NOE 429421 results

[ShootNSteel]

First let me state I beleive NOE makes a wonderful product and Swedes service is unmatched, Thank you for that. I am still a beginner to casting and I hope my issues will pass with experience.
I managed to cast about 350 shootable hollow point 44's with my new RG4. I haven't quite got the hang of this mold yet. Every time I started getting the mold hot enough to fill out 100% the hollow point pins would rip the noses of the boolits apart upon opening the mold. At times the boolits would also stick badly enough that the base would get ripped apart upon opening, and most of the time the handles would have to be tapped numerous times to drop them. It seems as if the square lube grooves were binding big time when the hollow point pin slid over and reached the angled end of the guide, really messing everything up.

The mold was thoroughly cleaned, run through one heat cycle prior to casting, and the cavities were very lightly smoked as per first casting procedure.
pot temp was 650, alloy was 1/3PB,2/3WW, making about 3 pours per minute when mold was hot.

Here is a recovered slug from a shooting into a bucket of sand, only a light plinking load, making it about 11" deep into the loose sand.

[ShootNSteel]

I took the entire mold apart to clean it and check everything. While checking for burrs I found that on one block half, the one without the pins, there was a slight burr at the nose flat right at the split of the block on every cavity. That must of been holding the boolits in and breaking them when the pins were trying to rip them out. It makes sense that that would be the case, because as the mold temp reached optimal heat, the boolits filled out to hug the burr enough to stick, and then at the same time the softer boolits would break apart.

It's too late for me to give it another go, but I have high hopes.

[Blammer]

Get the mould HOT, Hold the mould open with sprue plate up, lean pins into the cavity (the side where they are held, then close the mould, then close sprue, then fill.

When opening I find it best to crack the sprue plate, flip the mould upside down, leaning towards the side that does NOT have the pin holders, open while tapping on the handles and usually the wt of the boolits will allow them to slide out of the cavity and off the pin.

When the mould is open I allow the pins to settle to the lowest point before closing. That way when the mould is opened and upside down, the pins have pleanty of wiggle room to allow the boolit to slide out of the cavity and off the pins.

[Bigscot]

I took the suggestion, (I think in the instructions with the mould) to preheat the mould on a hot plate. I had problems with a too cold mould too but since I started preheating on a hot plate, have not had any problem.

Bigscot