First Mold Advice

[101VooDoo]

I've been thinking about casting my own for a while, but lack of time has kept me from pulling the trigger so to speak. As I'm retiring at the end of the year I figure its time to begin collecting the gear, and thought I'd start by buying some molds.

The Keith .32 115 grain and the 429421 Keith group buys were the two I'm looking at, and am thinking the RG4 would be the way to go with both molds. Casting either hollow point or solid and dropping 4 at a time seems like a no-brainer, but it can't be that simple.

Do you see any problem starting out with RG4 molds as a new caster, or should I get a regular cavity mold of some sort as well, to get the process down before trying the RG4s.

Thanks for any advice,

Jim

[462]

101VooDoo,
My philosophy is to start simple and move on to mass production after going through the initial growing pains. There are many things involved with casting, from the melt and mould temperatures, to the distance from the spout and mould (if you use a bottom pour pot), to the length of time required for the sprue to harden, to the cutting of the sprue, etc. A two-cavity mould makes the whole process much easier to learn. At least in my view...

P.S. The Century Series of planes were truly quite amazing. I spent a few years working on the F-100 Super Sabre. Seems like a century ago, too.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Hi and welcome to the forum. 462 has given you good advice and maybe I can add to it. Starting with a one or two cavity mold is the easiest way to learn, but once you have gotten the hang of it you'll want to go to the 4 holers to speed up production. You can always sell a mold that you no longer want or need. With all the variables and steps/procedures to observe, trying to begin with a 4 banger is more involved and can be frustrating. It has been done, but one has to be very patient. The molds that you have mentioned are good ones; a good mold is a joy to work with and will give you good service for a long time, so careful selection to start with is the only way to go. If you start with a 4 banger it would be better to have someone who knows casting help you to start with, or else keep asking questions here on the forum as you encounter problems...someone will always answer and help you no matter how many questions you have. I would seriously recommend doing some reading on casting...beginning with what you can search up-down below on "castpics" as well as something like the Lyman Handbook of Castbullets or Dean Grennell's "ABC's of Reloading or "The Art of Bullet Casting" still available thru Wolfe Publications. Start planning on acquiring good supplies of lead/Wheelweights or prepard metals, info on cleaning and maintaining molds, fluxing, lubricating and sizing....learn about equipment thru asking questions. That includes casting pots-bottom pours and ladling/dippers casting. Its a fascinating and captivating hobby, but you have to be able to do it right for it to be a source of satisfaction and pride for you. So dig in and welcome to the sickness. LLS

[101VooDoo]

Thanks for the suggestions, I kinda figured as much. Think I'll buy and stash the RG4s and pickup a two-cavity of something to cut my teeth on.

462 the 100-series were some elegant aircraft.

Jim

[Wayne Smith]

OK, you are loading/casting for .32 and .44. Have you any other calibers of interest? Are you loading for 44Special or for 44Mag? If for the Mag you might want to consider one of the 300gr range two cavity molds. 300-320gr is a mighty useful range for the 44Mag.

[hoosierlogger]

Aluminum molds are the only way to go for some folks and others hate them. I just started casting about 2 years ago and bought Lee molds. I like them, they heat up fast, are inexpensive, and throw good boolits. There are some downsides to them. The aluminum is a lot softer than steel and a little more unforgiving if accidentally dropped or fumbled. Lee wasnt doing a super job of quality control there for a little while, so some of them need to have a few simple steps preformed on them to get them up to 100%. Welcome to the forum, you should learn alot here.

By the way if you see something in the swapping and selling section that you want, buy it nothing usually lasts very long in there.

[Suo Gan]

Clean the mold before casting, use ww alloy with a spot of tin, and keep the pins hot with your low flame torch. It should not be too big a deal.

[101VooDoo]

Wayne, I load for .357 and .45 Colt/ACP and both.44 Special and Mag. I'm thinking I'll look for a two-cavity .45 Colt mold of some sort.

Jim

[HeavyMetal]

For a first timer I think I'll suggest an Iron 2 cavity mold.

Iron is very forgiving, easy to cast with and most have better than average quailty built in.

I will even suggest a mold? An RCBS 250-K for the 44 magnum!

I've had several of these molds and a brain dead chimpanzee could make good boolits with one of these molds, after he got stoned!

With this mold you will learn the basic's of casting without fighting a quality control issue you might not recognize through lack of experience.

Get one cast several thousand and then decide which molds you want to buy as well as having gotten the experieince to realize wether the problem your having is the mold, the alloy, or you!

Brake cleaner is your friend here along with a rinse of Dove dish soap and a splash of incredibley hot water before casting.

Several stickies here about mold preperation read them!

[docone31]

I started with Lee, and just plain like Lee molds.
You have to preheat them before casting, and when they come out of the box, soak them in mineral spirits overnight for the first casting session.
If you have issues with them dropping out easily, make some castings from the mold, with nuts on the sprues rather than cutting the sprue. Remove the castings, smear on some Lapping Compound, turn the nuts with a wrench untill they turn easily. Swap them around untill they all turn easily. This keeps the mold from getting an over sized chamber. A little deviation is ok, not major.
They shoot well, are inexpensive, and a good way to get your feet wet.
Wheel weight alloy works well in them, no tin needed.
Pick your mold, and go to town.

