Ben
07-24-2006, 12:47 PM
Recently I acquired a Lyman Ideal 38 / 40 mold. It was rusted ( although not bad...) , and coated with dirt, and old grease. Basically filthy. I had almost talked myself out of even trying to clean it up and cast from it. I spent about 2 hrs. cleaning the mold this morning. Once it was clean and totally degreased, I noticed some very light rust pitting inside the mold. I used the old trick of spinning a bullet at slow speed with a cordless drill with some fine valve grinding compound to smooth everthing up. Worked GREAT ! !
I'm well pleased with the results. I looked up my mold in an old Lyman listing of their molds., I was able to find a 401043, but not my mold which is a 400 43. The 401043 is listed at 175 grs. With W/W and a " touch of TIN " , mine are weighing 176.4 grs. So I assume it must be the same mold. My bullets are within .0003 of being perfectly round. Anyone have an educated guess as to the age of this mold ? ?
Here are some photos:
In this 1st photo, that is dust and lint particles that you see inside the mold cavity. The cavity is very clean now.
It is hard to tell a book just by it's cover......
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/38%2040%20Bullet%20mold/4445.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/38%2040%20Bullet%20mold/4446.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/38%2040%20Bullet%20mold/4447.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/38%2040%20Bullet%20mold/4448.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/38%2040%20Bullet%20mold/4449.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/38%2040%20Bullet%20mold/44420.jpg
The bullets are measuring .4027
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/38%2040%20Bullet%20mold/44411.jpg
I'm well pleased with the results. I looked up my mold in an old Lyman listing of their molds., I was able to find a 401043, but not my mold which is a 400 43. The 401043 is listed at 175 grs. With W/W and a " touch of TIN " , mine are weighing 176.4 grs. So I assume it must be the same mold. My bullets are within .0003 of being perfectly round. Anyone have an educated guess as to the age of this mold ? ?
Here are some photos:
In this 1st photo, that is dust and lint particles that you see inside the mold cavity. The cavity is very clean now.
It is hard to tell a book just by it's cover......
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/38%2040%20Bullet%20mold/4445.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/38%2040%20Bullet%20mold/4446.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/38%2040%20Bullet%20mold/4447.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/38%2040%20Bullet%20mold/4448.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/38%2040%20Bullet%20mold/4449.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/38%2040%20Bullet%20mold/44420.jpg
The bullets are measuring .4027
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/38%2040%20Bullet%20mold/44411.jpg