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bubblehead
10-28-2005, 12:52 AM
I have an old mould with no mfg. name on it, but it looks interesting. It has two different length boolit cavities which are apparently .30 cal., short FN. I thought that they might be for .30 carbine.

It is a 2-cavity iron block with the number : C-311-500-655

onceabull
10-28-2005, 11:02 AM
That is a Modern Bond mould,and can be seen on Castpics..Enjoy, Onceabull

floodgate
10-28-2005, 11:17 AM
I have an old mould with no mfg. name on it, but it looks interesting. It has two different length boolit cavities which are apparently .30 cal., short FN. I thought that they might be for .30 carbine.

It is a 2-cavity iron block with the number : C-311-500-655

Bubblehead:

Onceabull has it right; a Modern-Bond mould. These were made in Wilmington, Delaware, from around 1920 - while Ideal was out of business - until the mid-1950's. Excellent moulds,and the "mechanics" of the sprue-plate, etc., were later copied by Hensley & Gibbs, and the detachable blocks by Lyman starting about 1927. The numbering system is an odd one: the first number is, of course, the nominal diameter, the other two are the LENGTHS of the two bullets. The "C" indicates it was the third (A, B, C,...) out of about a dozen .30 caliber designs. It first shows up in a M-B catalog with a 2/1/25 price list. Most M-B moulds had fancy turned and lacquered handles; if it has straight wooden handles, it is a real early one and I'd like to talk to you about it. The company name is usually stamped (sometimes very lightly) onto the flats of both handle shanks on the early ones; it is cast in in bold raised letters on the later ones. This design is too early for the .30 Carbine; just a generic 90 / 115-gr. .30 short-range bullet.

Floodgate

"A virgin forest, in which the hand of Man has never set foot."

bubblehead
10-30-2005, 03:23 AM
Thanks fellers. This is really interesting.

The handles are indeed made by Modern-bond and are of the later type with raised lettering and turned black laquered handles. The only thing wrong are the two mounting screws. They were apparently replaced by two hardware store round head screws.