Strtspdlx
06-01-2016, 11:15 PM
I'd prefer to keep the mold manufacturer name out of this as I have plenty of their products and I've had issues before and they've always taken care of me.
So I bought this 200gn swc mold for my 45acp and I've cast with it maybe 5 times. I usually cull the first three sessions to heat cycle the mold and sort of break it in. The fourth session I cast about 80-100 bullets. They where all dropping nicely and aside from the sprue plate constantly coming loose I didn't have an issue. So I let them age harden lined them and went to size them. I did notice a very distinct parting line where the mold blocks align however. So I sized them and I'll be darned. Right on that parting line one side of the line wasn't touched. So I turned to the other parting line and on the opposite side it wasn't touched either. Like the mold blocks weren't aligned. So I grabbed the mold and the cavity closest to the handle nut looked fine closest to the handle nut. The opposite side of the cavity closest to center of mold wasn't aligned. The furthest cavity wasn't aligned at all. It's a two cavity mold by the way. So I opened them up to look for any lead or anything in the pins. I did t see anything. So I cast another batch and I couldn't get any of the bullets to drop with smoked cavities or without smoked cavities. Usually with all my other molds you get to a spot when you open the mold the bullets fall out. Once in awhile I have to hit the big handle bolt with a soft mallet I have very lightly and they'll fall. This didn't work. I got to the point I got so frustrated I took a screw driver to the bullet base to push them out. After 9-10 attempts I gave up the screwdriver and resorted to hitting the mold on the pot. I realize it's a big no no but when you can't get the bullets out pushing on the base there's something wrong. I haven't got to shoot one of these bullets yet. I was so excited as I've had such good luck. I know someone will see something I did that I may have not noticed. I followed their instructions for cleaning and lubing religiously as it makes using the molds so much easier. But now I have a mold that's about 2 months old that looks like it's 20yrs old because I got frustrated. All my other molds aren't perfect. One of my molds has resin for some flux solder I used for tin in all 6 cavities and that's my most behaved mold that I never have issues with. Hopefully this doesn't sound too much like a rant. I know it is. But I'm frustrated beyond anything else that I can't get this mold to work.
So I bought this 200gn swc mold for my 45acp and I've cast with it maybe 5 times. I usually cull the first three sessions to heat cycle the mold and sort of break it in. The fourth session I cast about 80-100 bullets. They where all dropping nicely and aside from the sprue plate constantly coming loose I didn't have an issue. So I let them age harden lined them and went to size them. I did notice a very distinct parting line where the mold blocks align however. So I sized them and I'll be darned. Right on that parting line one side of the line wasn't touched. So I turned to the other parting line and on the opposite side it wasn't touched either. Like the mold blocks weren't aligned. So I grabbed the mold and the cavity closest to the handle nut looked fine closest to the handle nut. The opposite side of the cavity closest to center of mold wasn't aligned. The furthest cavity wasn't aligned at all. It's a two cavity mold by the way. So I opened them up to look for any lead or anything in the pins. I did t see anything. So I cast another batch and I couldn't get any of the bullets to drop with smoked cavities or without smoked cavities. Usually with all my other molds you get to a spot when you open the mold the bullets fall out. Once in awhile I have to hit the big handle bolt with a soft mallet I have very lightly and they'll fall. This didn't work. I got to the point I got so frustrated I took a screw driver to the bullet base to push them out. After 9-10 attempts I gave up the screwdriver and resorted to hitting the mold on the pot. I realize it's a big no no but when you can't get the bullets out pushing on the base there's something wrong. I haven't got to shoot one of these bullets yet. I was so excited as I've had such good luck. I know someone will see something I did that I may have not noticed. I followed their instructions for cleaning and lubing religiously as it makes using the molds so much easier. But now I have a mold that's about 2 months old that looks like it's 20yrs old because I got frustrated. All my other molds aren't perfect. One of my molds has resin for some flux solder I used for tin in all 6 cavities and that's my most behaved mold that I never have issues with. Hopefully this doesn't sound too much like a rant. I know it is. But I'm frustrated beyond anything else that I can't get this mold to work.