New Lyman Molds - Don't be afraid.

[Mr.skrimps]

I'm a long time reloader, but have only gotten into casting in the last year. I've learned so much from castboolits and can't thank all the members enough for what they've taught me.

I just wanted to write this because there was a time when Lyman molds weren't up to par. I went lee for my first couple molds. Price, the bad taste I always read about the size/weight lyman bullets drop left on people etc.

Out of those two Lee molds, the first 2, one never casted a good boolit. Tried scrubbing, a hot plate, variations in temperatures, etc. Don't have it anymore. But while i was struggling with the lee mold, I read sixguns. I bought a brand new lyman 358429 mold on amazon (go figure) and it cast the most beautiful bullet I'd ever casted. Since then I have added all my favorites, and all have had great results.

358429 (manufactured 2019 casts at 358.5 drops at 171)
358311 (manufactured 2019 casts at 358/.5 depending on alloy drops at 161)
358156 (manufactured 2015 casts at 358 drops at 160)
358439 HP (manufactured 2019 casts at 359 drops at 155 exactly)
314299 (manufactured 2019 casts at 314/315 drops at 201)
356637 HP (manufactured 2020 casts at 360 drops at exactly 125 with lyman #2, 117 with lead/WW)

Note that i mostly cast with lyman #2 and Missouri Bullet's magic. I am experimenting with straight lead with my HP but am no means an expert)

I did also learn to oil them after using. With the Lee molds i didn't do this and my 358156 mold showed rust after a week in the garage)

I just wanted to let new casters out there, and maybe old ones alike- don't be afraid if you find a lyman mold at a local shop. Maybe in the past couple years QC has been stepped up. I do have a couple of lee molds that work great (albeit they take longer for a good cast and they overheat faster; for me- how i cast)

I always read about how no one will buy a new Lyman mold yet I have been so happy with mine.

Thats all folks.

[dannyd]

Lyman moulds the old ones are good have not tried the new ones. Lee moulds are good but you have to work them. But most of the new aluminum moulds from NOE or some of the others work great and for price are very hard to beat. So don't limit yourself also try a Lee six cavity they work good too.

[Mr.skrimps]

i have a Lee 6 cavity 356 125 RN. It is a great mold.

I only put lee and lyman becuase when i was a new caster, these seemed like the only 2 options. Someday I will add a noe or a Mihi(probably wrong, eastern European dude with the brass multi hollow point molds) to my collection, but I already have plenty as it is.

[ioon44]

I will never buy Lyman because of their customer service.

[Big Ben]

I am glad you found some good ones.

[Walks]

Five years ago, I went through heck getting Lyman to "fix" 2 New and undersized .44cal molds.
Eventually they did get fixed. I swore that I'd never buy another New Lyman mold.
And I never have.
But a friend of mine that I do cast for wasn't so cautious. He did buy a new Lyman mold for the .38S&W , a #358430 195gr RN.

However I'm not afraid of this new mold being undersized.

Powder Coat will increase Bullet Diameter by 1-3 thousands.

Really looking forward to weighing out those teeny-tiny charges of Bullseye.

[ABJ]

My problem with Lyman is not how it cast, but the as cast size is too small with softer alloys. I think they use Lyman #2 as their alloy which is 5% tin which adds diameter to a cast boolit vs 2% tin.
For me an Accurate mold form Tom can be ordered to your alloy specs. for the basically the same money. He will do steel molds as well. I like supporting a small business which is responsive to our needs like Tom.
Tony

[Martin Luber]

Wow, Lymans back in the day, were all oversize for me. Sounds like they had badly worn cherries for some moulds.

[Mitch]

you only need to shoot yourself in the foot once.The scare lasts forever.

[Mk42gunner]

you only need to shoot yourself in the foot once.The scare lasts forever.

Truer words have not been written.

Robert

[Abidingguy]

And was really impressed with the results. I normally use Lee molds that drop boolits for pan lubing with an alox mix, but wanted to have one other "back up" 9mm mold in case things really start getting scarce under the new regime's policies.

I picked up a single cavity Lyman .356 mold, 124gr HP that was kind of pricey, but it's all blued steel and appears to be well made...heavy too. I read that steel molds need to be warmed up well before they will start casting good boolits, and I saw this to be true. Pretty happy with the results, but now I hope they are not undersized like someone posted here. I use WW ingots, BTW.

For those who have experience with newer Lyman molds, has this "undersize" thing been an issue for you as well? If yes, have you experienced increased leading due to blow-by as a result of the boolits cast from the newer Lyman molds?

[Walks]

And was really impressed with the results. I normally use Lee molds that drop boolits for pan lubing with an alox mix, but wanted to have one other "back up" 9mm mold in case things really start getting scarce under the new regime's policies.

