RCBS molds

[bobk]

OK, I only have the one RCBS mold, which I got from Dennis Eugene recently, but I have to give RCBS a +1. This is one fine mold! I just cleaned it and started casting. It is the 416-350 FN, and the block size could easily accommodate a double cavity, but the boolits just fall out. No mold prep, smoking, anything. Boolit looks good, should be a good hunting boolit. I lightly sanded the surfaces, to reduce the size a little for my .405. I gotta get that thing finished, so I can use it this year!

Now I want a 35-200 and a 30-180!
Bob K

[seagiant]

Hi Bob,
I never pass up the chance to praise the RCBS molds! I have completed,with the help of people on this board of obtaining all of the "Keith Style" RCBS molds for .357 mag,41 mag and 44 mag bullets. RCBS obtained there mold line by buying out a smaller company,but unlike other takeover companies that then figure they can "improve" the product,RCBS just stuck to the same quality and kept putting them out. Their Pro-Melt lead pot is a fine example!

[badgeredd]

Now I want a 35-200 and a 30-180!
Bob K

I've bought 5 RCBS molds and all are gems. As with the rest of the dies, presses and whatever else I have purchased, the molds are top drawer for sure. Also I have recently seen a few posts about how good their customer service is. IMO, THAT is a reason in itself to buy their products.

Edd

[mooman76]

I only have a few RCBS moulds but they do drop some fine bullets!

[Leadforbrains]

I just got me an RCBS .45-230-RN a little over a week ago. I am still new to this as this is only the second mold that I have ever owned. This mold cast good boolits from the start with very little prep. I like it alot. I plan to buy an RCBS .32-170-FNGC when my next paycheck comes in. Their molds are of good quality much like everything else they sell.

[quasi]

I wish they would make 4 cavity moulds.

[Tom W.]

I had a Lyman once, but I don't think that it is close to what an RCBS mold is. I have Several now...

[Calamity Jake]

Yap gota love them RCBS moulds, I have my share!!!!

[GabbyM]

OK, I only have the one RCBS mold, which I got from Dennis Eugene recently, but I have to give RCBS a +1. This is one fine mold! I just cleaned it and started casting. It is the 416-350 FN, and the block size could easily accommodate a double cavity, but the boolits just fall out. No mold prep, smoking, anything. Boolit looks good, should be a good hunting boolit. I lightly sanded the surfaces, to reduce the size a little for my .405. I gotta get that thing finished, so I can use it this year!

Now I want a 35-200 and a 30-180!
Bob K

FYI
My new 35-200-FN makes a nice 215gr finished weight bullet. Estra weight could be seen as good or not. MalinJunky here on the board reports his at 214gr so I think their are several out at least this year.

My 30-180-FN mold drops a wopping 195gr naked.

My 37-250-FN drops a 260gr naked bullet.

My 45-230-RN is dropping at 240 grains. This one I dont' like the extra weight.

My 38-158-CM drops right on target at 158.5gr with 50/50 ww/pb.

All these molds were purchased this summer. I think I'm seeing a pattern here.

The 45 I'll have to do something with. Maybe mill some off the base or call RCBS. If anyone would like a 240gr RN 45acp pm me real quick.

All the rifle molds needed lapped to round out the bullet and get them up to sizable diameter with low antimony alloy. That's no problem for me as long as the two cavities are near the same size. I use 220 grit compound to lap and they come out shinny.

I'm happy with all these molds exept the 45acp is just to heavy for a acp.

I"ve a Lyman 311299 here that I can't fix. one cavity is -.004" and that's just to much to try and lap out. Will try sending it back . :roll:

[bobk]

I used 120 grit to reduce the size for my .405. Tip: deepen the vent lines BEFORE this operation. It would have been easier. The weight on this one was 355 Gr. , with 50 WW/50 PB, and 8" of lead-free solder. I'm going to work my LEE sizer until the boolits measure .413, and start there. Barrel is tight for a .405.
Bob K

[leadeye]

Most of my molds are RCBS and perform very well. I do wish that they made 4-6 cavity versions though. Seems like there would be a good market for them.

[felix]

Nope, no market. Folks like to brag about the quantity of molds owned without regard to quality. ... felix

[TAWILDCATT]

all mold makers have good molds regardles what some say.I dont have RCBS not because they are bad but because I found molds cheaper that work for me I just inventoried and have 45 molds.Lyman/modern bond/win/lee.have used H&G/saeco[original]all worked well.I use Lee mainly because I can offored their 6 cavity.
:coffee:[smilie=1:

[carpetman]

Leadeye--You want 4 or 6 cavity RCBS molds. That's easy. Buy 2 or 3 pairs and epoxy them toghether. Do them end to end --if you do em side by side the handles wont fit. Remember if you want 4 cavity buy 2 pairs but if you want a 6 banger you'll have to buy 3 pairs. This is another of those axioms I know to be true--felix would have to post the true Mathematical equation.

