Help me buy my first mold: Ranch Dog 45-70

[Stopsign32v]

Well I'm wanting to start casting and figured I would start with my 45-70. It's a Marlin 1895 26" barrel and from what I understand for the 1895 the best bullet to choose would be the 'Ranch Dog' since it was apparently designed for the Marlin.

I'm assuming this is the mold I want? http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?products_id=2041&osCsid=9ui54ss5rqj61oou289f3a81e6

I will be loading the die with a ladle and not a dropper. With that said would you guys recommend a 3 cavity, 4, or 5?

And I don't understand the options they give below:

"Drill for probe"

"Lyman / RCBS style Top Punch" (I'm assuming this is for a push through sizer?)

"Mold Wrench and Sprueplate Lube"

"Saeco style Top Punch"

[Beagle333]

I like the most cavities I can get. More bullets in less casting time and usually better resale value.

"Drill for probe" instructs them to drill a hole in the mold for a temperature probe, if you are one of those folks who likes to know exactly how hot you are casting, or exactly when your mold gets warm enough in the mold oven to start casting.

"Lyman/RCBS top punch" is for a lube sizer, not a push through sizer. It fits the nose of the boolit to reduce and deformation of the boolit as you push it down into a lube sizer die.

"Mold wrench and sprue plate lube", gives you a wrench for the allen screws to mount your mold on the handles and if it is a HP mold, it will remove the hollow point pins for maintenance or adjustment. Sprue plate lube is just a small bottle of (usually) synthetic 2-cycle oil, used to keep lead from sticking/smearing on the bottom of the sprue plate and also to lube the sprue plate bolt/screw. (Use this stuff really sparingly)

"Saeco style top punch" does the same thing as the Lyman/rcbs punch, except it fits a Saeco lube sizer.

[Stopsign32v]

Perfect, thank you!

At what point does a gas check bullet become necessary?

[mdi]

For a beginner, I'd recommend a 2 cavity mold. Temperature control is easier, when loaded not too heavy, and produces enough bullets to satisfy the user. Single cavity molds tend to seem tedious, lots of work, few bullets. Multi hole molds may have "cool" areas and a 6 gang 45 cal mold tires the wrists after a while.

Other than that, I can't add anything to Beagle's excellent post except get a Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook...

[murf205]

The rifle will tell you which one it prefers. I had the same question when I bought my 45/70 mold for the same rifle you have. I had Tom at Accurate Molds make one with 2 cavities of each one. It has 460405A and 461405D, 2 of each. My rifle seems to prefer the gas check design but not by a great margin. I plink with the plain base and use the gas checked ones for hunting and more serious work. My rifle has Skinner sights and they are huge improvement over the factory ones. You don’t have to cast them super hard as long as they fit properly. I have shot them a large as .460 at1800+ FPS with no leading and I powder coat. My 2cents, good luck245022

[lar45]

At what point does a gas check bullet become necessary?

Somewhere around 1500fps-ish is where a gas checked bullet might work better than a plain base bullet. This number is not set in stone. Your rifle will tell you when it's had enough with a pain base bullet as your accuracy might start going south or you might start getting leading...
If you are planing on shooting faster than 1500fps, then I would start with a gas checked bullet. If you are going to stay lower than that, then a plain base mold will work just fine.

[Stopsign32v]

Yea I honestly don't think I'll be going over 1500fps

[murf205]

I added a pic of the boolits my mold cast. You probably wont need to run a 45/70 faster that 1500fps anyway. It will penetrate into the next zip code at a lot slower speed and not kick the spit out of you as a bonus. BTW, that NOE mold looks like the twin to my Accurate Molds boolit. You cant go wrong with either one.