Looking for my first mould for 44 mag

[adcoch1]

Hello, first time poster but been lurking around for quite a while. I am just shopping for equipment at the moment, don't even have a pot to smelt in yet, but I am looking for a decent .430 drop mould for my 44 mag rifle and handguns. I like heavy bullets and boolits too, but I've only loaded lead hard cast up to this point from commercial manufacturers. I am open to suggestions on good moulds, been looking at Lee because there so cheap! But I don't want to waste money on poor quality, so if a certain mold is worth a lot let me know. Probably looking for 250 grain and up, and I love me a big meplat for hunting. Thanks in advance for helping out a newbie...

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[daloper]

I haven't been casting to long, but my first mold was the Lee TL430-240 SWC. Love to load and shoot that one. My Ruger SRH shoots it very nicely. I found it to be a nice mold to learn casting with and with the Lee alox tumble lube, easy to start loading. Have not tried pc on it though. Maybe the next time I get some cast I will give it a try. For the price it is hard to beat.

[Ola]

Just in case you ever aget interested in a ACCURATE bullet, remember this one:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/764004/rcbs-2-cavity-bullet-mold-429-240-sil-44-caliber-430-diameter-240-grain-silhouette-gas-check

[adcoch1]

Just in case you ever aget interested in a ACCURATE bullet, remember this one:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/764004/rcbs-2-cavity-bullet-mold-429-240-sil-44-caliber-430-diameter-240-grain-silhouette-gas-check
That is a good looking mold. I was going to avoid gas checks for my first mold, but I may reconsider. How close to 240gr does it drop? BTW I am going to be buying alloy from rotometals or somewhere like that until I can get a coww supply chain established, so I should know what I'm getting to begin with...

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[MT Chambers]

Lyman 429421, or copy from Accurate, Noe, RCBS, if you prefer a flat point I'd check out LBT.........The Lyman and RCBS will be steel or Iron, the others are a good quality aluminum mold.

[adcoch1]

Would the mold material matter that much in this class of projectile? It seems to me that aluminum would be less desirable as the cavity size increases, or as the quantity number increases due to quickly cooling after a drop. Is that an issue for 44 two cavity molds?

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[gwpercle]

I do not believe mould material is as important as the size of the blocks.
NOE 3 and 4 cavity aluminum blocks are huge compared to Lee 2 cavity. I have no trouble with the NOE's loosing heat . My problem, with both aluminum and steel/iron , is I go too fast and they overheat . With 2 cavity steel moulds I have used two , filling one while the other cools. I haven't had a problem with NOE's aluminum blocks loosing or gaining heat , a steady pace and they hold the correct temperature .
I actually prefer the large blocked 3 and 4 cavity NOE aluminum moulds. Louisiana having a lot of heat and humidity promotes rusting...I don't worry about the aluminum blocks. Another plus is "pile size" it's amazing how fast the pile gets with more than 2 cavities dumping out boolits.
The next question will be are they worth the extra $$$$$...well I'm a tightwad Cajun who loath's to part with a dime, I pick up pennies , and the truth is they are SWEET and worth it...just make sure it's a design you want. Lee's can be bought to "try" , they don't hurt the pocket to much at $22.00.
Gary

[longbow]

Well, I really like my Mihec and Accurate moulds in brass. Iron and brass are my two favourite mould materials but I have NOE aluminum as well and all cast well.

If I have to I use a wet cloth to set a hot mould on to keep it at reasonable casting temperature.

I do not believe you will see a noiticeable diameter change due to mould material heating and cooling too fast. Certainly not in my experience. More likely you will get poor fill out if the mould cools too quickly but a steady casting cadence will prevent that from happening.

Check out the Accurate Mold site as not only does Tom have a good selection of designs now, he will make whatever you want.

I am quite partial to my Mihec 434640 which is a clone of the Lyman 429640 but fatter. It has a nice meplat in solid and weighs 270 grs. It also has the option of hollow points. Great mould that casts right to spec at 0.434" for my fat bored Marlin. Not sure if Mihec has any in stock or not. The Lyman 429640 should also work for you and they are readily available. Lyman moulds do have a reputation of casting small especially if you are not using Lyman #2 alloy.

Actually there are a lot of choices out there. I am just partial to the ones I bought. I have three .44 moulds from Mihec (H&G #503 ~ on two cavity brass Cramer and one 6 cavity aluminum ~ and brass Cramer 434640), one from Accurate (#43-165B), one Lee 265 gr. Ranchdog style and and a Lyman 429421 which casts exactly 0.429" with wheelweights so too small for me.

