I always cast with 2 or more molds. You'll learn to develop a rythm to maintian the optimum mold temperature and (for me) thats easier done by using multiple molds.