Which is Better, Aluminum or Steel Bullet Molds

[WaddWatsonEllis]

I thought I might pass this by the group ... I have just bought two Lyman steel individual bullet molds ... and in a belt-and-suspender moment, I ordered a Lee two bullet made of aluminum ... which one and why do bulletmakers prefer?

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

WWE;  I use the LEE moulds when I am impatient to get shooting, or only need a few bullets every now & then.  I have one of DDs 6-bullet moulds and it works well and makes great piles of shiny bits of lead awfully fast.  I have an NEI aluminum mould as well as another one.  I have a brass mould and I like it.  Most of my moulds are RCBS or Lyman, and generally speaking they get the most use.

Steel for durability, aluminum for convenience, and brass for class!

[Otter]

WWE,

I have and use both. I have had good luck and have been satisfied with both. If you are not hard on either steel or aluminum blocks and lubricate and maintain them properly, they will serve you well for a long time. My BPCR bullet molds happen to be steel, mostly because that's just what I bought a number of years ago and Lee had few molds at that time suitable for BPCR . . . well that plus I "heard" some horror stories about aluminum mold blocks that turned out to be very exaggerated stories. You'll do fine with either, although the aluminum blocks have a definite price advantage.

Otter

[Ranch 13]

If your casting for your 45-70 those lee blocks will crap out on you after a 1000 or so bullets. They don't have enough material in the blocks to sustain long casting sessions with those heavy slugs.So if you just cast a few at a time and keep them well cooled off they'll be alright.
Much prefer the steel molds, RCBS and Saeco in the "production" moulds, Buffalo Arms in the semi custom, and Brooks.
Old Wests brass moulds are real good to work with also.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

I am NOT a casting Master.  I cast about 6,000 bullets total over several years.  ALL of them with a BigLube mould from DD.  They were PRS250 gr. boolits for 45 Colt.  'Tho NOT for 45-70, they show NO SIGN of "crapping out," as has been mentioned.  The way they're going, I'd say there is at least another 10-15,000 cycles of life in them.  I have only quit casting because of health issues - which have also stopped most of my shooting.

I also have an excellent (I guess) Lyman steel mould for casting 535 gr. 45-70 Postell bullets.  It is steel and VERY well made.  I bought them used, 'tho that's not apparent.  I have cast zero good bullets from it, after about 50-60 tries.  I've pretty much given up and don't really care to try more.

From the "crappy" aluminum Lee moulds (as some would say) I was able to use bullets from the 2nd time I filled the moulds.  (2 of the 6 were good looking and were the right weight.)  They warm up fast.  I preheated by two methods; one, by resting the moulds on top of my Lee pot, and the other way by putting them on an electric hot-plate I bought.  Both methods worked just fine.  I never dipped the corner of the moulds in the molten lead which is also a pre-heat method I heard about.  I could NEVER get the right technique with the steel Lyman mould, no matter what I tried.  When I was able to cast some bullets that LOOKED right, I measured them and found they varied as much as 10 grs. between bullets - average was 5 grs.  I tried both hot pour and dipper method.

Nada.

Very discouraging.  Montana Precision Swaging makes fine bullets for 45-70 as does my pard, Springfield Slim - who I order both 45 and 44 cal. BigLube boolits from, now that my casting operation has pretty much ended.

Try it ... you might like it. 

[Otter]

Steel Horse . . . check your PMs

Otter

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Steel Horse;  I have had trouble getting some steel moulds going.  They seem to take some breaking in, probably due to factory applied preserative on the metal.

Store them in dry conditions between casting sessions and try again. A hot pot and enough tin in the alloy would help.

[Ranch 13]

Steelhorse, if you have quit casting and just buy your bullets, I'ld suggest you look at these http://www.montanabulletworks.com/BB_45_caliber.html.
They offer a good variety of quality handcast bullets in prooven design, at attractive prices.