[Red River Rick]

I think this is what carpetman is trying to discribe, works great on CAD, but I don't know about the "Mathematical Equation" part.

RRR

[leadeye]

I think this is what carpetman is trying to discribe, works great on CAD, but I don't know about the "Mathematical Equation" part.

RRR

Now there is a solution!

[bobk]

I just re-read what Gabby posted. A 37-250! Wow! And I happen to have a .375 that I love. I see another mold in my future. Gabby, want to sell the mold?
Bob K

[GabbyM]

I just re-read what Gabby posted. A 37-250! Wow! And I happen to have a .375 that I love. I see another mold in my future. Gabby, want to sell the mold?
Bob K

Sell it. No I just got it.
Could send you a few bullets to try out.

If you've a 375 of any flavor you just got to have a mold for it. :Fire:
Most of the big magnum rifles have tight twist barrels so velocity is somewhat limited. But 1,900 fps with a 265gr slug will pretty much get the job done. I don't know anyone who can stand to shoot the big magnums full out anyway.

This gas checked base RCBS 37-250 has a .385" long nose with .990" O.L. and a meplat of .250".

I was tickled to find it to drop a 265gr bullet. In this case more is better.

[swiss 96/11]

Bought a new one 6 months ago way out of spec, plus way out of round.Waited 6 months for replacement.They finally found one somewhere,as they were unable to cut a new one as the machines have not been maintained and lost all of their operators.Do not have anybody that can make a cherry.Old moulds are great but do not buy a new one.Too bad they used to make a nice mould.Maybee they can have them made in CHINA!!!!!

[Lloyd Smale]

about once a year i write to rcbs and let them know there missing the boat not making 4 cavity molds. I guess they dont listen to well. In my opinion there molds are the best bang for a buck in the mold making industry.

[bobk]

GabbyM,
Thanks for the offer, but I'll just buy a mold of some sort. My .375 is an old Interarms Mark X Mauser. I refinished the wood, shortened the stock, and installed a Pachmayr triple magnum pad, so it's very comfortable to shoot. I love pre '64s, but looking at the drop at the heel made me pass on one of them. I've shot thousands of rounds from the bench, mostly pretty stout. My everyday load is a Barnes 235 X at about 2950, shoots flat, accurate, and since I've no pachyderms in the pea patch, it will do anything I want to do.

I have an old NEI that casts a 285 gr. plain base, long bore rider with the DD. I think a GC will allow me to use a softer alloy, for better terminal performance.
Bob K

[GabbyM]

bobk:
Assuming you've a 375 H&H. This RCBS 37-250-FN has a short nose more suited to straight wall cases. You end up with .610” down in the case from the crimp grove. Advantage is you don't have to fit a bore ride nose. I drew one up on Mountain Molds web site. Using the max O.L. For loaded cartridge from my reloading manual. You get a very different looking bullet. The Lyman book shows a max loaded length of 3.60” with case 2.85” long giving .75” of room for a nose. The neck on the H&H is
.300” long . You can draw up a formidable looking bullet. He has a set of large blocks that will hold big bullets in two cavity.

I finished up some on these RCBS 37-250-FN yesterday. With all the lube they hold and gas check they came out to 270 grains. Weight deviation between cavities is about 1 ½ gr. That's after lapping to round them out. Started with one cavity casting .001” smaller than the other. Small one was dropping at .376” from 50/50 ww/pb. This thing would be a little closer to spec if I cast from 2/6 aloy. But who would want to do that.

[GabbyM]

Bought a new one 6 months ago way out of spec, plus way out of round.Waited 6 months for replacement.They finally found one somewhere,as they were unable to cut a new one as the machines have not been maintained and lost all of their operators.Do not have anybody that can make a cherry.Old moulds are great but do not buy a new one.Too bad they used to make a nice mould.Maybee they can have them made in CHINA!!!!!


What makes you think they aren't made in China?
No machines left running and no machinist left. Sounds to me it's ll gone to CHina. Sounds like they need to hire a few more bankers and bean counters to figure out what's wrong. Print it out on a three foot square pie chart and have a meeting. I'm sure they can figure out a way to blame it all on the Unions.

Personally I'm tired of spending six hours reworking their junk just to get a half good bullet. This 30-180-FN 30/30 bullet tht is 200 grains may be a white elephant. Now I have to do some math to figure out how much to mill of the top of this 240gr 45 bulletsto get it on 230grains. I don't own a mill and I'm sure I'll have more invested than the price of a custom mould after this bill. I still need to box up this Lyman 311299 that has one cavity droping -.004". Chances are it's a waste of postage. Not like they could send me a good one as they don't have any.

[GabbyM]

Well I did the cheap fix on that overweight 45-230-RN mold.
Chucked it up in my vise and used a ten inch flat file to take off .025” from the top.
By my calculations that should remove 10 grains of bullet weight. I'll know in about half hour.

[ChuckS1]

Holy cow, you're a braver man than I am. Wanna do that to one of mine?

