44-40 mold

[fwm]

My son loves shooting an Uberti 1866 carbine in 44-40. I’m a new caster 2 sessions so far. I’m looking to get a mold for this cartridge. I’m leaning toward a Lee for economy. My question is 2 cavity or 6. One of my casting sessions was with Lee 312 155gr I’m using for my 30 cal rifles. It went well and I was impressed with ease of use and production for low cost. Is a 6 cavity any more difficult to use? We may shoot 500 rounds a year through that carbine at most. Feedback appreciated.

[Thundermaker]

This isn't the answer you're looking for, but save yourself some headache and get one from accurate. Yes, it costs a lot more, but there's a reason for that. I bought the one from lee, and it was undersized and out of round.

[Finster101]

When choosing a mold I generally one with the most cavities available, especially pistol calibers.

[Froogal]

My son loves shooting an Uberti 1866 carbine in 44-40. I’m a new caster 2 sessions so far. I’m looking to get a mold for this cartridge. I’m leaning toward a Lee for economy. My question is 2 cavity or 6. One of my casting sessions was with Lee 312 155gr I’m using for my 30 cal rifles. It went well and I was impressed with ease of use and production for low cost. Is a 6 cavity any more difficult to use? We may shoot 500 rounds a year through that carbine at most. Feedback appreciated.

I got the Lee 2 cavity, 200 grain, RNFP, .429 diameter. Smoked it per instructions and commenced to making bullets. First few bullets got recycled, and then I easily made about 200 more perfect bullets. I like the 2 cavity because of the price, and also because it sets nicely on top of the Lee lead pot for heating the mold.

[fwm]

Thanks for replies so far. My 2 casting sessions so far we’re with a Lyman single cavity mold and the Lee 2 cavity. I was impressed with the Lee for the cost. I made a couple hundred quality boolits boolits dropped from the mold fine unlike the Lyman that I had to pound the handles multiple times. My technique may have been a factor and the mold might need some work I’m not sure. I’ll check out other molds mentioned.

[Wayne Smith]

If you are going to go with Lee get the six cavity, it's head and shoulders a better mold. I agree that Accurate, NOE, or Mihec molds are much taller than head and shoulders better, but that's up to fwm. Money does matter, after all.

[Randy Bohannon]

Accurate mould #43-215C or 43-230E specifically for the 44-40 WCF . Your rifle has modern .44 cal . groove @ .429”-.30” or thereabouts . Bullet sizing will depend on brass used, you want the fattest bullet that will chamber with whichever brass you use. 44-40 WCF lever gun chambers are not over sized like .45 Colt chambers in the same gun so your bullet will likely be a good fit.

[fwm]

Great info so far. I’m loading .428 and .430 200gr commercial cast bullets. Both chamber and fire fine from Winchester brass. The .430 are a little more accurate but not by much.

[Hick]

All my experience is with 2-cavity molds-- which I find to be plenty unless you shoot many thousands each season. In my 44-40 I shoot the Lee 429-200-RF. I have Lyman, Ideal, Lee, SAECO, RCBS and NOE molds-- but 75% of my molds are Lee aluminum molds. I typically cast around 500 per mold each winter and have never had a problem with quality of the boolits out of a Lee Mold. I've seen the posts where people say Lee molds are bad but have not had a problem.

[Larry Gibson]

My son loves shooting an Uberti 1866 carbine in 44-40. I’m a new caster 2 sessions so far. I’m looking to get a mold for this cartridge. I’m leaning toward a Lee for economy. My question is 2 cavity or 6. One of my casting sessions was with Lee 312 155gr I’m using for my 30 cal rifles. It went well and I was impressed with ease of use and production for low cost. Is a 6 cavity any more difficult to use? We may shoot 500 rounds a year through that carbine at most. Feedback appreciated.

I also favor the Lee 429-200-RF bullet for use in my 44-40s [M92 carbine and OM Vaquero]. I have both a 2 cavity which has served me well for several years and a couple thousand bullets and recently acquired a 6 cavity which I haven't cast with yet. I have numerous Lee moulds along with several GB Lee moulds, and got my first one for $5.95 many, many years ago. It still casts wonderful bullets. I've not had any problems with any Lee mould I've had or have. The 2 cavity mould would probably serve your purposes nicely.

BTW; I load the 200 gr cast bullets over 6 or 6.5 gr of 700X or Bullseye for 1150 - 1200 fps out of my carbine's 20" barrel. Very accurate, easy on brass and quite pleasant to shoot. The pressure is around 13 - 14,000 psi which is quite safe for your M73.

[wwmartin]

If you go with the Lee 6 cavity, a word of caution! They need to be up to casting temperature before filling all 6 cavity or you'll have trouble cutting the sprue. The same goes when mold cooling to long without cutting the sprue. I have both, and would recommend the 2 cavity unless you shoot high volume completion. I agree with Accurate being the better mold but being costume made it should be expected.
I had a hard time warning up to aluminum molds but I got over it.
Bill

[sharps4590]

As my shooting has evolved over time from competition to casual I've become more accepting of Lee molds. No, they aren't as good as any custom mold I have but they're also a lot less cost and, the bullets they make are more than adequate for killing rocks and paper. When I acquired another pair of 44-40's after a 35 year hiatus I bought Lee's 6 cavity. It's more than adequate and, as the arthritis doesn't like sitting for long casting sessions the 6 cavity simply makes my time more productive.

[fwm]

I also favor the Lee 429-200-RF bullet for use in my 44-40s [M92 carbine and OM Vaquero]. I have both a 2 cavity which has served me well for several years and a couple thousand bullets and recently acquired a 6 cavity which I haven't cast with yet. I have numerous Lee moulds along with several GB Lee moulds, and got my first one for $5.95 many, many years ago. It still casts wonderful bullets. I've not had any problems with any Lee mould I've had or have. The 2 cavity mould would probably serve your purposes nicely.

