Problem with HP mould

[Super Sneaky Steve]

Hello everyone. I just fired up my new NOE mould. It's sized .452 and drops 230. I acutally thought it would drop 180 and the 230 meant it would drop that weight as a solid, but oh well.

I have a few problems really. First the screw that keeps the sprew plate on works it self out each time I whack the plate off. It's really annoying. I tightened it with the allen wrench a few times then went to using my glove to hand tighten it to save time.

Second problem. I get lead that goes down over the pin a little bit giving me a skirt of lead. I just ground them all down with my dremel tool and it took a while. I really don't want to do that again if I can help it. About 9 out of 10 had this condition.

Third, all my bullets were a little swirrley. I know that indicates the mould is too cool, but I kept running hot lead through it as fast as I could and it just never really warmed up. I don't have a thermometer, but it was on a number 4 on my lee 20lb pot. With my Lee two holers I would risk getting frosted bullets at this temp.

They are sitting in a pan of lube now, I'll have pics up soon.
http://noebulletmolds.com/orders/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=41&products_id=268
This is the exact mould.

Oh, and one more question. What kind of loading data can I use for this. 250gr data? And can I use this for ACP? It looks large even though it's 230.

Thanks in advance.

[Blammer]

Welcome and the NOE mould the RG you have may be a tad tricky.

first of all there should be a set screw on the side of the sprue plate screw, get your spure platehow you like it an then tighten the set screw, should not move anymore.

check the Pins and see if you don't have a speck of lead somewhere that is not allowing you to close the mould completeley and tightly.

Clean it good! Once clean when pouring HOLD THE MOULD TIGHTLY CLOSED WHILE POURING. This will make sure that it should not "leak"

you need to get your mould hotter to prevent the swirling. Let it set on top of the pot for 30 min to get really good and hot. If you have a hot plate use that. the pins cool quickly, so don't keep that mould open any longer than necessary and pour fast!

Hot lead is not the problem, hot MOULD is, get that mould hotter.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

Thanks for the tips Blammer. I guess I'm not uses to such a fancy mould. It does in fact have a set screw! OMG so cool. After looking at that I noticed that the screws for the pins were very loose as well. This is undoubtedly the cause of the lead skirts.

I know I was holding the mold tight because my sizer didn't even kiss these bullets, but the lose pin screws made the pins set lower which let the lead go down lower.

I do have a hot plate but there's no flat surface on this mold so I was confused how to configure it. I kinda moved it around like cooking a hot dog. What's the best way to do this?

[Super Sneaky Steve]

Here's two of the good ones. Not many of them in this batch!
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y123/ex500/SSS/230HP.jpg

[Hounddog]

I have a NOE 180grn hollow point mold that I use for my 40cal m&p and my 10mm glock. The trick to getting the mold to drop great bullets is to get both the mold and the pins up to temp. As I heat up my lead, I put the mold on my hot plate. Just before I'm ready to go, I flip the mold over on the hotplate to get the sprew plate up to temp. To keep the pins hot you will have to get your lead hotter than normal and keep your pace up. The NOE molds have a thick sprew plate, so I try to pour a bigger sprew as necessary to keep it moving smoothly. There is definitely a steeper learning curve to these hp molds, but the bullets they make are just awesome. Hope this helps.

[MT Chambers]

Take out the set screw and put a small pc. of copper under the set screw.

[Blammer]

the "L" shaped bar that holds the HP pins, make sure that is tight, the pins themselves should be "wobbley" so they can slide on that "L" easy enough.

Set it on the hot plate with pins on the bottom, set it right on the pins, that will work well as the pins need to be hot and will transfer the heat.

With the mould OPEN turn the sprue plate to the bottom (hold it upsided down) the HP pins will sink to the Highest position inside the cavity, close the mould while upside down, flip over, close sprue and pour.

This lets the HP pins set the deepest into the cavity, this may prevent your "flashing".

[Super Sneaky Steve]

I went to load a few this morning. They sure do look pretty but they are .449 in size. I can push them all the way into the case with my fingers. I loaded 20 just to try them but I'm sure they will lead like crazy.

These were air dried and I kept the alloy as soft as possible so they would expand well. From what I've read I need to add more tin to the mix.

