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Tanner Molds

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TreeMan

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Yesterday I got my second Tanner Mold from (no title)
Let me tell ya these things sure are sweet. Any size mold you can imagine, beautifully made and make nice round balls. It took 7 days to get here to Virginia from England after I hit the pay now button. If you can’t find a LEE or Lyman mold look to Tanner. Highly recommend!
 

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Tanner molds are very good quality and cast a great ball.
Outside of this forum it seems they are virtually unknown. I see people frequently post they can’t find a .570 or some other mold referring to a Lee or Lyman. I’m not sure if they’ve just never heard of Tanner or they think it may take six months to get it since they are in England. They do leave a sprue on the ball that has to be nipped off. No biggie. I was kinda just giving them a shout out so maybe others can find them. I really like the brass molds.
 
Outside of this forum it seems they are virtually unknown. I see people frequently post they can’t find a .570 or some other mold referring to a Lee or Lyman. I’m not sure if they’ve just never heard of Tanner or they think it may take six months to get it since they are in England. They do leave a sprue on the ball that has to be nipped off. No biggie. I was kinda just giving them a shout out so maybe others can find them. I really like the brass molds.

There are more places outside this forum that know about Tanner. N-SSA is just one. More than a couple NMLRA folks know too.
 
Track of the Wolf sells the proper Lee handles. Tanner tells you which ones to use. These moulds work great for the larger balls or sizes that aren't available. I just pour until I get tired then let them cool. Then later I have a sprue snipping session. I use small diagonal cutters. Then cut and twist at the same time. It leaves a small bump that disappears with loading.
 
Jeff was a friend who made these moulds for a number of companies, as well as selling them from Basildon, Essex, England.
Sadly he passed on but his son makes them now. His wife Chris supplies patches. For many years he was a member of the British Team for the MLAIC International matches. I am pleased that you are happy with the balls. I would suggest seeing whether any vets in your area have the sort of clippers used for hounds' toenails -- - these work well .
 
I checked a web currency converter last night after reading this thread. The exchange rate then was 1GBP to 1.31USD.

So (in theory) the 4.50GBP cutter would be $5.90.



Quite reasonable for those clippers as well as the molds. They do advise that they are made to exact size and to allow for shrinkage of the ball as it cools. Wonder what the shrinkage percentage is for pure lead??
 
Quite reasonable for those clippers as well as the molds. They do advise that they are made to exact size and to allow for shrinkage of the ball as it cools. Wonder what the shrinkage percentage is for pure lead??
I measured four I made two days ago. I dropped them in water to cool because I was shooting them as fast as I cast them. All measured between .567 to right on .570. Most were right on .570
 

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Tanner also makes custom sizes, too. I wanted a .610" mold for my French fusil, so I ordered one. When I received it, just for fun, I took three balls I had cast at random and measured them. Two were .610" and one was .611". I took three balls that had been commercially cast, measured them, and got the same variation in diameter. I'm a satisfied customer.
 
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