Hensley & Gibbs 503S, 503SX .44 Mould Comparison

[Texasflyboy]

I recently acquired a new style of #503, a 503SX 4 cavity mould. It's a late production mould (thick handles, with serial number). I have surmised that the design is the Keith .44 bullet, (503) heavy ("S" @ ~290 grains) with an eXperimental change to a thicker front driving band and shorter extended base. This experimental design appears to move more of the bullet weight outside of the case.

The photos are descriptions are for those interested in the Keith designs. For comparative purposes, I included photos of a "standard" 503S combo mould, which is a 4 cavity mould that has two different cavity styles, two cavities are the standard 503 design, and two are the 503S extended base design which brings the weight up to around ~290 grains. Note that in the combo mould, the front driving band is noticeably thinner than in the 503SX mould.

I invite comments regarding the designs and the intent behind the 503SX design change.

Merry Christmas to all....

The photos:

First....the original 503S combo 4 cavity mould:

http://hgmould.gunloads.com/molds/503SX/503SX2.jpg


And for comparison, the newly acquired 503SX 4 cavity mould with the thicker front driving band and shorter extended base:

http://hgmould.gunloads.com/molds/503SX/503SX3.jpg


The three projectile designs side by side for comparison and labeled:

http://hgmould.gunloads.com/molds/503SX/503SX1.jpg

The same photo, as a hyperlink, without any labels:

503SX Unlabeled photo (http://hgmould.gunloads.com/molds/503SX/503SX5.jpg)


The three different cavity designs side by side for comparative purposes:

http://hgmould.gunloads.com/molds/503SX/503SX4.jpg


Both Moulds side by side for comparison (Large High Res File >3MB):


503S & 503SX Blocks side by side (http://hgmould.gunloads.com/molds/503SX/503SX6.jpg)


And the edge delineation for the profiles. Notice the 2X denser venting on the 503SX, I would guess that is also part of the eXperimentation. Easy to see the larger driving band on the 503SX:

http://hgmould.gunloads.com/molds/503SX/503SX7.jpg

[GLL]

Thank you for a great presentation ! :)

Jerry

[Mk42gunner]

Never having cast for a .44; here are my comments.

I like the looks of the front driving band on th e 503SX better than the others. I would guess that if that cherry were used to make a standard length bullet cavity it would weigh right at 250 grains; which I believe was Elmer's design weight.

I remember reading somewhere that Lyman shortened the front band so their version of the bullet could chamber in more guns. True or false, I don't think anyone can prove it now.

The 503S mold, with two lengths of the same bullet gives good production of a standard weight and a heavy weight at the same time. I think this could be a decent idea; if a person doesn't mind adjusting his sights.


Robert

[Edubya]

Excellent picture presentation and I would love to try out the moulds. Almost envious.
I am by no means an expert on EK designs, but Glen Fryxell could come along and straighten this out. I believe that EK wanted equal band widths.
EW

[Changeling]

Texasflyboy, that was a really nice presentation. The fantastic photos leave nothing to the viewers imagination relative to what exactly the bullets look like. This is a rarity but it shouldn't be.

I'm really new to getting involved with casting my own bullets, however right or wrong I do know what I like.
FYIW this is what I would want. The 503 SX mold with the same 4 cavities, personally I would rather have a 2 cavity mold because that would give me plenty of bullets, 2 cavities of 250 (WW), and 2 cavities 285 gr (WW). I would remove some of the base and transfer it to the front driving band and expand the grease groove some. If it didn't drop bullets correctly I would work with a new radius to the grease groove. To "me" the bullets as they are seem to be poorly balanced.

Now before anyone crams there opinion down my throat remember he asked for everyones opinion, this was mine, LOL.

However you have induced me to get a good camera and learn how to use it, another guy here "Gll"
posted some beautiful photos also, it just makes things so much clearer accompanied by an explanation. Thank you for the post.

[sagamore-one]

I have owned several 503 moulds over the years. Strange , but the bullets from one would not always fit into another mould , even if both were stamped 503.
The mould I ended up keeping has the wider front driving band, and all three bands are equal in width, and drops at 250 gr in Lyman # 2 alloy.
It is one of my "keeper" moulds.

[imashooter2]

I love that nice strong base band on the 290 grain version.