Longbow

[Ola]

That is a good looking mold. I was going to avoid gas checks for my first mold, but I may reconsider. How close to 240gr does it drop? BTW I am going to be buying alloy from rotometals or somewhere like that until I can get a coww supply chain established, so I should know what I'm getting to begin with...

You can shoot these without a gas check! Like any other GC design. I would start with a mildish load and if the accuracy is there, start kicking the bullet harder and harder. You should get good accuracy and a load that feels like a .44 Mag even with out the check.


How close to 240gr does it drop? Close enough.. If I recall correctly 247 gr (COWW+Check+lube)..

[HeavyMetal]

I firmly believe that every 44 owner that reloads has, or has had, a Lyman 429421 in one form or another and, despite other makers, most will still have at least a single cavity version of the 429421 in there collection of molds.


I currently have Four 44 caliber molds, one of them is a 4 cavity 429421 as it is a great general purpose mold and an all around performer for most chores.

Unique is an excellent powder to match this design, no matter if your loading Specials or Magnums, and will provide comfortable loads for you to shoot.

Should you wish to push the power band to the higher levels WW 296 is the powder of choice and is better than 2400 because it burns a whole lot cleaner!

Start with a 429421 and be happy!

HM

[shoot-n-lead]

I firmly believe that every 44 owner that reloads has, or has had, a Lyman 429421 in one form or another and, despite other makers, most will still have at least a single cavity version of the 429421 in there collection of molds.


I currently have Four 44 caliber molds, one of them is a 4 cavity 429421 as it is a great general purpose mold and an all around performer for most chores.

Unique is an excellent powder to match this design, no matter if your loading Specials or Magnums, and will provide comfortable loads for you to shoot.

Should you wish to push the power band to the higher levels WW 296 is the powder of choice and is better than 2400 because it burns a whole lot cleaner!

Start with a 429421 and be happy!

HM

X 2

It is about as good as it gets, for the .44.

It has been my .44 bullet for...well, let's just say, a long time.

[adcoch1]

Sounds good guys. Looks like I will start with a 429421. Now to figure out if a bottom pour pot is the way to go.... But that's another thread!

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[RogerDat]

The Lee TL430-240 SWC is nice casting and a good profile for tubular magazine of a rifle. Flat nose won't recoil impact the primers of the next one in line like a round nose can. For the price they are a good deal. Have not used the Lee 6 cavity but was told that they are better quality than the 2 cavity and also a good deal.

Tumble lubed with 45/45/10 is good solution and they also PC well. Plain base and tumble lube from a $20 mold is about as cost saving as you can get for reloading with cast.

I like the NOE molds and find the 4 cavity or 3 cavity are a nice size. Productive yet not too heavy despite having a bit more block than Lee. Cost more than the Lee but seem to be higher quality for the extra money. Enough quality that they are also a good value just at a different price/quality point.

I find a hot plate to pre-heat the mold makes a big difference in how easy it is to get it started casting, but a lot of people just dip a corner of mold in the melt or cast the first few and dump them back in, just using them to heat the mold.

[shoot-n-lead]

Go ahead and get the bottom pour...you will never regret it.

[adcoch1]

Definitely getting a hot plate to pre warm the molds no matter which one I get, and tumble lube would be preferable to start. I will start powder coating soon, but I want to get lead management figured out first, and casting 44s just makes sense to me. 30 cal will come next and 9mm makarov once I have PC figured out, but I have to start somewhere and I already load hard cast in the 44.

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[adcoch1]

Go ahead and get the bottom pour...you will never regret it.
So which one? Lee is super cheap, rcbs has a great reputation, and everything else is SO expensive...... I think the chinsy temp control on the lee might drive me crazy, and the wife is already asking questions about "needs" vs wants, so I gotta make some good decisions right outta the gate. Appreciate the input though, I figured that's what I'd hear...

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[shoot-n-lead]

All that I will say on this is, get whichever you want. I have only ever used a LEE and have cast a LARGE PILE of bullets with it. It might be worth starting with it...just to see if you are going to continue casting. If you know for sure that you will keep casting...consider the Lyman Mag 25...it comes with a digital temp control that works as a PID. The Mag 25 goes for around $250.

With that said, folks that have the RCBS, seem to love it...but I will never pay what they want for one.

[adcoch1]

Thanks for the advice. Most who use the lee think its OK to usable, and very few others who use other brands would try a lee from what I hear. Some of it has to be brand snobbery, but it can't all be since some of these pots cost 10 times what the lee does. Well that's how it is with hobbies, sure is cheaper than fast cars nowadays...

