SAECO mold

[HVACscott]

are SEACO molds as good as the price suggests?

[Teemu]

Only have one but nothing bad to say it.

[samari46]

Have three and find them to be much better than RCBS or Lyman molds in my experience. More expensive yes but the ones I have aren't going anywhere soon. Frank

[Walks]

Yep, they are Great molds

[Conditor22]

I have booth steel and brass, they both cast nicely for me.

[FLINTNFIRE]

Have a saeco by redding , single cavity shows a gap at the bottom , every once in awhile it has a small fin on the tip , not sure if it came like that or last owner did something , has no lead build up np dings or dents nothing else remiss with it , but you can see light through it .

Still makes good bullets it is 40 caliber at 375 grains marked as 412 but I come up with 411 , but all in all it drops nice bullets , came with a rifle I am waiting for the instant delay system to give me permission for a Constitutional right .

[onelight]

I have a 32 , 95gn Rn , 2 cavity that is easy to cast with and shoots good in 32 s&w and h&r .

[Petrol & Powder]

I have a few and they are excellent molds.
They are expensive but like many high quality tools, they are a one time purchase.
I would put their quality on par with RCBS with SAECO holding the advantage of being available in 3 and 4 cavity models if you want.

If RCBS offers the bullet profile you want and you're ok with only 2 cavities, RCBS may be the less expensive way to go. But if you want more than 2 cavities, you have to look elsewhere.

[oldhenry]

I have 4 of the 4 cav. & like them. I also have several of the 4 cav. Lyman. The SAECOs are lighter & their overall size is much smaller than the Lyman. This puts the cavities closer together, so they heat up faster. With the SAECOs in a long casting session I use 2 molds alternating. Of course I could utilize a damp towel to control the heat buildup, but production is better alternating.

My 81 year old hands like the SAECOs.

[dale2242]

I have had Saeco molds thru the years.
They are excellent.

[toallmy]

In my very limited mold collection I have several saeco 2 - 4 cavity molds and very much enjoy casting with them , . But at the cost of a new saeco mold - the custom mold makers usually win out when I order a new mold .

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

YES, worth the price!
When I started casting, a friend sold me all his casting stuff. In the mix was a couple 4 cavity Lyman molds and a couple 4 cavity Saeco molds...all were purchased new by the seller in the 1980s. The Saeco are excellent casting molds right from the getgo. Honestly, I wasn't a fan of the Lyman molds, just too heavy, and I sold those Lymans and their goofy nutcracker handles. I still have one of the Saeco molds (#411) and it is one of my favorite SWC for the 41Mag.

[lotech]

I probably have twenty, though some are never used anymore. Most of mine I bought more than twenty years ago. These are good moulds.

[greenjoytj]

I have a SAECO #955 .452”/.454” 255 grain RNFP my first .45x size mold for 45 Colt.
This iron 4 cavity mold dropped bullets at .4561” dia. at 262grs with 20:1 Rotometal alloy the last time I cast with it.
The large dia. makes the bullet tough to size to .452” sizing can almost smear away the crimp groove. Even though SAECO advertises the bullet for .452”/.454” it clearly is for .454” barrels, that was a disappointment. Learn by burn.
This mold is very well built I liked casting with it too bad they cast so large.
I tried using a LEE up sizer die then used the lubri-sizer, the crimp groove didn’t get smeared away but large base fining occurred after passage through the LEE sizer, the finns were annoyingly difficult to remove by cutting off with a razor blade I gave up trying.
If I could figure out a better way to remove the base finning without damaging the base edges I would start to use the bullet again it was a good bullet.

I’ve move on to a Lyman 452664 four cavity bevel base RNFP mold which is presenting its own set of issues the biggest is the out of round casting. The mold stretches lengthwise along the part line I think due to heat expansion so bullets measure larger diameter at the part line than across the part line.

[RKJ]

I've got 2 that I got used and they are excellent. They would be the last ones I'd give up.

[rintinglen]

Short answer--no, they are not. Like Petrol and Powder, I find them to be RCBS, but half again as expensive. They are better than Lyman, but you can get Accurate, MP or NOE of better quality for significantly less. Some would have you believe they are the second coming of H&G, but that is not my experience.

[Hanzy4200]

I own one 2 cavity. Picked it up at a gun show for $15 with handles. Was somewhat beat up and had old oil gunk all over it. I cleaned it up, and that mold casts like a dream. I had intended to trade or sell it, but I liked it so much it earned a place in my mold stack.

I think they are fantastic molds, but the new price is to high. RCBS is nearly as good, and custom makers like Accurate are better at a lower cost.

