Looking for info on very cool Minie Ball mould

[JCon72]

Good evening; I am looking for any information regarding this very interesting 4-cavity Minie Ball mould. I acquired it some time ago and have not been able to find any information whatsoever regarding it, and someone told me to check with the N-SSA to see if anyone recognized it. Here's what I know about it:
1. It is apparently .577" caliber
2. The mould blocks appear to be made of brass (or maybe anodized aluminum), has a sliding steel frame of sorts and wooden handles.
3. "577a" is stamped on one end of the mould blocks.
4. "B-2406" is also stamped on each end block and also on one side of the middle mould block section.
5. There is no name or other visible marking to be seen.
There is a lever on each end of the mould block/sprue plate assembly (they can be seen in some of the pictures) which hold the mould in a closed position while pouring lead. After the bullet hardens, you flip the levers up and pull the wooden handles directly away from each other. This causes the mould to slide open in order to dump the bullets while the hollow-point pins are held in place by small screws. It's really a clever design and obviously professionally-made.
Has anyone here seen anything of the sort? Any idea what it's worth? One person didn't have specific information for me but thought that such an item would probably be worth $250, anyway. Another person conjectured that perhaps it is for pouring bullets to use with a .577 Snider airgun. Who knows....
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[jim14th]

Looks similar to a Shiloh IV four cavity mold I first used in the early 70s. If I remember correctly mine was in .580

[JCon72]

Wow, jim14th, that is indeed a spitting image of my mould and it was offered in .577! That has to be what I have, thank you!
Do you have any idea if they were good quality moulds?

[Road_Clam]

Wow, jim14th, that is indeed a spitting image of my mould and it was offered in .577! That has to be what I have, thank you!
Do you have any idea if they were good quality moulds?

While I can't comment directly on the above stated mould, I have a custom 45-70 540 gr "Silhouette" mould that was made my Bernie Rowles at Old West Bullet moulds and he machines all his moulds from brass. To my understanding all steel moulds are great, but brass is the absolute best for ease of pouring and heat retention consistency. So looks to me like you have a very high quality and very well thought out captive pin Minnie mould there ! I'm very impressed with the design and craftsmanship and I do CMC machining my trade !

[JCon72]

While I can't comment directly on the above stated mould, I have a custom 45-70 540 gr "Silhouette" mould that was made my Bernie Rowles at Old West Bullet moulds and he machines all his moulds from brass. To my understanding all steel moulds are great, but brass is the absolute best for ease of pouring and heat retention consistency. So looks to me like you have a very high quality and very well thought out captive pin Minnie mould there ! I'm very impressed with the design and craftsmanship and I do CMC machining my trade !

Yes, it's really a work of art, IMO. However, from doing a little more research with Google I believe it is anodized aluminum, rather than brass. Look at the sprue marks on top of the mould in the 5th picture down.
For what it's worth, this mould has not been cleaned up so the gray "nastiness" you see is mould lube. The cavities look just beautiful.

[jim14th]

Wow, jim14th, that is indeed a spitting image of my mould and it was offered in .577! That has to be what I have, thank you!
Do you have any idea if they were good quality moulds?

As I recall it produced a decent minie ,kind of awkward to cast with , at the time I was hand casting out of a 40 pound plumbers pot ,traded it for a couple of Lyman molds I,m still using.

[JCon72]

Looks similar to a Shiloh IV four cavity mold I first used in the early 70s. If I remember correctly mine was in .580

Jim, do you mind telling me in what publication you you found this picture, and what month/year it was published?
Thanks!

[Lou Lou Lou]

It says American Rifleman, p 86 plus the year in the right upper corner

[Lou Lou Lou]

September 1972

[JCon72]

It says American Rifleman, p 86 plus the year in the right upper corner

I saw that but thought perhaps because it says "'See' American Rifleman.....page 86" that perhaps it was in a different publication. I know, seems unlikely, perhaps, but that's how it struck me.

[jim14th]

It was a two-page advertisement in the Skirmish line of November 1972