Mine was a Lyman 429348 double cavity back in the late 70's.
Still have it and use it on a regular basis.
Mine was a Lyman 429348 double cavity back in the late 70's.
Still have it and use it on a regular basis.
John D
NRA Endowment Member
Lee 2 cav 38 wadcutter, used. Was gonna keep casting simple. Then found this site, and succumbed to the disease.
If you take a dog which is starving and feed him and make him prosperous, that dog will not bite you. This is the primary difference between a dog and a man.
Not sure, but I know it was a roundball of some sort. Man, that was a few years ago.
I bought a used Lee single cavity 158gr swc, then a used double Lee .452 228 rn, back in 1988. Both are still going strong, though now I tend to use my 4 and 6 cavity molds to get quantity fast. The swc is still used often though, when I get mystery lead; I make a rough cast so I can run it in my Saeco lead tester for hardness.
Lee stuff got me started, and is still an important part of my casting equipment. I recommend it to anyone, especially starting casters.
My first mould was a single cavity Lyman 357446 SWC of about 160 gr. I bought it used from the guy that started me casting about 35 years ago. I also bought a Lyman Model 45 lubrisizer from him. Still have the mould but the Model 45 is gone. My first casting was done with a cooking pot on an old Coleman stove.
Skeet1
Lyman 429215 for my trusty Ruger Blackhawk.
That gun and I did MANY things and covered a few miles.
Where I was, it was, no permit issues in those days in NM.
Amendments
The Second there to protect the First!
My first mould was a Lyman #311291 bought in 1960. I still have the
mould and use it quite a bit. I wouldn't begin to know how many boolits it's cast.
Mine was and I still have it- a Lyman DC 358429 in the early 70s. It was a steep learning curve but I got them to shoot very well out of my Dan Wesson. I brewed up Lyman #2 on my dads forge at the farm using coal. I was hooked. I'm not sure how many molds I have now, this site has done me in with group buys. Also my wife buys any she can find cheap and not rusty at rumage sales and tag sales. She has a real eagle eye for them. Thing that amazes me is those old Lymans cast such nice fat bullets.
lachmiller 358-432 wc copy, cost me 12.00 cerca 1974, with handles, a homemade push- through sizer and a small pan and a "Kakecutter". I got a coffee can full of wheel weights from a friend at a gas station, plundered a regulator and a burner from an old stove and ran a gas line off the water heater line to make a place to heat my melting pot--an old cast iron pan. Once I got a decent ladle at the Great Western Gun Show, I was off to the races. I turned up a three cavity Cramer 16h for $8.50 at a swap meet a couple of years later. Now I am wlaking bow legged with the darned things. Still have the Lachmiller and the Cramer, though they don't see much use these days.
My first was a Lyman 358271 single cav. I got it and a Lyman sizer with a .357 die in it when I bought a 38 Colt Official Police revolver in about 67 or 68. Cast up a bunch, sized them, loaded them, and proceded to lead up the barrel. Took me a while, but I finally figured out I needed a bigger bullet. I hand lubed a few and shot them as cast and was pleased to find a clean barrel when I was done. Still have the mold and sizer, but sold the gun and bought a 357 S&W.
My first mould was a Ideal 357 single cavity mold with round bottem grease grooves, I don't remember the # but it was a round nose with a small flat area on the nose. That was in 1971. I didn't have much luck with it in my Blackhawk 357. It key holed a lot. Of course this was before I knew any thing about slugging barrels and or slugging cylinder throughts. I did not own a micrometer. I bought a Lyman # 45 luber sizer and a 357 GH & I die for $25. I still have it today and use it a lot. I bought the mold from an old guy in Avondale Arizona, I paid $5 for it. I thought that was the prettist 357 boolit in the world and I still think it was, but I sold it some time after trying several different loads with no luck. I could probably get it to shoot today.
Last edited by 45-70 Chevroner; 02-07-2011 at 09:31 AM.
LEE 150 SWC, worked great andcast plenty of boolits with it.
I ordered a LEE 124 gr 9mm TL TC and a 255 gr 429 swc together. The 9mm was the first one i cast with. I had previously bought a 311413 but not handles locally.
[The Montana Gianni] Front sight and squeeze
First mould I ever cast with in 1962, was a Lyman 429360 that belonged to a friend. We used that for a couple of years while we were stationed at Loring AFB in Limestone, Me. We tried to buy a 429421 from the Rod and Gun club on base, but they claimed it wasn't available to them. When I got out of the AF in '65, my first mould was a 4C Lyman 429421. I still have it!
It's all chicken, even the beak!
My first mold was an Ohaus 58 cal Minnie bullet. I was into black powder back then with my H&R Huntsman. I still have the mold and pot. I casted on my mother's basement stove and managed not to burn the house down or kill myself and made some good stuff in the process.
That was about 1972/73.
Graduated up to regular boolits in the 80's
Still goin'.
Gerry
My first mold was an RCBS 38-150-SWC. I still have it (I've only been casting for a couple years), and it is one of my favorite boolits for 38 Special and 357 Magnum.
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." – Benjamin Franklin
Shortly after I married the wonderful woman I'm still married to (after 39 years), I bought a .45 cal muzzle loader that was a really nice piece. I wish I hadn't sold it. Since there were no commercial swaged RBs in that era, I bought a Lyman 2-banger RB mould and ladle, and cast using a pipe tobacco can (no soldered seam to break while casting) and heated it over the gas stove in our apartment. Not only did the apartment have windows, it also had several cracks in the corners of the rooms where one could look outside. Got a bit chilly in the winter, but newlyweds have ways of keeping warm. The RB mould was followed shortly by a 445599 Minnie, and shortly after that a 452460 for the .45 ACP Colt Government Model that followed me home a bit later. The whole business of buying guns, moulds, reloading equipment really got out of hand after that, and still goes on to this day. I finally had to buy a house with a big yard and build a big workshop in the back yard to manage all the hobbies. I don't know how she puts up with me.
Regards,
Stew
Sig file change:
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"...Get a rope." Pace Picante Sauce commercial, ca. 1984
"I (did, on several occasions) swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against ALL enemies, foreign AND domestic, and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same." And when I left, they never asked me to recant.
I bought my first 2 molds in 1961 or 62 I was still in high school.I still have them A Ideal 266469 and a 266324 for my 6.5x55 sweed.
Also bought a loading press A Lyman 45 and the small cast iron pot and ladle and a set of 6.5x55 RCBS dies and a .266 H and I die. Also a Lyman 55 powder measure. If I remember right I think it all cost less than 100.00 dollars. Money earned from my first ever job...............Terry
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |