Alu moulds for auto caster

[hunter74]

I'm curious of trying some new moulds for my Bullet Master made out of aluminum. I have a couple og hand casting mould from accuratemoulds. They are made of iron and it's no exaggeration that they are like artwork! I see that they also makes alu moulds.

We all know that iron is more sturdy and they will handle more use than alu. If all runs smooth the Magma machines aren't too hard on the blocks, but my concern is hangups, and we all know that they will occur from time to time. If running at the right temp, with smooth sprue plates, tightened down just right, they might last a while, right?

A voice in the back of my head tells me to go the safe route, and get another set of iron moulds. I guess if it's worn out twice as fast as a iron set, the iron moulds would bee more cost effective in the long run.

I think I have seen a thread, a while back, about someone using alu blocks in their casting machine. It would be great if they could share their experience with it.

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[jmorris]

What’s the price difference and how many bullets do you want to case from them?

Take the price difference and divide it by the number of bullets and see if the cost per bullet is worth the less durable material to you.

[D Crockett]

the mess that a alu. mold causes after it fails or a bullet hangs up is not something that you want to go threw. I saw what a bullet does when it hangs up in one of the 8 molds machine. it took 1/2 a day to get it cleared and all the molds back in working order. and those molds made 100's of thousands of bullets. I can not begin to guess what would happen if you put a alu. mold on one of the mark 5 machine. I do not think it would take the pounding it would get. but opinions are like ears everyone has them. D Crockett

[runfiverun]

I have worn out lyman molds on a master caster.[granted I sold enough of those boolits to pay for a new mold and pay for the master caster too]

I would imagine that an aluminum mold would see some super quick degradation.
ANY hang up's could be disastrous to the mold.

I have been working with a Brass mold on the master caster for a little bit, and I think I like it now that I got the patina built up and have the hang of things.

[hunter74]

Allright! Thank you for your comments. A iron mould set including shipping to me is about 700 usds. An alu mould set are a tad below 400, so I guess the choice is pretty simple. Iron moulds will without a doubt last much longer so I guess thats the only sane sollution[emoji28] Alu moulds are grate for hand casting, but for commercial machine casting, that's another matter.

Thank you for making me take the sane sollution!

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