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[Shuz]

Forget the hot plate and save the money for an RCBS Mag Pro 20 bottom pour furnace. I place my moulds on the lip of the furnace to preheat them whilst I wait for the alloy to melt. I've used may types and brands of bottom pour furnaces over the past 50 years and I only bought my first Mag Pro 20 about 3 years ago and wished I had gone that route years ago.

[Shuz]

As to your original question, I'd go for a Lyman 429421. I've used this design with great success in ease of casting and accuracy on targets for over 50 years. I still have over 20 different 44 moulds that I've collected and used down thru the years, and many that I "sent down the road" for various reasons, and I keep returning to my 429421 in HP version, outta my 4C Lyman.

[RogerDat]

Thanks for the advice. Most who use the lee think its OK to usable, and very few others who use other brands would try a lee from what I hear. Some of it has to be brand snobbery, but it can't all be since some of these pots cost 10 times what the lee does. Well that's how it is with hobbies, sure is cheaper than fast cars nowadays...

Sent from my LGLS740 using Tapatalk Some of the melting pots have a built in PID which provides very precise digital temperature control, the cheaper melters are just a dial with numbers, you use a thermometer clipped to the side to monitor and turn the knob to get the desired temp. Has more of a temperature curve as the pot drains. Doesn't cause too much trouble for most folks (I just remember where I set the dial for what lead and mold) but lead temperature is one more variable and a PID makes it so you can just set it and forget it. An external PID that a regular pot plugs into so that the power is controlled by the PID costs around $100 give or take when made by a hobbyist and sold in swapping and selling, so you can figure they add at least that much or more to the price of the pot when they are built in.

I don't use a bottom pour, I use a Lyman "Little Dipper" ladle to pour my lead into the mold. It is slower than bottom pour I'm sure but I like the way I can see my pour and adjust how the lead flows in to suite the molds preferences. Straight down the center, over the edge, or sort of a side swirl. Since I am pouring over the pot I can also pour a little from the ladle onto the sides of the mold to help keep the temp of the mold higher if needed. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/286579/lyman-lead-dipper Also tip the mold to the spout and turn them together to "pressure cast" for some long rifle bullets that like that.

Not saying better but I decided for the money I could get a larger Lee pot without the bottom pour and what can I say I enjoy it. Feeding an auto loader with .223 or 7.62 Russian takes longer than it does with bottom pour but I do batches of 250 - 1000 at a time sitting on a stool and am contented with the speed. Like this video (same ladle but I don't use a mallet) This person is somewhat pressure casting, watch how the mold is tipped and fitted to the ladle spout and then tipped together so the lead goes in under a bit of pressure from the spout. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgRq6yVml5E

[sundog]

Shuz and others are right. The 429421 is a classic. Problem is to find a decent older mould that someone will part with or a new one that will 'measure up'.

I recently started shooting the Lee TL430-240-SWC cast with a new Lee mould. Dimension is good as is cavity to cavity consistency. Plus it casts a bunch in a hurry. I did 'lee-ment' it before using it though. These boolits are PC'd with HF red (BBM-Black BBs Matter). Kinda liken' this PC stuff. Nice and clean, no loob smoke when shootin', and apparently looong storage life and ready to load at any point. I've run them thru a Lee push thru sizer I opened up to .432. Accuracy is good in a 44 Spl I've been playing with lately, too.

[Ola]

Shuz and others are right. The 429421 is a classic. Problem is to find a decent older mould that someone will part with or a new one that will 'measure up'..

That's the reason I would not recommend current Lyman mold for a beginner. I have couple of those that are dropping WAY undersized or out-of-round bullets. Of course OP might be luckier than I have been..

[EDK]

Since you mentioned a rifle, I'd suggest a round nose flat point design. I've got both LYMAN COWBOY moulds in 44, plus MIHEC 434640 plain base and LYMAN 429640 gas check AND the RANCH DOG 432 265 gas check and NOE plain base clone. Get the RANCH DOG designs first. They will serve you well.

LYMAN 429421 (and clones) is a great REVOLVER design, but may have feeding issues. 429244 has worked me for 40+ years in various 44 MARLIN rifles.

[adcoch1]

Is there a decent gallery of different bullet profiles and there concurrent mold numbers? I am still trying to get my head around what the numbers all mean. I have most of the acronyms figured out, but it would be nice to have an idea by the numbers of what I'm looking at. BTW I really like rnfp bullets, so thanks EDK for the mold models. I will look at those when I get a minute...

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