opinions on molds

[realfisher]

i am looking to add more molds to my collection to get away from my lee's. i like4+ cavitys and really want to stay away from aluminum molds. what would you sujest for non lee and no aluminum molds?

[Ickisrulz]

http://www.accuratemolds.com/

People are very happy with these molds. Three different materials available. 1-5 cavity. Good prices for custom molds and fast turn around.

[41 mag fan]

You'll find out therres a major difference between a Lee mold and the fine quality made aluminum molds by NOE and MIha.


Don't rule out aluminum till you try one from a quality maker. Lees in my opinion are the dregs of the barrel and last resort for molds.
You pick up an aluminum mold from NOE or Miha, you'll see a major difference, and wont be so put off by it being aluminum. I was that way.

Brass is good, but more expensive

[mart]

I have a brass mold from Accurate Molds. I love it. I cannot say enough good about them or their molds. The turn around on their orders is very quick. Great mold!

Mart

[RobS]

2nd on the Lee aluminum being less quality or softer vs the aluminum used by some of the other mold makers i.e. NOE, MiHec, Mountain Molds, Accurate Molds, LBT etc. Saeco molds do come in the 4 cavity and they will cost nearly the same as a custom. Lyman is another non custom, mass production, mold maker that produces 4 cavity molds however there is quality controll issues right now with molds that cast undersized. I won't even bother with a Lyman mold unless it's an older second hand one that has information about what diameter it cast at. The great thing about the custom mold makers is the mold you get is one that will cast at or a bit over the intended or stated diameter and if not their customer service is top notch and issues are resolved quickly and professionally.

[realfisher]

i appreciate the feed back. i do have a NEI mold thats aluminum. so far its doing well. i wont rule out others but just some thing about a steel mold that i like. its hard to explain.


most of the lees i have were givin to me by a friend and have done well to get me started and through my learning curve for the casting end of it. im very comfortable with casting now.

[MtGun44]

No steel molds that I know of. Cast iron of various types. RCBS uses a varation called
Meehanite, very hard, fine grained, machines very nicely. RCBS are beautifully made
molds, sadly, only available in 2 cav.

MP (Miha is the owner) makes wonderful aluminum and brass molds.

Bill

[btroj]

Aluminum moulds are not as bad as people make them out to be. E make a nice bullet, are light, and very functional. The fact they are largely made by Lee lends people to see them as a second class product. I say that is bunk.
Treat any mould well and it will last many years, treat any poorly and they will soon be worthless.

We need to stop blaming the tool for the faults of the user.

[MikeS]

My personal preference is for brass moulds. While NOE, Accurate Molds, and others make aluminum moulds, and they're a world of difference from a Lee mould, they're still IMHO not as good as a brass mould. But then I cast using a bottom pour pot, and always rest the mould on a guide, so the extra weight of brass doesn't bother me as much as somebody that cast by holding the mould entirely themselves (doesn't use a guide to hold the weight of the mould). Aluminum moulds do have a place, as they're so much lighter than a brass or iron mould. The thing I don't like about aluminum moulds is that they loose heat much quicker than the other mould materials. Some people think that iron moulds cast better than brass, but I haven't seen that in my experience. And with iron moulds you have to worry about rust, something you don't have to do with a brass mould! I just ordered my second brass mould from Accurate Molds, and I can't wait to get it! Tom's moulds are actually about the same price as buying a new SAECO mould, at least when comparing 4 cavity moulds, and you get a custom made mould, for your alloy, and to make boolits the diameter you specify!

[realfisher]

mike, then there is also a differance in metal expansion when you have steel parts in an aluminum mold as well.
as soon as i can afford to get a rcbs or lyman casting pot, im going to, that way i can have a guide to put my mold on too. if i didnt have to buy a washer and dryer, next week, i would already be buying a new casting pot

[MikeS]

I don't think the difference between metals expanding at different rates makes any difference, at least I've never noticed any. I think brass holds the heat better than either aluminum or iron. I think in the end the quality of the mould is more important that the material it's made from. As others have said, Mihec, NOE, Accurate, and others have all made aluminum moulds that are far better than anything Lee has made! All the mould materials have trade-offs. Brass holds heat great, but is heavy. Iron also holds heat well, is slightly more durable than either brass, or aluminum, but you have to watch for rust. Aluminum doesn't hold heat well at all, but it makes very light moulds so you can cast with it longer before starting to get tired.

So in the end, what your mould is made from is up to you if you go with a custom mould maker, or up to the mould company if buying 'off the shelf' moulds!

Most people here would agree that the old H&G moulds are the gold standard by which all others are judged by. I have an aluminum NOE mould that's a clone of the H&G #34 round nose boolit, and a brass Mihec mould that's a clone of the H&G #68 SWC mould, and both of them cast every bit as good as a genuine H&G would. Not to mention that the only way to get an H&G mould now is used, as H&G haven't been around for a number of years!

