Brass, Steel, or Aluminum?

[G. Blessing]

OK, I'm looking at having a custom design or two made, and looking at various site, there are those 3 metals available.. What are the pros and cons of each?

My thinking gets me this far;
Alum will heat quicker, both in pre heat, and during casting. But, also loose that heat just as fast... Quite the opposite, steel would take longer to pre heat but satay at temp easier during casting....

For me, the steel would be bad, sice I don't have a lead pot big enough to dunk molds to pre heat with... and torch heating to the right temp is hard enough with alum.

Right? Wrong?
What about Brass?



Gary

[Bass Ackward]

What caliber? What weight? What lead mix? Answer those and then you can tell more, but it's still going to come down to opinion.

[rmb721]

I don't dunk moulds to pre-heat. I use a hot plate to heat moulds and also for heating ingots to just under the melting point. Then, when ingots are put in the lead pot, it doesn't take as long to heat up again. Check out Bruce B's method of speed casting.

My answer to you question is steel or iron whichever they are. Just my opinion.

[NVcurmudgeon]

Aluminum for light weight and less fatigue while casting. Aluminum moulds like more heat.
Lee aluminum for cheap but lesser durability.
Bull Plate Lube is desireable for all moulds and vital IMO for aluminum moulds to prevent galling.
Iron/steel for best durability and better heat retention.
I pre-heat moulds by parking them near the flame of the Coleman stove while the alloy is melting, or if you prefer bottom-pour set the mould on top to warm up. The idea of dunking a mould into the pot just seems wrong to me.

They all can make good boolits once you learn their idiosyncracies.

[AlaskaMike]

I love my hot plate for preheating my moulds, and it was only $10 at wal-mart!

I really like my steel moulds, but to be honest I haven't cast that much with my aluminum moulds, so I hesitate to jump to conclusions at this point. The thing I like about the steel moulds is that they do hold heat so well.

Mike

[Ghugly]

I prefer steel. Aluminum and steel will both cast good boolits once you learn the temp and rhythm that the mould likes. I just get a higher percentage of good boolits from my steel moulds. I've tried pre-heating and I guess it works ok. I usually just start casting from a cold mould and after a few wrinkled casts it sorts itself out and the boolits start dropping like they should. Works for me.

[jonk]

No one has weighed in on the brass yet? Allow me.

I have 2 brass bullet molds from CBE in Australia and one brass sinker mold. Cost aside, they are my hands down favorites. I have YET to throw a wrinkled bullet from a brass mold, or have lack of fill out, or galled surfaces. That includes when the mold is stone cold. My only complaint is that the cherry or lathe didn't seem to cut the bands as sharply as they do in the aluminum or steel, but that could be the manufacturer.

Any would work fine though and the material is......immaterial to me.

[felix]

Sharp corners are nothing but trouble, and my preference is to design a boolit without them. ... felix

Except for maybe the front band towards the nose section, a'la' Keith. ... felix

[G. Blessing]

Sorry fellows, I keep posting in the wee small hours when I'm tired, and then forgetting about it for a few days....

What caliber? What weight? What lead mix? Answer those and then you can tell more, but it's still going to come down to opinion.

Straight lead, and WW.... and a bit of "I dunno" mix of the two...

200 grain, 100 grain,and a 155 grain. in .30(.309)

200 grain, and 250 grain in .45(.452)

and possibly a 200 grainer in .312 (~.32cal)

As for pre heat, I'm doing the sit on top of the pot bit with my bottom pour, and a bit of flame play with a propane torch. If I don't pre heat, it takes 40 to 50 casts(80 to 100 rounds) to get a good boolit...

[QUOTE=jonk;286037]No one has weighed in on the brass yet? Allow me.

I have 2 brass bullet molds from CBE in Australia and one brass sinker mold. Cost aside, they are my hands down favorites. I have YET to throw a wrinkled bullet from a brass mold, or have lack of fill out, or galled surfaces. That includes when the mold is stone cold. /QUOTE]

Ah! thank you!
One thing I noticed, and one reason for the asking; was that where I was looking, all three choices fell within ~$15 to $20 of each other... for the price point of a custom to start with, I figured I might as well weigh out the differences..

Looks like mainly preference.... Maybe I should pick up a cheap steel mould in a comparable boolit design, and see how it acts.

Gary.

[Springfield]

I use mostly Lee 6 cavity aluminum moulds, so I have figured out their preferences. They work fine for me, and last long enough(200,000 from my 44-40 moulds so far) as long as I watch them carefully and keep them lubed properly. I preheat in the melted lead, no problems so far. But never run them cold or you will ruin them in a hurry. I had a bunch of Lyman 4 cavity moulds but replaced all of them when possible with aluminum moulds, just too heavy for me for long casting sessions(3 hours). They do cast nice bullets and are difficult to damage. I find my steel moulds tend to run too hot, and take forever to cool down, guess I am just used to aluminum. Haven't tried a brass mould yet.

[Wicky]

I use all three types, only trying brass in the last year or so, and find they are all much of a muchness. The aluminium are light enough, mine are only one and two cavity but after you have been casting for a while they seem to weigh as much as the steel moulds.
I would use whatever takes your fancy. I am sure most of the other people on this forum have used all three types and may feel differently to me but it is only my opinion.

[Lloyd Smale]

i prefer steel but casting with a brass mold like an applegate is a pleasure!

[DLCTEX]

How small a pot do you have? I swing the sprue plate back all the way and can get at least a corner of my one and two cavity molds into the melt of my Lee 10 lb. pot. Thats all it takes to heat the mold and there is no danger of warping a mold this way, slow and easy. I have iron, aluminum, and brass molds and when I figure out how each mold likes to run, temp. setting, lead level in pot, and speed of casting, I write it in my log book. Makes it easier to get up to top speed next time, which may be a year or more for some molds. Dale

[Frank46]

I bought one of the "laboratory" type hot plates off ebone some time ago. You can dial just about any temp you want to pre heat, or keep it hot when you're filling up the pot. Has a stainless steel flat round surface about 3" in diameter. You could type in labatory type hot plate and see what comes up. As far as different metals being used for molds I have all three. Iron, aluminium, and brass.
each one has its plus's and minus's. Frank

[Lloyd Smale]

ive put mine in the pot for many years and have yet to hurt a mold doing it.

[krems]

I have never used a brass mould. I like both steel and aluminum depending on what I'm casting. I like steel for for alloys like 30-1, 20-1, pure lead because they require a higher and more consistant temperature to cast match quality bullets. When I'm casting harder bullets I like aluminum because i don't need the melt temp that high. Frosting is less of a concern for me w/ aluminum moulds and antimony alloys.

So there it is.......I like them all.........I sound like a politician don't I!!

I've been a mould dunker in the melted alloy for ever and have never ruined a mould yet. Of course I'm careful to not let it stay in the lead for more than 30 seconds at a time.

FWIW.........Krems

[Monkeyboy]

I have an assortment of moulds from Jones,Brooks,Hoch,Nei,Lyman,etc.Some of the nicest casting ones are the brass ones from Bernie @Old West Bullet Moulds.http://www.oldwestbulletmoulds.com/

[Bass Ackward]

GB,

In that weight range I prefer brass. But since you throw in pure lead, then I say steel. Of the three metals you list, brass has the most, and is the easiest to develop stress from the manufacturing processes. It is the most likely to warp at the high temps required of pure lead. Who wants to ruin a good mold after all the time and load development costs, so the idiot proof choice becomes steel / iron. Aluminum if you want high volume.