BTW; I load the 200 gr cast bullets over 6 or 6.5 gr of 700X or Bullseye for 1150 - 1200 fps out of my carbine's 20" barrel. Very accurate, easy on brass and quite pleasant to shoot. The pressure is around 13 - 14,000 psi which is quite safe for your M73.

Thanks I think I’m going to go with the 2 cavity Lee. The custom molds look great except for the price. For my purposes and budget I think the Lee 2 cavity is the answer. Larry what are you sizing at? I’ve been playing with Unique, Titegroup and Red Dot. Right now Red Dot is the winner. I’ll look for 700x it keeps coming up. Thanks everyone

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I used a 2 cav Lee 429-214 SWC (sized to .429) for loading on top of a charge of Unique, for a Marlin in 44-40
It worked well.

https://leeprecision.com/mold-dc-429-214-swc.html

[Larry Gibson]

Thanks I think I’m going to go with the 2 cavity Lee. The custom molds look great except for the price. For my purposes and budget I think the Lee 2 cavity is the answer. Larry what are you sizing at? I’ve been playing with Unique, Titegroup and Red Dot. Right now Red Dot is the winner. I’ll look for 700x it keeps coming up. Thanks everyone

I size at .430 and lube (BAC or 50/50 white Label lube) in a Lyman 450. I also cast them mostly soft of 16-1 alloy but have shot plenty of COWW +2% tin ones and even commercial cast.

[foesgth]

Another vote here for the Lee 200 grain mold if you are going to shoot smokeless loads. I powder coat and blast away!
However, if you have any thoughts about going to a black powder load you will find that the Lee bullet just doesn't carry enough lube. In that case I don't think you can do better than Accurate #43-215C. That big lube groove just can't be beat. I shoot them in my Marlin Cowboy and my Lightning.
Sometimes it is just fun to make all that smoke!

[Green Frog]

Just a note here, the 6 cavity Lee moulds were (and still are) made to higher standards and of better materials than the 2 cavity moulds of the old days. Rumor has it that the quality of work and material of the 2 cavity moulds have been improved... but I can't speak to that from first hand experience. The 6 cavity moulds though, new or old, deserve a look.

Froggie

[Calamity Jake]

If you want to add a little nostalgia to your mild collection then Lymen 427098 is the mold to have, it is the original Ideal design for the 44-40
I have one and my Uberti 1866 carbine copy loves it.
I also have Lyman 427666, another good one for the 44-40

[Walks]

Accurate, Arsenal & N.O.E. make fine aluminum molds. From previous experience, I would rather have one of those for production casting over a Lee any day of the week.

[Ohiomike]

Accurate mould #43-215C or 43-230E specifically for the 44-40 WCF . Your rifle has modern .44 cal . groove @ .429”-.30” or thereabouts . Bullet sizing will depend on brass used, you want the fattest bullet that will chamber with whichever brass you use. 44-40 WCF lever gun chambers are not over sized like .45 Colt chambers in the same gun so your bullet will likely be a good fit.

Thanks. Mike.

[rintinglen]

Get the 6 cavity LEE. You will find that culling the losers from an hours worth of casting from the 6 banger production will still leave you with hundreds of usable boolits, whereas the two-holer will leave an appreciably smaller number to use after you pick out the baddies. And there will be baddies.

With the 6 banger, start by pre-heating the mold, either on top of your pot or on a cheapie hot plate, Then, when you start fill only the first cavity farthest from the sprue handle, do that twice, then fill the two farthest and do that twice. Ignore the boolits, just fill and cast at a comfortable rate, allowing the sprue to just freeze before you cut and dump. Continue to fill the mold, increasing the number of cavities every other cast, until you are running on all 6. Then go to town, place an ingot or two on top of the pot to preheat and then you can prolong the sweet-spot production by adding more lead to the pot without having to pause and wait for the temperature to recover. You will easily make a year's worth of boolits in an afternoon, with time left for mowing a small lawn. {At least if you only plan on shooting 500 rounds a year.}

I tend to roll my eyes at some of the claims of casting excellence, with flawless boolits raining endlessly from their chosen molds. Well, sometimes it does happen that way. I have a 4 cavity 358-311 that casts like that, but I have about 100 others that don't and a couple that are just evil. Don't get discouraged if you have a few hickups, come on back and pick our brains. There are probably 10,000 years plus worth of collective experience here, somebody will have an answer.

[gwpercle]

I got the Lee 2 cavity, 200 grain, RNFP, .429 diameter. Smoked it per instructions and commenced to making bullets. First few bullets got recycled, and then I easily made about 200 more perfect bullets. I like the 2 cavity because of the price, and also because it sets nicely on top of the Lee lead pot for heating the mold.

Would like to add ... if you are getting up in age ( I'm 72 ) just normal getting old makes casting with a Custom (NOE in my case ) 4 cavity alumin. hard ... the NOE 4 cavity is heavy for an extended casting run and I'm not disabled ...just old ... The 2 cavity Lee moulds are such a joy to cast with , not near as much wear and tear on hands and arms ...and casting with a lyman ladle is easier with light Lee moulds . I sometimes cast with two Lee moulds , letting one cool while filling the other .
If you hands are aged ... think about weight .
I thought a 4 cavity NOE would be only twice as heavy as a 2 cavity Lee ...Whooo Boy was I wrong those custom moulds have a lot of metal in the blocks ...whatever you do watch out for Brass moulds ...they are Heavy-Heavy !
Gary