H&G Moulds

[JustJim]

Mould guides are only useful on bottom pour pots.

Um, well, actually. . . as a pre-teen, I started casting with some of the big H&G moulds. We used an angled mould guide (angle iron on each side, rising about 15* as you slid the mould back toward yourself). Done this way, you held the ladle in the same basic spot, close to the lead pot. Less time for the lead to cool, less need for fine motor skills to manipulate mould and ladle.

After the pour, you set the ladle back on the molten lead, then pulled the mould back a little further, cut the sprue, opened the mould, and dropped ten of those nice 38s on a piece of canvas where they'd roll to the collection box.

Other than the ladle, there was very little lifting. The whole setup was designed/built by a WWI vet who'd started having arthritis problems about 15 years earlier.

 

[Creeker]

Oh come on! They don't weigh an actual ton! I'll take the weight in exchange for temp uniformity and mould quality any day, to say nothing of ease of producing a large quantity of uniform bullets pretty darn fast.

Most of my casting sessions are 5 hours & unless you are set up for a gang mould's weight to be supported at every opportunity they will work on you. Mine was only a 6 cavity so a 10 would be a handful I'm sure.

In the bullet works day I ran four 4 cavity iron moulds at the same time for at least 5 hours. That's enough for me.

 

[Bret4207]

Well, like I said, I rest mine on the edge of the pot. With a 10 cav, 5 hours would give me probably 10K bullets or more. I can see your point, but I'll still take the quality and ease of use and be happy.

 

[Creeker]

Well, like I said, I rest mine on the edge of the pot. With a 10 cav, 5 hours would give me probably 10K bullets or more. I can see your point, but I'll still take the quality and ease of use and be happy.

They are fine moulds & make fine bullets in bulk for sure. I worked a system for mine to pull the mould from under the pot & rest the hinge pin on a solid to empty the mould, & close it before lifting it back to the pot. That really helped fatigue.