Ooooh! 6 Cavity Mold

[AZbpBurner]

My first 6 cavity Lee RB mold delivered earlier this week. Attached the handles, degreased it & bgan casting. I really like that cammed sprue plate - too bad they don't put it on the 2 cavity molds, too.

Only downside is that it takes a lot longer to heat up those big mold blocks to get perfect balls& I can cast faster than the lead pot will melt lead.

BTW, Rotometals has a 10% off sale until Sunday using code: dad1

 

[rodwha]

Nice you gave the code! Too bad I'm not in need of lead yet...

 

[BrownBear]

Have you compared diameters of the balls coming from each cavity? That's a common dig against gang molds, but so common I suspect a large element of internet legend and myth.

My only experience with gang molds was a pair for modern pistol bullets purchased back in the 60's. When I was shooting rapid fire competitions, they were a boon. I didn't find any issues when comparing the cavities.

 

[mooman76]

Those 6x moulds can be a pita to get up to temp and working good. Many a new caster try to start off with them and can't understand why they can't get good results or by the time they do, the pot is empty. I never recommend them to a new caster. Some do catch on quick but it's best for a seasoned caster. The good thing is once you get going good and finish, you have allot of casting done and won't have to do it for a long time unless you shoot allot.

I find it's best to have everything close at hand you need. It's not much fun finally getting going and you have to stop briefly to get something and now it takes awhile to get up to speed again. I also add lead as I cast. Some people keep their lead in larger ingots but I prefer small so I can add and keep going since smaller ingots don't effect the temp as much. I also add as soon as the pot is down enough that it will fit.

One thing I have never tried that was recommended by another caster was after preheating the mould (which is still a little short of proper temp) when you start casting just fill the first two cavities. When they start coming out good, do another cavity and then another and another until you have all working good. Like I said I haven't tried it but it seems logical that it would work well.

 

[Patocazador]

I got a big gang mold for 00 buckshot .. 18(?) at a time. Less than half come out full size and I wound up hating it because I couldn't get the lead to stay hot through the procedure. The Lee aluminum mold doesn't hold heat that well.

A 6-gang mold with a BIG pot that gets real hot may be OK but the buckshot one sucks IMO.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Hate to be a downer.....but rots of ruck. Those gang moulds can be a hassle. And by the time you get some good results you could have cast more balls with a two holer, or even a single. Hope it works out for you.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Also not a fan of gang molds.....Single or double cavity is best....IMO...

 

[nhmoose]

Preheat the mold on a hotplate I do and love gang moulds for what ever ball or bullet I cast.

It takes a little getting used to but no way a 2 gang can keep up IMHO

 

[M. De Land]

Gangs molds for balls are OK because a patch is used to take up some of the discrepancies in ball diameters common with gang molds.
They are not very good for precise bullet diameters though because they seldom use the same cherry to cut all the cavities.