Will I get over my Lyman Mould Phobia?

[Ken in Iowa]

I just bought a used 311291 for my snug throated and bored Krag.

we will see how it goes. :p

[mozeppa]

possibly....but it takes years of therapy.

sometimes decades.

[54bore]

I own a few of their molds, i am a HUGE fan of steel molds!

[Jack Stanley]

You might , it depends if they ever find the will to make molds as good as Accurate does or what H&G produced . After the last ones they sent me , they owe me some for free before I send them money again :-(

Jack

[Ken in Iowa]

You might , it depends if they ever find the will to make molds as good as Accurate does or what H&G produced . After the last ones they sent me , they owe me some for free before I send them money again :-(

Jack

That had been my opinion. After 2 very undersized moulds, I had a lot of reservations about them.

The fact that I already have a proper set of large Lyman handles and an offer of a decent looking used mould made me want to try again. We shall see.

[RedJackson]

With NEI and NOE why would anyone ever buy a Lyman mold again ?

[Jack Stanley]

Good luck Ken , hope you get a good one . I'll still buy one if it has "Ideal" on the side but I have just about all the molds I need right now .

Jack

[Bigslug]

In stock at NOE in several material and cavity count options right now, and they aren't shy about showing you the dimensions-with-wheel-weight alloy prints either: http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/index.php?cPath=30_323&osCsid=2bsjk70gfd25ptr1cs27hgd8c6

I suppose it's worth rolling the dice if the price is right, because iron IS nice when it's behaving. My hat's off to you for trying

[Outpost75]

When you consider the suggested retail price for Lyman molds, and weigh that against the quality of NOE or Accurate molds, I don't see why anybody would buy the Lyman. As for NEI, their quality is not at all up to the standard of the other two. I still have a very few NEI El Paso molds which Walt made when he was alive, but they last several I attempted from the company were all defective and after their attempts to correct them were even worse, I scrapped them and never went back.

My casting bench has over a dozen Accurate molds of custom design which he made to order for me. I also have several NOE production molds from group buys and regular production bought off Swede's web site which are also excellent, and whose work I can also recommend highly without any reservations.

Truth be told, I sold ALL of my older Ideal, Lyman, RCBS, Saeco and H&G iron molds.

Today I am using mostly ONLY aluminum blocks from Accurate, NOE and LBT. If that isn't a testimonial, I don't know what is.

[kungfustyle]

get the alloy up to 650 before you even think about casting and use Lyman #2. Ladle it in and you will have great bullets in no time.

[HangFireW8]

True first-formula Lyman #2 is too expensive to buy and too bothersome to make for me. Second-formula comes out undersized in Lyman molds.

I have all kinds of guns, but mostly shoot old war relics, and most have oversized bores. So, no new Lyman for me. I might buy Lyman again... if I really had a need for an undersized mold. Since I have good MiHec, NOE and (believe it or not) Lee molds, I see Lyman only as something I pick up rusty at Yard Sales for cheap.

[Larry Gibson]

I currently have 42 Lyman/Ideal moulds and am happy with each of them. I've had numerous others over the years and have had no complaints about the moulds. What I do have a complaint about is Lyman's misguided formulas for #2 alloy in both the last editions of the #3 CBH and the current edition of the #4 CBH. HangFire W8 hit it pretty squarely on the head.........neither formula will produce a #2 alloy of 90/5/5.

How Lyman ever expected the 1st formula to be #2 alloy is beyond me. IF wheelweights really had 4% antimony (they don't and none I've ever had tested, even old ones, ever did) how would they expect by just adding another 1/2 lb of lead and a 1/2 lb of tin to 9 lbs of WWs would it magically produce another 1% of antimony? That formula actually puts too much tin into the alloy which is perhaps the problem HangFireW8 has with undersize bullets from Lyman moulds. I've found by adding 3.3 ounces of tin (2%) to 10 lbs of todays COWWs (usually less than .05% tin if any at all) Gives a much better alloy. The 2+% tin mixes with the usually 2 - 2 1/2% antimony balancing to form the sub metal SnSb which goes into solution in the lead forming a much better alloy. That alloy casts to at least nominal diameter (usually .005 - .001 over) in every Lyman mould I've tried it in.

