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So being a sucker for buying and trying cast bullet designs, but also being a little on the cheap side, I cruise EBay regularly looking for a bargain on a mold. It’s rare that I actually buy one, often they go for more than new price on those still in production or more than you can have a oftentimes better quality reproduction made by one of the custom makers. Plus with them being used and sometimes abused it’s always a roll of the dice as to whether what you end up with being useable or not.

But I got lucky twice in the last couple weeks.

I’d been watching for a good SWC or flat nose bullet for my 32 H&R. I’ve been using the RCBS 32-98SWC, also an eBay acquisition, and it’s an excellent bullet. But a prior owner had done some fiddling with it and one cavity casts a slightly out of round base due to the customization. It’s not awful but I thought I’d watch in case I got lucky and found a cheap replacement.

And along came an absolutely mint old 3 cavity Cramer. I liked the look of it and decided to make an offer even though I couldn’t find any info at all about it on the internet. The seller accepted my offer and it was on its way here. I gave it a quick degreasing and fired up the pot. It makes beautiful little bullets that weigh 97gr cast of WW. All three cavities are round and cast identical bullets. It has a very big meplat for such a small caliber, should be an excellent game bullet.

Now just a day or two later up pops a mystery mold with a low starting bid. I could tell by the sprue plate it was an H&G. Pictures showed 4 nice cavities for a full wadcutter, I assumed the ubiquitous H&G 50. The mysterious part was that its previous owner must have had a milling machine and grown tired of handling the heavy cast iron blocks. He’d cut pocket cuts out of the outside of both blocks to lighten it up I presume, but he’d also removed all markings when he milled it.

Knowing what it was and their reputation for quality I was interested but I put in a low bid due to having almost been burned on another H&G wadcutter mold I had bud on. I didn’t realize back then that the 50 was made in both .358 and .356 diameter and found out as I was about to win the auction that the one I was winning was a .356, luckily someone outbid me at the last minute. With no way to know what bullet diameter this one would throw without actually pouring some and measuring them, I put in a bid low enough that I wouldn’t care too much if I ended up with a mold I had no use for.

I ended up winning it with my opening bid and then thinking to myself that I’d probably bought one that wouldn’t make bullets I can use just because that’s often the way these things turn out. Imagine my surprise when it shows up yesterday and upon closed inspection, it’s not even an H&G #50, doesn’t have the right amount of lube grooves and other things are off too. Some digging online turned up an old catalog and eventually a link to a very informative website dedicated to Hensley and Gibbs history and I was able to identify it. It’s a #36 158gr full wadcutter made only in .358 diameter. It’s similar to a Lyman design that puts a bit more of the nose out of the case.

So that’s about as close as I get to any form of online gambling but it was a pretty fun way to spend a little over $100. My son is already dying to load up some wadcutters to shoot out of my Blackhawk so I bet we get enough use out of the molds to make them worth the money.

Dude, you're cracking me up

Fired up the pot this evening and heated up the new old H&G mold. It’s got me thinking about selling my Lyman and RCBS molds and ponying up the cash for a fleet of H&Gs. The bullets practically jump out of the cavities when you open the blocks. And they all 4 make nice round bullets that measure .360” cast of WW.

I have some random pound of IMR Target that’s supposed to be Bullseyeish. I think we’ll load a coffee can full of wadcutters up over about 3gr of it and do some plinking.

Nice score(s). Definite well cared for iron.

My last bit of online gambling got me a Colt Officer's Model Target 32 Colt New Police (32 S&W Long) along with an adjustable King rear and an action job.

But it needs the hand stretched....its still in time both DA and SA when the hammer falls, but needs a hand tune up.

I remember my instructor in trade school showing us how to stretch the hand in a Colt. Careful application of a dulled chisel against the anvil on a bench vise. Don’t worry if you screw it up, there probably aren’t any replacements. 😳

Does it have the King mirror ramp front site? Not sure how well they actually work but I think they’re cooler than can be. Kings did some really neat work on Colts and S&Ws back in the day.

The Cramer drops bullets at .316”. I’ll send you a bunch unsized if you want to size them to fit it and try them out.

They make new hands again so I got one and also have several lying around.

No front mirror, just a Patridge. Yes I still want to have a gun with an original one. I Rube Goldberg'd one with a compact disc chunk as a reflector and it really makes a huge difference, almost crazy at dusk.

You know me, I'm good with .32 bullets, but I appreciate it. You've got plenty going on! Plus, if they shot good I would either have to own the mold or you would be making bullets for me and not yourself!

Most .32s really like a .314, so that Cramer ought to shoot great and size well.

I've gone the gamut of wanting and trying different things. I have one load for each chambering (two loads for 38 Special).
Same bullet, same powder and the load is done in profusion, fits every gun nominally. I know, I'm not exciting anymore. Or I just don't have the time. But the journey did teach me some things.

I will admit, you guys and your full wadcutters have me hankering for one in .32.

Quick bump as I lucked into another one last week.

A seller listed three old Cramers, all with handles and in decent shape as best as could be told from the pictures.

One was a 3 cavity 45 SWC very much like an H&G 68 but with a bevel base. I passed as I have a good RCBS for 45 wadcutters and I’m not wild about bevel base designs.

The next was another that I could find very little info on with a web search. Cramer sold out to SAECO in the 40’s so most of the info has been lost to time. What little I could find on it was that it was a “Keith” type, and we all know how that goes, 165gr .358. It is a 2 cavity and all the pictures looked great with the exception of the one of the cavities, which wasn’t quite in focus. I decided to give it a low bid and see what happened. Turned out I was the only one willing to roll the dice and I got it for my opening bid, doubt you’ll find many molds as nice and with handles for $39.

It casts beautifully, nice round bullets fall out of the cavities and measure .360 weighing 168gr. The Keith description was a bit of a stretch. It has a very thin front driving band, two lube grooves, and not the biggest meplat on the flat nose. Looks closer to a Colt New Police bullet to my eye.

But I guess that can be overlooked to some degree if it shoots. And shoot it does. I loaded half a coffee can full over 6gr of Power Pistol in Starline cases. Ran to the farm when it cooled off a little this evening and shot a bit. Two groups fired sitting from 20 yards with elbows on my knees had 5 in one ragged hole and the 6th opening the group up a bit, happens to the best of us.

Out of my 2” M15 I put 5 in 2” with the required flyer on the sixth shot when I felt myself flinch but it wasn’t the gun or load.

Cool story. Hope you find that 32 you're looking for.

PS- nice looking bullet and gun!