Casting Supplies, Price Question?

[Beau]

So I still need a few things. I've heard good things about Lyman products. The prices seemed a bit steep. Was looking on the Midway USA site and they carry Lyman products. All Lyman products on Midway are cheaper than on the Lyman site. Why is this?

 

[jlm223]

My thought is Midway buys in large quantities and gets better pricing. Their price is lower so you buy from them, don't know for sure just guessing.

 

[2ridgebacks]

The Lyman site is showing retail price. Mail order places are typically discounters. You will find that is the case with nearly all goods.

 

[Beau]

I would think the Lyman site would be cheaper or at least equally priced so that they get the business. My worry is the stuff that Midway is selling is stuff that didn't pass Lymans quality control.

 

[Flintlock]

Lyman sells to the public at their MSRP. The retailers buy in bulk from Lyman and get a discount from Lyman which they are then allowed to pass along to their customers. It's this way with most companies. They make most of their money selling product to larger companies which sell to you and I. They aren't seconds or junk.

 

[Beau]

Lyman sells to the public at their MSRP. The retailers buy in bulk from Lyman and get a discount from Lyman which they are then allowed to pass along to their customers. It's this way with most companies. They make most of their money selling product to larger companies which sell to you and I. They aren't seconds or junk.

Sounds logical. Hope your right. I'm going to go ahead and order through Midway.

 

[Beau]

Next question. The Lyman moulds have a bevel base. What purpose does this serve if any?

Also one of the LEE moulds has micro bands. If you know what this is what is the point?

 

[BE Mike]

I've got a Lyman Mag 20 and Lyman molds. I've never had any problems. The bevel based bullets allow a reloader to use less belling of the case. This extends case life. In other words the bevel allows the bullet to be seated more easily. The accuracy seems to be good with bevel based bullets.

 

[Beau]

Thanks BE Mike. That made sense.

I figured out what the micro band moulds are. The boolit looks like this.

The design supposedly requires no sizing. It also does no use conventional lube. This design is lubed using a liquid lubricant such as LEE Liquid Alox. You put the cast boolits into a container and add a few drops of lubricant. Shake them up till they are coated and let them dry overnight.

This design claims to greatly reduce leading as the whole boolit is coated with lube. I think this will be the first mould I try.

 

[jtmarine1911]

Thanks BE Mike. That made sense.

I figured out what the micro band moulds are. The boolit looks like this.

The design supposedly requires no sizing. It also does no use conventional lube. This design is lubed using a liquid lubricant such as LEE Liquid Alox. You put the cast boolits into a container and add a few drops of lubricant. Shake them up till they are coated and let them dry overnight.

This design claims to greatly reduce leading as the whole boolit is coated with lube. I think this will be the first mould I try.

I personally don't use any of Lee's Micro-banded bullet moulds but do use Lee moulds. I tumble lube all my cast bullets with this method mainly because it is quick and easy, well quick in a sense. I am not real far in the quest of bullet casting and as funds at the moment are limited I see this as a effective alternative to high priced bullet lube and sizing presses. I just tumble lube my bullets with Lee's Alox lube and use Lee sizing dies which so far work quite well. All I currently cast for is 30-30 and 45Colt, but have been expanding as funds permit.

Though the micro-band bullet moulds promote no sizing generally required this has a lot to do with the alloy you are using and the bore diameter of your firearm( they can vary greatly). I suggest if casting with micro-band moulds that you measure a cast bullet and see how close the dimensions are to what you need and then size accordingly. You generally want cast bullets .001" to .003" larger than a jacketed bullet but this al depends on YOUR firearm's barrel dimensions. Many people recommend "slugging" a barrel to find your tightest dimension. This can simply be done by driving a lead slug through the bore and measuring it afterwards.

 

[rookie0014]

have all lee molds and all but one are tumble lube ( the ones with all the bands) love them i do have the lee sizer kit and do use it but most bullets never even press thru with any marks on them. I would say they would be a great choice to use. I have noticed less leading with them lubed with the lee alox lube. It does make sense to coat the outside of the bullet since that is what makes contact with the gun.