Hundreds spent on NOE bushings/expanders just to be disappointed...

[THE_ANTIDOTE]

Well, just received my order and can not say I am happy. Online things looked good, but in person...it's like getting a bunch of hand me downs. For one, I placed an order for bushings that said in stock and are the only ones that can be added to the cart. I get my order after having gotten confirmation and I see BO handwritten next to my .309 bushing...Back Order? The website still shows one in stock...there were two when I paid for my order??? Would have been really nice to have been told items I paid for were on back order...I would have skipped them. My real problem is with the expanders, all except for 3-4 are unmarked. All except for one are from what I understand...the old expanders, meaning the inside has a shelf and would accumulate powder when attempting to charge a case. The new style are supposed to be machined to be more like a funnel/tapered on the inside. I feel like I was just given a bunch of mismatched left over pieces. At this time and age I would think quality control would have been spot on. Either stamp them all, don't stamp any of them, make them all old style or make them all new style...just very disappointed. Going to send all these back and just buy lee sizers and lyman m dies. Why bother machining one expander to remove the shelf in a particular caliber but none of the others in that same caliber? It's like buying 10 bicycles and all are manufactured with two pedals except for one...why? It's not like the machining happened on accident and if it was...there is a problem with quality control.

[THE_ANTIDOTE]

Well, I just got off the phone with Al at NOE about 2 minutes ago and yes...he said I got some old inventory...kinda sucks because as much as they sell, they shouldn't even have any old stock left. Seems to me they tried to get rid of rejects/blem stuff.

[hollywood63]

all my bullet sizers went bye bye for lack of support a few years ago

[BNE]

I hate that you had a bad experience. I have had nothing but GREAT service out of NOE.

I suspect they will make it right if you let them.

BNE

[DeadWoodDan]

Another satisfied NOE customer. Gotta say I've been doing this long enough to know not that long ago a casters options was very limited. Al , Miaha, Tom among others have done there best to make our demand out weigh supply at times. I have confidence you will be taken care of and sorry that you had to live the experience of not getting it right the first time

[Handloader109]

In this day and age, there is zero excuse for not marking on steel parts. It takes me seconds to fiber laser a steel part the size of a bushing and cost of a machine is a couple of thousand. I'm extremely surprised these aren't. NOE molds have cnc markings. I har no experience with anything but their molds which has been good

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[Kraschenbirn]

'Nother happy NOE customer...never had a bad experience...Tom even called me one evening, after business hours, to answer a question about the correct profile punch for a nose sizing die. So far a "unmarked expanders", all mine have come individually packed in well-labled zip-loc bags and it's taken me all of two minutes to mark each one before storing them in a dedicated tray with the rest of my expanders and M-dies.

Bill

[justindad]

I had a similar experience ordering molds from NOE. I ordered three, all were in stock, I received one that I ordered, one that I did not order, and the one I really wanted wasn’t available anymore. Then when it became available, they shipped me another wrong mold. I got my money back, I did buy from NOE a year or so later, but NOE is not my preferred mold maker. It’s probably a good thing that my first experience went that way, because it turns out I like iron molds best.

[405grain]

I like NOE molds, but I have issues with their sizing dies. The inserts are placed in the die body from the bottom, and the shoulder on the die body makes it so that the ram cannot push the bullet through the die with the ram coming up to full stroke. This means that the full amount of mechanical leverage from the press cannot be utilized. Also, when the ram passes the bullet threw the die bushing the sudden release of resistance means that the ram strikes hard against the bushing, which can damage the parts over time. It would be much nicer if the die body could ride higher up in the reloading press so that the compound leverage of the press could be used to better advantage, and it would also be nice if the press ram could reach full extension without anything striking against the bushing.

I have sets of NOE bushings for all the rifle calibers that I shoot, but I almost always use Lee push through sizers because they're easier to use.

[M-Tecs]

First couple of molds I ordered were great. After that not so much. Not sure I will order from them again.

[ascast]

I have a couple NOE molds from years ago and have no complaints. However, I have been looking at a couple molds in the catalog for years now and always out of stock. Well, maybe they should just remove them from the catalog. It seems obvious that they don't have the time to make them, so no stock, so it is not something they have for sale; so why pretend they make it.

[barnabus]

bought one mould from them.its a terrible mould wont drop a bullet without beating the handles into submission.

[lavenatti]

I have around 20 NOE molds and like them all, I am still waiting for an order I placed in January for a few top punches. I guess emailing them about an order is useless...

[THE_ANTIDOTE]

Just got a call back from Al at NOE and apparently there was a slip up and I ended up receiving old expanders...kinda of a bummer his machines are down and can't change/fix anything until July-August or send them back and get a refund. What he suggested is to try them and if they work then keep them...really? I did try .460 expander and it did do what it's suppose to, but at the end of the day...I honestly did not get what I paid for. I guess it's going to cost me time and money to replace each of these with the newer style ones come July-August or who knows when... I suppose I could send them all back and get a refund, but what a disappointment and waste of time/energy. I totally regret not just going with the Lyman and using smaller diameter bullets. Lesson learned, if it's too good to be true...it most definitely is. Slip up? Guess that is the end of that.

[PhilC]

I hate that you had a bad experience. I have had nothing but GREAT service out of NOE.

I suspect they will make it right if you let them.

BNE

Same here, 100% satisified with their expanders and sizing bushings, so much so I don't bother looking anywhere else.

Anything can happen with any supplier, it's how the supplier handles problems, when they occur, that makes a difference.

[armoredman]

I have one NOE mold, all I know about, and it's excellent. Good luck on getting things right, sir.

[Woodtroll]

I've had good luck with the items I've received from NOE, but I too have ordered things shown "in stock" that didn't get shipped, and have been waiting for several years on other things that are cataloged but never in stock. It seems once NOE runs out of stock from one run on any particular item, they're not likely to run it again for a long, long time.

[justindad]

bought one mould from them.its a terrible mould wont drop a bullet without beating the handles into submission.

Burrs along the edges of the cavities, especially where the vent lines are. Be very careful when removing those burrs, so you don’t round off the edges of the parting line. Rub aggressively with a leather strap. If you’re very good with your hands, you can think of a faster way.

[JimB..]

Just got a call back from Al at NOE and apparently there was a slip up and I ended up receiving old expanders...kinda of a bummer his machines are down and can't change/fix anything until July-August or send them back and get a refund. What he suggested is to try them and if they work then keep them...really? I did try .460 expander and it did do what it's suppose to, but at the end of the day...I honestly did not get what I paid for. I guess it's going to cost me time and money to replace each of these with the newer style ones come July-August or who knows when... I suppose I could send them all back and get a refund, but what a disappointment and waste of time/energy. I totally regret not just going with the Lyman and using smaller diameter bullets. Lesson learned, if it's too good to be true...it most definitely is. Slip up? Guess that is the end of that.

Sounds like a fair offer, you said the one expander you tried works, not sure how you didn’t get what you paid for? I do get it if you wanted the new design and got the old, in that case I’d suggest asking him to ship you the new ones when available, and you’ll send these back at that time. I’ve never dealt with him directly, but by all accounts he’s generally very accomodating.

[popper]

Yup, should mark the expanders. Mine are old style stepped, they work. Nose sizer rig? Not so much. Never got a mold from him.