Bought my first Lyman mold

[Wolfram Malukker]

Picked up my first lyman mold tonight-an ebay find. Been hunting them for weeks and only just found one that sold for less than what it costs to get one new.

It's a Lyman 429421, for my upcoming .44 magnum rifle project. Two cavity mold, no handles. I'll grab handles another day.

When casting from this mold, what do I need to look for in regards to alloy and casting temp for rifle-velocity bullets? I have sheet lead and monotype, that I'll alloy as needed.

[Conditor22]

Check with a reloading book and reference this chart for an idea of alloy hardness needed



as for alloy needed

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...oy-calculators

EDIT (7/6/12): Corrected tin-lead alloy formulas and updated cost calculator.

Click on "Lead Alloy Calculators 070612.zip"

[Walks]

If it's for a Lever Gun, that mold is not the best choice. But it's a great mold for Revolvers. I have had all 3 of my Lever Guns reworked to feed just about anything. Out of all the molds I've Collected over the last 40+yrs, I prefer the newest one.
The N.O.E TL432-240-RF.

[georgerkahn]

What you purchased IS one of my most favourite .44 moulds, used by me to load .44 S&W Special as well as .44 Remington Magnum loads. Interestingly, perhaps, for ME -- while it performs outstandingly in my revolver, I have not had similar results in rifle, in a Henry Model H006 Golden Boy .44 Remington Magnum lever action and a Harrington and Richardson Shikari, same calibre. Perhaps, again, just "me". For these, I found a NOE offering -- a NOE 432-265 RD RG2 mould with Gas Check to work best.
One comment, which is most positive, is the materials you indicate you have will, no doubt, cast into marvelous bullets, they may be too soft for rifle use. If so, you might wish to add some tin and antimony to your alloy. Definitely not the brightest bulb in the lamp re making working alloys, *I* have been lucky "fudging it". My savior is a vendor named RotoMetals, which purveys both the aforementioned substances (tin & antimony) and also purveys ingots of what they call "superhard". Using a mix of roughly ten ingots of my soft alloy plus one ingot of their superhard plus one 1/3rd-ingot of tin makes -- again, for me, a marvelous bullet alloy. 99%-plus, I am sure, of other casters on this site know MUCH more than I do re mixing -- but, again, my "formula" has worked for years.
A URL of Rotometals is https://www.rotometals.com/bullet-casting-alloys/
You may wish to read some about alloys and like, and a really GREAT reference is (a free! read) masterpiece (imho) by Glenn Fryxell and Walter Applegate found at: http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm .
GOOD LUCK!!! Hope I help

[toallmy]

I have picked up a few used Lyman 2 cavity molds , and have found them to be a pleasure to cast with . While you're waiting for a set of handles , you could take a look at the " mold maintenance and design " section of the form just to keep yourself busy . Enjoy

[Wolfram Malukker]

I had looked at the gas-checked 429244 mold as well, just haven't been able to find one yet. I am thinking if I need to, I'll fit a plain-base thin gas check. I don't even have a way to size or lube them yet.

The rifle is a shortened-action 1891 Mosin Nagant, the action length has been shortened by 7/8" and feeds .44 mag and .445 Supermag from the magazine properly. Barrel length will be around 18", and there will be a second barrel in .357 Bain and Davis

[Walks]

That is some Rifle. A switch-barrel ? Bolt Gun.
That is really Cool, Dude.

I'm an OLD SoCal "Surfer Dude" and yeah, we really talk that way.

That #429421 will cut very Clean holes in paper. But if you're using that long a bbl, you might consider mixing #2 alloy with COWW. I find that works well in my .44Mag Lever Guns. For light to medium loads.

[John Boy]

If it's for a Lever Gun, that mold is not the best choice.