I picked up a single cavity Lyman .356 mold, 124gr HP that was kind of pricey, but it's all blued steel and appears to be well made...heavy too. I read that steel molds need to be warmed up well before they will start casting good boolits, and I saw this to be true. Pretty happy with the results, but now I hope they are not undersized like someone posted here. I use WW ingots, BTW.

For those who have experience with newer Lyman molds, has this "undersize" thing been an issue for you as well? If yes, have you experienced increased leading due to blow-by as a result of the boolits cast from the newer Lyman molds?

As I said above; undersized bullet diameter can be increased with Powder Coat.
That #358430 ends up at .362 with a double Powder Coat. Just the thing for a S&W Victory in .38S&W.

[Conditor22]

OK, I have had several bad experiences with Lyman molds and customer service BUT I did recently buy a Lyman 8 press the first one had paint damaged in shipping -- I sent it back to Amazon, the second one had paint damage in shipping, I got a SASE from Lyman and sent it back to them. the third one, from Lyman, had paint damage in shipping (the packaging was poorly designed so the part rubbed the press) I made a deal with Lyman to send me 2 spare turrets and some touch-up paint and I'll live with it. They sent me 2 extra turrets,

The customer service rep was trying to be helpful, the rest of the clowns there wouldn't listen to what I told them.

[gwpercle]

With the price of Lyman moulds being as high as they are now ... I would just as soon have an NOE mould and deal with Al "Swede" Nelson . The very few times I had a problem , dumb question or was about to order the wrong thing ... he was there to make it right .

I started casting in 1967 so I've been around the block a few times with Lyman and still have quite a few older Lyman moulds ... none from the 2000's .

Gary

[Petander]

I started casting in 1967

Gary

I was four years old at that time and didn't do much casting - but I was good at eating mud.

I've been casting only since the 90's and I have some 30-40 molds. Some older Lymans are good. But with todays excellent,dedicated mold makers like NOE, Accurate,LBT,Mihec... I only buy from them. Lee RB:s I use.

Every time I receive a great mold I feel a little regret for starting with Lee molds and wasting some years... but I believed the hype about Lee being the best ever, my bad.

It's just when you get to experience a really easy mold,raining perfect bullets hour after hour... I have one new 45 SWC Lyman, unused 4 cav iron. It will stay that way.

[samari46]

Well Lyman has never worked for me.
3 45 cal rifle molds
1 30 caliber mold 311284 which got sent back to get reamed out to a bigger diameter as it should be. Reamer never cleaned up the nose section. Only 3 molds that cast where they should. Two 314299's and 1 311316 for the 32-20. Next order will with Accurate Molds. Tired of wasting my money. Frank

[HangFireW8]

My experience with modern Lyman molds is that they cast to minimal bore size only when pressure casting with linotype or #2. If that works for you, fine.

My experience with Lyman customer service is lots of arguments from their side, when it could not be denied that their melter digital temp did not agree with their analog gauge.

My experience with their equipment is my first 4500 had over a quarter inch misalignment between the ram and the die.

My time is worth too much to bother with them any more. I would rather pay more for quality equipment.

[Petander]

Yep, it's not the quality or money that matters, it's time.

Lyman Borecam is good.

[Mitch]

Ok one lyman mold I own.Got ti out of the box cleaned with my usual deal hot water and Dawn good scrubbing with a brush blow dry.Good shot of break cleaner and final wipe with alcohal.Looking at it I could see the Machine work was bad.The sprue plate was all chettery and looked like a corn cob.The cavitys looked rough in spots.But I warmed it up on the hot plate and gave it a try.The sprues would not come out of the pockets.Then it was take it to work with me and use a good sharp cutter to smooth up the sprue plate.They try again no joy there either all 4 cavitys were differnt size and all were undersize by far.It is one of the best casting molds i have now but was it worth it.Like said above nope not worth my time to mess with it.

The the real fun began several emails sent to lymman no relpie for a month or so.then call and get no real person on the phone to talk to.finaly 2 month or so they sanswer the emails.they tell me to senf the mold.6 months or so total i get a pefect casting mold of the correct size.

[Anonym]

I find myself casting from a variety of mold manufacturers, whichever I can find in the profile I want for the price I could afford at the time. That being said, most of my Lyman molds are older ones, but I did recently have an experience (last year?) where I picked up a NOS 452424 mold that cast about 0.4505". I contacted Lyman and got a return number, shipped my mold back with a few samples that I cast with it, and in about 3 weeks got the mold returned to me casting a beautiful 0.454" bullet. I couldn't have been happier.

I honestly hate to say this, but you have to take into consideration that you are dealing with New Englanders, specifically from Connecticut. There is a "regional personality" that generally comes from that area that can be taken poorly, especially if you are from a more hospitable part of the country. Taken at face value, it could be perceived as "poor customer service", but they performed to my expectations and I have been somewhat cultured in my life to understand that not everyone is from southern Indiana.

They are good with me.