Hi All:
I'm new to the forum and looking for tips on buying a mould for the
following style of bullet. It will be used in local NRA style match shooting.
So, two questions to start the discussion:
What is your favorite 200 semi-wadcutter design?
Who makes the mould for it?
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I would go with either the Lee 6 cavity 200 gr. SWC or the RCBS 200 SWC.. Both cast good bullets. I like the Lee because it is a 6 cavity and you can make bullets enmass
The RCBS bullet is very close in design to the Lee but the mould will cost more.
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You may also consider that the Lee 200 SWC has a bevel base which can be messy when using the RCBS, Lyman or Saeco lube/sizers. That portion of the mould may be reamed and this becomes a non-issue. The Saeco 068 bevel base and 069 plain base appear to be similar to the Lee 200 SWC and the RCBS 45-200-SWC has two lube grooves instead of one groove as the others have. The Lyman 452630 200 GR SWC is a bevel based single lube groove bullet. If you use a Star lube sizer, the type of bullet base makes no difference.
Since I use the RCBS lube sizer, I have reamed the bevel base from the Lee mold and am pleased with the way it shoots. Duane Mellenbruch Topeka, KS
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I shoot the Lee bullet as well. The mold is very easy to use. I have good luch just using Lee Alox tumble lube
Jim
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During a five year period, I shot 75,000 rounds of .45 ACP. I had a friend that I shared moulds with. He had a 4 cavity H&G #68 mould and that remains my favorite .45 ACP bullet to this day.
I later bought two Saeco #68 moulds (185 gr SWC with beveled base). This bullet cuts cleaner holes in paper than the #68 H&G and seems to shoot as well.
I had an opportunity to buy an H&G #130 4 cavity mould. I grabbed it. It is the sweetest mould to cast with that I have used (sixty or seventy moulds at last count). It is a short, stubby, 195 gr bullet (with my alloy). It shoots as well as the best.
So, I can recommend, without reservation, the #68 H&G bullet as being the best .45 ACP bullet ever (it was designed quite carefully to function well in autos).
The Saeco #68 or #69 should shoot as well but may NOT function as well in autos (bullet nose strike is in a slightly different area due to slight design differences).
The #130 is considered one of the most accurate .45 target bullets of all time but does not have the reputation of functioning quite as well in a wide variety of autos that the H&G #68 does.
If I were buying today, I would definitely try the Lee six cavity 452-200-SWC or if you prefer a heavier bullet, the Lee Truncated cone 452-230-TC looks VERY good.
H&G moulds are now produced by Ballisti-Cast and are VERY expensive but VERY good. Saeco moulds are expensive but good. Lee is the price champ, by far, but requires careful use to get long life from them. Lee's aluminum moulds are MUCH lighter than the iron or steel moulds and for an old fart like me, much appreciated (I have a six or eight cavity H&G .38 WC mould that I can hardly use these days due to its VERY heavy weight).
My three 1911's function perfectly (and ALWAYS) with any of the above bullets (except I haven't tried the Lee - they weren't an option when I acquired my moulds) but they were built by a real pistolsmith and I suspect that they would function with full wadcutters as they are THAT good.
These days, I still shoot a lot of .45 ACP's but they are shot mostly in my two S&W 625-8's and one Taurus Tracker (and they work wonderfully well in these revolvers).
Just some thoughts from a “certified old fart".
Dale53
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I agree with Dale on the H&G molds.. They are by far the best casting molds I have had the pleasure to use. One of my buddies has several H&G moulds for the 45, 44, 38, 30 cals. they are mostly 4 & 6 cavities, but he does have a couple 10 cavity 38 molds. They weigh a ton, I cant hold them when casting so I devised a holder to do that job for me.
I have one of the Lee 6 cavity 45 molds and one in 40. You do have to be careful to get long life out of them. I use bullplate lube following a recomendation from a fellow on Cast Boolits that frequents here. Certainly a good move! I have cast probley 10K worth of bullets in it and they is no sprue plate galling of the top of the mold. You have to follow the directions exactly otherwise you will get the bullpate in the cavities and then it wont cast good bullets.