[GabbyM]

Holy cow, you're a braver man than I am. Wanna do that to one of mine?
You could probably get it milled for what two way postage would cost.

This bullets base band started out at .140”. I figured if I messed it up I could have it milled off and maybe have a 220 grain bullet.[smilie=1: I got it to within + or - .001” all around. Cast up a thousand bullets with it this morning. They weighed in at 232gr with a 2% antimony 1% tin alloy. Weighed two bullets. One from each cavity and they were within .1 grain. I quit weighing them and am telling myself they are all that good.

You can pull the stop pins on an RCBS but all the others I've tried would need driven out by drilling a hole from the underside to pass a punch. When I convert Saeco and Lymans to go in my Magma machine I cut the pin , grind it close to flush then punch it down below flush. Somewhat permanent.

[Cap'n Morgan]

Chucked it up in my vise and used a ten inch flat file to take off .025” from the top.

If you have access to a lathe you can clamp the blocks in the chuck, and trim them on the top, just like you would with a round part.

[bobk]

GabbyM,
I see what you mean about seating depth. I guess the best bet is the 375449, if the boolit is two-diameter, like the 311466 I have.

Bob K

[GabbyM]

GabbyM,
I see what you mean about seating depth. I guess the best bet is the 375449, if the boolit is two-diameter, like the 311466 I have.

Bob K

I don't have a #375449 here but looking a the image in my catalog it doesn't look much different than the RCBS bullet. Lyman states in their literature the 375449 is designed for the 375 H&H. That doesn't mean it won't protrude way down into the case. Really not that big of a deal since you've plenty of case capacity to spare. As far as I know the 375449 is a straight ( non tapered ) bullet. If 264 grains is enough bullet for you and you don't mind exposed lube groves it should work. Shouldn't need to crimp them anyway. My Lyman book only shows the 375296 which looks similar. They give an O.L. Of 3.4” which would leave .55” of bullet past the case. Depending on your free bore you may get out their or not. That would leave a lube grove out.

I drew up a heavy bore ride the other day on MM . http://www.mountainmolds.com/
If you want to shoot a 300 grain bullet this is the way to go. I drew up a 330 grain figuring the tight twist on these magnums would limit velocity to a bit under 2000 fps anyway. But you may be able to shoot 2200 fps which would put a 300 grain in the ball park of 40K CUP. An XL two cavity mold from MM is $95 and it will be just what you ordered. The machine cast mold blocks to fit my Magma machine are not large enough for these big 300 gr bullets. Saeco molds this size are also in their magnum size blocks. Since an inch is an inch the world around it will be that way.

For a 270 grain bullet for 375 H&H I'd like one that looks like an RCBS 35-200 all grown up.

[bobk]

GabbyM,
Walt Melander knew what he was doing. I checked some of the boolits I cast with that mold, and the full diameter portion comes to the base of the neck, and seated that way, with the end of the full dia flush with the end of the neck, I get an OAL of 3.56. It's a plain base.

Bob K

[Heavy lead]

I currently have three RCBS moulds, and I woundn't part with any. The 475-400, the 454270SAA and the 417350. All works of art and cast and shoot beautiful boolits. I do wish they made 4 bangers though. I do have Lyman moulds, but find that the RCBS need less work to make them cast good.

[stocker]

GabbyM: RCBS calculates the nominal weight of boolits cast from their moulds using linotype. And, probably virgin lino at that. We plebians use W/W + small portions of Sn (or not), etc. and the resulting boolits are about 6 to 7 % heavier than lino. I like to think it's a good thing. I've written RCBS and suggested they are out of touch by using lino as a standard as most casters do not. They had no comment on that although they have been most helpful on a number of other issues.

[GabbyM]

I thought about the lino calibration too. So I drew the bullet up at 180 grains with lino. Comes out to 1.006" Long and my 30-180-FN measures 1.040" and weighs 196 grains without gas check or lube. So it's still over length for the stated weight. One block is warped to the point the bullets fin at the nose. After lapping I still just get .309" with .300" nose. If it weren't for the finning things would be OK. It's going back due to the warped block.

Last week I discovered RCBS out sources it's machine work to India. Which explains a lot.
I have a couple of really nice RCBS molds but these new ones are not up to standard.

If these corporations want to spend a generation training their new work force over seas they can find someone else to pay the bill. I've already paid enough.

I ordered a 180 grain 30 caliber from MM the other day. Along with a 357 caliber for Marlin lever rifles. 170 grain GC with .300" long nose to feed from the tube.

[looseprojectile]

Felix;
I have several moulds made by RCBS though most of my moulds are made by Ideal. Have a few Lee's also. One Saeco and one NEI both four cav. Oh, also a four cav. Hensley&Gibbs.
I don't brag about the amount I have, actually I am kind of embarassed at the amount of moulds I have, most of which I don't currently use. I have a gun for most of em, and that is really embarassing. I want and need the 35 caliber mould that Ranch Dog advertised.
Life is good