Dick Dastardly mold ?

[melloairman]

Any one have any experience with this mold ? If you click on the picture the specs can be read Marvin
http://www.biglube.com/BulletMolds.aspx?ItemID=d3fb4508-70e1-4d9b-87bd-6d9c2d504d33

[Buckshot]

.............When I click on it I get a error message. Dick Dastardly is a "Vendor Sponser" here. You can check that forum to find him and suspect there will also be feedback.

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

[cajun shooter]

Dick has been selling what is called Big Lube molds(Designed by others) made by Lee for quite a while. The Lee production became so Bad with time and quality control that he went and found another maker. He still has some molds that are made by Lee until his supplies are sold down.

[melloairman]

Looked at vendor remarks found nothing on this mold . Saw that there were some issues with another mold . Marvin

[Springfield]

The moulds are made by LEE, and works as well as anyother 6 cavity LEE. If you are asking about the EPP-UG bullet, it is a nice little BP bullet designed for use in cap and ball pistols, but has been extensively used in BP cartridge guns also.I have this mould and it cast a great bullet, one of the easier to cast bullets I have, and I have all the Big Lube designs. If you want to try the bullet before spring for the mould I can send you a sample package.

[melloairman]

Have you ever casted 5-7 bhn lead in it ? If so what weight and diameter was it droping . Marvin

[Springfield]

I have cast pure lead in it, but I don't remember the weight offhand. I know it was larger than .454 'cause that is what I sized them at.

[Artful]

looks like he's asking about the
El Paso Pete Ultra Gamer 45 Caliber 150 grain
http://www.biglube.com/Images/Epp-ug-45-150-Big.gif


In honor of El Paso Pete, here is the final result of his fine research. What Pete was attempting to do was emulate round ball performance in a true Big Lube™ bullet. His initial attempt was only partially successful. Here, at last, is the end product. Tests have indicated that this bullet works well in C&B revolvers as well as 45 Cal cartridge guns. When loaded in the great new brass design by Adirondack Jack, the Cowboy 45 Special, performance is superb. Chronograph tests with only 1.3cc of FFFg black powder yielded an 840 fps average with a Standard Deviation of only12 fps. Accuracy was so good that Adirondack Jack watched his supply of EPP-UG bullets go into one ragged hole. In the 45 Colt case it's possible to exceed SASS maximum velocity of 1000 fps with a full load of FFFg black powder. All the shooting tests done to date indicate very low recoil, very high accuracy and snappy velocity.
In DDs Ruger Old Army™, the bullet shoots great from the original C&B cylinder and from the Kirst Konverter cylinder in 45 Colt or 45 Cowboy Special. EPP-UG bullets are lube/sized to .454 and placed five each in vials, ready to load at the next match.
It's NOT a gamer bullet. It realistically emulates round ball performance in big bore guns while embracing the benefits of being a Big Lube™ design. Tests have shown that no additional lube, wads or cookies are needed for either C&B or cartridge loads. The huge lube grove effectively seals the chambers so cross fire from the cylinder face is not a problem.

Please note that a flat metplat has been added for tube magazine rifles.

[Frozone]

I bought a "BigLube" mold from Dick. The result was rather disappointing.
The first mold had all the hardware come loose, the pins/bushings pull loose and the cavities were Very rough with what looked like pock marks from chips from the machining process. To my surprise it would actually drop bullets from those buggered up holes.
The outside of the mold was spotless however, prettiest AL mold I've ever seen! It just cast up an ugly bullet.

Dick replaced it under warranty, The second was not as pretty on the outside but the cavities were Much better, not great. A little LEEMenting with 600grit paste took out the worst of the pock marks, and it is now usable.
Would I buy a second one from him? no.

[AbitNutz]

I have both the 150 and the latest 210 from DD. I only use pure lead in them as I use them in my Ruger Old Army. They are at the lower end of mold quality but they seem to work just fine. They drop out just fine.

They seem to like having the nose of the pot directly on the spru plate and pressure feeding the mold. If I don't do that I tend to get much more wrinkled bullets. Especially in the 210.

The 210 seems to weigh in heavier than 210. It also seems to be of smaller diameter...some I have came in at .452. Not sure what I was casting to make that happen

The 150 is pretty close to 150 and casts where I would expect it to...about .457.

I like both bullets and so does my Ruger Old Army. Do I wish someone like MiHec would make them? You bet. I would snap up a brass mold of these two designs from MiHec so fast it would make your head spin.

Anyone want to try and start up a "group buy" from MiHec on these??

[Springfield]

Not really fair to blame DD for the quality of the molds, LEE makes them, not him, and he doesn't test cast them all. As long as he offers a new mould for any crappy ones he is good as far as I am concerned. Due to the QC problems he has dropped LEE and is now contracting with a local American manufacturer. The new style mould I received from him was very nice. But then so were the last 2 LEE's I received. Maybe a little healthy competition wll help them up their quality. Yes, Mihec moulds are nice, I have 7 of his HP moulds, but no way can he make 6 cavities for LEE's price. What is the saying...good, fast, cheap pick two.

[AbitNutz]

I'm of the opinion that the two D/D molds I have are good enough. The bullets they drop are fine.

I would love to have a brass MP mold of the 210 gr BigLube with a hollow point....I'm pretty much sold on the BigLube design. I don't use any grease over the bullets anymore in my ROA. They're accurate, don't lead up the bore and load easily.


