Decided to purchase a .58 minie (sp?) traditional style mold. Quite a price difference between the Lee and others. Thoughts/experiences on the different brands? Single cavity will do just fine.
Lyman, Lee, or RCBS Min'e Mold ?
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They all drop nice minies. Finding the minie that works well in your particular rifle is a whole different story. You might want to use the search feature of this forum and read everything you can about measuring your bore, determining your twist, and whether you want a minie for heavy hunting charges or light target loads. Once you read all you can, read it again. Finding the correct size minie for your rifle is an exact science. I’m still experimenting with four different minie molds trying to find what my Parker hale will perform with best.
As stated, you really, really need to measure your bore to get the right size minie.
As for molds, you get what you pay for. Of the Lee designs, not ONE shoots well in any of my competition muskets. There are other makers out there. Moose makes a really good one that will drop darn near the size you order. Others not so much.
As for molds, you get what you pay for. Of the Lee designs, not ONE shoots well in any of my competition muskets. There are other makers out there. Moose makes a really good one that will drop darn near the size you order. Others not so much.
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Bought a .58 from Val Forgett , whatever brand of Italian Harper's Ferry musket he sold back then , to use for Pa. flint lock deer season. Since I had already gone through the frustration of trying to find a minnie for a scratch built 1855 Springfield using a custom Numric Arms barrel , some original parts still available , and a Dixie G.W. stock , made in Belgium. Back in those days , 1970 , I never did find a proper minnie for the Springfield . I was a total Newbee back then and had no knowledge of the NSSA CW stuff ,where you could get a sizing die for molds then available. Anyway , Lee came out w/ a .580 Target minnie mold usable for the new Harper's Ferry flint musket I bought. Then , I was in business. The .580 Lee target minnie fit , and shot so well in the Harpers flint musket I was able to experience the foibles of shooting a bullet with a skirt that would blow apart , at 80Gr. FFG , before you could get the rainbow out of the trajectory. However , I hunted with the Harpers for a couple years until I built a .50 cal. longrifle w/ a very flat trajectory out to 100 yds. .
Hope I helped somebody to be able to skip some of the steps I took to learn what works. The experience was fun , but could have been easy to get lost in and just quit out of frustration.................oldwood
Hope I helped somebody to be able to skip some of the steps I took to learn what works. The experience was fun , but could have been easy to get lost in and just quit out of frustration.................oldwood
Lee works well for me. It's easier to use than some because of the integral pin. Like mentioned though, you need the minie that fits your bore or it will be of little use.
4575wcf
40 Cal
A Minie, in unison with a foster shotgun slug, is a rather difficult projectile to cast. The trick is to get a properly formed skirt area without voids. The original CW Minie balls were swaged on machinery from soft lead. I find the Lyman mold will make about the best minie bullet, but you really have to keep things moving along to keep the mold and base pin hot enough to get good bullets. The iron blocks of the Lyman mold will get hot and stay hot more uniformly than aluminum, but an overheated frosty appearance to the bullet is more the norm when they are dropping in good order. I also use the dipper method and plenty of wax flux, rolling the mold and dipper together to get the metal to fill to the bottom of the skirt, I have no experience with the bottom delivery lead pots so I cannot say if they would work better or not. The Enfield and the Springfield muskets are a bit different in bullet requirements, and the minie must be a nice sliding fit in your bore to give any hopes of real accuracy.
Thanks to all! I'm getting my newly-acquired Navy Arms Buffalo Hunter fit to shoot. It's been rode hard, put away wet. I've cast several other calibers for unmentionables, sized & lubed and many roundballs/R.E.A.L.'s but never a min'e. Have Hornady roundballs on order. The .58 stuff is out there but not overly plentiful (nor cheap).
Thanks again.
Thanks again.
Before you think of any mold, first you must determine thr various diameters in the barrel. How many lands are in the barrel. If it's an odd number, it's more difficult to measure. With inside measuring calipers you can directly measure the land to land and groove to groove diameter. You want a mold that is 0.001 or 0.002" smaller than the land to land diameter.
Next, determine the groove depth. Groove diameter - land diameter then divide by 2. Most minies function best if the grooves are less than 0.006" for the skirts to properly fill them.
The REAL bullets work best when the largest diameter of the bullet equals the groove diameter.
Next, determine the groove depth. Groove diameter - land diameter then divide by 2. Most minies function best if the grooves are less than 0.006" for the skirts to properly fill them.
The REAL bullets work best when the largest diameter of the bullet equals the groove diameter.
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Have you actually found any Lyman minie molds for sale anywhere? I've been looking for a 575-213 os cannot find new or used.
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Lyman produced several designs and for a while the different length pins were full diameter and interchangeable.
Minie ball nirvana!
Minie ball nirvana!
This is one on eBay for $90 and another for $149. Crazy prices.
hanshi
Cannon
My only minie mold is a Lyman I purchased nearly 50 years ago. Now the prices are outrageous. Most of my rb molds are Lee.
4575wcf
40 Cal
I fear we are going to be forced more and more to make our own shooting products as time goes on. Fortunately for us, we live in a country where that was the normal for many years. Like everybody else, I got spoiled sending off my money to the supply houses and getting the required things shortly in the mail. We are going to have to return to the past, like it or not, and start sharing information on DIY or do without. A very fine bullet mold can be made with a decent cherry on a decent drill press, all of which can be made at home with a lot of attention to detail and some TLC.
4575wcf
40 Cal
The Buffalo Hunter by Navy Arms typically has a Zoli manufactured barrel, any minie ball that performs well in a Zoli made Zouave rifle should be the ticket.
59sharps
40 Cal.
Lee if you can find one. Other than that I would go with a moose mould. Why because I know moose. He is a N- ssa member. I shoot w him and his team now and then as a pick up. And have several of his mould. I like them a lot.
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Have to order a new mold today for a guy's gun. A .562 , my choice is Lee. Price , under $25. and comes w/ handle and is 2 cavity. Most of the molds I have are Lee. They seem to hold their specifications a little better than some more expensive molds.......oldwood
APG
45 Cal.
I have steel molds (Lyman) and aluminum molds(Lee) for minies. I like the Lyman ones the best. They may take awhile longer to heat up but they retain it much better than the aluminum molds. It's what works for me.
lyman or rcbs as long as its steel.
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