What Is This Mould?

[Josh Smith]

Hi Folks,

Someone from another site insisted upon sending me a .440 mould, even though I had told him I had one. Of course I thanked him properly.

Anyway, I'm not recognizing it. It seems to say Lyman on the side, then 733.

I can't find anything on the 'net about it.

All the Lyman moulds I've seen leave a sprue, but this cuts flush with the ball.

Click the pics for larger size, then again for full size.









It's a bit rusty, but it's surface rust. It's currently soaking in Fluid Film and most should come off with a rag.

I can find no reference to this mould on the internet. The handles are riveted; no nut.

Help?

Thanks,

Josh

[Echo]

Looks like a .733 RB mold. The sprue cuts flush with the ball - load it (patched) with the sprue flat to the front, so you can ensure it is centered.

I theenk...

[Jumptrap]

put one half at a time of that mold in your tumbler and it'll come out looking like new. Don't put both halves in at once as they're likely to beat against each other causing damage.

[Josh Smith]

Thanks folks.

The tumbler is a clever idea. I might have to try that!

The problem is that I'm not sure I can get the blocks out yet as the screw holes are filled with something -- hopefully just lead.

Thanks again!

Josh

[theperfessor]

Isn't that about 12 gauge?

[Josh Smith]

No Sir, it's a .440" round ball.

I cast my own muzzleloader balls, and my own personal recipe for accuracy in the .45 Kentucky is 50gns of 2Fg black powder with a cotton ball for an over-the-powder wad (which also keeps swabbing to a minimum as the cotton ball takes the fouling with it to be re-burned). The ball is set up with .018" pillow ticking patch lube with 50/50 beeswax/olive oil.

Out to 100 yards, I can keep up with any inline shooter.

My .50 caliber load is much the same, but with a .490" ball, no cotton ball, and with swabbing after every shot.

Josh

[C1PNR]

I was going to speculate that someone milled the top of the mould down to eliminate the sprue nib, but that leaves a question as to how to address the sprue plate stop.

I'd be interested in how it casts and shoots. I don't shoot BP much anymore, but am still interested.

[Josh Smith]

The rust is coming off nicely, and I'm washing the lube and polishing compound off right now, after having spun a .440 ball, lightly covered in polishing compound, in the cavity.

I'll probably have to cast a few, just to see...

Josh

[theperfessor]

Ah, I didn't read your first post closely enough. Another poster mentioned it as a .733 RB mold. Mea Culpa.

[Bret4207]

Darn nice to hear of someone NOT shooting an inline muzzle blaster! There's jsut something......unclean about those inlines. Plus, they are so ugly they make Nancy Pelosi look hot.

[Josh Smith]

Hahahaha!!!

I'm the type to shoot because I like it, and not so into hunting that I must get a deer. In fact, the past few years I've not even bothered because I used to give away the venison, most of it anyway.

My grandpa, who loved it, died, and my parents downgraded to a chest freezer about half the size of their previous one, the one we had growing up.

I've thought about doing Hunters for the Hungry, but honestly, it's just too easy to kill a deer. I'd like to just shoot the danged thing, bone it out in the woods, and not worry about gutting or checking in or processing. It gets the meat cooler faster, makes it taste less gamy, and just overall is an awesome treat.

However, Indiana requires, so far as I can tell, a deer to be checked in.

That's OK if I can stuff the body cavity with snow, but half the time there's not much snow until February around here. Gutting it isn't enough; it should be shot, gutted, skinned, hanged to season a bit, then checked in.

And like I said, it's just too easy to shoot 'em. I grew up having to stalk them as we could only use slug guns and black powder then, and slug guns weren't all that advanced. I wasn't introduced to black powder until just this past summer. The slug guns I used were good to maybe 100 yards, and heck, that's about right for a round ball in .45.

Instead I mostly go after squirrel and rabbit. Those suckers are hard to hunt, and require lots of stalking on my part.

Still doesn't matter if I get anything, but at least they're not just standing their waiting to get shot. Chances are they'll seem me from the trees before I see them.

Deer are... dumb. No reason anyone should need what is basically a centerfire rifle loaded with a rifle bullet to take one at 200 yards. If you can't take a deer within 100 yards in an Indiana forest or woods, then you probably don't have any business out there in the first place.

Just my humble opinion based on the inline shooters ruining a lot of hunting for the traditional guys.

Josh

[Skipper488]

Darn nice to hear of someone NOT shooting an inline muzzle blaster! There's jsut something......unclean about those inlines. Plus, they are so ugly they make Nancy Pelosi look hot.

That is just not possible.

[barefooter175]

I have a Lyman 4 Cav mould in .490 that cuts the ball flush with no apparent sprue. It came that way from the factory. I guess it was a good day there as the mould works perfectly every time I go to use it.

James

[Josh Smith]

Hi Folks,

It is, indeed, a Lyman.

I'm not sure how I feel about the flat spot on the ball. The other .440" mould I have allows the sprue to protrude, and any air floats up into it. I then cut it with side cutters, through the mess into a rock tumbler overnight, and come out with almost perfect spheres the next day. They are much better, IMHO, than Hornady's swaged stuff. More consistent.

I think one or the other of these is going in with my camping stuff and I'll just use it to cast over the campfire when I run out of other stuff to do!

Thanks,

Josh

[nanuk]

Darn nice to hear of someone NOT shooting an inline muzzle blaster! There's jsut something......unclean about those inlines. Plus, they are so ugly they make Nancy Pelosi look hot.

Nancy Pelosi IS hot!

Hmm... wonder how much longer to wait for my cataract surgery....

[happy7]

Everything about that mold looks like a lyman. All my lyman round ball molds cut off flat like that one. The 733 is more than likely the number printed on both mold halves to identify them as belonging to each other. The handles appear to be normal Lyman handles. They were all riveted like that as far as I know.