Mold "ID" help please

S

scb

Member
I guess ID is not the correct question. The manufacturer and mold number are both clearly marked but I cannot find any reference to it anywhere I look . Is it perhaps a one off or a short run custom mold? Maybe a prototype? The numbering convention isn't like any I'm familiar with from them. It casts a .458 dia. bullet. The bore riding section measures .448. It weighs 515 gr. with lube and gas check. The casing in the one picture is a 45/70. Any idea how old it is? Thanks for looking.
IMG_20230112_121821.jpgzzzz.jpgzzzz1.jpgzzzz2.jpg
 
D

Dusty Bannister

Well-Known Member
I have found that trying to ID a mold solely by the sprue plate number can lead one far astray. Verify by any mold block numbers, sprue plates are easily swapped around to different mold blocks.
 
fiver

fiver

Well-Known Member
saeco tends to use 3 numbers to ID their molds.

but they do make that design in other calibers.
maybe peruse midways place IIRC they have the saeco line in stock and usually show pictures of their molds.

now Ric is gonna come along and know it off the top of his head..... LOL
 
RicinYakima

RicinYakima

High Steppes of Eastern Washington
fiver said:
saeco tends to use 3 numbers to ID their molds.

but they do make that design in other calibers.
maybe peruse midways place IIRC they have the saeco line in stock and usually show pictures of their molds.

now Ric is gonna come along and know it off the top of his head..... LOL
Click to expand...
Sorry, not off the top of my head. Spent a half hours going thru the SAECO lists from 1966-1996 plus the stuff on the internet. Nada.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ian
S

scb

Member
RicinYakima said:
Sorry, not off the top of my head. Spent a half hours going thru the SAECO lists from 1966-1996 plus the stuff on the internet. Nada.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the effort. That was the same result I got. Figured I wasn't looking in the right place.
 
Last edited:
farmboy

farmboy

cookie man
When SAECO bought out Cramer in the early 50's they put the mold # on the sprue plate and not on the mold body. I just went to the shop and dug out this mold, just like the one pictured above. Found some that were cast up and got out my scale and were from 502gr up to 508gr. I remember casting these and how slow it was to use a single cavity mold. Will try to post photos after lunch, that's when the photo expert of the house will be available.
 
RBHarter

RBHarter

West Central AR
For the sake of being kind of a burro with a PhD it looks a lot like a 458-515 TC .. often one just has to revert to the obvious.

I would also venture that it's for something with a both a tight groove and bore of the not a Marlin type .

The .448 nose is about right for a .452 groove in a modern arm so it's probably for something BP with really deep grooves or something freshened up or built up from a ML barrel .
Based all in theory from at hand experience.
I have probably among the only 429421s in existence with .448 lands ...... Perfect fit in a .426×440 44 cal C&B with .446 chambers . You're looking for a .446/7×.456/8 barrel.
 
fiver

fiver

Well-Known Member
if someone has a saami spec throat dead on that would be a decent fit.
my Browning is like that, it's pretty darn picky on what it will and what it won't chamber.
probably have to work on that nose diameter a touch to make it an actual bore rider though.
 
farmboy

farmboy

cookie man
Here are the pictures I promised. As you can see, I had to "beagle" the mold to get the size I wanted.
 

Attachments

  • die.jpg
    die.jpg
    218.4 KB · Views: 24
  • saeco.jpg
    saeco.jpg
    259.6 KB · Views: 24
  • scale.jpg
    scale.jpg
    314.1 KB · Views: 24
Last edited:
358156 hp

358156 hp

At large, whereabouts unknown.
It looks like a Carpinteria era SAECO mould, perhaps just a smidge newer since the sprue plate is marked instead of the mould block. My best guess is that it was designed in an attempt to flatten the trajectory of a 458 Win Mag. The gas check suggests an intention for it to go fast.
 
S

scb

Member
FYI I've been in email contact with the folks Redding about this mold. After a couple of back and forths, sending pictures and what not, this was their last communication.

Hello Steven,
We checked all of the old resources we have and were not able to locate this mould. We are thinking maybe it was a custom?? Sorry we couldn’t be of more help.
Thank you,
 
farmboy

farmboy

cookie man
The person you need to talk to is Jay Davis at redding/saeco. I have been in touch with him several times, he is very helpful. You have to remember that these molds were made in the early to middle 50's so that was before Redding bought Saeco. There were 2 others who owned Saeco between Saeco and Redding. That pre-dates anyone now working at Redding. I don't know how much of previous company history has been past down to any of the different owners. I have not been able to find any mold charts with photos that show sprue plates that are marked but I have several molds that are marked and I consider them of the highest quality. Pictures to follow tomorrow.
 
Last edited:
RicinYakima

RicinYakima

High Steppes of Eastern Washington
I keep a partial can of it for the 25/20 WCF and 86 grain Remington bullets, best load I ever found for it.
 
fiver

fiver

Well-Known Member
now you tell me, i been shooting those in my 257 Bob Arisaka at 2400 fps. with 4895.
kind of a 25-20 magnum type load.

i always thought those bullets were for the 250 Savage and i didn't want to under power them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.