dragonrider
08-09-2009, 02:37 PM
Thanks to Night Owl Enteprises I got my new mold on Saturday and drooled over it until I could cast with it today.
First impression is a positive one. I have yet to see a mold as well machined as this. Fit and finish are impeccable. However looks don't count as much as castability does. And it casts as good as it looks. The parting line is barely visible. When lead temp is good and mold temp is good fillout is excellent. Diameter averaged .314"-315" consistantly. Length is 1.00". My shop made Star size die is .3105". When sized the NOE boolit is a thing of beauty. There are no wide spots in the surface of the land as compared to the grooves that would indicate the boolit is out of round. It looks the same all over, which is a rare thing at least in the molds that I have. But the type of size machine has a part to play in that issue. Gas checks snapped on easily and crimped securely. In short I don't have a lot to complain about with it, actually nothing at all. Also I got the 3 holer and I think that I will get that whenever I get an NOE mold.
All that said need to compare the NOE mold to the two other 311407's that I have. a Lyman 2 cavity and a Lee 6 cavity. Of the three the Lyman iis the longest at 1.045" the Lee is next at 1.012" and the NOE iis the shortest at 1.00". So of course iit follow that the Lyman is the heaviest at 168 grains and Lee at 165 grains and NOE at 160 grains. When comparing diameters Lee is the biiggest at .315"-.316, NOE .314"-315" and Lyman the smallest at .309"-.311" When sizing the Lyman is the ugliest as it is more out of round than the other two. The Lee bieig the biggest get low marks because it seem that the lube grooves get thinner, probably because it is moving more material. The NOE is damn near perfect.
I haven't shot any NOE's yet and don't know when I will be able to perhaps someone else will get to before I and can give us some results.
First impression is a positive one. I have yet to see a mold as well machined as this. Fit and finish are impeccable. However looks don't count as much as castability does. And it casts as good as it looks. The parting line is barely visible. When lead temp is good and mold temp is good fillout is excellent. Diameter averaged .314"-315" consistantly. Length is 1.00". My shop made Star size die is .3105". When sized the NOE boolit is a thing of beauty. There are no wide spots in the surface of the land as compared to the grooves that would indicate the boolit is out of round. It looks the same all over, which is a rare thing at least in the molds that I have. But the type of size machine has a part to play in that issue. Gas checks snapped on easily and crimped securely. In short I don't have a lot to complain about with it, actually nothing at all. Also I got the 3 holer and I think that I will get that whenever I get an NOE mold.
All that said need to compare the NOE mold to the two other 311407's that I have. a Lyman 2 cavity and a Lee 6 cavity. Of the three the Lyman iis the longest at 1.045" the Lee is next at 1.012" and the NOE iis the shortest at 1.00". So of course iit follow that the Lyman is the heaviest at 168 grains and Lee at 165 grains and NOE at 160 grains. When comparing diameters Lee is the biiggest at .315"-.316, NOE .314"-315" and Lyman the smallest at .309"-.311" When sizing the Lyman is the ugliest as it is more out of round than the other two. The Lee bieig the biggest get low marks because it seem that the lube grooves get thinner, probably because it is moving more material. The NOE is damn near perfect.
I haven't shot any NOE's yet and don't know when I will be able to perhaps someone else will get to before I and can give us some results.