Aluminum mold in a Master Caster?

[AbitNutz]

To those of you with a Master Caster. I know I've been told that using aluminum molds were a distinct no, no but why? The Master Caster does throw the mold around fairly violently but it's only the sprue plate that takes the hit. Is it because the way the mold is wedged closed at the top of the stroke?

Just curious if anyone has tried an aluminum mold in a M/C or seen the results of that effort?

[ReloaderFred]

I only have one aluminum mold for my Master Caster, and it's for casting swaging cores. It heats up very rapidly and gets really hot.

The Master Caster depends on the sudden stop at the end of the stroke to knock the bullets from the mold, and that's actually where the "violent" action takes place. The mold carrier strikes the cross bar and that's what drops the bullets. The sprue cutter is simply moved back by an arm to cut the sprue, and there isn't any "violent" action involved there. When the mold carrier is moved back into the pour position, another arm just moves the sprue cutter back into the pour position.

I prefer steel molds for my Master Caster, as I think since the molds are held rather loosely by the mounting pin, the hole the mounting pin (roll pin) goes through might become elongated over time. That's just my thought, though, and it's not based on any actual problems with my core mold. I've only cast about 500 cores from that mold, so that's really not a true workout for it.

Hope this helps.

Fred