Originally Posted by
rintinglen
I buy and endorse NOE products. They do not disappoint. To the point of your topic, brass HP molds, consider.
Brass is heavy, but once to temperature, it is much easier to cast good boolits with a brass mold than with aluminum molds. For me, they seem to work slightly better than Iron as well, but that may be due to the quality of the molds. I have brass molds by Accurate, MP and NOE, all of whom are premier manufacturers, while my Iron molds are mostly Lyman/Ideal, RCBS, with a few older manufacturers like Cramer, H&G et al. I have three SAECO molds, but do not find them to be worth the money any more, they are too high priced for the quality received these days IMO.
In use, brass likes to run a little hotter than iron, but not as hot as aluminum for good fill out. Preheating and heat cycling are recommended to obtain the brass patina that seems to foretell lots of good boolits. It may take you two or three casting sessions to get the mold broken in, but once you get there, good boolits will be the rule and rejects the exception.
I have 3 NOE HP molds, all aluminum and 2 brass non-hp molds, as well as a half-dozen or so Aluminum molds, and I like them as much as any. In fact, I'd say NOE is my favorite Manufacturer. Al is swell to deal with, but I digress. They are among the best in the world in quality of worksmanship. I will say that I have a slight preference for MP Cramer Style HP Molds over the NOE RG style HP ones, but I will buy of NOE cheerfully to avoid the 2 plus year waits that MP molds usually have these days. Either will vastly out produce those stinking Lyman style SC devestator style molds, both in pure numbers and in percentage of good boolits per casting session.
In my experience, I can cast 5 HP boolits for every 6 non-hp boolits I can cast in an equal period assuming equal quality molds. You will need to pre-heat the mold and use one of the mold lubes offered to lightly lube the underside of the sprue plate and the tips of the hp pins for best results. Using a Q-tip, take one drop of mold lube and rub it over the underside of the sprue plate and the pins, then use the dry end to go over the same surfaces. You want a microscopically-thin layer, not a puddle. This works best when applied to a warm mold.
Below you have pictures of NOE 9mm and 45 acp HP boolits, an NOE Hollow base Wadcutter mold , a 44 Special loaded with an NOE 44-230 WC next to a 45 Colt loaded with a 454-309, and lastly NOE 110 grain WC boolits loaded in a 44 mag case.