Some of you older casters have probably answered this qusetion many times but I am new to castng and would appreciate your experience and guidance. My question is what is the benefit or downside to a two cavity mould. Midway sells both single and double cavity for the same price. So what about it guy's which would be best (easiest) for someone who knows nolthing about casting

First, http://www.fmreloading.com probably has the same molds for far better prices, but it don't hurt to shop around.

Depending on the size of the bullet and the amount you wish to cast at any given time, a multiple cavity mold my be a help or hinderance. The bigger the mold, the heavier they are especially if going with an iron mold.... plus the bigger the bullets, the more weight in lead you'll have too. More weight means the quicker you'll fatigue when casting. Double cavity AL molds usually don't add enough weight to matter.

Now, if you're casting bullets larger than 250 grains, I'd suggest going with a single cavity mold not so much because of the weight but because of the cooling time and heat transfer. Bigger bullets take longer to cool and often times the mold will end up being hotter in the center than anywhere else leaving you with un-even cooling of the bullet which often results in poor quality bullets. This can happen with smaller bullets too depending on how close the cavities are bored to each other....just something to keep in mind when buying.

I'm not the most experienced or anywhere close to it. But, 2 cavity molds will give you twice as many bullets in the same amount of time. Downside, the mold will get hot quicker. If you're looking for hyper accuracy, I'm guessing you're not, you may get variances in the two cavities.

If you're casting handgun bullets, go with the double cavity mold regardless of cast iron or aluminum. You'll get higher production for the time spent casting. For rifle bullets, the single cavity is usually the only option. Being longer, these require a little more care to produce a good bullet. I personally prefer the four cavity mold for handgun bullets and have found it as easy to cast with as the double cavity mold.

Sometimews you'll find a diffrence between two cavities in the same mold block. I doubt it's common...and also doubt that it makes a gread deal of differnce (think it's a mind game that some have fallen into).

Buy the two cavity. Will speed up yur casting a bit, but we're goign to take that saved time right back away from you and suggest a weight sorting of your output. Not just the visual check we all do (just that some of us are mor strict at visual sorting that others).

Don't try for exact matches, but do try to sort out all the way off weight bullets. Think 2% variation from average is acceptable for most uses....can go as tight as you like in acceptable variations. Most of the rejects are too light (weighing a dozen will give you an idea of a good average) due to some hidden void/bubble.

I'm pretty sure Midsouth Shooters Supply is the best place for Lyman (and the better RCBS) moulds. Single cavity moulds are too slow. I recommend kicking back with a couple of casting references and absorb some background info before committing to the art of casting.

In order to prevent frustration, you need:

1) A good heat source and I don't recommend a propane heat source for a new caster (actually, I happen to have an extra Lyman Mag20 dipper on hand, and a Rowell#1 ladle... how's that for a coincidence!)

2) A casting thermometer (available at Midway/Midsouth).

3) A hot plate for preheating moulds

4) A good ladle (like the one mentioned above)

5) A good two cavity ferrous mould (RCBS is probably the best readily available production mould)

6) A good source of wheel weights

7) A bunch of kitchen utensils

8) Lots of patience

MC

P.S. Do you already have a digital scale?

5) A good two cavity ferrous mould (RCBS is probably the best readily available production mould) IMHO, having cast with RCBS moulds, my first choice for "best" would be SAECO. This is not a "put down" for RCBS as they are excellent, but SAECO moulds and handles are built heavy duty for extended commercial use. :)

SAECO moulds are fine and made of an alloy and size similar to RCBS moulds but I haven't owned one for a number of years because of their higher cost and limited availability. For example, I can order an RCBS 35-200FN from Midsouth for about 57 bucks but haven't been able to find the SAECO counter-part #356. I can order a SAECO #352 from Midway for about 11 bucks more but it may or may not work in my 336 because the nose is too fat which would force extra deep seating from the relatively long 245 grain .35 cal bullet.

MC

I stand corrected, Midsouth does have better pricing. Thanks for the heads up!

For example, I can order an RCBS 35-200FN from Midsouth for about 57 bucks but haven't been able to find the SAECO counter-part #356. MC I'll bet the SAECO people would love to fill this order for you. As to cost, I was fortunate enough to find all my SAECO moulds used on eBay. My last purchase was an excellent four cavity .45 ACP SWC mould that I got for $45. That is less than the price of a new double cavity mould from either RCBS or Lyman. I'm retired so I'm on a fixed budget. :p

Marshal Kane,

I may just buy the 245 grain SAECO for my .35 Rem. I was going to have a custom mould made in the 235 grain neighborhood but I may just take a $68 gamble on SAECO #352. Is there anyone out there who can tell me how long #352's bullets are?

MC

P.S.:

Yup... I just bought the #352 from Midway. I found the following in an article by Glen Fryxell:

"...Saeco was also clearly thinking of the .35 Remington when the #352 (their 245 grain GCFP) bullet was on the drawing board. The OAL of the cartridge when loaded with this bullet is 2.510", meaning that it just sneaks in under the maximum allowable length of 2.525". As a result, it cycles and chambers just fine crimped in the crimp groove (which leaves only the GC exposed below the bottom of the case neck). Bullets drop out of my mould blocks at about .360", making them an excellent fit for a slightly oversized bore. The Dupont Handbook lists 31.0 grains of IMR 3031 as being a maximum load for a 250 grain jacketed bullet when loaded into the .35 Remington, so this was chosen as my starting point for the Saeco bullet (which weighs 241 grains checked and lubed when cast with WW alloy). This combination gave fine accuracy and 1906 fps. Similar excellent performance was turned in by 32.0 grains of Acc. Arms 2520 (1897 fps)..."

Sounds like it's worth a 68 buck gamble to me. A full case of H380 ought to get the 240 going a couple hundred fps faster from my 24" bbl.

Marshal Kane,
. . . I may just take a $68 gamble on SAECO #352.
MC

Good luck on your new mould! With SAECO's quality, you won't be disappointed. :)

Let's hope the quality hasn't changed much in the twenty odd years since I bought my last SAECO mould; however, I'm more concerned about the nose diameter of 352's bullets than anything else. If 352's bullet noses fit the 336's bore snugly, I should be OK. If not, I could see some pretty awful results from instability. Lyman 311644 come to mind. I have shot very nice groups with 311644 from my M94 Wincheester but the identical load groups like buckshot from my pre-55 336A. The difference in the bbl dimensions is about .0015" in the grooves and just about the same (or slightly less) across the lands.

MC