Anybody heard of Arsenal molds?

[cowpuncher]

I picked up one of the Arsenal 429421 molds a couple weeks back, and finally got to spend some quality time casting with it last night. Once I got the mold and alloy up to temp... I threw a whole bunch of really gorgeous bullets with it. My mold is aluminum. I prefer iron or brass now that I've got a few molds in those metals... but the Arsenal 429421 5 cavity I picked up for $80 is hard to beat, and threw one hell of a lot of good looking bullets last night. I was also casting with a RCBS 44-240-SWC and a Lee 429-214-SWC mold... because I was on a mission to cast up a bunch of 44 mag/special bullets with the 3 molds I have for that caliber, for load development and just plain having a pile of them around to play with.

If there is any kind of issue between Arsenal and NOE... sorry to hear about that. However the Arsenal mold I picked up proved to be a great quality mold last night. I've got one of NOE's 45 230gr RG2 aluminum mold, and it's also a great mold.

Anyway, just saying... Arsenal's quality is very good from what I just saw, so don't let that scare you off from buying one. My 5 cavity Arsenal 429421 mold, along with the Lee 2 banger 214gr and the RCBS 44-240, went through 2 full 20lb pots of alloy last night and make a big pile of really good looking bullets with minimal effort.

[Sea Bear]

You're right, Cowpuncher. They are darned good. I have the two cavity version of 429421, and it is a workhorse. I actually prefer the aluminum blocks, since I don't have to worry about rust. They heat up fast. Arsenal molds are built well. I just picked up another Keith style Arsenal, this one 358429 with four holes. I can't wait to try it out. The quality is very good.

[captaint]

Fair enough, Al. I like your molds AND your style, anyway. I have quite a few of those little bottles of Bullplate on the shelf !!!

[BigEyeBob]

Just took delivery of the 4 cavity 316218GC mould from Arsenal , very nice ,I bought it through a mate who bought two them off Ebay .
For those who are interested here's a couple of pics

[shooterg]

Just ordered the Arsenal HG34 clone . Have a HG68BB, bought a NOE HG68PB from a site member. Beautiful bullets but way wider meplat and much heavier boolit than the HG mold. If the Arsenal casts as well as the others, I won't be getting rid of any of 'em . Maybe someday I'll have as many molds as Char Gar !

[FergusonTO35]

Oh man, I really like the looks of that 358-135-RF. What kind of OAL are you using for it in 9mm?

[MBTcustom]

Al and NOE has a presence on this forum, stands behind his product, and sells at a fair price. I'm pretty picky about who I give my business to. NOE and Accurate are my mold makers. I'll buy a Lee six cavity, but that's the only exception I make for new production molds. Molds are too expensive a thing to work with unknown makers.

[jugulater]

im with Goodsteel here, ill buy NOE molds.

seems kinda odd to me that NOE subcontracted with them and now they are pumping out there own brand of moulds (rebranded left overs?).

[LongRangeAir]

Yeah, a little cheese'y. NOE for Me!

[dragon813gt]

Al has commented about this brand of molds before. I will not support them.

[cowpuncher]

Well to each his own, and NOE makes a good product. However, Al is not the only guy in the world allowed to make and sell a bullet mold, gentlemen. I have an arsenal mold, its quality is right there with my Mihec and NOE molds, and I intend to buy more from all the above. Ymmv.

[waco]

Al and NOE has a presence on this forum, stands behind his product, and sells at a fair price. I'm pretty picky about who I give my business to. NOE and Accurate are my mold makers. I'll buy a Lee six cavity, but that's the only exception I make for new production molds. Molds are too expensive a thing to work with unknown makers.

I have to agree with Tim here, NOE and Accurate from here on out. You KNOW you are getting what you pay for. PERIOD.

[DR Owl Creek]

...

If there is any kind of issue between Arsenal and NOE... sorry to hear about that. However the Arsenal mold I picked up proved to be a great quality mold last night. I've got one of NOE's 45 230gr RG2 aluminum mold, and it's also a great mold.

...

If you had someone working for you, and while they were doing that they stole something from you and then sold it, would you feel any different about it?

