Why do molds have no more than 6 cavities.

[ontarget0311]

Hello new guy here.

I am looking in to casting my own bullets some time in the (hopefully) near future. I have been giving some thought to making my own molds. I have observed that 6 cavity molds are the highest number of cavities available. Is there any reason for this. Is there any reason not to make a mold with 10 cavities to increase production.

[imashooter2]

Larger molds have been made in the past. H&G made 8's and 10's. The more cavities, the more difficult to maintain consistency. The molds also start to get very heavy and so fatigue limits production runs.

[theperfessor]

Agree w/imashooter2. I've got a wonderful old 10 cavity H & G #258 for .41 mag and an 8 cavity in .45. Both make great bullets, takes a while to heat 'em up and after an hour or two you've gotten in your exercise for the day.

Five or six cavity aluminum molds seem about right to me when you balance production rate against fatigue.

[fredj338]

As noted, 8cav molds have been made, but there is a point of diminishing returns. It takes time to fill them, as the mold heats up, the bullets takes longer to setup. I think you can mkae just as many bullet/hr w/ a 4cav as an 8cav. I have a Lyman 4cav, weighs enought that I don't want to cast much after an hour. The Lee 6cav are very light & prodcue a good supply of bullets quickly. The 8cav iron molds went by the way side for a reason.

[ontarget0311]

Thank you for shedding some light on this issue.:idea:

[dromia]

NOE has just done a .22" 10 cavity mould, its slightly unwieldly due to its depth an two sprue plates under the pot but when I get going it throws out boolits.

I like multi cavity moulds as with the aches and pains of old age getting to me I can only cast for about an hour at a time so multi cavity give my usueful amounts of boolits in the short time I can cast for.

I have a four cavity Lyman and it is as heavy as I'd want a mould to be.

[JeffinNZ]

Your average smelting pot can't keep up with the 10 holers. HAHA.

[Edubya]

I have a H&G 9mm 10 cavity and it weighs 6lbs. Yeah, I know that it weighs a lot after one hour of casting but that hour turns out 20 lbs of boolits.
EW

[fredj338]

I have a H&G 9mm 10 cavity and it weighs 6lbs. Yeah, I know that it weighs a lot after one hour of casting but that hour turns out 20 lbs of boolits.
EW

If everything is going right, I can get right at 1000 bullets from a 6cav Lee, about 19#. I think there is a balance in time vs quantity. It takes 33% more time to fill the 10cav mold vs the 6cav. So you get more bullets per pour, but it takes longer to fill. With my Magma Caster, I can do a bit more than 420/hr but I can pull the lever for hours.:bigsmyl2:
I would really like Lee to offer a 4cav in the same design as the 6cav. I think your production would be about the same, you oculd fill the mold faster. They won't consider it though.

[hammerhead357]

I use a lot of H & G 8 and 10 cavity moulds. I use heat sinks to rest them on under the casting pots. The only time I pick them up is to move them from or to the preheater. I used to be able to cast 2000 boolits per hour using 2 of the 10 cavity moulds. I also have premelt pots that are fed with old linotype pig mould feeders. I just don't need to cast this fast anymore but still use the same set up.
Not very tiring if you don't have to lift the mould. The main problem for me is standing for extended periods of time. If I were still casting as a commercial caster I would want all 8 and 10 cavity moulds. Oh yes I did have an auto caster but didn't like the way it banged up the boolits so quit using it and just used the 2 mould method.
I would like to try out the Magma master caster some time...Wes

[sagamore-one]

I normally run 2 big moulds at a time to increase productivity. While one is setting up I work the other. I have 20 plus H&G 6,8,and 10 bangers.
In my humble experience... pistol boolits cast from 6,8,and 10 cavity moulds are MORE uniform, much more, than those cast from 4, 2, or single cavity moulds. Once you establish a casting "rythem" it is difficult to make a bad boolit from one of these big uns. Also.. using two big moulds at a time seems to be much gentler on the equipment . Just ask any one who has purchased a used mould from me.
The H&G gang moulds are works of art. Each mould was built to outlast several generations of casters.

[deltaenterprizes]

I normally run 2 big moulds at a time to increase productivity. While one is setting up I work the other. I have 20 plus H&G 6,8,and 10 bangers.
In my humble experience... pistol boolits cast from 6,8,and 10 cavity moulds are MORE uniform, much more, than those cast from 4, 2, or single cavity moulds. Once you establish a casting "rythem" it is difficult to make a bad boolit from one of these big uns. Also.. using two big moulds at a time seems to be much gentler on the equipment . Just ask any one who has purchased a used mould from me.
The H&G gang moulds are works of art. Each mould was built to outlast several generations of casters.

Why do Scutzenfest shooters use single cavity molds?
The first cavity cut is perfect the others are a close copy due to tool wear and heat generated during the cutting process.

[sagamore-one]

My post was based on my experience with pistole boolits, as was stated .
The long skinny rifle boolits may indeed be more uniform from a single cavity mould as opposed to a multi cavity mould, but my experience with rifle boolits is limited and I don't recall seeing any 6,8,or 10 cavity rifle moulds for sale to gain experience with them. I can only speak of my experience.

[hammerhead357]

sagamore-one what moulds do you have? what is for sale??????Wes

[jdgabbard]

My post was based on my experience with pistole boolits, as was stated .
The long skinny rifle boolits may indeed be more uniform from a single cavity mould as opposed to a multi cavity mould, but my experience with rifle boolits is limited and I don't recall seeing any 6,8,or 10 cavity rifle moulds for sale to gain experience with them. I can only speak of my experience.

Other then the GBs for the .312 160g 2R Lee, I haven't either. But would suspect that they are close enough. If I were shooting 1000m yeah, I'd think I'd worry about it. But the 300m I shoot at, I bet they'd do me just fine.

Pistol boolits on the other hand are a different story all together. If their within say, 4% weight of each other, at the 25m we typically shoot at there is going to be little difference.

I think distance of the shot has more to do with what is acceptable and what isnt...

[pan957]

I have an old 7 cavity .38/.357 Ideal wadcutter mold that I rescued from a gunshow 15 years ago for $25. Those were the days.....................