lyman molds

bustoff · August 14, 2009, 08:20 PM

Ive only been casting about 2 years and I have molds from lyman, lee and rcbs. the lyman are the only ones to give me fits. bullets came out undersize and out of round, the alignment pins were adjusted correctly. the 44 cal swc were .428 with a alloy that measured 18 bhn using a lee hardness tester. I casted a few bullets and drilled and tapped a hole in the bases and coated the bullets with 800 grit lapping compound then cut the head off a screw and turned bullet with a drill inside the mold cavities. this pretty much fixed the out of round and the diameter is now .430. the other set is 45 cal for my trapdoor, also undersize and out of round I ended up chucking it in a lathe and recut all but the nose radius. is this normal for lyman? the molds from lee and rcbs gave me no such problems. im a little apprehensive about buying another lyman mold. the alloy in the 45 is 20/1. any thoughts on cast bullets in marlin 30/30 microgroove barrels? remember that these molds are 2 years old at most so any comparison to molds you may have had for years probably wont help much.

Hawg · August 14, 2009, 08:26 PM

I Have a couple of Lyman molds and they're fine. I do like Lee better tho.

IllinoisCoyoteHunter · August 14, 2009, 08:37 PM

My one lyman mold drops undersized boolits. This is indeed a problem with some lyman molds. Mines going back to Lyman, and if they don't wanna fix it they can keep it.

bustoff · August 14, 2009, 08:43 PM

at least im not alone with this problem. I dont mind tinkering with things to make them work a little smoother but for the cost of their product I was expecting a little better quality.

kraigwy · August 15, 2009, 09:30 AM

I have several Lyman molds and they work fine. In fact the only bad mold I have (and I have several, lyman, RCBS, Saco, Lee) was a lee mold. It was suppose to be .311 but turned out about 320 something. I thought about sending it back but relized it would be perfect for my 8X51 MS, with a barrel thats 323 instead of the 318 for the normal 8 mms.

I guess I've just been lucky.

SteelyNirvana · August 23, 2009, 01:14 AM

I've heard a few people over at castboolits complain about the Lyman molds, just FYI. Seems like there quality is going downhill.

jimkim · August 23, 2009, 07:10 PM

I think this may be a common problem with Lyman. I have several Lyman moulds. The one that gives me the most trouble is a two cavity 429421. One cavity is awesome. It drops .432" bullets. The other one drops .427-.428" bullets. I'm planning to lap my mould until the small cavity matches the large one.

Edward429451 · August 23, 2009, 07:35 PM

I guess I've been lucky with the Lyman moulds. I've had the undersized issue with a Lee mould . Nice fix!

My experience with Marlin barrels and cast is that they like fat boolits.

August 14, 2009, 08:20 PM	#1
bustoff Member Join Date: June 7, 2009 Posts: 32	lyman molds Ive only been casting about 2 years and I have molds from lyman, lee and rcbs. the lyman are the only ones to give me fits. bullets came out undersize and out of round, the alignment pins were adjusted correctly. the 44 cal swc were .428 with a alloy that measured 18 bhn using a lee hardness tester. I casted a few bullets and drilled and tapped a hole in the bases and coated the bullets with 800 grit lapping compound then cut the head off a screw and turned bullet with a drill inside the mold cavities. this pretty much fixed the out of round and the diameter is now .430. the other set is 45 cal for my trapdoor, also undersize and out of round I ended up chucking it in a lathe and recut all but the nose radius. is this normal for lyman? the molds from lee and rcbs gave me no such problems. im a little apprehensive about buying another lyman mold. the alloy in the 45 is 20/1. any thoughts on cast bullets in marlin 30/30 microgroove barrels? remember that these molds are 2 years old at most so any comparison to molds you may have had for years probably wont help much. __________________ how can you shoot golfs without guns ? - Curly Howard Last edited by bustoff; August 14, 2009 at 08:39 PM.

August 14, 2009, 08:37 PM	#3
IllinoisCoyoteHunter Senior Member Join Date: December 23, 2008 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 1,527	My one lyman mold drops undersized boolits. This is indeed a problem with some lyman molds. Mines going back to Lyman, and if they don't wanna fix it they can keep it. __________________ ~~IllinoisCoyoteHunter~~ ~NRA LIFE MEMBER~ ~NRA CERTIFIED INSTRUCTOR~

August 14, 2009, 08:43 PM	#4
bustoff Member Join Date: June 7, 2009 Posts: 32	at least im not alone with this problem. I dont mind tinkering with things to make them work a little smoother but for the cost of their product I was expecting a little better quality. __________________ how can you shoot golfs without guns ? - Curly Howard

August 15, 2009, 09:30 AM	#5
kraigwy Senior Member Join Date: June 16, 2008 Location: Wyoming Posts: 11,061	I have several Lyman molds and they work fine. In fact the only bad mold I have (and I have several, lyman, RCBS, Saco, Lee) was a lee mold. It was suppose to be .311 but turned out about 320 something. I thought about sending it back but relized it would be perfect for my 8X51 MS, with a barrel thats 323 instead of the 318 for the normal 8 mms. I guess I've just been lucky. __________________ Kraig Stuart CPT USAR Ret USAMU Sniper School Distinguished Rifle Badge 1071

August 23, 2009, 07:10 PM	#7
jimkim Senior Member Join Date: July 3, 2008 Location: middle GA Posts: 326	I think this may be a common problem with Lyman. I have several Lyman moulds. The one that gives me the most trouble is a two cavity 429421. One cavity is awesome. It drops .432" bullets. The other one drops .427-.428" bullets. I'm planning to lap my mould until the small cavity matches the large one. __________________ Jan. 4, 2007 gasoline $2.10 gal....HMMM?

August 14, 2009, 08:26 PM	#2
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,188	I Have a couple of Lyman molds and they're fine. I do like Lee better tho.

August 23, 2009, 01:14 AM	#6
SteelyNirvana Member Join Date: December 30, 2006 Posts: 43	I've heard a few people over at castboolits complain about the Lyman molds, just FYI. Seems like there quality is going downhill.

August 23, 2009, 07:35 PM	#8
Edward429451 Junior member Join Date: November 12, 2000 Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado Posts: 9,494	I guess I've been lucky with the Lyman moulds. I've had the undersized issue with a Lee mould . Nice fix! My experience with Marlin barrels and cast is that they like fat boolits.