Mountain Molds Closed

[photomicftn]

Dan has decided to close up shop for good:

273127

Happy for him, but a sad day for cast bullet designers.

[Gunslinger1911]

Oh, crap !!!
I have a couple custom Mountain Molds.
A huge 45 Colt boolet - 325g if I remember off the top of my head.
Against his better judgement Dan made me a weird 50 cal full wadcutter, he wasn't sure it would stabilize, one of my fav molds !
No, it doesn't stabilize at distance, but up close, it's a monster ! (95 % meplat I believe)
A sad day !

[MOA]

Sad. Too bad. But I sure can understand what retirement can represent after a long working career. Good for you. May you have a long and enjoyable retirement.

[rockrat]

I have a few of his moulds and enjoyed the quality he put out. Hope he enjoys retirement!!!

[lar45]

That is bad news, but I hope he has more time for hunting now.

[alamogunr]

I only have one of his molds. I bought it before he had customers designing their own. It is a 250 gr for the Model 71 Brownchester. I think that is the designation. I ordered it back when Veral was serving time for tax evasion. I don't hunt but have always admired the thought behind the Model 71

[Rainier]

Woot! for Dan - Boo! for us. He produced a fine mold.

[WILCO]

That's a crappy exit strategy.

[cwlongshot]

Happy for him. Sad for rest of us.

I have used but do not own any of his molds. Always thought I would should I need something specail. Guess that wasnt meant ta be.

Too bad in this climate he couldnt sell the company.

My god bless

CW

[jules]

Good for you Dan. Enjoy it while you still can.

[dverna]

That's a crappy exit strategy.

Not the way I would do it under normal conditions, but we do no know what else was behind the scene.

BTW, I have worried about other small companies (like MiHec) that could go belly up. This is not a business many people want to get into. I appreciate those guys who give us a great product at fair prices. My point is, if you want/need something, buy while they are producing. I have about 10 molds I have never used. But I have them. I will likely sell some off as I am moving to using a Master Caster but I had them if/when I needed them. I doubt I will lose much if anything. Far worse to want/need and not be able to get.

[beagle]

Hate to hear that. He made good moulds. Somewhere around in our group, AnthonyB, I think, has the original prototype mould he made. In brass or bronze as I recall. It made good bullets. Even the prototype made good bullets./beagle

[Green Frog]

I've said it before in different context, these have been golden times for mould buyers for about the last thirty years or so... any one of over a dozen makers would have been legendary any other time. Makers like Barnett, Darr, Welch and Hoch and others from the schuetzen game come to mind. The intersection of emerging technologies interest in a variety of shooting disciplines and talented artisans have made possible moulds of a quality and variety never dreamed of before. We've gotten spoiled and complacent, but if anything good (other than the great moulds that have been made recently) will come out of this, it's that we know it can be done and a whole generation of new mould makers is emerging. I kinda wish I could be around for the next 40-50 years to enjoy what comes next.

Green Frog

[45stomp]

Dan's molds are top shelf. I've used many, never had a bad one. Boolits from his molds have accounted for the vast majority of my game animals for many years. His service will be missed.

Best of luck going forward Dan.:drinks:
Stomp

[engineer401]

It really is a shame for us. His molds outperformed most others for me. Most of those I know who retired were beyond ready for some time. I don't blame him a bit. We can always hope he can sell his business to someone who can keep the quality up.

[cas]

He announced it before this.
The "shut down" date coincides with the date his domain name expires.

[bobthenailer]

I bought two of his moulds ! top notch work!
Enjoy retirement DAN !

[megasupermagnum]

I must have got one of the very last molds he ever made. A 350 grain beast for the 44 magnum made about a month ago. I only own two of his molds. One a 220 grain 38 caliber, and this 350 grain 44 caliber. They both cast great, he really focused on what truly matters in a mold. Alignment, and sprue plate. One neat feature is instead of a standard 45 degree chamfer for the sprue hole like every other mold, Dan used some kind of a ball. It's not a huge difference, but I really like this. I should ask Tom at Accurate molds if he would try this.

[Wild Bill 7]

I’ll have to tell my friend that he is closed. He bought two cavity 50 cal mold for his S&W 500. This is a 700 grain mold. It is such a huge boolit. I powder coat the monster and size to 501. It’s a thing of beauty and a real handful when you touch on off.

[cowboy4evr]

Veral Smith @ LBT Molds is 80 yrs young . But the day is coming when he will quit . I probably have a dozen or so of his mold , all top quality . I will definitely miss him when he quits . Regards Paul

[John Boy]

Paul Jones and Rapine also retired. Happy that I bought several from each. PJ molds on eBay are now going for $200 plus ... money in the bank ;)

[oldsalt444]

Wow, I must have one of his last molds. Maybe a month ago I bought a 45 full wadcutter 3 cavity from him. It casts beautifully and the boolits are quite accurate. Well done Dan and may you have a fantastic retirement.

[AnthonyB]

Hate to hear that. He made good moulds. Somewhere around in our group, AnthonyB, I think, has the original prototype mould he made. In brass or bronze as I recall. It made good bullets. Even the prototype made good bullets./beagle

Beagle:
Yes, I have that one sitting on my shelf. I may have to clean off the oil and make some boolits with it.
Tony

[lightman]

I hope he enjoys a long and happy retirement. He has earned it!

[Tracy]

I'm sorry to discover this. I just went there looking for a 6.5 mold and discovered that the site is defunct. Hope someone else picks it up; I have a semi custom .476 mold from Dan and really like it.

[flint45]

Wow sorry to see him go I loved just designing bullets on his site . The molds I got from him are great Vaya Con Dios.

[Walstr]

I couldn't figure why Dan's site was not available; even posted that question yesterday here. I was looking to design a RN design for some "longer" distances. Anybody have one?

He made a custom 405gr, 80%Meplat, bore riding, .462" pill for my Marlin Microgroove. When Alox lubed it never leaded & sized to .461" nicely.

Thanks for your skills Dan. Now where?

[white eagle]

best of luck Dan
you have always made great molds
I will keep my molds you made and pass them on
to my son when its time to do so
your talents will be missed
thank you

[N1c0l4s]

Sad for us, but wish Dan a nice retirement :)

Any of you know how to reach him?
Meaby we can buy is program and continu to produce nice mold ?!

[j23]

Paul Jones and Rapine also retired. Happy that I bought several from each. PJ molds on eBay are now going for $200 plus ... money in the bank ;)


Heck, I'm watching $20 single and two cavity Lee molds soar to over $100 on Ebay. It's a joke. Many of them are listing in their descriptions that Lee has discontinued making many round ball molds. Hopefully just a marketing ploy to drove up costs.

So who IS still making molds these days?

[elRonaldo2]

MP molds from Slovenia
https://www.mp-molds.com/

[The_Eccentric]

I'm happy for Dan......but sad for us. Kicking myself for procrastinating and not ordering some MM molds for my .44mag Rossi R92. Today I tried to go to Dan's site to design and order the molds. No dice. Missed it by two weeks........

[Rug480]

I loved his website. His molds and shipping speed were top notch. Real easy to chat with too

[fcvan]

Since MM was so popular, his business model might morph onto . . . NOE? They make great molds but custom user designs make for expensive projects. If it isn't a CB Group buy, the cherries won't get made. Good for Dan retirement wise, his reputation will be as big as the best of the mold makers of old. H&G being one of them.