What's you favorite mold set up? Why?

[Michael J. Spangler]

Yesterday I was pumping out some 358429 last night. The mold was heating up a bit so I started to run a second mold to help give a little cool down time for the lyman 358429 DC.
Well I just happened to grab the 4 cavity lyman 358495 with nut cracker handles. I would have to say that's probably my favorite mold combination right now. I have a 311365 NOE and a 454-200 MP which are both very nice.
There's just something about that 358495 that's so smooth and easy to cast with. The 4 cavity really pumps out some rounds.

I really love my 401638 but I haven't got the 40 cal quite figured out yet load wise so I don't cast much with it. It has normal scissor style handles too which I think takes away from the experience.

So what's your favorite mold and handle combo? Do you have pictures? What makes it your favorite? Does it always drop awesome bullets? Does it pile em high in no time?

[dancingbear41]

Although I have a few larger capacity moulds I like four cavity moulds. I always cast with more than one mould to avoid things getting too hot. Having moulds with similar weight bullets helps as well because it takes about the same time to fill each cavity and maintains a good rhythm. Some days I can produce quite large numbers in a session.

Other times I will do the same thing but with single cavity moulds. I have a box full of bullets for my .303. Lyman's 311299, 311291 and 311365, all single cavity moulds. The box has approximately 1000 bullets in it. I cannot remember casting them. It must be like women not remembering labour pains, I cannot remember the fun I must have had with those moulds.

These I remember doing, only a few weeks ago.

105407

They were cast with an old Lyman 22596. a 49 grain single cavity mould. Although it worked beautifully the pot level does not alter and it got a little boring after a while. Now I have to conjure up some decent loads for my Hornet and .222's.

[Fishman]

There is something about casting with a single cavity mould. My favorite mold is without a doubt an old single cavity Lee 30-170fp. It casts and drops easy at .310 and it doesn't take long to make a pile. Most of my cast rifle loads when I was starting out used this design because it is what I had. My dad loaned it to me actually. Now I have several multi cavity molds and yet I have cast with that Lee at least 4 times in the past year.

[DeanWinchester]

I thought I was the only fool on earth who actually LIKES casting from a single cavity!!!

[country gent]

My favorite set up is the Old West Brass 40 cal rifle mold I have setting on a set of cabin tree locking mold handles. Once heated up I dont think you can cast a really bad bullet with out trying. Consistent clamping pressure. easy to operate, and well insulated. I clean it with dish soap and water the night before, lube lightly and preheat then castfor a couple hours or so. Dean, all my rifle molds are single cavity molds, Its what I perfer. Slower yes, but much easier to work with for me.

[smoked turkey]

I also like a single cavity mold. I like to break the sprue with a gloved hand and I find the single cavity to be much easier and quicker for me. When casting with multi-cavity molds I mess up one of the boolits and find it harder to find the offender and put it back in the pot. I tend to cast at a little slower rate than a lot of folks and keep my "drop zone" cleaned up of old sprues and rejects as I cast. Just easier for me with a single cavity. Lastly I don't shoot handguns too much so I don't burn through a lot of rounds during a shooting session. The single cavity allows me to cast with my molds more often than would be if I cast up a two or three hundred at a single session. Since I enjoy casting so much I would rather do it more often. Different strokes for different folks.

[petroid]

I'm pretty new at casting and up until today had only used Lee DC molds. They worked alright, but had some quirks. I finally got to use my new Lyman 356637 4 cavity 147gr 9mm mold. I love the quality of the boolits, but it sure is heavy and barely fits under my Lee 4-20 pot. I would guess the 6cav alum molds are lighter. This thing cranks out boolits but my arms got tired of holding it!

[longranger]

Paul Jones 45001 Creedmoor 540gr,Cabin Tree locking mold handle,Accurate .379 brass mold for the BB 94,both cast beautiful perfect boolits,shoot as cast no sizing.

[Michael J. Spangler]

Just picked up a marlin 1894 in 357.
Now that I know the 358495 feeds well in the marlin this may make it even nicer!
Now I need more lever guns!

[TXGunNut]

Wish I could say. I like the simplicity of one and two-cavity moulds but I think I need to try running two at a time. I also like the four, five and six cavity moulds because they pile up boolits and empty a pot in no time, even tho running two double or single cav moulds would probably come close. I haven't tried brass or antique moulds yet but suspect they're fun to run as well.
I guess all I can say is my favorite moulds have handles on them. ;-)

[jmsj]

Most enjoyable mold I have to cast with is an old single cavity Lyman 358429. The bullets are beautiful, accurate/consistent and they just seem to jump out of the mold.
I sometimes take this mold out and cast with it just for "therapy".