Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting Changes in .Lyman 429421

I have been casting bullets for about 40 years with an old Lyman single cavity 429421 in the version with the rounded grease grooves. I know Elmer Keith was not happy with this change in his design but bullets from my mould have always been very accurate.

I have decided to treat myself to a new Lyman 4 cavity mould and notice that they have returned to a design closer to Keith's original. Does anyone here have this new "old" design and how does it work for you?

I have both and they work equally well. I've noticed no difference in my accuracy, velocity and neither of them cause leading in the brl.

You might want to also consider the RCBS 44-250-K mould. RCBS only makes two cavity moulds, but the CQ and CS reports seem a little more positive than Lyman. At least that's the sense I get. I just received my RCBS moulds this week, and I'm new to the game anyway, so I can't speak from experience. Just throwing out another option. That's also not to say that I might not buy a 429421 myself at some point.

Not trying to contradict you but I think Lyman moulds get an unfair shake sometime. They are not the last word in quality moulds, butI've owned several over the last 33 years and they have always produced very serviceable, usually accurate bullets. Sometimes it does take a bit of experimenting to see what makes them produce good, well filled out bullets, whereas my LBT's for example, just crank out perfect bullets without hardly trying.

I see it a bit like comparing a factory rifle to a custom. Like an out of the box Model 700 the Lymans seem to get the job done

RCBS makes very good moulds, too, though I've only owned a few. Currently using their 270 SAA in my Ruger Bisley and Marlin and it's a doozy, it sure makes a real flying brick of a load! That 44-250-K looks like a great design. I really wish RCBS would make 4 cavity moulds. Only reason I have chosen Lyman over RCBS at times is precisely because Lyman made a 4 banger and RCBS didn't.

On the 429421, I got one specifically to feed my Ruger .44 Special, 'cause, ya know, that was Elmer's .44 load and any deviation from the original would be heresy. BTW, the new ones make good bullets that shoot just fine.

Just ordered a Night Owl Enterprises mould from the castboolit group buy, am really looking forward to seeing how that one performs.

Thanks for the info Jim. Like I said, I'm a newbie, and more than willing to learn from guys who actually know what they're doing. I bought the RCBS 250-K mould specifically for my new .44spl too. It won't quite have the same mojo as a 429421 (probably the most famous mould number of all time), but it looks authentic enough to feed my new Flattop. I need start casting ASAP too, because my old supply of Ranier copper plated 240s is almost gone, and more importantly, it just feels wrong shooting that bullet in a Flattop .44spl!!

Speaking of group buys, I got in on the 250 Keith buy from last year that MakeMineA10mm did. So I've got a 6 cavity mould that looks VERY authentic, other than I've heard it throws bullets a little heavy (260ish grains IIRC).

LBT cuts a Keith mould taken from original sample's of Elmer's, including his 357 and 45 Colt designs.

Lyman and RCBS moulds both work fine....I just hate the incessant tapping to get bullets to drop and the set screws for the sprue plates.

Here's a few of my 44 cal bullet moulds.

I have not found a difference in the grease grooves but you need to remember Keith shot soft lead so maybe the square bottom grooves did something.
The big problem is getting a mold to cast a boolit of the right size. I have had too many Lyman and RCBS molds that dropped boolits too small for accuracy and without leading the bore.

A change in direction but where does one find a source for LBT products?
Phil

Why, at the LBT website, of course!

http://www.lbtmoulds.com/

At the castboolits site they also do occasional group buys from LBT. I'd known about these but never really looked into them until a few days ago. They can order stuff at a little better price than you can get ordering one at a time.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

Thanks. will follow up

Every one of my RCBS and Lyman molds is different. Several of them are "open and dump" models as long as the metal is right in alloy and temp - that's not real critical. Others are mostly simple "bump and drop" molds. Again, the temperature of everything needs to get right, then you need to stay in a rhythm which keeps things rolling. (That's why I hate to cast if I don't have a good chunk of time.)