Current Verdict on Lyman Molds???

[Suo Gan]

Is Lyman getting their act together with their molds? Can anyone weigh in that has bought a new mold in the last six months or so? The 314299 is speaking to me, but I would like it to be round :roll:. Thanks

[Butler Ford]

Had a 311041 delivered 3 weeks ago. Looked great, cast great, 3rd cast were keepers. Having a great session till about 300 bullets then mold quit closing completely, wiped everything down checked for lead between halves all was well. Could use some force to get molds to close but also required force to open. (I cast with heavy glove and cut sprue by hand). Sent it back to Lyman last week.
This mold was cleaned and lubed properly.
Great bullets, cast about .311 with my alloy.

[StarMetal]

Like I've said before ordered a 266469 this year and was way undersized. Sent it back and they sent me another new one. Barely makes .265 bullets so is still undersized. I give up at that point.

Joe

[muzzleblast]

I can't speak to any new rifle molds, but I have bought two new Lyman 4 cavity pistol molds from Midsouth in the past six months; a 429421 and a 356637. Both cast over groove diameter and the bullets almost jump out of the cavities. I am very happy with each of the molds.

[John Boy]

There was a Group Buy of 100 Ideal 375166 molds that were produced in April 2009. They were dead nuts on the CAD schematic with a calculated alloy weight at 1:20. The mold casts perfect bullets. Do the bullets shoot good groups? Here's a 200 yd target - you be the judge ...
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd220/Meadowmucker/Targets/Ideal%20375166/IMGP0320.jpg
And I have 5 other targets... same bullet - 2 different powders at 100-200 (each less than MOA) and 300yd (just over MOA for one and opened up with the 2nd powder)

In my inventory of 46 molds, I have 10 Lyman and 15 Lee's. I have never contacted Lyman about a bad mold but I have been on the phone with John Lee and Pat, one of the engineers, about bad molds. They have replaced 2 and I even sent another one back that ''They Lost" which was a special run and refused to replace.

I believe that most of the issues with any vendors' mold is the caster and not the mold. Sure, their will be exceptions but let's put it in proper context for the small number of molds produced verses ... a crib manufacturer that just recalled several million cribs that were built with a safety hazard and here is the list for Toyota Truck recalls ... http://www.autobuyguide.com/toyota/05-aut/trucks/recalls/index.html

So, are we talking about trying to pick fly sh*t out of a small pile of pepper with a small number of mold production exceptions and not considering the concept of materiality?

[canyon-ghost]

Here's where you get one that was made in 2007: http://hollowpointmold.com/forsale/

If you haven't met Erik Ohlen, he's a good man, does excellent work and will even trade with you. I have 3 molds that I acquired from him, one obsolete Ideal for my 7mm. The main page tells about the hollowpoint service, the For Sale button is at the bottom of the page. You can get him on e-mail usually on weekends.
Main page: http://hollowpointmold.com

This is my personal recommendation, hope it helps.
Ron

[Jack Stanley]

Haven't bought one in the last six months but it has been within ten months . I bought five molds , four were out of round by a few thousanths , none of the cavities on the two , four cavity molds came close to each other . Two of the two cavity molds were the same number and I got four different sizes and weights from them , all undersize .

The one mold that was round and made good bullets was undersize for what I wanted but it is big enough to use in thirty caliber .

Lyman ???? Naahhhh .... If they send a mold to try "before the buy" I may go for another . But I ain't taking the chance with them again for a very long time .

Jack

[Tazman1602]

Is Lyman getting their act together with their molds? Can anyone weigh in that has bought a new mold in the last six months or so? The 314299 is speaking to me, but I would like it to be round :roll:. Thanks

Haven't bought one recently but have five and am very happy with all of them..........now Lyman customer service lately leaves something to be desired. Been trying to get them to ship me some parts for a 450 sizer for a month now. Every time I call they tell me the order is ready to ship but don't understand why it hasn't and "we'll get right on that".

....meanwhile a new RCBS Lubrisizer showed up at my door a week ago, don't know why they can't provide better service for parts but they aren't alone in that aspect.

Art

[walker77]

Last month i bought a 429421, actually i had to return 3 molds till i finally got one that would cast in spec.

[geargnasher]

I have a new 358665 that is out of round and way under, a 452374hp that was the same, and a 454190 that makes .453" but round. All purchased in the last 8 months and made within the last year based on QC date note in mould box. I could go on. My older (10+ year) old Lymans work great. I have not bought a new one in 3 months.

Gear

[Tom W.]

I know one mold isn't a lot to judge by, but I won't have another. I just don't like them. RCBS OTOH....built like a tank!

[geargnasher]

I know one mold isn't a lot to judge by, but I won't have another. I just don't like them. RCBS OTOH....built like a tank!

I know. I wish I hadn't invested so heavily in Lyman moulds and, more importantly, mould handles in past years. I guess I'll have to bite the old boolit and get some RCBS handles and invest anew with their mould repertoir. Been thinking of doing this for a while.

I like my older Lyman and Ideal stuff, though.

Gear

[geargnasher]

Is Lyman getting their act together with their molds? Can anyone weigh in that has bought a new mold in the last six months or so? The 314299 is speaking to me, but I would like it to be round :roll:. Thanks


Something just occured to me, why don't you call Lyman and tell them exactly what you said above? As a customer you have the right to ask about product specifications, production tolerances, and guarantees before buying.

In my experience they have only gotten worse, but it's probably a **** shoot. I think there is something wrong with their boring vise or it's operator, I think they aren't cleaning the chips from between the blocks like they should and the moulds are undersized perpendicular to the parting line. I actually fixed the 358665 with 2 layers of Beagling tape (one on each block) which made ww boolits round and .3585 when just frosted and .359" when run a bit cooler. I couldn't do much to fix the awful machining grooves, the cherries they're using must be completely worn out.

Gear

[jameslovesjammie]

I bought a Lyman 401638 about a year ago that was made the month before it arrived at my door. It drops .403x.406. Rather than go through the hassle of sending it back, I just size them down. They do fit the barrel as cast, tumble lubed though.

[knappy]

Is Lyman getting their act together with their molds? Can anyone weigh in that has bought a new mold in the last six months or so? The 314299 is speaking to me, but I would like it to be round :roll:. Thanks

Suo Gan
I just got a Lyman 414299 mold 5 weeks ago and it is going great, good full boolits that shoot well in my 303 and 7.62x 54 nagant.

[cbrick]

Two new Lyman molds in the past couple of months.

Lyman # 311332 casts CWW + 2% at .310" and round @ 186 gr. (marked weight is 180 gr)

Lyman # 311672 casts the same alloy with the base band slightly out of round but at .310" to .311" @ 162 gr. (marked weight is 160 gr)

Both molds cast a great bullet that fall out of the mold.

Rick

[casterofboolits]

Purhased two four cavity 452664 45C-250-RFBB. Both moulds cast at 453/454 and all cavities drop at 250 grain plus/minus .5 grains and size perfectly at 452. Before that I purchased two four cavity 401636 40-175-TCBB and they drop boolits at 175/176 grains 403/404 dia. The alloy I use is basicly Lyman #2.

Boolits fall free with no sticking or problems of any kind. Fill out is excellent for all four moulds.

I haven't counted lately, but have over 60 Lyman four cavity pistol moulds. Some pairs like my 38-158-RNPB have cast close to a million boolits and still going strong. That said, I have not used any Lyman rifle boolit moulds, which may be different animals.

My experience with Lyman moulds has been nothing but positive. YMMV