Two of Duke's favorite castings in the BPCR silhouette competition came from custom molds by Steve Brooks. On the left is the 0.40 caliber, 425 grain "Turkey Killer", loaded with 0.40-65 caliber. On the right is 0.45 caliber, 560 grains of "popcorn", filled with 0.45-70.
There is no doubt-I am an addict. However, it does not apply to any kind of chemical substances. I am a bullet mold addict! Here is some evidence.
I have owned hundreds of bullet molds since I was 17 years old. Over the years, due to my early casting ignorance, most of these molds were sold, traded or destroyed within a few days. At the age of 72, I still have more than 100 bullet molds, ranging from 0.25 caliber at the small end to 0.58 caliber at the big end. I even shot 0.22 caliber bullets before, but my hands became so arthritic and it became problematic to handle such tiny objects.
One of Duke's most recent molds is from Slovenia. This is a multi-cavity 0.41 Colt hollow design and weighs 190 capsules.
I have tried almost any type of bullet that can be thrown at home with my own two hands. Hollow, hollow, half tile trowel, tile trowel, round head, round head/flat head, flat bottom or gas inspected molds have passed my hand. Of course, it can also be combined, such as a hollow semi-cut-off cutting machine with gas inspection.
Over the years, I have tried iron, brass and aluminum mold blocks. They are cut into one, two, three, four and six cavities in total. The mold I recently acquired came from Accurate Molds in Salt Lake City. It is used for 0.38-40, 175 RN/FP flat-bottomed bullets. It is made of iron and has three cavities. It shows well that I like the block material, the number of cavities and the shape of the bullet in the revolver bullet mold.
This is a good example of my pain. In 2020, I purchased the 0.41 Colt SAA produced in the early 1900s. I will not go into details about the strangeness of this cartridge, but I just want to say that I need a hollow bullet with a diameter of about 0.386 inches to 0.388 inches, about 190. I will explain the size mismatch in a future column.
After purchasing the 0.41 Colt, I started looking for a used hollow mold that dropped about 0.386 inch/0.388 inch 190 pellets. Lyman used to make them, as did a now-defunct company called Rapine Molds. Both versions have only a single chamber. I was out of luck, but a hint led me to MP Molds, which provides a clever way to cast hollow bullets in multi-cavity molds. Surprisingly, MP Molds is located in Slovenia, but the 0.41 Colt mold arrived in just one week. It is made of brass and is of high quality.
Why is this .41 Colt story a sign of my addiction? Because I won't stop. I kept trying to find it until I found Lyman Mould #386178 on eBay and then Rapine Mould #386185. Then I customized the 0.386 inch and 0.388 inch lubricant/sizing molds from the Buffalo Arms Company of Idaho. In the end, I spent about $750 on molds and sizing molds for this revolver. I can't help myself!
Since I started working in 1966, bullet molds have undergone major changes. At that time, most of them were produced in factories and cut using the "cherry" method. This is when the hardened knives are built in the image of the bullet. It is then rotated in the milling machine while pressing the mold blocks together. Therefore, manufacturers offer standard options, just like Lyman, RCBS, Redding/Saeco and Lee.
The Buffalo Arms Company of Idaho used CNC machinery to manufacture many casting designs, such as these designs.
Times have changed. There are now a large number of custom bullet mold manufacturers. Boring modules for lathes are very common. Some stores cut each mold according to the customer's needs. My old friend, Steve Brooks from Monterey Walkerville. To do so, only iron blocks with a single cavity are used. His molds are favored by precision-thinking cast bullet rifle shooters. Steve is the two-time national champion of the BPCR silhouette game, and he knows what the winning bullet should be. Several of my victories were achieved with bullets in his mold.
Other manufacturers have turned to CNC machinery. For example, Accurate Molds mentioned above has about 700 bullet designs in their computer. Choose one, it can be made of aluminum, brass or steel block with one, two or three cavities. This is how my latest 0.38-40 mold was produced. Another custom manufacturer using CNC machinery is Buffalo Arms. I don't know how many designs there are on their computer systems, but I know there are many. Similarly, the ones I have are single cavities in the iron block, which are very popular among the BPCR silhouette crowd. In addition, customers can provide precise molds or Buffalo Arms with detailed drawings for casting bullet brainstorms, and any kind of clothing can be turned into high-quality bullet molds. I can tell from experience that their products are very good.
After I've been shooting for 55 years, my wise advice is-never sell a good mold, never borrow a popular mold, never say you have enough molds. Of course there is another fascinating design still lurking there.
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