traditional blackpowder bullet molds?

[Busyhands94]

i have been temped lately to make a nice case for my new 1858 Remington, and i am looking at the replica bullet molds they sell. i am a little curious about the bullets they cast. what is the profile of the bullet like for the Remington style bullet molds? i haven't been able to find any pictures of the cavity on those bullet molds, so any information would be appreciated! also, how do the reproduction bullet molds cast? i am curious about that. i am intending to put it in my pistol box as sort of a display item and cast some bullets with it, you see I'm planning this really neat pistol display case I'm going to make and line it with velvet maybe, it will be sweet! so it's not going to see any serous amount of ammo production. if i want lots of ammo i just use my Lee double cavity bullet molds, those things will throw two hot and shiny bullets (or balls) in 5-7 seconds once i really get going and pick up the pace. great mold, they pay for themselves in ammo, and you can just recycle your used ammo you recover.

i am also thinking about getting an old fashioned bag mold for my rifle, i feel kinda dirty showing my younger cousin how the settlers made bullets with a modern mold. they have some pretty cool ones at Track of the Wolf: http://www.trackofthewolf.com/categories/partList.aspx?catID=18&subId=126&styleId=408&as=1

Stay safe and God bless America
~Levi

 

[Tallbald]

What is, and how does a "bag mold" work? Don

 

[arcticap]

Apparently it's a small scissors type mold that's small enough to easily fit into a possibles bag, and it also has a built in sprue cutter. Carry a small ladle and a person can cast round balls over a fire nearly anywhere.

 

[Busyhands94]

that's one of the reasons i want to get a bag mold it's compact and i can stick it in my possibles bag with my copper lead ladle. i made one that attaches to a stick so you can have a good long handle. it's only a couple inches long, but works really well. and it seems to heat up quicker than a stainless steel spoon too because copper is a good conductor of heat!

 

[MCgunner]

I bought a brass .31 mold from Dixie Gun Works some time ago. It's a replica and in brass. It gets HOT. I put some tygon tubing over the handles and use heavy gloves with it. Anyway, you might try Dixie.

 

[robhof]

I got a cast iron scissors type from DGW several years ago for a 69 cal ball, casts a pretty nice ball and the red paint on the handles seems to make it manageable for casting several balls. I've got a 31 brass too and it gets real hot, real fast, added wood handles, courtesy of my shop broom handle, works great now and have cast hundreds of balls/bullet combos.

 

[Busyhands94]

i was thinking about making some thick leather sheaths that will cover the handles but still remain authentic looking, so far i am liking the idea. i might have to make a nice little ammunition resupply kit in a small leather bag. i could put a mold, a few small lead bars, my copper ladle that accepts a stick as the handle, a percussion cap tin with some char cloth in it, and my firesteel/flathead screwdriver combo i forged. that would be great! i could make ammunition with a campfire!

 

[scrat]

Busy Hands. Those molds get extremely hot. You cant even touch them. I havent done it yet. However my idea was to make some handles that will go over each handle. make them like U grooved then drill a hole on each handle and screw on the handle to the wood. then you can easily remove them. leather wont work that well either i had a set of heavy casting gloves even with those things on i couldnt hold the molds for too long. In hind site you think that maybe you can cast a few bullets before it gets too hot. However not possible because the mold is not up to temperature to cast so the lead solidifys quick and the bullets look terrible. just cant be done with out handles

 

[kBob]

Makes one wonder how folks used those old Ideal/Lyman tong type tools for reloading that also included a mold. Granted, those old ones were made of steel rather than aluminum, but I just can not imagine it did the reloading portion of the tool a lot of good to be used as handles for the mold.

Among my big bushel bag of WISHIDAS is not picking up a gaggle of those things back in the 1970s when I had no interest in Hyphinated cartridge and that nasty black stuff. Ain't hindsight wonderful?

-kBob

 

[Kaeto]

The scissors types that DGW sells they make themselves. Currently they have them in round ball, and for Colt and Remington type conicals.

 

[Busyhands94]

i might get the scissors kind Track of the wolf sells, i think those are pretty cool! i am currently looking at the Remington style molds, like this one:

 

[Kaeto]

From what I've heard the brass molds that are like what you would see in the pistol case cast pretty lousy balls.

 

[scrat]

busy hands i have the same exact one as pictured

 

[arcticap]

what is the profile of the bullet like for the Remington style bullet molds? i haven't been able to find any pictures of the cavity on those bullet molds, so any information would be appreciated!

This brass conical mold was included with a Pietta 1860 Army presentation set made in 1993. Remington conical molds are probably very similar.







From the thread Pictures or Reports About Brass Molds?

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=463048

 

[Busyhands94]

thanks for the photo Arcticap! from the looks of that i think it might be a Colt Walker mold, it had that sprue cutter with the handle and a single cavity. from what i have heard on some reviews of these brass molds the mold blocks sometimes need a little tweaking to work right, but then again some of them cast just fine!

 

[scrat]

busy hands where you at anyhow. Im in Monrovia

 

[Busyhands94]

Wine country