Making Bullet Mold Handles

I needed another set of bullet mold handles for a Lyman mold. None were in stock at any of the Internet shooting suppliers. Mold handles are similar to blacksmith tongs. Since I make my own tongs, I decided to try the same technique for bullet mold handles.
Attachment 281276
Start with two pieces of ¼”x1” flat bar 3 ½” long and 5/16” round bar 1 7/16” long.
Attachment 281277
Draw out the jaws.
Attachment 281271
Handle parts heating in the propane forge.
Attachment 281278
Draw out the handle reins.
Attachment 281272
Hot punch and drift the 5/16” rivet hole in the boss of each half.
Attachment 281273
Set the 5/16” rivet and adjust jaw off set and spacing. For a Lyman mold the handle jaws must be ¾” apart, parallel, and 5/16” thick. Mark the jaw screw holes with a transfer punch. Drill screw holes in the jaws. Make sure they fit the mold block
Attachment 281274
Attachment 281275
Assemble the handles with drilled 7/8” wood dowels, and a Lyman mold block. Finish with Minwax wipe on polyurethane and paste wax. The next set of mold handles I make will be better. I think I will start with 5/8” square bar instead of ¼” flat bar. That will make the jaw off-set a little easier.
The hell with the shooting supply shortage. Now go cast a bucket full of bullets.
Dwayne Vidrine
Prairieville, LA

Nice job!

Outstanding.

Robert

Nice job building from scratch. I was lucky just got RCBS mold for 45-70 325 gr. Had old set of handles Lyman that wasn’t being used for many years. Too wide to fit belt sander took care of size thickness problem. Punched and drilled new holes for pins. Lined up perfect, will be pouring lead in the morning. After reading your post I may try building a set like you did from scratch.

Wow, very nice work.

Very nice, it looks very labor intensive,

Thanks to all for the nice complements. I need to make another set of handles for a three-cavity Accurate mold. It will be something to do on a rainy day. Mold handles could be cut out and cold formed from 1/8" steel like Lee's handles on their two-cavity molds. Hand forging is more work but this case I think it makes a better final product.

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Originally Posted by Reverend Recoil

I needed another set of bullet mold handles for a Lyman mold. None were in stock at any of the Internet shooting suppliers. Mold handles are similar to blacksmith tongs. Since I make my own tongs, I decided to try the same technique for bullet mold handles.
SNIP!!!
Assemble the handles with drilled 7/8” wood dowels, and a Lyman mold block. Finish with Minwax wipe on polyurethane and paste wax. The next set of mold handles I make will be better. I think I will start with 5/8” square bar instead of ¼” flat bar. That will make the jaw off-set a little easier.
The hell with the shooting supply shortage. Now go cast a bucket full of bullets.
Dwayne Vidrine
Prairieville, LA

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YES!!! That! :)

I think the only thing I would do differently would be to add a ferrel to the end of the wood to help prevent splitting.

Robert

it is very good to see that some of the old black smith skills are still around

Very nice job! It takes a lot more expertise than 3D printing to do that.

Great job. I guess you had all the extra time to do make the handles because of the 2 to 5 inches of rain we are having every day preventing any outside work.

I’ve made handles for some Lee mounds from re-bar. I just ground a flat on the re-bar and welded them to the handles. Found some nice wooden handles at a local Pawn shop that I attached to my makeshift handles. Worked for me.

Nice work:happy dance::awesome:

I clicked on this because I need to replace some of my wood handles, did not realize you meant the whole handle. Nice project.

Thats awesome. Fantastic job Reverand. Big fan of forged in fire and was hunting for moulds and handles earlier in the day....nothing. Very jealous. Necessity is still the mother of invention and will probably forever be.

Dwayne, that's an awesome job. I'm impressed. I like fabricating things also. We could be neighbors. I'm in Prairieville too.

high standard 40, thanks for the greeting. It's good to know of a local Boolit Master. This Saturday I will be shooting in the highpower rifle match at Palo Alto R&PC. Do you shoot High Standard pistols? I have an old High Standard Supermatic Citation and will be shooting it in a pistol EIC match at Carthage, TX next month.

I'm a handgun silhouette shooter. We conduct monthly matches at the sheriff's range. I have a High Standard Trophy. Shot some perfect scores with it, 40X40, thus my online name

Very nice to see someone with those skills.

WOW!

How I admire folks with such great talents...wouldn't it be nice for all of us who do these things, like the lathe-work some do, gunsmithing with others...but wouldn't it be nice to all live near each other out in the country.

Awesome work mate thanks for posting that.

Very nice work. With those skills a lot of home made equipment becomes available. Another reason have a forge.

Cool.............

Wow that's an awesome skill to have. Old world skills and the folks that know how to do them are become scarce. Pretty awesome job really, much cleaner than I expected it to be. Thank you for sharing your skill and process with us.

Excellent work! Nice to be able to make what you need from scratch or scrap!

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Originally Posted by OS OK

WOW!

How I admire folks with such great talents...wouldn't it be nice for all of us who do these things, like the lathe-work some do, gunsmithing with others...but wouldn't it be nice to all live near each other out in the country.

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Go to trade school! you can so it too!