I need help identifying this bullet mold

[Clyde2017]

Hey guys, I really need somebody to throw me a bone.
This was in my late father's estate, if anybody could tell me how old it is, where it's from, and maybe what it's worth, any information would be a great help.
I've researched, but was unable to find anything.

Thanks guys.
Cheers

 

[zburkett]

It is a standard two gang mold that produces both a round ball and a bullet. If the ball is one half inch across the No. 50 is the caliber, if not it is a manufacture's stock number. Being made of brass with brass handles indicates it is somewhat old. Most modern molds have wooden handles and steel or aluminum molds. (Brass handles get very hot.) Beyond that I have no idea if it is fifty or two hundred years old. Its dollar value as an user is in the $30 to $40 range. If one of our experts comes along and says it is something like the mold that came with cased Colt's or some such the dollar value could go much higher.

 

[JOHN42768]

That pretty much sums it up

 

[JOHN42768]

Welcome, enjoy

 

[Jobe Holiday]

It is a very professionally constructed mould, with some British attributes, probably for a civilian arm. What I see, with a bit of enlargement, is the number "30", which could be the caliber. IMO, the value to a mould collector, because of the design and construction, could be as high as $50.
J.

 

[Clyde2017]

Thanks for the information guys it helps a lot.

cheers

 

[zburkett]

Clyde, Now I'm curious, how big are the mold cavities? Caliber is the fraction of an inch read with a decimal. .50 caliber is 1/2 inch, .25 is 1/4 inch etc. with some adjustment for rounding.

 

[Clyde2017]

they are 11/16 so .50 caliber ?

 

[zburkett]

11/16th works out to .6875 on my computer so it is .69 caliber. A patched ball or a bullet in a paper cartridge would probably fit a .72 caliber, but come on experts, this got above my pay grade. This makes the mold definitely for a musket so it is getting more interesting and it might possibly have some historic value.

 

[Booner]

You said it was from your late father's estate, so did he have any old guns?
Did he ever hunt in Africa?

It's a brass mold with what looks like a steel sprue cut off plate, and I'm assuming that at one time it had wood handles. Because of the sprue cut off plate, I'm kind of thinking its late 19th century, and made for large, dangerous African animals, given that it would cast a roundball of 11/16" in diameter. It was fairly common that when one purchased a rifle, they also got a bullet mold of the same caliber. I wonder what happened to the rifle that went with this mold.

And imported enfield rifles had a 24 or 25? marked on the barrel to denote the rifles' guage. This mold has a "no. 30" marked on it, so could that also denote the caliber or gauge of the mold? So if 24 gauge is .577 caliber, would 30 gauge be .69 caliber?

 

[zburkett]

If it is 11/16 across it is much larger than .30 caliber. A true .30 would be 3/10.

 

[frankconrad]

Z You are confusing Cal and Gauge. .25 is the diameter of bore in inchs, 24 and 25 in round balls of lead in a pound.

 

[Clyde2017]

You said it was from your late father's estate, so did he have any old guns?
Did he ever hunt in Africa?

It's a brass mold with what looks like a steel sprue cut off plate, and I'm assuming that at one time it had wood handles. Because of the sprue cut off plate, I'm kind of thinking its late 19th century, and made for large, dangerous African animals, given that it would cast a roundball of 11/16" in diameter. It was fairly common that when one purchased a rifle, they also got a bullet mold of the same caliber. I wonder what happened to the rifle that went with this mold.

And imported enfield rifles had a 24 or 25? marked on the barrel to denote the rifles' guage. This mold has a "no. 30" marked on it, so could that also denote the caliber or gauge of the mold? So if 24 gauge is .577 caliber, would 30 gauge be .69 caliber?

- He was never in Africa but he was an avid collector of all things related to firearms and the like. He had many old guns. In his later years he lost his health and he sold off most of his collection.
Thank you for all the information. You have been very helpful.
Cheers

 

[Jobe Holiday]

The larger the gauge number, the smaller the bore diameter. Think 8 gauge vs 16 gauge.
J.

 

[Booner]

So if I'm following you correctly, a 30 gauge could mean something like 30 round balls to the pound, which would mean a smaller caliber. Me thinks this is a British invention.

Wait, it's just like wire gauge sizes! Now it's all clear.

 

[zburkett]

Z You are confusing Cal and Gauge. .25 is the diameter of bore in inchs, 24 and 25 in round balls of lead in a pound.

If the round ball is 11/16" across that is closer to 12 gauge.

 

[Jobe Holiday]

The tape measure being used is graduated in 1/32", and by looking at the overall measurement of just the mould blocks from front flat to the back flat, the entire block is 1 & 11/16" long, or 1.687". Now take the supposed measurement of 11/16 for each cavity, which is a total of 1.374" for both cavities together, and subtract that from the size of the block at 1.687, which leaves 0.313" remaining for the total dimension of the front, middle, and rear spaces all added together that are not a part of the bullet cavities. Look at the photo of the mould open....it isn't possible. I suspect the tape measure was read without realizing the divisions are in 1/32".

If "No. 30" is 30 Gauge, or 30 balls to the pound, the caliber would be 0.533" which would look correct for the appearance of the mould and cavities as shown in the open position, considering that the blocks are 1.687" in OAL. That could make this mould for one of the big British revolvers.

Just my thoughts!
J.

 

[Lanyard Puller]

IF it is 30 bore then it is .537 caliber. Here's the conversion list of English "Bore" to US Caliber.

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/bri...nglish-bore-to-caliber-conversion-t11574.html