Here's a 210 gr BigLube that I made. The I used a HP jig on it. It's silly accurate and expands really well.

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn94/AbitNutz/biglubehp2-a.jpg

[melloairman]

I have a good understanding of the issues as they are . Dick gave me the insurance that I would have needed if I would have decided to go with that bullet mold at this time . I felt very comfortable talking with him and I fell he would have made me happy . But I have found another bullet mold design in that weight from another mold maker that will meet my needs better I believe . Same price but 2 cavity . I might in the future pick up this mold as well but not now .Thanks again Marvin

[Frozone]

Let get something straight - these are NOT Lee molds. So stop blaming Lee for this, while they may deserve blame for bad quality this is NOT the case.

DD's web site specifically says they are not Lee molds and they are not sold as Lee molds. They are sold by DD as "BigLube" molds.
I didn't buy them from Lee, I bought them from DD.
Nowhere on them is a "Made by Lee" marking.

The manufacturer of the components is not part of the question - Whom ever sold the molds as 'Their' molds is responsible for the quality, no one else. If the components were not to spec why were they sold? And being sold they were as an example of DD's quality, as all product sold under a 'Brand Name' are an example of that brands quality.

[Froglives]

I know this is an older post, but I felt the need to reply. Although I grew up shooting black powder with friends and relatives that cast and loaded their own. I was never the primary for the process, which I wanted to share with my children. I contacted Dick with Big Lube and he gave far more than I did him in buying one of his molds. Through him I got my alloy right, my reloading equipment right, my boolits right.
I can't take credit for that as I can only control my alloy and my temperature, my Big Lube mold drops bullets that look like glass.
Some of you obviously have much more experienced than I, and seem to like more expensive molds, I would like to try those to, but I highly appreciate that the first mold I bought drops bullets that my son and I look at and can't believe we made.

[AbitNutz]

I agree....I love my D/D molds. I even had the two molds designed for the ROA modified by HP mold service. The first 3 cavities on the 150 and the 210 were converted to Hollow Points and I couldn't be happier with the molds in general and the modified cavities in particular.

[MT Chambers]

Those molds work for me, like Lee molds you have to baby them, but they put out a nice bullet with enough lube capacity for most any BP application. Unlike some others however, I would not bother with this "big lube" concept for bullets used with smokeless powder.

[longbow]

Are you asking about the mould or the boolit design?

No experience with that mould or boolit design but it is very similar to the old Lyman 457130 Collar Button design except with small meplat and tapered base.

The collar button design was made in several calibers and seems to have been in Lyman cataloques for quite some.

There was just a group buy for a very similar boolit design in a variety of calibers recently:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=94233

If you are interested in the design then there may be extras.

Longbow

[MikeS]

Lee used to make the mould Dick sells, just like Lee USED to make group buy moulds for folks here. Just as the forum members got fed up with Lee's BS, so did Dick, and he now has somebody else making his moulds. They try and copy the Lee mould design, and they do look pretty close to a Lee mould. I have the 210gr Big Lube boolit that's designed for the ROA. The mould casts really well considering the size of the lube trough (it's too big to call it a groove :) ) The only thing I noticed is that it looks like they messed up on the location of the cam lever, so they installed a setscrew that HAS to be sticking out about 1/8", and the cam lever only touches the setscrew, not the aluminum mould. The only real 'problem' this caused for me was that I wanted to replace the stock lever with one of Red River Rick's great levers, but when I did it didn't work any differently than the stock lever due to it only having the screw as a mating surface. I don't know if all his newer moulds are made this way, or if mine was one that was messed up, and they installed the setscrew as a bandaid. Overall I would say if you're looking for a mould with a big lube groove, you won't go wrong with one of his moulds. While they're not a Mihec or NOE or Accurate mould, comparing them to production moulds they can hold their own.

[rockrat]

Bought two last month. They do LOOK like a Lee mould, but smoothness of operation and even the mould handle screws difference tell me that Lee couldn't have made these moulds, too nice!
Bought one for a lightweight boolit for my 45acp, but didn't work out too well and haven't had time to try the 38-55 boolit yet.

[Baja_Traveler]

I have two of his molds (Big Lube Greasewagon .357 and the 38-55) Both molds work great and drop good boolits. The 38-55 does drop over size though, so I have to run them through a push through sizer (supposed to drop .380 but actually drop .384). I use them in my Rossi 92 .357 and my Winchester Legendary Frontiersmen for levergun silhouette matches (using black powder of course). Both boolits are accurate and hold less than 4" 10 shot groups at 100 yards in my rifles.

[Carl in France]

I felt the urge to resurrect this thread. It is old but i thought i would mention that i have been using the EPP-UG .45 150gr mold for about ten years now and have dropped thousands now from it. Zero issues, brilliant bullets. I do not use them in a revolver as i find round ball more accurate and a lubed wad works well and is easier than pan lubing.
However where i have found they come into their own is in my Winchester 1866 where shot with either pistol powder or black powder they are very accurate and i get zero leading even though i just use roofing lead. They drop at 160gr and not 150 for me.
Best bullets i have for the Winchester, love them.311245311246

[Txcowboy52]

Same here, when I click on the link all I get is an error message.