I've made a decision that from now on I'm not going to be buying 'stock' boolit moulds, but rather only getting custom moulds from the fine mould makers here on the forum, this way I can get what I want, how I want it, and only pay slightly more than some stock moulds cost. As an example, I just ordered a 4 cavity brass mould from Accurate Molds, and the cost with the shipping was $163.00. A SAECO 4 cavity iron mould costs $150.00 from Midway, and that's without shipping. If the cost of shipping is added in, the SAECO would actually cost MORE than a custom mould!

[jdgabbard]

Since nobody else has mentioned them, Mountain Molds. They offer a brass mold, which I too am fond of. However, my preference is for iron molds.

I stay away from Lee as best as I can. I do have a few Lee molds, and for what I paid, they'll "get the job done" but they are not as nice as something by ANYBODY else....

[realfisher]

has any one bought a new saeco mold ? i have found 2 saeco's i might get from midway.

[hhranch]

I have had good luck with Saco's over the years, particularly their 4 cavity molds, if you run a pair of these together you can really put out the lead. I lucked onto an old Saco 8 cavity No. 68 several years ago, and while it doesn't look to good cosmetically, it does throw nice boolits. They really pile up in a hurry eight at a time!

As someone noted, however, the H&G molds are the gold standard as far as I am concerned. You can duplicate them with Ballisti-Cast. I have one of their 4 cavity #7's for 9mm and have been very happy with it. Cost is high, about what you will pay for an H&G on an auction site, and at least it is new, not used with some unknown pedigree

Lyman 4 cavity molds rate a distant third in my experience. Unfortunately I haven't tried the multiple cavity aluminum molds, other than a used NEI in 9mm, and I only rate it so-so.

My 2 cents worth - other people probably have different opinions.

[cdet69]

Any special treatment needed for a brass mold. Do you need to smoke it to get it to cast well?

[MikeS]

No need to smoke a brass mould. No need to smoke any mould really! Smoking a mould just covers up a problem, it can be used as a short term fix, but if you need to smoke a mould to get it to release boolits, there's an underlying problem that should be addressed. Just pre-heat the mould, and use a mould lube like BullPlate on the tops of the blocks, and underside of the sprue plate (using VERY little), and the alignment pins, and you should be good to go.

[cbrick]

Any special treatment needed for a brass mold. Do you need to smoke it to get it to cast well?

No need to smoke any mold. If there is a problem with a mold there are only two things smoking it can do, 1> possibly cover up the problem, 2> gunk up the mold.

If there is a problem find it and fix it. Many people smoke a mold because bullets are sticking and more often than not that's a mold temp thing though it could possibly be a bur.

Clean molds work better.

Rick

[jdgabbard]

Not just that, but I've also found that in MANY cases its actually the cheaper molds that have a problem with dropping boolits. Its usually been the cheaper (read Lee) molds, and the molds that have been modified (As an example: I have a 358242 that had the base machined off from the 120g to make it a copy of the 92g variant). Most quality molds I've had I can honestly say don't have a problem dropping boolits.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

has any one bought a new saeco mold ? i have found 2 saeco's i might get from midway.

I've got 2 Saeco 4 cav. molds that I bought used from a friend,
He bought them brand new in the 1980s
a 411 and a 441 (41 cal and 44 cal...both SWC)
they cast excellent boolits.
the 411 has fairly small blocks compared to the 441
but it doesn't seem to matter when casting,
except that is not as heavy.
Iron molds are heavy, that's a definate drawback to Iron.

My advice is to watch the group buy section.
nothing better than to get a mold that's custom designed by one of our own
and made by a craftsman that's also one of our own.
I think of them as Limited Editions !!!
I am on the list for two right now, a 5 cav. 269 (fat 6.5mm)
and a 4 cav. John Ross 50 cal. both by NOE, His are my Favorite.
I have 5 other NOE molds...NOT even close to a LEE...and I like LEE.
Jon

[41 mag fan]

I've got 2 Saeco 4 cav. molds that I bought used from a friend,
He bought them brand new in the 1980s
a 411 and a 441 (41 cal and 44 cal...both SWC)
they cast excellent boolits.
the 411 has fairly small blocks compared to the 441
but it doesn't seem to matter when casting,
except that is not as heavy.
Iron molds are heavy, that's a definate drawback to Iron.

My advice is to watch the group buy section.
nothing better than to get a mold that's custom designed by one of our own
and made by a craftsman that's also one of our own.
I think of them as Limited Editions !!!
I am on the list for two right now, a 5 cav. 269 (fat 6.5mm)
and a 4 cav. John Ross 50 cal. both by NOE, His are my Favorite.
I have 5 other NOE molds...NOT even close to a LEE...and I like LEE.
Jon

Kind of hard to keep them molds warm when it hits in the -0 temps isn't it?