What handle brands for what molds, any hand/custom made? What are the best deals?
What handle brands for what molds, any hand/custom made? What are the best deals?
Lee are best deals. Right around $20? I wouldn't say best quality but for the price I doubt anything touches it. The way I beat on my handles I'm not having nice ones lol.
IMHO the best value (not necessarily the best handles) are the Lee 6 cavity handles. You can make them fit almost any mold on the market if you try hard enough. Just be sure to glue/pin the wood handles in place before you use them. Obviously buying Lyman handles for Lyman molds, etc. is the least trouble but not necessarily the least cost.
I think a member here named Red River Rick (hope I'm right here) was making some mold handles that were highly regarded.
I have a set of Red River Rick's handles and they are definitely quality handles.
Thanks guys been out of the game for a bit, can't believe I forgot about the "universal" Lee's, I remember now that I was gonna use them for dedicated units. might check out the red river ricks.
"IMHO the best value (not necessarily the best handles) are the Lee 6 cavity handles. You can make them fit almost any mold on the market if you try hard enough. Just be sure to glue/pin the wood handles in place before you use them"
Exactly
Do to issues with my MS I bought a set of the Cabin tree locking handles to try. More expensive but they close and stay closed under the same force every time. no varience to hand pressures or not getting fully closed. I also have several set of the lee made handles and they work well but may need a little tweaking done to work with some molds.
RCBS get my nod. If the mould won't fit on them, don't want the mould. Some canadian guy is supposed to make good handles too but my one connection with him was greeted with a rude arrogance on his part which I won't abide. Lyman handles are ok but the castings can be fragile as I have had 2 of the newer ones break.
I will not do business with him either.
Most handles would need a lot of work to function with Lyman or H&G 4 cav. molds, so you might as well buy the Lyman 4 cav. handles for those.
I own mould handles from several different makers. In order of quality, they are:
1. KAL $37.50 (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-Mould-Handles)
2. NOE $35.95 (http://www.noebulletmoulds.com/NV/)
3. MiHec $26.00 (http://www.mp-molds.com/shopping/pgm....php?id=6&=SID)
4. Lee $20.00
I will *never* buy another Lee. Too many problems with them even after gluing the mould handles on.
IHTH
RCBS, NOE. Some lyman molds on ebay sometimes.
The Lee Precision handles are around $13.00 and are the de facto standard. A little TLC and you got a great deal.
I like the SAECO handles unfortunately they only fit SAECO moulds of which I have 5, other handles I have are RCBS and a Lee all the Lyman handles I had broke have a Mihc on order, The RCBS fit the same molds as the Lee so I will not be buying any more Lee. Robert.
KAL tool and die handle's then LEE
Just received some KAL handles from RED RIVER RICK, Nice work.
I believe so I have not found any others that fit, could probably modify some thing to work.
If you have any issues with your hands - such as arthritis - you cannot go past the Cabin Tree Locking Handles IMHO, yes they are expensive and a bit on the heavy side but I have found they give me excellent repeatable results from session to session.
I find the extra mass means they are slower to heat up but once at the right temperature I can cast at a slightly slower rate without them cooling off too much. They seem to act as heat sink.
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 |