Whats the best mould?

[PMK]

Im starting out trying to shoot bullsey, and im a old caster, but only for play and not for accuracy. Up unitill now lee tumble lube boolits have been fine, but not any more. I have been told that Hensley and Gibbs are the best? Whats your opinion? Is there any molds that are as good? How about SAECO, It would be nice if a reasoably price mould was good. Im looking for a .357 wad cutter and something in 10 mm semi wc, and eventualy 45acp.

[Murphy]

PMK, Hensley and Gibbs ( H&G ) have been out of business for years now. About the only way to come by one of the H&G moulds is to luck out here on the boards, or go to Ebay.

As for other options by company names, I have zero experience with casting wad cutter's. I know you can usually find a few Lyman 4 cavity moulds on Ebay that cast a wad cutter bullet.

Good luck on your search for a mould and happy shooting.

Respectfully,

Murphy

[Lloyd Smale]

H&G molds are now sold under the name =ballistic cast= There top shelf molds.

[Blackwater]

PMK, one of the better target wadcutters for the .45 ACP is probably the RCBS 201 gr. SWC. At least that's what a buddy who used to be seriously into bullseye has told me. It has a single lube groove, which may tend to allow a little experimenting with OAL to find your best feeding and shooting load, which could be an asset.

Actually, most any mould can give really consistent bullets, even the cheap Lees. You just have to experiment with the temps and alloys to get your consistency with any given mould up to snuff. The main question which bullet shoots best in YOUR individual gun, and that'll always just take actual field testing. If I were in your shoes, and wanted a reasonably priced mould to start with, I think I'd give that RCBS 201 my initial efforts, though. FWIW?

[anachronism]

Ballisticast bought the rights to market the H&G mould designs, they did not buy the Hensley & Gibbs name. It is not the same company, they're just licensed to manufacture & sell the designs. Many companies duplicate the H&G designs. SAECO makes excellent moulds too, and are my preferred brand for precision work. Their prices are closer to reasonable than the custom & semi-custom makers like Ballisticast & LBT.

[fecmech]

Im starting out trying to shoot bullsey, and im a old caster, but only for play and not for accuracy. Up unitill now lee tumble lube boolits have been fine, but not any more. I have been told that Hensley and Gibbs are the best? Whats your opinion? Is there any molds that are as good? How about SAECO, It would be nice if a reasoably price mould was good. Im looking for a .357 wad cutter and something in 10 mm semi wc, and eventualy 45acp.

PMK--Bullseye is pretty much a precision shooting event, at least the slowfire portion which is 1/3 of the total score. Timed and rapid fire constitute the other 2/3rds and the 10 rings are sized cosiderably bigger( approx3.25"@25yds). So while accuracy is important, the name on the mold is not that important in your score. The 3 most important things to remember in bullseye are 1. sight alignment, 2. sight alaignment and 3. trigger control. IMO bullet mold mfgr might be 19th on the list. I have not shot the Lee tumble lube bullet in .38 but have shot their 230 tl tc out of my .45 wad gun and it will stay under 3"@50yds which is less than the 50yd 10 ring dia. My .45 does it's best work with the Lyman 452460(200gr swc) and the Saeco 185 swc, the H&G #68 is not quite as good but very close. The old H&G molds are excellent molds , I own a few and they are my favorites for casting, but not having one will not keep you out of the Master Class. Shoot the game for a while with what you have. If you have accurate guns the Lee and Lyman molds can carry you a long way, maybe all the way if you don't let it get in your head! Good Luck Nick

[Murphy]

Lloyd, thanks for info. Wasn't aware that Balisticast had taken up the line.

Respectully,

Murphy

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

the best mold is on stale bread. We get penicillin from it, and it saved millions of lives.

:>)

Rich

[Scrounger]

the best mold is on stale bread. We get penicillin from it, and it saved millions of lives.

:>)

Rich

Must be CarpetMan's 'Other Brother'....

[Buckshot]

...............PMK, welcome to the board. Moulds, good, better, best? Most accurate for my gun? I sure can't say. I have the Lee 6 cavity to cast their TL design, which for me in my K-38 is plinking accurate. It's attraction is acceptable accuracy for general stuff and practice where it's also good enough to let you know who's at fault. I can cast a go-zillian and have'm lubed and in the can in no time.

I've cast up, and have been able to shoot WC designs from other folks from many different moulds and makers. How many different ways can you make a WC :-) I've not been able to find, or to see much difference between ANY conventional lube groove design cast boolit in which one is consistantly better then another.

One that I have become very satisfied with is the Lee 358-148WC and these come out of a 6 cavity mould. I now cast them up from pure lead. They get Tumble Lubed and are loaded unsized. I don't bother doing anything to them other then a modest visual inspection when loading.

To be honest though, I think that commercial swaged HB WC may be the ultimate 38 Bullseye boolit for stiff competition. I have never bought any to compare to my own cast results though.

I did make some though 8). I made up a swage die to put a HB, and if desired a HP on lead WC's. I will admit to them not being anything extra special in my K-38. However I had a blued Victory model S&W in 38 S&W and it made it do everything except sit up and give buttermilk.

http://www.fototime.com/48343BFA434AB36/standard.jpg
Before the pistol would keep 10 rounds inside the 8 ring. Putting a HB in the slug resulted in this.

I would buy a mould from some maker whose design floats your boat. Inspect rigidly and scale them for competition. Size if necessary to please your pistol and lube only the bottom groove. Also buy a sample amount from those offering swaged soft, and swaged HB designs to compare to.

.....................Buckshot