How are the recent Lyman molds?

[cabezaverde]

I am thinking about a new 4 cavity 358429. Has anyone bought any new Lyman molds recently?

I know they were running a lot of undersized molds a whle back. Have things improved?

Thanks for any input.

[leadhead]

JUNK
Denny

[mooman76]

Reports seem to be 50/50. Either they are good or they ain't.

[Colorado4wheel]

Mine is fine and not undersized. I did screw one up but that was my fault. Buy it from midway. They will take it back if you have a problem.

[cabezaverde]

Mine is fine and not undersized. I did screw one up but that was my fault. Buy it from midway. They will take it back if you have a problem.

Was it a 358429?

[kmag]

Bought one and have been using it for about 6 mo. Casts and shoots well for me.

[calaloo]

I just bought a 311008 that works great . it is a two cavity mould for the .32-20. Both cavities mold the same size and the bullets fall from the mould easily. I am very satisfied.

[lavenatti]

I bought one recently and returned it, one cavity was undersized and out of round.

[Colorado4wheel]

Was it a 358429?

356637

9mm 147 gr 4 Cavity, Round properly sized bullets.

[zdogk9]

Bought a 311041, about two months ago. It casts very well, the sprue plate had to be sharpened however. The cutting edge was a proud 1/32" flat or skinny 1/16" which made it impossible to get a good cut.

[casterofboolits]

Just purchased two of the Lyman 45-250-RNFP molds. Cast 1,800 Boolits and the boolits dropped at 249.5/250 grns for all eight cavities and size was 454.

Sized them to 452 in my Magma auto luber with no problems.

They do eat up the lube tho! I normally get 7,000 45-200-SWCBB per two inch by seven inch stick. These boolits look to get about 4,000 per stick! :violin:

I have close to 100 Lyman molds and the only ones to give me any trouble was the 09-147- TCBB.[smilie=w:

Fred

[captain-03]

I have several "good" one -- however, the last one I purchased 6 months ago was WAY undersized ..

[JeffinNZ]

The older Lyman moulds I have I like but the reality is from where I am positioned in the world it is a better option to buy CBE in terms of QUALITY, cost and design. I can't ever see me buying a new Lyman mould again.

[MtGun44]

The most recent Keith molds from Lyman that I have seen, and their pic on their web site
now show the flat bottomed ("square") lube groove. It seems like some time ago, maybe
3-5 yrs, they switched back to pretty much Elmer's original designs after drifting around
an AMAZING amount over the decades. You would not believe some of the molds that
have been marked as and sold as (and I guess technically they ARE) .429421's.

I have a brand new 225415 dual cav that looks great but I haven't tested it yet.

Bill

[RKJ]

I got the 429421 from Midway about 2 months ago and I love it. It drops .429 and makes a gorgeous bullet. It shoots very nice (I haven't really wrung the gun out yet but from what I've seen it's going to be good). The bullets drop out nice and crisp and clean. I'm new at this and don't really know if it is "true" Keith style but I'm very pleased and am looking forward to getting a 4 cavity for my .45.

I just read this and realized I sound just like a gushing teenager. :) I do like that mold though.

[7x57]

I have bought 2 Lyman moulds in the past year, a 356402 and a 452460, they have been great.

[rollingblock]

Every time I miss, it'll be that damn lyman mould.

[Mk42gunner]

I bought a 225438 dated 10-02 at a gun show, a 457122 dated 09-04 at Cabela's in KC, and a 257420 dated 02-10 from Midsouth. None have cast small with ACWW. The 457122 is so easy to cast with that I didn't understand the problems some people have using hollowpoint mods. The 257420 casts at .258+.

While I greatly prefer to see molds before I put my money down, from my experience, I will buy more Lyman molds via mail order. Of course this could change if I start getting undersized molds from them.

Robert

[knappy]

cabezaverde.
I have a lyman 314299 and a 266469 and they drop great lead to right size and weight, loaded a swag of boolits with them. had them for 6 months now

[Mal Paso]

I have 2 Lyman 429421s made Aug.09 and Oct. 09. They are identical and have the square lube groove. The drive bands decrease in diameter from the base forward. Lapping with a sized boolit has helped but they still cast wheel weight type alloy too small for my needs. Not quite 430 in WW alloy. I think Lyman's intention was to use linotype. Lapping also helped with the boolit drop. I am currently using a NOE 429421 and sizing .431 which is a better fit in My cylinders and gives me another 50 fps with the same load. I will eventually "fix" the Lyman molds but I think some of the vendors here make a better product.

[qajaq59]

The last Lyman I bought was about 3 years ago. It was undersize and had to go back. They fixed it, but I ended up paying the shipping. I'd been a Lyman fan for a lot of years before that. The next 2 came from Lee.

[excess650]

I bought the 311679 and 311644 over the past couple of months. Both cast round bullets of very similar dimensions from both cavities. I'm pleased with both.

I've also picked up a new Saeco #301 and can't measure the difference from cavity to cavity.

From Lee I got a 6 cavity 44-200RF and 452-230TC. The 44cal worked pretty well, but the 45 was too oversize and out of round(.006 OOR), so it went back. The alignment pins were too small for their mating sockets, so allowed the blocks to slide fore/aft. Their replacement may have the same issue, but I haven't cast with it. They cast with the first and last cavities, both were smoked, and reported them at .454".

My 8mm Maximum Lee double cavity was excellent! Likewise, a couple of Ranch Dog's from Lee were perfect.