As a rifle or carbine cartridge the .44 Magnum is sufficiently powerful for medium-sized game, yet fits easily into a compact, lightweight package. In 1961, Ruger introduced their .44 carbine, the first .44 Magnum carbine. The lever-action Marlin Model 1894, and many other firearms are currently available in this caliber. With significantly longer barrels than revolvers and no cylinder gap (except in revolving rifles), carbines will generate a significantly higher velocity than a revolver loaded with the same ammunition.[18] Tests with various ammunition in the Ruger Deerfield yielded a 100 yd (91 m) velocity of over 1,300 ft/s (400 m/s) with a 240-grain (16 g) bullet, comparable to the muzzle velocity out of a revolver.[19][20] Loads using slow burning powders maximize performance in both short and long barrels, with one published load generating 1,500 ft/s (460 m/s) from a revolver, and 1,625 ft/s (495 m/s) from a carbine with a 240-grain (16 g) bullet.[21]

[Wolfram Malukker]

So far, the only issue with the rifle is that the action is no longer straight-the low wall of the action pulled much more than the high wall-which is odd-and while the bolt fits fine and lockup is good, it's visibly warped so I am going to make a second attempt at it.

The mold came in today-it's new. It still has the machine shop shipping oil on it, smells a bit like LPS #2 anticorrosion oil...we use it at work.

[oldhenry]

Wolfram,
You'll enjoy that mold. I got a 4 cav. in '77 & added the SAECO #441 twin in the 80's from Paul Jones. Both were used in the '80 in IHMSA competition with my 10.5" Super BH with straight COWW (that's all I knew then) & back then most in our circles used 10.0gr. of Unique in the .44 Mag.. It shot better than I did & would knock down the rams with any kind of hit. The Lyman & SAECO versions produced good quality boolits: however, the SAECO version being smaller (even though it was a 4 cav. also) heated up quicker than the Lyman & @ some point in casting, I'd let it cool. The Lyman kept going. I later learned than a damp wash cloth would cool down the SAECO enough to keep going with the Lyman.

My .44 mag. days are over, but that molds sees use in my 3 .44 spec. Rugers with Unique, HP38 & WST. I now use 50/50+1.5 alloy.

[smithnframe]

The best 44 mag/spl mould if it has the square grease groove as Elmer designed it! Any pics of the rifle?

[longbow]

Check your groove diameter. Not sure if it applies to aftermarket barrels but should since it is SAAMI spec but rifle barrels are 0.431" groove diameter.

Your mould will likely cast at 0.429"/0.430" so boolits may be undersize. If so you will get leading and poor accuracy. Cast boolits should be at least 0.001" over groove diameter after sizing.

I learned the hard way when I bought "the best .44 mag. mould there is" a Keith semi wadcutter Lyman 429421 for my new Marlin 1894. Wrong choice! I didn't know at the time but the nose length puts it longer than acceptable COAL for Marlins, it is an SWC which commonly have feeding problems in Marlin 1894's and the mould cast right on 0.429" with ACWW so was undersize for the groove diameter.

You won't likely have the feeding issue and maybe not the OAL issue but if the mould casts to spec you may get leading and poor accuracy.

Lyman moulds have a reputation for casting small. Larry Gibson maintains that Lyman moulds will cast to spec using Lyman #2 alloy and that is likely true but casting to spec for a 429421 is 0.429". Since mine casts to 0.429" with ACWW I guess it actually casts oversize but it is still too small for my Marlin (SAAMI spec) bore. Even if I used Lyman #2 alloy I doubt I'd add 0.003" to diameter. My solution was to buy moulds that cast 0.433" or larger. Leading issue solved! Accuracy issue solved!

This is not a slam on Lyman moulds. I like the Lyman moulds I have that cast large enough for the guns I have. Iron is my favourite mould material and the Lyman moulds are nicely made. You have bought an excellent mould... just maybe not the right one for your gun.

Longbow

[Wolfram Malukker]

The barrel is a custom blank. 0.425 bore, 0.429 groove diameter. First thing I did when the blank got here was drive a soft lead slug.

I'm still working on the rifle-It'll be a while yet. First receiver didn't go as well as I'd like, but I may have the issues figured out for round 2.

Unfortunately, the Ebay seller I bought the mold handles from didn't advertise them properly, so I have a double-cavity mold and single-cavity handles. I thought they were the same, so did he. Or maybe they're not Lyman handles? They are wood with cast iron hinge and tongs, but no maker's name anywhere.

Either way, The mold fits in the handles very nicely, but the mold can't be closed once inside the handles. Maybe I'm assembling it wrong.