Lyman moulds coded "R"... reject?

[trooperdan]

Well, unlikely to be rejects as it apparently was sold by Lyman along with a slip of paper saying this mould was not warrantied nor guaranteed in anyway and was stamped "R" to acknowledge that. Mould in question is new in the box, the later black & white zebra box and is a #358432. I assume it just didn't make a measurement somewhere yet was good enough to sell. Has anyone encountered any moulds so marked?

[curiousgeorge]

Knew an older gentleman in the area that bought several of those in the early 70's in the black and white striped boxes. One that I remember in particular was a 358430 195 gr bullet. It did not have the bottom lube groove, just a long ungrooved section. Cast from COWW weighed around 205 grs. He said he paid $8.00 or $10.00 for it and they sent a list of other 'reject' molds and he bought a few more. He used the 358430 in 38 spl and said he never had any leading due to the lack of the bottom lube groove. I believed him and bought the mold from him in 1997. Bought some of the plain base bullet gas checks from another member and have shot it in my 357 Max rifle around 1600 fps with no leading.

Lyman was part of 'The Leisure Group' about that time, I THINK, could be wrong. May have been trying to salvage mis-cuts rather than toss?

[ButchC]

A number of years ago a buddy of mine borrowed a mold like this and was able to cast up a pile of bullets before returning it. I never got eyes on the mold but he didn't have any issues shooting to my recollection. I cannot recall the # either. Basically a useless post as far as further information but I too have heard of these.

[Bazoo]

First I've heard of it, thanks for sharing this info.

[Winger Ed.]

It's probably along the lines of the factory seconds T shirts for $2. I see once in awhile.
I never could see a problem with them, but their Quality Assurance folks apparently did.

[Bent Ramrod]

When Lyman was scarfed up by the Leisure Group in the mid-70s, they advertised reject moulds in Shotgun News for cheep. They were marked with a big capital “R” so nobody could slyly send them back with a complaint for a replacement.

I needed a mould for my .22 Hornet and ordered a 2-cavity 225415, as mentioned, for 8 or 10 bucks. (IIRC, a single cavity Lyman back then was an outrageous $22.50 or so.)

It duly arrived, and in fit, finish, castability and quality of product, it was as good as any other Lyman/Ideal mould I’ve ever found and better than some I’ve run across.

Wish I’d bought more, but the Hornet, a couple .22 rimfires and a .44 Navy Arms cap&ball revolver was all I had back then. Had just started going to gun shows, and by a year or so later, the situation had changed somewhat. :mrgreen:

[country gent]

A second can be a lot of things from cosmetic flaws to missing details. You would think with cherry cut moulds that the missing band would have been caught when the cherry was inspected.
Another look at it was the may have been research or test moulds used to see what worked. Or to try a new idea. Most manufacturers pull samples to test also. X number per shift or sometimes x number every hour.

At Campbells we would make a list every 5-8 years and 2 guys would make a run to Kennedy in Dayton. There they had the seconds in the show room We could get a roll around with a small ding or flaw in paint for about 1/2 price. The other plus was with a truck load of boxes we were allowed to use the shipping dock to unload instead of pushing it thru the plant.