I like to begin my reviews with an image of the product captured from the manufacturer's website or at least include such images in the review. I can't do that this time as the Lyman site is devoid of images of these mouls as far as I can determine. I have managed to pull these images however from the Midsouth Shooters Supply website. I hope they will remain there so they will remain here. Both of these moulds can be purchased at excellent prices from Midsouth a fine company to do business with.
#457132..........#457658
I obtained these two moulds complete with handles from Lyman for use in the testing of a Browning Model 1885 High Wall BPCR. I found them to be up to the high standards I have come to expect from Lyman in their bullet moulds. I have more bullet moulds from Lyman than all other companies combined which should tell you I hold Lyman bullet moulds in high regard.
I began this test by doing the same cleaning of these moulds as with the RCBS and Redding Moulds also reported in this section of my Product Test Page. After the mould blocks were thoroughly cleaned and dried I then sprayed the outside of them with Midway Drop Out to aid in preventing rust and then smoked the inside of the cavity. I like the Midway product more for use on the outside of my moulds than the inside as it is an excellent way of preventing the outside from become rusted or stained even. Good stuff for that. I then preheated them on top of my casting furnace and began making bullets.
At first I had a bit of trouble with the #457658 causing wrinkles on one side of the nose of the bullet. I used a bit of JB Bore Paste to clean the affected area and then again degreased it and cleaned it back up and the problem went away. A minor irritant at most especially considering the performance this bullet turned in when tested in the BPCR. This bullet proved the single most accurate bullet of all tested in my BPCR. Loaded over IMR 3031 it proved easily capable of MOA performance with the rifle scoped with a Bushnell Elite 4200 6-24 scope. With the factory supplied verier tang sight it consistently turned in groups of 2 MOA or better which seems to be about my personal limit for use of such sights. It was relatively easy to keep them on my buffalo gong target at 250 yards at the MS shoot in April of 2001 even tho in the grudge match with Dennis Mincey and Dave Hendry I did manage to drop one target and had to settle for second best in that match. Pretty sure the shooter was at fault as several others also borrowed the rifle to get in on the fun after the match and several managed five of five with it.
The Lyman bullet #457758 is a Scmitzer or spitzer design bullet of nominal 480 grains. I found mine to weight a bit more than that and to be super accurate. The single cavity mould casts a beautiful bullet that is very consistent in weight. Using my normal plus or minus 1% criteria it seldom dropped a bullet outside of that. Using my much tighter match standard criteria I was still getting close to 80% that met it. The bullets I selected for the Intergalactic Championship held in MS in April (this is a gathering of the regulars of my Single Shot Rifle Forum) were matched within plus or minus 1/2 (yes one half) grain of each other. I had no trouble putting together a box of 50 of these from about 300 or so cast up which indicates the consistentcy I got from this mould. This one is a true winner in my particular rifle and I'll bet will be in yours also.
The Lyman bullet #457132 is a 535 grain nominal bullet of the Postell design and the mould from it never gave a moment's trouble. It started out casting beautiful uniform bullets from the first and has never changed. No complains and no hangups with this one. Sadly it didn't prove as accurate in my test rifle as the #457658 bullet did but still managed about 2 MOA both with the vernier sight and when scoped. I guess that's about the way the gun is going to shoot this bullet. Now I must state that in none of my tests did I ever use black powder like most of you with such rifles are likely to do. I used smokeless powder loads only selected from the chart Lyman indludes with these bullets which they sell in boxes of both 20 and 50 each cast of Lyman alloy. In the test rifle I found IMR 3031 to be the superior powder for accuracy with all bullets tested. Most were loaded to a velocity of about 1500 fps for these tests which is a bit more than the pressure level for older rifles of weaker design like the trapdoor Springfield and others of that time frame.
I was very well pleased with both of these moulds. I did have a minor problem with the handle on one of them where the small tack used to hold the wood portion of the handle on came loose early and just wouldn't stay in. I called Lyman customer service and they zapped a replacement handle right to me and asked to return that one for them to examine which I did. The replacement handle nor the other handle supplied with the other mould gave any further problems. The only other minor problem that cropped up is that the little washer that is supposd to keep pressure on the sprue plate to keep it from flopping loosely did lose its tension and the sprue plate is now rather loose as a result. When I called Lyman they said yeah we know. They said they could provide another but expected it would just do the same and suggest that instead I buy a small lock washer from a hardware store and use it to replace the little bell washer they supply. The guy I spoke with said he does that for his personal moulds. I'll not reveal his name just in case Lyman might not like him saying such things. I recommend you do as he suggested to yours if and when the sprue plate works loose and won't tighten back up. I think I've had a total of three Lyman moulds with this minor problem from perhaps a couple dozen I own. Not a big deal.
Lyman bullet casting moulds earn the Graybeard Seal of Approval as they have in the past and continue to provide me with excellent bullets that have proven consisitently accurate in my guns. I give them a big thumbs
up and highly recommend them to prospective mould buyers.
Visit the Lyman Products Corporation web site by clicking on the name.
475 Smith Street
Middletown, CT 06457
Phone: 800-22-LYMAN
Fax: 860-632-1699