Lee 45/70 molds

[geslayton]

I'm planning on starting casting soon and looking at inexpensive 2 cavity molds for 45/70. I plan on powder coating but the Lee 405 grain flat point mold I'm looking at seems to indicate that is will produce .457 bullets instead of .458. is this correct?

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[shortlegs]

Yes, I have the 340 gr mold that cast 457 dia. I have to powdercoat it to get the dia. up to 460 for my marlin.

[Flailguy]

I bought the .457 405 and it dropped about. 456. And was out of round. Might have been a bad one. Now I have an accurate 46-345a

[Conditor22]

geslayton Welcome to cast boolits,
First question, have you slugged your barrel? No use looking for molds unless you know the exact size of your bore.

If you learn how to powder coat ( A very easy process) the diameter a boolit drops from a mold is less important since a single coat of powder coating can ad .002 to the diameter of the boolit.

the 340 is a good mold and the 405 is probably the most common

[GregLaROCHE]

Casting temperatures and alloy can effect final boolit diameter and weight. I think I have all the .45/70 molds from Lee. They all seem to work reasonably well. It’s been a while since I checked the sizes out of the molds. I PC and then size almost all of mine afterwards.

NOE has a nice sizer that takes a whole array of bushings for all sorts of calibers, that aren’t very expensive. That’s what I use.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

[cwlongshot]

This is correct. AND Lee dosent offer a push theu sizer large enough for most 45/70’s. You need a custom size.

Track of the wolf has .459 in stock. I just ordered one and will
Open it up a lil to my preferred size later.

I alao PC most boolits and prefer the push thru if I am not installing a GC.

CW

[Petander]

I started my casting career with an undersize Lee mold for a Marlin 45-70.

If I had to do it again I'd choose a mold that drops 459-460 instead of lapping the Lee mold and sizer larger.

[Carrier]

I have the Lee 405 grain hollow base mold I bought from Track of the Wolf. When everything is at proper temperature and using 20 to 1 lead tin it drops at .460 to .462.