NOE 301618 PP Mold, Instrument of the Devil!

[LynC2]

My new NOE PP mold arrived late yesterday afternoon and as usual it looked like a work of art. Little did I know what evil lurked in that innocent looking box! First thing this morning I heard it calling to me, "come hither and play with me". Not being able to resist I fired up the pot and proceeded to clean the mold with detergent and brush; followed by the usual lubrication and heating/cooling cycles on the hotplate per my normal procedure.
So far, so good except this mold refused to cast good boolits without wrinkles or voids. I ran it faster, hotter, pressured filled, increased the flow rate; but all for naught. Now I am getting desperate, should I let it cool off and clean again more aggressively?
Then I though "perhaps I should try smoking it", something I don't normally do. I eyed a candle for a bit, but decided against using that as I knew this evil apparition would soon be covered with wax. So I grabbed my propane grill lighter and proceeded to lightly smoke the cavities.
Eureka, it started dropping beautiful well formed little silver jewels that leaped from the mold upon opening! Then the demonic possession started as I had only planned on casting a few, perhaps 50 to 100. Well I couldn't stop. I was mesmerized and three hours later (after missing lunch) I finally broke away. Be warned! It may well take a exorcism to break free from it's evil clutches.

[tazman]

I had a similar run in with an NOE mold this morning. I didn't take pictures as I was too exhausted.
During a run of about 3 hours or so(not certain because of the trance) I cast 1400(yes that fourteen hundred) silver pills for my 9mm using a 358-135-rf.
This is terribly addicting.
Perhaps we should form a therapy group.

[barrabruce]

They do look good.
Now I'd like to see how they shoot.

[propwashp47]

you will need to rid yourself of those evil molds and pack them up and seed to me for a proper cleansing of their ways . wont take more than 2 to3 years.

[Blammer]

oh your poor fingers for paper patching all of them....

a quick smoke worked, but I also find that just letting it set a day after the first casting session works well too, if you are that patient.

[LynC2]

Tazman, wow you really pumped them out! I only made about 700 of them before I called it a day. You may be right about forming a group to break the addiction. What shall we call it, Caster’s Anonymous?
Barrabruce, yes that will be the proof of the pudding. I’m sure if I can’t get them to shoot my friend Nobade will find the right combination.
Blammer, I doubt I will PP very many at a time as I doubt I would be able to do it for one and I have a few other projects to play with too.
An update on the boolits, they are dropping out of the mold with my COWW + a bit of tin right at .3025 which works really well for me. Using my Buckshot .301 sizer die they are perfect for .308 cal and as cast they fit my 1909 Argentine 7.65x54.

[tazman]

My mold is a 5 cavity and the only breaks I took were to put more ingots in the pot. That mold really flies when you get up to temp.
I shot some of last weeks cast today at the range. Superb accuracy.
Now I am afraid I won't have enough boolits to last very long. I may need to fire that mold up again soon.
OH THE PAIN

[Nobade]

Hey Lyn, mine did the same thing! I didn't mess around, I smoked it right off the bat and it threw good boolits from the git-go. I agree about how addictive it is, I ended up making up about a quart of them myself. I got some patched last night and I am going to get them loaded up tonight.

One thing funny, I tried following the NRA advice about varying the placement of the patch to get the seating depth I want. I thought that sounded funny since the .301" nose should jam into the bore. It does, the NRA must have used a worn barrel or possibly one with military style throating. So I am evenly split between putting the patch over the break in the ogive and stopping it at the first groove. I'll bring both tomorrow and we can see which ones work better.

-Nobade

[Old Scribe]

Tempus fuget--time flies.