The Lee 45 acp bullets shoot pretty good, they are similar to a Saeco 68. I have no complaints with the Lee mold or the quality of bullets it makes. However, if you get a chance to grab up an old H&G, do it, they are worth their weight in gold!
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I got in on a group buy at Cast Boolits after a heads up on this forum. This was for a 6 cavity Lee Mould special order H&G 68 designed bullet. Hopefully, Lee will make the mould to the design specs that are being sent to them. It's not a true H&G mould, but the best I can find at the moment. In the future I will be loking for an original H&G mould.
Being new to casting as I've stated, What should I be looking out for when buying a used mould?
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RCBS has excellent bullet moulds but only offers two cavity designs and that is a “deal breaker” for me.
Then there is NEI Handtools bullet moulds. They are a bit pricy but of excellent quality in both double and four cavity designs.
LBT has bullet moulds that work well but are somewhat pricy.
Lots of choices but that is GOOD!
Dale53
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A little late in reply but I have used a 4 cavity Lyman 452460 for over 35 years and had very good luck. Jim Clark, Shreveport, La built a carry match grade piece for me out of a commerical Colt 45. His testing w/ Ransom rest at 50 yards with 3.9 gr Bullseye, Military brass, Winchester primer and the 452460 cast of straight WW grouped 2". That was NOT the carry load. Later Chronyed that load and it gave 698 FPS.
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You may also consider that the Lee 200 SWC has a bevel base which can be messy when using the RCBS, Lyman or Saeco lube/sizers. That portion of the mould may be reamed and this becomes a non-issue.
Since I use the RCBS lube sizer, I have reamed the bevel base from the Lee mold and am pleased with the way it shoots. Duane Mellenbruch Topeka, KS I own the 6 cavity Lee 200 SWC mold but have not used it yet. Since I use an RCBS lubrasizer, your comment caught my attention. Can I just use a reamer of the same diameter of the bullet cucked into a drill press to carefully take out the bevel? If not, can you advise what I should do? -Don
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I have an H&G 8-cavity #68 (45cal 200gr SWC - plain base) mold for sale........
The price is $400 + $10 shipping to Cont. 48. I will post pictures if necessary.....
.
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A reamer the same size as the bullet base or close to it should do fine. I think I jury rigged something and than had to lap it to clean it up. I would not use power, but hand turn the tool to remove the bevel portion of the mold. Use caution to avoid contacting the grease groove portion of the mold. Duane Mellenbruch
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I had the lyman 200 gr bevel base semi wad cutter 4 cavity mould and the lee 200 swc bevel base, and use lyman or rcbs sizers with no ill effects, the amount of lube that stays around the bevel base is a function of lube hardness,temperature and pressure.
I think that the presence of the bevel and the ease in bullet seating far outweight the small dirt on the bases.
You can clean them bullets,instead of risking to ruin the moulds and void their warranty.
Actually even plain base bullets can become dirty with the fore mentioned lubrisizers.
I prefer the Lee tumble lube 45ACP bullets unsized ,lubed and with a little baby powder.added.
All three work well,my favourite is the 230 RN.a tack driver in my 45LC Marlin Cow boy carbine.
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I use a Lyman 2 cavity 452460 mold that is so old that is actually marked Ideal.
It makes fine bullets, however, my guns are a little finicky about seating and crimping.
I shoot these bullets through a Kimber Eclipse 5” and a S&W M&P .45.
It took quite a while for the M&P to accept these bullets. When the weapon was brand new, it would jam on every third or fourth round. After about 800 rounds through the gun, the bullets work just fine.
That is the only bullet, BTW, that caused any kind of hiccup in the M&P .45.
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John Carlson
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linoww
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Bud Hyett
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MP1886
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drone
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beltfed
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Lucky1
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Eutectic
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RicinYakima
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mashburn
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