Dave

[Jhess]

This is Jared from Arsenal Molds. Thank you to those who have a genuine interest in who we are. I have no interest in getting into a cat fight here on this forum and addressing everyone's assumptions. If you have a sincere question about Arsenal Molds feel free to PM me and I will respond.

Good day

[cowpuncher]

If you had someone working for you, and while they were doing that they stole something from you and then sold it, would you feel any different about it?

Dave

Is that what happened, or is that what you *assume* happened?

Likewise, let's say you're a small businessman supplying another small businessman, and you have inventory you've bought for that purpose. The guy you're supplying stops ordering from you, and this is not a patented product. In fact, many of the designs related to the product are nearly a century old. (To my knowledge Al did not design the 429421 "Keith" bullet dropped by the mold I purchased, for instance).

So... do you just use the inventory you're stuck with as paperweights from then on? Or do you try to recover your investment?

Again: Al makes a great mold, but he's not the only guy in the world allowed to make and sell a bullet mold, sorry folks. Arsenal, and some others, also make some great molds.

[Southerngunner]

Is that what happened, or is that what you *assume* happened?

Likewise, let's say you're a small businessman supplying another small businessman, and you have inventory you've bought for that purpose. The guy you're supplying stops ordering from you, and this is not a patented product. In fact, many of the designs related to the product are nearly a century old. (To my knowledge Al did not design the 429421 "Keith" bullet dropped by the mold I purchased, for instance).

So... do you just use the inventory you're stuck with as paperweights from then on? Or do you try to recover your investment?

Again: Al makes a great mold, but he's not the only guy in the world allowed to make and sell a bullet mold, sorry folks. Arsenal, and some others, also make some great molds.

I have had no dealings so far with NOE at his time but I recently contacted Jared about a # 68 H&G and he replied promptly and offered to make me a 4 cavity mold even though it was not currently a mold he produced. So my experience with Arsenal has been pleasurable so far even though I have not yet received the mold. He did email me an update today saying the mold just came off of the machine I am excited to receive it and see how it works for me. Time will tell.

[Love Life]

It's always nice to have options.

[Gofaaast]

Capitalism at work here folks. I don't own a mould from either of these companies. All I have read though about both these mould makers has been positive. Satisfied customers are making great boolits, from the high quality moulds they both produce. Low cost will get my $ every time when, I'm procuring a new item from suppliers I've never dealt with before, and the companies have comparable reputations and the product I need. If the low cost producer satisfies me, I will stick with them, if they have the product and service I need.
I will be buying some new moulds soon to expand the calibers I cast for, and will apply this wisdom.

[MikeS]

The real question is HOW Arsenal got into the mould business. If they're just selling off overstock from when they were making moulds for NOE, that's one thing. But I find it hard to believe they would have all this overstock when they couldn't provide NOW with the production he needed in the first place. Then there's the issue of where Arsenal got their mould block design from, where they got the drawings for all their boolit moulds from, etc. If they were provided by NOE for their use in making moulds for NOE, and for no other purpose, then it's both unethical, and possibly illegal. Notice I said IF, I don't know the whole story, so I can't say for sure, but I will say the pictures I've seen so far of their moulds look just like early NOE mould blocks, so to me at least that looks a bit suspicious. My mould buying habits are not going to change, I'll buy NOE, Accurate Molds, Mihec, and if I buy a factory mould it will be a Lee 6 cavity. I will also buy new Lee 2 cavity moulds from Erik at Hollowpointmold.com that he's converted into an HP mould, I haven't tried any of his newer style ones (using the new style Lee moulds) but have a couple of the original style that I love! The point being I'm not going to be buying from Arsenal one way or the other, unless they come out with some super new boolit designs that are not available elsewhere, then I might consider it.

[cowpuncher]

MikeS - What do you do for a living?

The reason I ask is for instance, I'm an electronics technician. My specialty is calibration. By the logic some are putting forth here in this thread... It would have been shady for me to ever work for a different employer, or hang out my own shingle and market my skills, after working for my first employer in that industry.

So if you guys are going to apply that standard to Jared and Arsenal Molds - are you applying it to yourselves as well? Just wondering.

Again - Al makes a great mold, but he's also not the only guy in the world allowed to make and sell a bullet mold.