[toallmy]

I believe they are the second best mold compared to H&G in ( a hard metal 4 cavity ) and they are still in production , but you can get new 4 cavity brass and aluminum molds at 1/3 - 1/2 the cost of a new saeco 4 cavity now .

[DonHowe]

In my limited experience Saeco molds are more expensive than LymN or RCBS but better quality than either. The material and workmanship of Saeco molds is what I expect of quality tool. I hade 2 RCBS molds, both bought new, and both dropped out off round bullets. Nearly every Lyman mold I have used exhibit this trait ad well
I have had several high quality custom iron molds and believe Saecos workmanship is on par with them. The difference between a production Saeco and, for example, the Steve Brooks lathe bored mold I owned is that with the alloy specified Brooks' mold dropped bullets right on the specified diameter. You are lucky toget that in a production mold.

[fredj338]

They are great molds BUT, for the price I would go to Accurate. Unless you must have a RN design, Accurate molds are very good quality. I have a couple 2cav Saeco for my magma & a 4cav for hand casting. They are great molds bu really expensive today. I have had the 2cav molds for about 15y, the 4cav was only a couple years ago & I bought that with a 50% OFF cert, still well over $100. The handles are also stupid expensive.

[Petrol & Powder]

In a new iron mold your choices are a bit more limited.
You can get RCBS molds and they are good quality but limited to 2 cavity.
You can get Lyman but their quality seems to be a bit of a moving target.
There are a few semi-custom molds out there available in iron, but they are getting pricey.

The SAECO molds are available in 3 & 4 cavity styles and are high quality, but they're not cheap.

Outside of those options, you're pretty much into the vintage category of used molds. There's nothing wrong about an old mold, provided that it's in good condition. However when the price meets or exceeds that of a new SAECO mold, that old iron becomes less attractive.

If you remove iron from your criteria, the world of semi-custom molds opens up considerably.

SO - ARE SAECO MOLDS WORTH THE PRICE?

The answer is, IT DEPENDS :wink:

[Burnt Fingers]

I own seven SAECO molds. All four cavity, all purchased used, some with handles. My last two cost me ~$150 each with handles.

I've paid less and I've paid a bit more. I've picked up a couple for under $100 delivered.

IMHO they are awesome molds.

[Shuz]

Down thru the years I have owned about10 Saeco or Saeco/Cramer moulds and they were always of great quality. I currently own only a Cramer 55A having sold all the others because I either quit shooting cast in that caliber (7mm) or saw the chance to capitalize on the prices that Saeco 's are going for. Most of those ive owned have been 4 cavity in either 7mm or .44. For my money, I'd rather have an MP or NOE than a high priced Saeco.

[bobthenailer]

Yes they are worth the money ! ive been using them since 1976 currently have about 15 Saeco moulds

[Shopdog]

Have 30-40 various moulds here. There are a few standouts from several makers. A particular 2 cav Lee 225-55RF is the most round as cast. An ancient Lyman 429421 for crispness and jaw dropping accuracy.

And a Saeco 85g 6mm. Extremely well defined on its measurements,casts very well coming "out of the box" new, and quite likely the best mould I have for fitment on a factory chamber leade. It is a 1st class bugholer in my mint,1980 R700V 6mm Remington. Cast,load,shoot. Wouldn't take 500$ for it. Got it before covid debacle. It's not fully broken in yet with only about 500 drops so,fully expect it to get a wee bit better yet. Haven't tried it in any of the,quite a few 243's here and that's perfectly OK. If it doesn't do ANYTHING but feed the "big 6",it was $$$ very well spent.

[243winxb]

Have 3. No better then Lyman or RCBS. Much better then Lee. My 2 Lee make oval bullets. Not a problem after sizing. Bought SAECO 4 cavity moulds years ago, when prices were a lot lower. Now, just over priced and not worth it. IMO.
Did have to open the Saeco sprue holes on the 357 lswc mold to get fill out.

DIAMETERS- The Saeco produces oversize bullets, when using antimony rich alloy. Lead/tin alloy would produce smaller diameters. The Lyman is very close to being to small. The Lyman needs #2 alloy to get full diameter for sizing.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?media/molds.3503/full

[quasi]

thet are the best iron moulds available. Better than RCBS. I have Redding, Saeco and Cramers, they are almost as good as H&G's.

[ascast]

fINE MOLDS, BUT i DO NOT LIKE THE LOCATION OF THE SPRUE CUTTER HINGE PIN. opps

[FLINTNFIRE]

I am not a fan of the sprue plate on the single cavity I have , but it makes good bullets , no better then any other mold I have and no worse .