Alum. Molds

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  • #489722
    stevephillips1
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      Assuming no Full on abuse,  What is the Life Span of a Alum. Bullet Mold?

      And How do You know when It has been reached?

      Thanks!

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    • #511081
      torpedox64
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        No “Abuse” and the minimum ammount of care, as per instructions, they Will “Out-Live” the user. Easily!

        #511082
        Full.Lead.Taco
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          If you take care of them and don’t abuse them, they can last as long as you need them to.

          #511083
          AlvinYork
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            I’ve found that it doesn’t take too much “abuse” whether intentional or not to ruin an aluminum mould. Brass has recently become my favorite material here at NOE. If the mould I want is in brass I’ll pick that up over the aluminum. If not I’ll take the aluminum however.

            #511084
            Full.Lead.Taco
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              I’m pretty much the opposite, brass starts feeling too heavy for me in 4-5 cavity configs when doing long casting sessions–though the NOE mold guides tend to make that a little better.  I will take aluminum over brass most of the time.  Brass does retain heat better though.

              I’ve found that it doesn’t take too much “abuse” whether intentional or not to ruin an aluminum mould. Brass has recently become my favorite material here at NOE. If the mould I want is in brass I’ll pick that up over the aluminum. If not I’ll take the aluminum however.

              #511085
              adamsutherland
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                A good casting regime and aluminium moulds will last and last with no discernable wear although they do tend to look dull over time.

                I have NEI moulds from Walt’s day and LBT moulds from when Veral was young(er), they have cast thousands and thousands of bullets and the ones they drop today are as good as the first ones.

                I like using brass moulds too but the weight is a real downside so aluminium all the way for me when it comes to bread and butter casting.

                #511086
                stevephillips1
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                  Thanks for the Replies,  No doubt My molds will out live Me!

                  Thanks

                  #511087
                  AlvinYork
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                    I forgot to add to my post that the NOE adapter for my Lee Pro 4-20 makes it several orders of magnitude easier to manage the weight of brass moulds, as cornmastah pointed out in his post.

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