Lyman 314299 2 holer

[Beekeeper]

Wanted some.314 boolits for my mosin.
Bought a lyman 314299 mould.
Always used Lee but they don't have a 314.
after reading all the posts about Lyman moulds thought it would be a snap in comparison to a Lee.
WRONG.
Received Mould,scrubbed it diligently with dish soap
Checked for burrs,found none , Assembled mould and heated her up.
O Boy a whole bunch of .314 boolits.
WRONG
First the sprew screw got so tight I almost broke it loosening it up .
There was no allen set screw locking screw.
Dug around and removed on from another machine and installed it.
warmed the mould and made the first cast, and the second , and the third.
stopped to look at the boolits.
All were bad. Had blowby on the tip.
Looked at the mould under the light and could see light all across the bottom of the mould.Let it cool and disassembled it . Checked the alignment pins.
.One of the sticks out far enough to stop the mould from closing.The shank is bigger than the nub.
Had to buy a drill to ream the hole .002 thousands so it would work.
Gave up, will try again tommorow.
Don't tell me Lyman is better than Lee. I have been casting with Lee for years and never had this much problem with a mould.



survivalists Dad

[Ben]

Wanted some.314 boolits for my mosin.
Bought a lyman 314299 mould.
Always used Lee but they don't have a 314.
after reading all the posts about Lyman moulds thought it would be a snap in comparison to a Lee.
WRONG.
Received Mould,scrubbed it diligently with dish soap
Checked for burrs,found none , Assembled mould and heated her up.
O Boy a whole bunch of .314 boolits.
WRONG
First the sprew screw got so tight I almost broke it loosening it up .
There was no allen set screw locking screw.
Dug around and removed on from another machine and installed it.
warmed the mould and made the first cast, and the second , and the third.
stopped to look at the boolits.
All were bad. Had blowby on the tip.
Looked at the mould under the light and could see light all across the bottom of the mould.Let it cool and disassembled it . Checked the alignment pins.
.One of the sticks out far enough to stop the mould from closing.The shank is bigger than the nub.
Had to buy a drill to ream the hole .002 thousands so it would work.
Gave up, will try again tommorow.
Don't tell me Lyman is better than Lee. I have been casting with Lee for years and never had this much problem with a mould.



survivalists Dad
__________________________________________
On a Lyman mold , if the pins are sticking out too far, rather than drilling out the alignment hole, it is better to tap the pin back into the mold slightly. Then open and close the mold looking to see if you can see any daylight in between the mold halves when they are closed. This is done " trial and error " until the mold halves close properly and have proper alignment.

Ben

[2Tite]

You're scaring me.........I was thinking that I needed a 314299.........................

[Beekeeper]

Tried that Ben.
Pin wouldn't budge.
That is why I had to ream it out.
Are all Lyman moulds like this or did I just get a dud?


survivalists Dad

[Mike Venturino]

I've had a Lyman 314299 mould for six or seven years. It an absolute gem - no problems at all.

MLV

[Maven]

You got a dud! Like MV I too have a #314299 purchased at a gun show maybe 14 yrs. ago and never had any sort of problem with it.

[No_1]

I have had no real problems like you have described. On the ones I could not knock back into the mould I found that if I soaked them with kroil from the backside of the pin for a few days I could drive them out of the mould just a little to loosen them up then drive them back in to where they needed to be. I would imagine you could heat up the mould real good and get them to move also.

Robert

[Beekeeper]

I sur hope it isn't a dud.
Will know tomorrow as I will try to cast with it again.
If I still have problems with it I intend on sending It back to Lyman and ask for my money back!


survivalists Dad

[Ben]

Do you see light between the mold halves when they are not on the handles ?

I've seen certain brands of mold handles keep the 2 mold halves from closing completely causing the symptoms that you describe.

Ben

[longbow]

I have a Lyman 314299 and other than casting slightly small at 0.313" it is a fine mould as are all my other Lyman moulds. I lapped it and Beagled it to get 0.315" and they shoot very well.

As for casting, many people find iron moulds difficult to cast with, long break in, etc. I don't recall ever having a problem. I tend to cast hot though and I have on occasion smoked the moulds to get better fill out and release. I think the carbon both insulates and acts as mould release. I also flux frequently which I find helps my casting.

As far as I am concerned the mould has to be good and hot before I start casting. I usually pre-heat mine on a low gas flame while the lead melts. I cast hot enough that the sprue takes a few seconds to harden.

A little tin may help fill out but again I just cast hot with range scrap and/or wheelweights and never have a problem.

I'm assuming the mould was new? If the set screw was missing I would have been contacting the place I bought it right away and same goes for the alignment pin. If it was used well, you may have to "adjust" it a bit.

Longbow

[skeet1]

My 314299 is a new mould and it works great. Turns out good bullets right away and they shoot good too in My Lonbranch No.4 Mk1*. I've used Lee also and they work well too. Anything man makes has a certain amount of lemons included evidently that is what happened to yours.

Skeet1

[Beekeeper]

Didn't check it before I started for light in the bottom.
Figured new it ought to fit correct.
.
After checking the cast I looked it over real close.
Found light all accross the bottom and front of mould!
Thought it might be dirty so let it cool and then inspected it real close. Thats when I found the problem
Was afraid to smack the pin very hard as it would mushroom and never fit again.
Just reamed out the holes a couple of thou. with a drill and it all fits good now.
Don't know if it ever had a setscrew. Never thought to look.


survivalists Dad

[Bret4207]

Nah, you got a dud SD. Let the mould get good and hot by casting as fast as you can with it. Once she get's up to temp the remaining junk should burn out (you never get it all) and she should start throwing good boolits. If you find you have to run it fast to get good boolits try the Bruce B speed casting method. Simply cool the sprue on a damp rag and you'll find you can cast fast and not have to worry about smearing the top of the mould or tear outs in the base.

[Beekeeper]

Set everthing up and tried to do some casting.
Bretts right about the temps. Works lousey until it gets ready.
Good boolits but need to address the sprue cutter issue , I think it is a little too loose but will do that tonight and try for some more tomorow.
Any one got any advice on adjusting the sprue cutter or just do it until it feels right?


survivalists Dad

[Bret4207]

Some sprue plates seem to run tighter or looser than others. The general recommendation is that the screw be tightened until the plate will just slide of it's own weight when flopped sideways. Then you tighten the set screw and it's supposed to be good. In practice I tend to run mine a little tighter than that, but not much. I also flatten and sharpen all my sprue plates.

[STP22]

It may take a spell to determine how much tension that sprueplate set screw needs. I`ve resorted to mix and matching from other moulds to get that solved. I`ve learned to strip any mould I get and check for light between the blocks, correct it if needed, then do a first casting session. It tends to work well.