Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns What's your favorite bullet mold?

I have some big fav's and I really love all my home cast bullets, but I do have two standouts.

RCBS 275-455-SAA (I think that's what it's called) Anyhow, it's a Keith (ish) style SWC for the good ole .45 Colt with the widest meplat of any SWC bullet I've ever seen. At 900 fps out of a standard pressure .45 Colt, it's devastating to anything it hits.
Lyman 358429, the classic 170 grain Keith bullet in .357

Sadly, I don't have any LBT molds anymore, something that really needs to be fixed.

I have the LBT 44-260 WFN mold, and it's my go-to bullet for my .44 SPL. about 950 fps. I've only shot varmints with it, but I suspect it will do well on deer within range limits. I use the RCBS 45-230 CM mold for my .45 ACP, and don't see a need for another bullet for all around use in that round. In fact, I haven't shot a jacketed handgun bullet in years. for rifle use, I have the RCBS 30-180 SP for my cast bullet match gun, an unmodified 1903A3 in beautiful shape. it shoots better than I can with 5744. My other favorite is the Lyman 457122 for my .45-70. Looking forward to taking it after deer, too.

I have a couple of the 6 cavity molds from Lee and I have to say, I was very surprised at exactly how good they are. The trick is learning how to use an aluminum mold; once that's figured out, they really rock and crank out the bullets fast. Handles suck though; expect them to break early on.

LBT 160 WFNGC is far and away the favorite for two reasons. It casts the best quality bullets of any mold I own and my .38 and .357 revolvers all love the bullet. Had an LBT .430 250 WFNGC but Brian Pearce bought it at a gun show. Would like to get it back. Also had two LBT .41 molds � 220 WFNGC and WFNPB, and a .45 WFN but sold those as well. I do dumb stuff like that more often that I should.

Second favorite is a 20 year old two cavity Lyman 311041. It casts a nice 170 grain flat nose for my .30-30, but I�ve used that bullet in the .308 and .30-06 for the heck of it and it shoots very well up to 2000 fps. Haven�t really taken it faster. Once I got the hang of how it likes to be poured I can be assured of two well filled out bullets with each cast.

That RCBS 270 SAA is a good bullet. The Bisley .45 likes it and the Marlin likes it too. I call it the �Flying Brick�.



Those Lee 6 cavity molds are much better than they should be. I have one .358 158 RF that is off kilter, the mold blocks don�t line up properly so the bullets are out of round across the seam by .004�. Need to send it back to Lee but haven't gotten a round tuit yet. But the .430 200 RF and the .454 250 RF produce great bullets for the .44 Special and .45 Colt and you really go through some lead fast when you drop those babies 6 at a time.

They do need to be warmed up properly. I cast into three cavities for a couple of casts when cold and cut the sprue immediately, then 4, then when it�s taking a while for the sprue to solidify I finally cast all 6. If not I can see how it would be easy to break the sprue cutter handle, fortunately I have not done that.

Lyman 358439 HP, 358429, 357446 in that order.

Even though I've got some of the incomparable NEI moulds, my favorite for cheap-azz shooting is a Lee 356-125-2R, a mould that makes some awfully good 9mm/.38Super bullets for plinking and bumming around. It's profile is very similar to a 9mm ball bullet, it's super-easy to cast with, and drops very few culls. Back when I shot a lot of 9mm/.38 Super stuff, it was my favorite bullet, there were, obviously, no feeding issues, it was cheap, and it was accurate, too.

Once, just for giggles, I shot an 1 1/2" group at 100 yards with it, out of an old Radom P-35. Dunno if I could do it again, it's doubtful, but it would surely shoot.

The Lyman 358156 was Number One for many years, right up until I got the LBT 160 WFN.

That bullet would flat out shoot in anything I shot it through. Started with a one cavity mold - slow, slow, slow!

Finally smartened up and got a 4 cavity and used that to good effect for nearly 20 years.

kevin: I have that scovill engineered rcbs mould too. However, through a group buy on the cast bullet forum last year, came up with another version of that made by a guy in europe. Same thing, but it has a plug to make a hex sided hollow point out of it. Excellent mould.

I use that mould too, also have stuffed some of those bullets in .380 believe it or not.

I wish someone here would sell me that H&P mould keith designed and produced by H&P for the .41magnum.

All my current favorites are RCBS versions.

In the 45 ACP I have had great luck with the 45-201-SWC (or KT in the older version). This is supposed to be a good copy of the H&G 68 (non bevel base).

In 38 Special or 357 I like the 38-150-KT. My model 64 loves them and my friends with 686s have great success as well. Sized .358.

In 44 Mag I am using the 44-245-SWC sized .430. It has accounted for 3 consecutive whitetail bucks and shoots well in both a Super Blackhawk and a 14inch Contender.

I'm still working on the 9mm. My Hi-Power has an oversized bore (.358)and although it shoots jacketed and plated bullets fine, no such luck with cast so far. Still working on several possibilities though.

My RCBS 44 250 gr Keith MOLD. I just received 500 of the 45-270 SAA bullets today from Mt Baldy today. I'm going to load them with 9.5 gr of Hod Longshot for my Ruger Bisley

Try working up to a max load. I've had more than one Hi Power have a preference for max pressure with a cast bullet.

I agree, AND try that Lee 356-125-2R mould, with a stiff load of Unique. Most Hi-Powers run .3572", a good bump to the base fills the bore pretty good.

Back in the 1970s all I shot was Lyman/Thompson design bullets from a Model 19 and Model 29. The 357156 and the 429219 gas checked bullets was all I shot from 1970 to 1981. Sold the guns and the moulds about that time when I transitioned over to .38 Super and .41 Magnum.

Just again getting back into casting mainly for the .41 but do have one favorite cast bullet for the .38 Super/9mm...the SAECO 383. Don't have a mold yet but a friend who was a commercial caster made a bunch of these bullets for me and they were the most accurate cast bullet I ever tried for the 9mm and .38 Super.

.41 wise, I bought several moulds on group buys over on the Cast Bullet Forum mostly of Keith design. One that I would like to get is the LBT mould that Cast Performance uses for their 255 grain WFN GC. Have also been using a 305 grain gas checked design from Specialty Pistol Gear. When Mike stopped casting he sold me the mold...it is very accurate...



50 yards...the first shot was done center hold and landed a little high....




Bob

Speaking of Lee molds, they make a 310 gr. gas check for 45 colt with a huge flat point. Shoots very well in my Bisley.

I also like the Lyman 358429 for the 357.
Doc

I have only a half-dozen moulds, all Lee. I really like their Tumble Lube and RNFP designs.



From left, Lee 38-158RNFP (lubed), 44-240SWC, 44-265RNFP (lubed) and their 45-255RNFP.

I've slugged mine and it is over .358. Unfortunately if I try sizing big enough to fill the bore, I have trouble chambering them. I've tried some fairly hot loads and it didn't seem to help. They all lead fairly bad and the Lyman 356402 actually keyholes at 25yds (short bearing area I'm guessing). It appears the solution may be a new barrel with a more standard bore diameter but the Bar-Sto I want is currently back-ordered. Strange how the oversize bore has no problems with .355 jacketed bullets though.

My favorite is a Lyman 358156 Hollow Point mold. It's a pain in the buttocks but man, does it make accurate and effective bullets. It's usually around 1 1/2" or less at 25 yds and when cast of lead from "tape wheelweights" they expand beautifully even at a leisurely 1200 fps from my 4" M-19.