I know I've read it but.......

[RBHarter]

I aquired this Ideal mould ....I don't know why I can't remember when Lyman bought Ideal and stopped using the name ?
The numbers on the mould of course don't match the numbers available .



I snagged this one because I have 36 cal 58' Rem and I wanted a conical for it . I didn't give any thought to a mixed mould from a production maker . So I have an Ideal with a 37583 and a 375043 . It's the only mixed iron mould I've ever seen , which doesn't say much because comparatively I haven't seen very many moulds . I didn't exhaust every search option . I did find the reference to Lyman #46 and a PFD link .

 

[RicinYakima]

Lyman bought name and left over material from Talcott in New York in 1926. Lyman published their first catalog in 1927 but keep the Ideal name until the 1960's +. It was a slow change over as Lyman never throw away a nut or screw. When the Lyman family sold out in about 1973, everything in grey boxes, Ideal was dropped, old material and all records scrapped. HTH, Ric

 

[fiver]

I have a single Cav. RB ball mold marked pretty much the same way.
it shoot about as good as anything in Littlegirls 36 cal revolver.

 

[Bret4207]

The amount of info that was purposely lost and destroyed when Lyman sold out is staggering. Every one on a while someone will come forward with some previously unknown document from that era and light bulbs go on over a lot of heads when something is discovered. Sad, sad day it was. And all the cherries were tossed at some point too, just threw them away!

 

[RBHarter]

Any guesses about the vintage with the packaging ? I'd hate to just use up a collectors item ......or not .

I agree that those kinds of losses are a shame .

 

[S Mac]

I can't tell you about the time frame, I have a few boxes like it myself. I wouldn't have a problem using it, it's what it was made for.

 

[RBHarter]

It's obviously after WWII . It's grease pencil for the number , probably original owner pencil for the 36 cal C&B on the bottom so I would think this means toward late 50s into maybe I can't remember when Dad got the last box of bullets etc in the metal web corner boxes . Those might have been left from the 60s . Dad was a hunting , shooting , fool until the Utah move in 72' he just kind of lost interest I guess ........

Have "we" seen many mixed moulds ? Could this have been a run 1 run 10 special order one shot or something run every couple of years ?
Of course if a usable/useful sits on a shelf looking pretty it's not very useful is it .

 

[Brad]

Collector value?
I use my moulds with no thought of value to a collector.
If concerned save the box. In time a used, but cared for, mould can be placed back in box and sold to a collector.

I don't own safe queens,

 

[RBHarter]

While I'd hate to muck up "the missing link" , but , I don't see much point in having a useless tool either .

 

[RicinYakima]

Its value is only in the two difference cavities in one block. While uncommon, that doesn't make it valuable, but like maybe twice as much as one with both cut the same. People that collect Ideal post-WWII are not big spenders! The box is post WWII and used until they found a better glue for the paste board material, after horse hoof glue was no longer available. There are no documented Ideal or Lyman with grease pencil markings, all were either India Ink or pencil. The "36 C/B" may be original marking on the box.

 

[RBHarter]

It's probably India ink then .
No big deal it's been so long since I made the deal and had it shipped to AR , 8+ months before I moved , I don't even remember what I gave for it . Probably $50 or so shipped .

I have a couple of .380 RB moulds but I wanted a conical for the 36 cal .

 

[358156 hp]

Well it's newer than 1951ish since the blocks are vented, almost certainly newer than 1953. As Rick mentioned, all of Lymans changes were "rolling" changes. They would literally use up every block set, washer & screw. I plucked 1951 out of the air because of stupid little details I've noticed in moulds over the years that continue to confound me like the two different 452460 bullet designs and things like that. The various Lyman Handbooks are a great source of information, as long as you don't need to pin down a production date. Certain types of screws were used at different times, but since the thread pitchs remained consistent (except for sprue plate pivots) the original screws could have been replaced. It's a mess. Plus, a guy could spend his entire life collecting oddball and one off Ideal/Lyman moulds, and never know if he found them all.

As for the two different cavity cuts, it almost certainly came from the factory that way. I've had a number of Ideal/Lyman moulds that were special ordered that way. I just gave the most unusual one away as a birthday gift. It was a "Combo" black powder mould, 50 cal (.449) ball on one side, 50 cal Maxi on the bottom, both with their own separate sprue plate. The plastic Lyman box was marked as a combo mould, and the mould had the correct factory markings for both cavities. It was new and unused, with original paperwork. I've only seen one other like it, and it was a .54 cal IIRC. Lyman has done some crazy stuff!

 

[Brad]

I own a .54 combo mould just like that. Believe it came from Mid South likely in the early 90s.

 

[fiver]

many of them weren't special runs you could pretty much just mail Lyman some money and a written description of what you wanted and they would cut it and mail it back.
there was something to be said about the 6-8 weeks thing back in the day.

 

[KHornet]

I love those ole Ideal 2 cav Ideal molds with 2 different
bullets. Have 2 or 3 that I have never cast, but I enjoy
looking at them. When I was a kid, I remember you
could special order 4 cavs from Lyman with four different
bullets. Remember thinking that one of those would be
the cats whatever, for a guy with say two different cal
rifles and two different hand guns. However, as I grow
older, four cav lyman molds weigh more than a little bit
more than a 6 cav lee, for say 160 gr. pistol mold. Saw
one of the 4 cav with a 22, a 25, a 30, and a 35 bullet that
did tempt me, but It was priced higher than a 5 cav NOE,
and I probably still don't have all the NOE's I would like,
not necessarily need.

Paul