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cliftonmorris
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charlesgilbert
Educational link, as requested.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?243172-What-is-the-advantage-of-a-brass-mold-over-aluminum(Put my vote down as being for brass!)
cliftonmorris
Now that was informative. Thank you so much. I like the idea of the brass holding heat for the hollow point pins. I have cast my first hollow point bullets with my first NOE mould and those pins were the only thing that gave me any grief. After I got them up to temp they were OK but polishing them with some micro mesh ( mirror finish ) really made them work great on the second batch I cast.
adamsutherland
I’m not sure if I would call the attributes of brass as an advantage over iron or aluminium, they are certainly different.
All moulds have their characteristics and once you understand them then they will all cast equally good bullets, my targets and groups show no differences from the mould material the bullets have been cast from.
I have and use regularly brass, iron and aluminium moulds and they all produce high quality bullets so long as I do my bit, the differing casting foibles of each material may appeal to different people and their preferred way of casting. Personally I prefer aluminium because of its lightness especially in gang moulds, so to me that is the “advantage” of aluminium.
Only you will know through trying each type of mould which suits you best, but they will all cast good bullets that is for sure.
timmalcolm
Personally, I prefer brass.
I’m a cast boolit snob and I throw a good portion of what I drop back in the pot.
The trick to getting good quality boolits is to maintain consistancy in mold and alloy temperature. Keep the mold going through the same temp cycle with every fill, and you will have consistent boolits.
The difference between aluminum brass and iron is how quickly they lose heat, which translates into cycle times.
For me, I wait a certain period of time before filling the mold again which allows it to cool a certain amount so that my boolits are coming out exactly the same size, but not too frosty.With an iron mold, I typically wait 10-15 seconds between fills once I’m up to temperature (depending on the mass of the mold). This allows me extremely consistent casting because the ups and downs of the temperature is evened out quite a bit. The mold does nothing fast. It neither accepts nor releases heat very fast, thus it’s very even in it’s temperature.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t drop boolits very fast either.With a brass mold, it loses and takes heat faster than an iron mold, but the ups and downs are still pretty steady. I usually wait about 3 seconds before filling in order to maintain cadence and consistency.
With brass, I can pile up nearly picture perfect boolits pretty fast.Aluminum is the fastest of all as it loses heat like a sieve loses water. Also, it’s very light weight.
It’s harder to make perfect boolits though because you have to be Johny on the spot on your timing if you want to make perfectly consistent boolits.
However, I just run a nice steady pace and keep the mold running. I just let the frost be my guide as I cast. If the boolits start getting frosty, I slow my roll just a little, and if they are shiny, I speed up a little.
Aluminum is my preferred mold material for handgun boolits that I am going to be shooting for defensive training/ IDPA etc etc.
It’s good for piling up a ton of boolits of reasonable consistency fast.I think it boils down to the individual casters personality as to what you like. Personally, I don’t like waiting for the iron molds to cool off all the time, but I require a little more of a window for success than aluminum affords me, so brass molds get the nod every time for my rifle boolits. You have to be careful not to warp the blocks by cycling them too fast (I NEVER dip the corner of the blocks in the melt, and always use a hotplate with a nice cover made of aluminum flashing over the mold to preheat the mold gently) but other than that, they are a dream to cast with.
tommeboy
I would be willing to bet you $20 on the barrel head that it’s not this maker!
It really helps if the cavities are cut on center. LOL!
Any mold can be temperamental if it is improperly cut. I’ve dealt with “temperamental” molds from all of the commercial venders, and all but two of the custom venders.
I’ll give you a hint as to who those two are: One starts with NOE, and the other starts with ACU. LOL!lorenrandolph
jeffhoalton
No they were not Al’s molds. The maker rimes with military police. The last one I waited over two years to get and it was complete junk. The only time it would release the bullets was when the lead was still molten. I broke two sets of handles beating on the pivot bolt to get the bullets to drop out. After two weeks I sold it for 1/2 of what I paid for it to just get rid of it. It almost went to the scrap yard in my scrap brass bucket.
Tim you have the same 30 cal. mold.
reynaldosolis
No they were not Al’s molds. The maker rimes with military police. The last one I waited over two years to get and it was complete junk. The only time it would release the bullets was when the lead was still molten. I broke two sets of handles beating on the pivot bolt to get the bullets to drop out. After two weeks I sold it for 1/2 of what I paid for it to just get rid of it. It almost went to the scrap yard in my scrap brass bucket.
Tim you have the same 30 cal. mold.
I’ve eyeballed the 45 penta hollow point of that brand. 1) The finished product I’ve seen looks great. 2) the pin system looks very efficient. That being said,I’m happy with my NOE molds and I’m glad I don’t have to experience the woes you’ve endured.
jameswilson
I find that the 1 that i have is good for building up the stamina and strength in my left arm,after a few days i can use it for something.
I have 1 for the 41mag and like it,it is one of the crammer types with several different pins.
The hollowpoints are my favorite for now.
They do look to good to use,like the al molds from N.O.E.
charlesgilbert
adamsutherland
timmalcolm
tommeboy
lorenrandolph
jeffhoalton
reynaldosolis
jameswilson
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