Molds and loads

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Bfh_auto said:
NOE molds are excellent in my experience.
Definitely more use friendly than my Lee molds. If you can pass on a few coffees, cans of dip, energy drink, beer, or whatever your vice is. It would be covered in a month.
I'm kind of tight with my money and I'm glad I purchased them.
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NOE moulds are very good; I have ... well, several.

Lately, the trick is to find what you want in stock. Al runs a one-man shop, or at least did last time I spoke with him, and is absolutely covered up, the same as many other semi-custom mould makers.
 
AJC1 said:
They are about 70 dollars. I run only 2 cavity and do just fine. I would start with a 2 and then progress. In other materials even a 2 cavity gets heavy.
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I’ll use the Lee 2 mold first, incase I break it, then upgrade later. What stared as a $35 curiosity is turning into $200 quickly, but that’s ok. If shtf ever happened, I know I can make boolots
 
Mark_Mark said:
I’ll use the Lee 2 mold first, incase I break it, then upgrade later. What stared as a $35 curiosity is turning into $200 quickly, but that’s ok. If shtf ever happened, I know I can make boolots
Click to expand...
It's just like reloading the initial cost is higher than expected. For your very first try use foundry certified lead like Lyman #2. Once you know how its supposed to go then start playing with scrap.
 
Bfh_auto said:
NOE molds are excellent in my experience.
Definitely more use friendly than my Lee molds. If you can pass on a few coffees, cans of dip, energy drink, beer, or whatever your vice is. It would be covered in a month.
I'm kind of tight with my money and I'm glad I purchased them.
Click to expand...
No coffee, beer, for a month… ooooh no way. I’ll just skip the 750XL for a a few months and I should be fine
 
Hooda Thunkit said:
Skip the 750 completely, you can outfit yourself with a top 'o the line melter, and several first class moulds.
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thanks! I still have to pay my brother $300 for a CZ 97B … and my wife took my Costco Citi Refund check. But I’m going to Vegas fir a conference and instead of Poker, I can pocket that and be good for another $300-$500!

well that’s the plan
 
Mark_Mark said:
thanks! I still have to pay my brother $300 for a CZ 97B … and my wife took my Costco Citi Refund check. But I’m going to Vegas fir a conference and instead of Poker, I can pocket that and be good for another $300-$500!

well that’s the plan
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If you ever visit your brother we can both have a hand in showing you the ropes.
 
kcofohio said:
If you are planning small batches, it may be okay. But 10 lbs. isn't much lead, especially when you're dropping over 200 gr. a bullet. And if you have to alloy your lead, it makes it tedious to add small amounts of alloys. But if you are dabbling to see if casting is for you, it may be the ticket. :)
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And as peppermint patty Psaki likes to say, I am circling back to add to this. I would add that the 20 lb pot is not a true 20 lbs worth of ingots. At least with mine, you will have 3 lbs of molten lead spilling out once it melts if you try that...:what:
 
Hooda Thunkit said:
NOE moulds are very good; I have ... well, several.

Lately, the trick is to find what you want in stock. Al runs a one-man shop, or at least did last time I spoke with him, and is absolutely covered up, the same as many other semi-custom mould makers.
Click to expand...
I lucked into mine being in stock when I wanted them. 6 months later. I've only done preliminary testing with it. The mold cast great and the 300 BO loads shoot well. Still have 5 other cartridges to work on.
 
Targa said:
And as peppermint patty Psaki likes to say, I am circling back to add to this. I would add that the 20 lb pot is not a true 20 lbs worth of ingots. At least with mine, you will have 3 lbs of molten lead spilling out once it melts if you try that...:what:
Click to expand...
Lead wine cups was the possible cause of the fall of Ancient Rome
 
First thing I would recommend is to do a lot of reading, the best piece of advice I could give about casting would be this-

Slug your bore BEFORE you buy anything!

It’s best not to make assumptions about bore size as it can vary enough to give you a lot of trouble.Doing this will save you hours of heartache. Heed my warning, learn from my mistake lol.
That said the 45 mold you ordered should be fine. I use the tumble lube version and powder coat it. Shoots and feeds well in my 45acp shield and has a good shape for hunting/woods walking defense type loads.

Lee molds, melting pots, sizing dies all work just fine. I have a big stack of Lee molds and use a 10# bottom pour pot. Check out midsouth for your molds they seem to sell them for cheaper than most places.

Look into tumble lubing, probably the easiest method. I don’t care for the way Lee liquid alox on its own would gum up the works of my seating die but there are Blends that are said to work better but I had moved on and never explored it much further. Pan lubing is also an option.

With recent price increase if your looking at the 6 cavity Lee molds I’d recommend looking at some of the custom mold makers because at that point the price difference between molds isn’t that much and a mold will be of higher quality.
I have a 6 cavity Lee 358 158wfn mold that i really like, I got for around $50. I also have a 6 cavity h&g #503 clone from mp molds that I got for around $80. The MP mold is without question of much higher quality, nicely polished work of art. Very much worth the extra cost.

one of our own @Highland Lofts lives up around your neck of the woods and has been selling lead for as cheap as I’ve seen available in Washington so he might be someone to reach out to and start building a lead stash.

Best of luck with your casting endeavors feel free to reach out if I can help at all.
 
Barbaroja said:
First thing I would recommend is to do a lot of reading, the best piece of advice I could give about casting would be this-

Slug your bore BEFORE you buy anything!

It’s best not to make assumptions about bore size as it can vary enough to give you a lot of trouble.Doing this will save you hours of heartache. Heed my warning, learn from my mistake lol.
That said the 45 mold you ordered should be fine. I use the tumble lube version and powder coat it. Shoots and feeds well in my 45acp shield and has a good shape for hunting/woods walking defense type loads.

Lee molds, melting pots, sizing dies all work just fine. I have a big stack of Lee molds and use a 10# bottom pour pot. Check out midsouth for your molds they seem to sell them for cheaper than most places.

Look into tumble lubing, probably the easiest method. I don’t care for the way Lee liquid alox on its own would gum up the works of my seating die but there are Blends that are said to work better but I had moved on and never explored it much further. Pan lubing is also an option.

With recent price increase if your looking at the 6 cavity Lee molds I’d recommend looking at some of the custom mold makers because at that point the price difference between molds isn’t that much and a mold will be of higher quality.
I have a 6 cavity Lee 358 158wfn mold that i really like, I got for around $50. I also have a 6 cavity h&g #503 clone from mp molds that I got for around $80. The MP mold is without question of much higher quality, nicely polished work of art. Very much worth the extra cost.

one of our own @Highland Lofts lives up around your neck of the woods and has been selling lead for as cheap as I’ve seen available in Washington so he might be someone to reach out to and start building a lead stash.

Best of luck with your casting endeavors feel free to reach out if I can help at all.
Click to expand...
I am not a fan of reading, everyone knows this, if it wasn’t for trolling, I would probably be illiterate
 
Mark_Mark said:
I am not a fan of reading, everyone knows this, if it wasn’t for trolling, I would probably be illiterate
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Fair enough haha. If it wasn’t about something as fascinating as casting and reloading I’d tend to agree. My attention span can be short for other types of reading. The golden rule of fit is king, take that to heart and you could probably skip some reading. ;)
 
Mark_Mark said:
I’ll use the Lee 2 mold first, incase I break it, then upgrade later. What stared as a $35 curiosity is turning into $200 quickly, but that’s ok. If shtf ever happened, I know I can make boolots
Click to expand...

No need to wait for shtf. I have never loaded a jacketed bullet for 45acp.
 
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