The problem with the 2nd formula is the assumption linotype has 11% antimony and 3% tin.........Perhaps new foundry does but most used linotype I've had analyzed has close to that amount of tin but usually only about 9% antimony.

I use #2 alloy mixed from;

5 1/2 lbs linotype
4 1/2 lbs pure lead
8 ounces (1/2 lb) tin

Using a real #2 alloy produces exceptional cast bullets, especially when the alloy temp for casting is held at 710 +/- degrees. The quality of the bullets produced vs the amount of rejects is excellent. For the best bullets I always use #2 alloy, even over straight linotype.

And no I do not use just #2 alloy in all my cast bullets as some insinuate. I only use #2 alloy when I want the best cast bullets possible. Mostly I use COWW + 2% tin alloy or an alloy made from a large quantity of range salvage alloy I have. Both of those have the antimony and tin balanced so the bullets cast to nominal+ diameter in all my moulds, Lyman and others. I also use a binary lead/tin alloy for my handgun HPs, BPCR bullets and magnum level ML bullets.

Larry Gibson

[NoAngel]

At 40 years old I just make sure any Lyman product was made before I was born. Even better if it says Ideal.

You know, back when Lyman knew how to cut bullet molds.

[Outpost75]

I am 68 and a nit picking old fart. I like Accurate and NOE molds. No further discussion required.

[Jack Stanley]

I am 68 and a nit picking old fart. I like Accurate and NOE molds. No further discussion required.
Yeah , what he said . I've got one mold Walt cut for me but the four after that were much less that I paid for . Companies make it on my don't buy list through their own efforts , after that they only sell me a mold by letting me cast with it first . And you all know how that's going to work out with them .

Jack

[TexasGrunt]

Good luck Ken , hope you get a good one . I'll still buy one if it has "Ideal" on the side but I have just about all the molds I need right now .

Jack

Blasphemy!

[farmerjim]

I have 10 lyman molds that I bought back in the 60's because that was all I could get. WW's would have as much as 7% antimony and enough arsenic that you would get massive headaches when smelting. I found some om my old ww ingots in a door stop and they tested BHN 24. WW's were 5 cents a pound and pure lead was 30 cents and tin $5. The WW's were so hard that we had to mix them with that expensive 30 cent stuff. We would wave the tin bars over the pot and call it enough.
None of the lyman molds cast too small.

[KenT7021]

Most of my molds are either Ideal or Lyman.I have a couple of RCBS,a Saeco,and a Lachmiller.I haven't had any problems with them and have been using Lyman molds since the 50's.I own a few Lee molds in odd calibers which is the only reason I own them.The alloy is important as far as cast size.

[samari46]

Not that much a fan of both Lyman or Rcbs molds. Have lyman's 311291,31141 and a couple of 45 rifle molds which all cast undersized on the nose. Sent back a 311284 to lyman they recut the cavities and still you can see where the cherry didn't even touch the bore riding section. To the good though their 314299 when it first came out did cast .304 and .314 bought a spare in case I ever screwed up the first one. RCBS I have the 300 and 400 grain 45 rifle gas check molds. Both cast undersized. None of the 45/70 rifles I have slug out to .457. both are closer to .459. Ruger #1 @ .459 and Pedersoli @ .458 at the breech and slightly tighter at the muzzle. Frank

[Jack Stanley]

It's true TG , getting old enough I'd rather fool with what works than search for something else . And just so I'm not thought to be a Lyman hater one of the last five molds I bought was actually usable as is . It's a 314299 that even though it's to small in all dimensions for the Enfields and Russians I have . It is sized perfectly for a 1903A3 I have and surprisingly it makes round bullets .

Jack

[jdfoxinc]

I switched to hard ball 2:6:92 temp 825deg and get much better results with 50% fewer culls than with #2. I switched because of the price of tin. Was delightfully surprised by the results.

I use a magma master caster. So I can easily convert my Lyman molds. RCBS not so easily. I don't know about the others.