Best type of bullet mold??

[Barnacle Bill]

My friends: I have been trying to do some Internet research for casting .577 minie balls, which would be the way to go, either Lee aluminum molds or Lyman steel molds?? I am just a poor working stiff, and need to carefully hoard (like ALL of us!!) my hard-earned pennies.  I can only seem to find one advantage so far: cost.  The Aluminum Lee's are about a third of the cost of a Lyman mold (with handles added).  I would like advice from experienced minie ball casters who have been to see the elephant.  I got a small RCBS lead melting pot for my birthday, so am on the road to working up my own equipment set up.  Can you tell me about a comparison on minie ball quality, etc??? Thanks, Bill

[Leftoverdj]

Lees cast a sight faster and easier since you don't have to fiddle with taking the base plug in and out. Lyman may be a bit more durable, but a Lee will cast more minie balls than you are likely to shoot in a lifetime.

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

Barnacle,

Here's my thoughts.  Take a calculator, figure out what you can afford to spend on store-bought bullets every year or month or whatever.  

Buy a Lee aluminum mold, or better yet, two of the same bullet (cast faster that way).

Stash the extra money it would have cost to get an iron mold in a coffee can.  Then stash all the money you would be spending on store-bought bullets in the can.

Buy the time your cheapo, Lee Mold wears out go back to all the coffee cans you've now filled with cash.

Now decide whether you want to buy a iron mold, or just replace the Lee mold, and use the rest of the money for a new gun!

You COULD do that.  But if you're like me (and the rest of us) you'll sack the coffee cans much sooner and use the money to buy primers and powder and just shoot more.