newbie with newbie mould ques

[Chapped Lips]

this is a little overwhelming for a guy who has been purely a jacketed bullet assembly'r for rifles ......99.99% of the time.....bear with the aggravating, typical *** ques.....
so i'm look'n at the Lee moulds for my three 44 SPL's.....model 24,624 and 696 and hopefully soon a new blackhawk in 44 SPL....all 6 cavity aluminum...
TL430-240-SWC
C429-240-SWC
429-200-RF
429-240-2R
does Lee offer an aluminum 429421?....i don't see one listed on midway with those numbers.....

plus for my 3screw ruger in 45 colt, a couple of 1911's and a LAR griz in 45 win mag,the Lee ....
TL452-230-2R
452-200-RF
452-230-TC
does Lee offer anthing close to the scovill RCBS 45-270-SAA?

i'm going with Lee in order to gather a collection rapidly (cost) and just in case i don't get swept away with all this "silver-grey" magic....

any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated....

and is it "mold" or "mould" ?

[462]

Chapped Lips,
Welcome!

You can try Lee's web-site, but I don't think they make copies of those two MOULDS.

Others write molds.

Edited to add: Make sure you read the Leementing stickies.

[runfiverun]

the 429421 mold is a lyman, one mold company rarely ofers anothers design.
and believe me, i wish rcbs would cut lyman molds. and that i could have some rcbs designs in lyman blocks.
the rcbs is well an rcbs, the closest is a lyman 454424.
molds are like jaxketed, similar, but rarely the same design or construction.
and either spelling is correct.

[Buckshot]

................Welcome to the board Chapped Lips, and we're glad to have ya. I wouldn't gather a bunch of moulds (of any make) right away. Revolters respond to the same very basic things so far as cast lead is concerned as any other firearm, but they can have a special wierdness to them. You're dealing with a fixed barrel, but have a cylinder containing 6 chambers rotating behind it, plus the boolit has to make a leap of faith from the chamber mouth to the barrel.

I'd spend a bit of time with some soft lead and each one recording the chamber mouth ID's and also the barrel dimensions so you can see what you're dealing with. If you have a mould for each caliber simply cast up 10 soft lead slugs for each revolver. To do the chambers drive a slug through each one (get a 3/8" hardwood dowel to drive the slug with) and record the OD of each slug. You might have to upset the boolit in your vise a smidge to fatten them up.

To do the barrel cut another piece of the hardwood dowel just long enough to fit into the window and sit on the recoil shield. Then place a piece of 1x1 under it so it's up in the bore a ways. Then drive a slug into the barrel from the muzzle (use a brass hammer, or be VERY carefull if it's steel) with another piece of the dowel, until it hits the other piece of dowel. Give it a couple smacks to upset it. Drive it out and mic it. If they have 5 groove barrels just do the best you can measuring[smilie=l:

Getting these dimensions isn't something that's really wildly exciting, but knowing what you're dealing with can sure make your life a whole lot more fun when you begin shooting cast lead through'em. Cast lead is nowhere near as forgiving to the odd thousandth of an inch being missing as a jacketed slug is. However once you get things nailed down there won't be much the lead slug won't do that the jacketed one can.

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

[Chapped Lips]

thanx,guys.....guess i need to sit back and take a deep breath....not let my enthusiasm run amuck....these "leementing " files...are they found in a specific location or just scattered thru each discussion forum?....i see the sticky at the beginning of this forum.

[Wayne Smith]

Chapped, yes, that's the sticky. If you are willing, while you sit back and breathe, do some searches here and read old posts. You will find most of your questions answered and a lot more raised. Some of them will be answered, too, but you will find out which ones only Dr. Gun will answer as you shoot.

Fit is king - the fit of the boolit to the bore and to the cylinder mouth. If your revolers have cylinders smaller than the bore you have some problems that boolits will have a difficult time handling. If your dimensions are correct you are good to go. Buckshot is right, start with one gun and master that one, than move on to another.

[Chapped Lips]

thanx again,guys!....i've been reload'n/assemby'n for a spell...started when i was 14....stopped when i entered the service in '68 and just cudn't get back into the shoot'n/hunt'n scene til 87-88....rediscovered my passion for firearms and with the help of some friends finally got back into hunt'n....but 99% long guns....
been reading like a dinky dau madman to catch up and the bullet to bore fit is something i understand as being a vital,critical element of cast loading and successful downrange performance.....
so,please excuse any repetitive ques that have been covered in the past....it's not that i won't do the research....it's just that there's so much info out there that i'm afraid there may not be enuf time left inside my hide to acquire and understand and then apply that data!
this ain't simply MELT....POUR....SHOOT.....

[Buckshot]

please excuse any repetitive ques that have been covered in the past....it's not that i won't do the research....it's just that there's so much info out there that i'm afraid there may not be enuf time left inside my hide to acquire and understand and then apply that data!


............Please don't think that anyone will give you grief for asking a question, regardless how often it's been asked. However there is a HUGE amount of information is past posts, the "Classics and Stickies" forum, and also at our other website, Castpics which is at: http://www.castpics.net/

There is no interactive forum there. It's kind of an information storage place that was started about 12 years ago.

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

[Chapped Lips]

thanx to all....been immersed in the "classics & stickies"....been scrounging lead too...ordered 3 lyman moulds while they were on sale...2 cavities...figured they mite be more forgiving (1) than mulitples & (2) than aluminum....and (3) this thing called "rthymn"....buckshot,thanx for link-thot that was just a site for proud parents posting pics of their "young"...