[crabo]

I'd go with the 4 cavity molds, but start with the flat nose pins. Once you get to shooting and casting those well, go to the hollowpoint. I wouldn't start with the hollowpoint pins.

I started with a 4 cavity and I don't feel like it hurt anything.

I would make sure I got a 20 pound pot to start with, you'll find out it is important for the larger cavity and multicavity molds.

[excess650]

I had an RCBS 32-98 SWC and it cast great! Unfortunately, I preferred the Lyman 311008 in my 32-20 and 32 H&R Mag.

There are lots of 429421s in circulation, and many are old Ideal or Lyman single cavity. Don't be afraid to try a SC before you move to a double or multi. Casting with a single will teach you the basics.:lovebooli

I have one of the group buy GB4 HP moulds, and it definitely takes a bit of technique to make the quality of bullets that I've come to expect. Its not that there is anything wrong with the mold, but it requires that you take more care when opening and closing, patience and practice...

As for the Lee molds, they do make some good ones, and lots of not so good. Generally their 6 cavity molds are their best work, and usually good quality. I've had some single and doubles that were very good. In particular, a Ranch Dog 375-235(?) and a 8mm Maximum that cast as well as any custom that I've used.

Check the trading post here for used molds.

[Bret4207]

I will suggest starting simple and going with a 1 or 2 cav mould. Iron tends to be a little easier than aluminum, but I started out with a single banger Lee and I turned okay...more or less.

Concentrate on making PERFECT boolits, not quantity. And if there's any secret it's learning the difference between pot temp and mould temp.

[101VooDoo]

Thanks for all the input - I'll pick up some of the smaller moulds to get started, before I attempt the RG4s.

Looks as if this money saving venture is going to cost me a fortune!

Jim

[geargnasher]

I will suggest starting simple and going with a 1 or 2 cav mould. Iron tends to be a little easier than aluminum, but I started out with a single banger Lee and I turned okay...more or less.

Concentrate on making PERFECT boolits, not quantity. And if there's any secret it's learning the difference between pot temp and mould temp.

Bret, that last part is IMO one of the most important and least talked about aspects of casting. With an aluminum mould, one can run the pot at 600 and the mould at 450 and get good fillout, but run the alloy at 900 and the mould at 150 and we get wrinkled boolits. Then everyone wants to blame the wrinkles on oil in the mould or not casting hot enough, when in fact the MOULD could be what isn't hot enough because casting rhythm is too slow, the user isn't preheating the mould enough.

101, I would focus on casting with as cool an alloy as I could but as hot a mould as possible with the cool alloy, which means a quick rhythm, 3-4 pours a minute with alloy at 600 works great for me, I can keep this up for hours without having to stop and let the mould cool, or the alloy heat up, and I get perfect fillout and light "frost" on the boolits after they cool some.

Gear

[Bret4207]

Well thanks Gear, not everyone gets it. In truth I only figured this out a few years back after countless casting sessions filled with wrinkled boolits and me pulling what little ahir I had left out. It's one of the very important things for noobs to get their mind wrapped around IMO.

[Bad Water Bill]

One more reason all of us beyond 50 do not want to think about is our muscles are as old as we are. If you start with a single cavity and get to the point where you can cast for over an hour without pain then try a 2 cavity. Your arms, back, legs and feet will thank you.

Yes getting old has it's drawbacks but it still but it still beats looking threw the dirt.

[geargnasher]

Bret, we all have to have our causes, one of yours is boolit fit, one of mine is mould/alloy temp. Perhaps we get across to folks once in a while and it helps them.

Gear

[Bret4207]

Well, I agree with both of us.

[qajaq59]

I certainly agree with the temps and especially the bullet fit. All my grief with shooting cast ended with that little chunk of knowledge.

[MtGun44]

As Bret says:

"Fit is king".

Believe it. There are many other things to learn and twiddle with,
but get this right and you are nearly there, get it wrong and your
are pretty much screwed up.

A two cav Lee is a great place to start, however the much more expensive
but WONDERFUL quality RCBS 2 cav 44-250 K is a great mold, a great boolit
design and works very will in a .44, altho feeding in some leverguns is
problematic.

Bill

[101VooDoo]

Wussed out and got the molds in PB 4-cavity. Figure I'll worry about hollow points down the road aways.

Think I'll look for a 2 cavity RCBS 82050 to start with.

Thanks again - Jim

[MtGun44]

Nobody uses the RCBS numbers because they don't mean anything.

We call them by what is stamped on the mold like 44-250-K or 44-200-FN.
These are unique and descriptive.

So what is the 82050?

Bill

[101VooDoo]

I believe its currently called the 45-255-SWC. Used to be 45-255-KT & then 45-255-K?

Jim

[kennisondan]

what does fit mean ? in reference to casting ?
thanks
dk

[qajaq59]

what does fit mean ? in reference to casting ? You want your bullet to be 1 or 2 thousands larger then your groove diameter of the gun.

[MtGun44]

+1 on what Bret and Heavy metal said.

RCBS 44-250-K is a great place to start. I started with a
Lee 38-105 SWC and fed a Brning HP for a few years while
I figured out how all this stuff basically worked. Recommend
both molds, first is top notch for .44 mag revolvers, second for
9mm is also great.

Bill