4 Cavity Mold

[ShrnShndl]

Need information. I have never cast with anything but a two cavity mold. What kind of increase could I expect if I go to a 4 cavity mold? Will it come close to doubling my production? Thoughts and ideas wanted. Thanks much.

[fourarmed]

Well, of course it drops twice as many bullets as a 2C, but it takes longer to fill, is slower to push around, and more fatiguing. Still, it will make a hell of a lot more bullets in the same time. Given my druthers, I will take a 4 over a 2 just about any time.

[NVcurmudgeon]

I have several single cavity moulds, mostly doubles and two four cavity pistol moulds. I prefer the singles and doubles for rifle boolits, with the cavities punch marked to segregate the cavities. For making a lot of pistol bullets nothing beats the four holers. I shoot a LOT of 9mm made in an aluminum NEI mould and another LOT of .45 SWC from my H&G #68. Two three-hour sessions with either will produce 1000-1200 boolits, enough for a year of shooting. Production is not quite doubled with the larger moulds because one can't handle the moulds as fast, four sprues take a little more time to cool, and metal needs to be added to the pot more often. Also, give any mould you are thinking of buying a dry test drive, with particular attention to how easily you can manipulate it. My H&G #68 is easy to use but the 9mm NEI has one hard-to-fill cavity because it is too close to the sprue plate screw. A single "trough" (H&G) is faster an easier to fill than four seperate (NEI) holes. I am a ladle caster and find the RCBS ladle will hold enough metal for four 200 gr. boolits and a good sprue, but the little Lyman won't. Some think a four cavity iron mould is too heavy for extended use. I seldom cast for longer than three hours so I get bored before I get tired.

[94Doug]

I just tried out a 4 cav Saeco today that I purchased from another Boolit member. I'm sold. I didn't find that it was harder to use, either.... I do agree that maybe it needs a little longer to cool between casts, but once up to temp., I found I could really crank out the 10mm's.


Doug

[bobthenailer]

\
with my system of casting i usually make around 350/500 per hr with a 2 cavity, 700/900 with a 4 cavity and 1200 /1400 with a 8 cavity. this is only useing 1 mould at a time not useing mutipel moulds. and it also depends on caliber and bullet weight. bob
all of my 4 & 8 cavity moulds are saeco which are lighter and more user friendly than lyman 4 cavity and h&g 8 cavity moulds. ive used 8 and 10 cavity h&g moulds and they are heavy , but the only time im supporting the weight of the mould is for opening and cutting off the sprue, i close the mould while its sitting on a sheet of aluminum , to keep the alignement pins lined up and give the mould a gental tap with a small rawhide mallet to fully seat the mould blocks, this is the same rawhide mallet ive used for over 20 years to also knock open the sprue plate , and is avalible from brownells
i dont use bruce bs method of casting but i have tried it ! however i do use a small fan at times .
at 60 you slow down abit, i used to cast for hours now i only cast for about 1 hour and then lube the bullets that i water dropped with the star

[Scrounger]

I'd pay to see a cast-off between Bobthenailer and BruceB. Dueling bulletmolds like in Deliverance.

[Bret4207]

Lets hope hey both look better than the guys from Deliverance!"Squeal like a pig boy!"

I like the 4+6 bangers. I use the Bruce B Speed Casting method, patent pending (?!), and that speeds things along. I'm at the point where I have so little time to cast that speed in production is important.

[ShrnShndl]

Thanks for the input. Think I will purchase a new Lyman 4 cavity mold, 358429. Need a little more production.

[Dale53]

I am another believer in 4-6 cavity moulds. If it is an iron mould, then 4 cavities is all I want. If it is a six cavity aluminum mould, weight is not a problem. In fact, my Lee six cavity moulds are some of my favorites.

My absolute all time favorite mould is the H&G #130 .45 ACP mould in four cavity design. Pure pleasure to cast once it is up to temperature (I pre-heat my moulds on a hot plate).

The six and eight cavity H&G (iron) moulds are entirely too heavy and cumbersome for me to handle these days.

Dale53

[mtgrs737]

I like my 4 cavity iron Lyman and Saeco moulds, but I wouldn't want them any heavier. The Lee 6 cavity moulds are a pleasure to cast with but I worry about their durability so I am very gentle with them and keep them lubed with Bull plate.