It sucks that I lost a days worth of work with nothing to show for it but I learned a lot. I hope the next batch will come out looking much better.

I just delubed them on a cookie sheet and they are back in the pot. I guess that's the good thing about casting, if you mess up you can just remelt them and try again.

[cbrick]

It sucks that I lost a days worth of work with nothing to show for it but I learned a lot.

I would say that you have a great deal to show for it.

By your own words . . . "I learned a lot".

Casting is not an automatic process, there is a learning curve and HP molds considerably more so. Your boolits, the noses and cavities look good, your well on your way. Don't get discouraged now, keep on keepin on and before you know you'll be wondering what the problem was.

Rick

[Super Sneaky Steve]

Well, I just gave it another go. I added more tin and poured at the highest setting. They all look good and I didn't have to use my dremel this time :D

But, now I get some bullets sticking to the pins. This didn't happen before. Some are so subborn that mearly tapping the handles wouldn't work. I had to bust out the pliers on a few.

Any ideas how to stop this? I was thinking maybe wet sanding the pins to get them shiney.

[cbrick]

But, now I get some bullets sticking to the pins. This didn't happen before. Some are so subborn that mearly tapping the handles wouldn't work. I had to bust out the pliers on a few.

Any ideas how to stop this? I was thinking maybe wet sanding the pins to get them shiney.

Boolits will stick like glue to a pin that is too cool, get the pins hotter. If you added tin and cast at the highest temp you could well be defeating the purpose of the tin. Do you have a thermometer? Keep the pot at 725 or a little less. The dial on the pot means nothing, you need a thermometer.

The pins have very little mass to hold heat, they cool quickly. Keep the mold closed and full as much as possible, do not inspect your boolits while casting, your pins are cooling off. Plenty of time for inspection once finished casting. Cast faster.

Rick

[Blammer]

pins need to be HOTTER, then the boolits will drop right off.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

When I first started casting, I was told by another site that I needed to have a spray mold release. I found out here that you don't need that. The Frankfort Arsenal mold release set in the cabinet until I thought about using them on the pins of my Hollow Point mold. I take the pins out, spray a little mold release on them and they will drop the boolits from the getgo. I put my mold in an old GE electric frying pan and put the lid on. I cut a section of the electric skillet's side out so the handles can stick through.I turn it up to 450 deg. with the lid on and by the time my LEE 20# pot is ready, so is the mold. I really recommend getting a thermometer. You can do it without one but it sure makes life a whole lot easier. I usually cast at 750 but sometimes as high as 800. The 800 temp is just used on a couple of brass molds I have. 700 deg is used on my LEE aluminum molds. I'd have a much harder time if I didn't have a thermometer.

[GLL]

The NOE RG molds can indeed be tricky to operate and have a steep learning curve. Certainly more than "a tag" tricky ! :) I agree with Blammer that the mold should be placed on the hot plate with the base of the pins in contact with the hot surface. As Rick indicates the alloy should be over 700 degrees and the casting rate should be about as fast as you can go to keep mold and especially the pins HOT ! If you slow to examine your results you are doomed to have bullets stuck on the pins ! When I first started with the RGs there was a lot of profanity involved ! :)

Once you get the hang of these RG HP molds you get a lot of beautiful bullets in short order. I must admit I still prefer the old-style single-pin HP molds.

Jerry

From NOE RG-style mold
http://www.fototime.com/D3758783C2B6C13/orig.jpg

[dakotashooter2]

I have a heavy copper wire clamp mounted on the rim of my pot. As soon as I pull the pin I set it in the holder on the pot. The wire clamp stays hot and transfers that heat to the pin keeping it hot. It works pretty well for me.

[NVScouter]

I had these same issues with my NOE. I took it down to Al and he sold me a thermometer and adjusted it a tad. He also showed me to tap the hinge pin a tad right before it closes. This seats the pins the same way every time and I got uniform weight boolits. I cast at almost 800* now with my 4 gang NOE and its sits on my pot for 30mins before I start casting. Two fill and dumps then all the boolits are perfect. I really love this mold and I almost returned it, so glad I didnt. I need the mould you have next from him.