What is your favorite mold made out of?

[Zaneiel]

I am starting this post to see what people's opinions are on mold material.
I am currently working on some molds with 6061 Aluminum but want to get a good idea of what the other metals offer us.
What are some of the pro's and con's of each of the common mold material choices such as:
Aaluminum 6061, 2024, or 7075.
Brass
Bronze
Steel (mild steel, carbon steel, tool steel)
Cast Iron

Other?
What is your favorite mold made out of and why do you like it so much?
Also if you have 2 cents on sprue plate design for 6 cavity molds (cam, no cam, long lever, etc) I would like that input as well.

[Boolit_Head]

My one brass mold casts beautifully but it gets heavy fast. I tend to prefer cams on sprue plates. Been wondering about the sprue plate trough type and if it would be good.

[country gent]

I have several brass moulds from Old West Moulds that cast like a dream. Yes they do tend to get heavy but up to temp they stay there and dont seem to overheat as quickly. I can set one down add sprues back and flux dink around a little ( rearange bullets so I have more room to drop more ) and the moulds still are hot enough to cast well. Steel cast iron blocks are good and hold heat well but with big heavy bullets and a quick pace they tend to frost at times. A good brass mould can be a pleasure to use and operate. I havent used an aluminum mould in a long time so wont comment there. As to the trough sprue plate I have done all my moulds with it now ( even the single cavities) I dont pour a sprue but a ladle full of lead letting the excess run of back into the pot. This keeps the bullet hot and molten as long as possible aiding fill out and off gassing. I do perfer a thicker sprue plate to cut the trough into also. Some thin ones are very thin when the trough is cut to a usefull depth. I made my plates from 1/4" thick starrett gage stock.

[PaulG67]

I love my brass molds but they are heavy, and the older I get the heavier they get, Kinda like me actually, but my favorite mold is an NOE Aluminum. 358-135. Casts perfect boolits right from the start that drop out like magic.

[C. Latch]

Aluminum.

Brass is too heavy for my tastes. I have one brass mold, it's really nice (MiHec) but I just prefer the lighter weight of aluminum.

If I had my way, all my solid-nosed molds would be 6-cavity Lees and all my HPs would be 4-cavity NOEs.

[Zaneiel]

Thanks for the comments guys. For me it has been a toss up between aluminum and Brass. I have read about tinning problems with them but it seems easily fixed with some bees wax. I will stick to the aluminum molds for now and maybe try a few brass later down the road to see what all the fuss is about

Now you have peaked my interest in sprue plate trough and I will be researching that as well.

[blikseme300]

I like aluminum molds a not because of material preference but because of price, availability and ease of use. Yes, they can probably be damaged easier than iron or brass but as with all things nothing exists that cannot be damaged by abuse and my opinion is that molds should never need to be pounded to drop the casts.

My most common molds are 6 cavities from Lee and I have found that machining a trough in the sprue plate improves casting significantly. I use a 3/8" ball end mill and machine the trough as shown in the picture below. The mass of the sprue keeps the sprue plate hot and mold fill-out is very good using a continuous stream of molten alloy from my home built casting melter.

[marlin39a]

I've been a fan of Lyman and RCBS for nearly 40 yrs. I love steel. Going to buy a NOE Aluminum mold soon. I'm told I will be a convert.

[Screwbolts]

Aluminum.

[flyingmonkey35]

Money. Mine are all made out if money.


I'm cheap so Lee aluminum

[Dragonheart]

Brass; and a few old Saeco iron.

[Beagle333]

Brass.

[376Steyr]

For production I like aluminum for big bullets (less frosting), iron/steel for small ones, and brass when I can't get that model in iron.

[shredder]

I am going to be the dissenter and say steel. Only because that mould casts the favorite boolits for my favorite rifle.

My best casting moulds as far as ease of casting and less rejects would be aluminum.

[mozeppa]

I am going to be the dissenter and say steel. Only because that mould casts the favorite boolits for my favorite rifle.

My best casting moulds as far as ease of casting and less rejects would be aluminum.

i have 8 hardlines steel and 2 accurate steel.....so , ya ain't alone!

[kokomokid]

Saeco iron or ductile same blocks Paul Jones bought from them to make his high quality moulds.

[pworley1]

I have several aluminum molds and they are fine. I also have a few brass molds that also work just fine. I have about 60 or so steel molds that to me are hard to beat.

[Fernando]

Brass

[Lead Fred]

Cast Iron

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http://brooksmoulds.com/order.php?name=Paper%20Patch

[clodhopper]

Easiest using molds here are aluminum.

I have a milling machine, and some 6061 aluminum and plans to make some mold blocks.
With very light research I discovered the very shiny hard aluminum NOE uses is 2024, aluminum alloyed with copper.

Does anybody know what grade lee uses for blocks?

How about Lee sprue plates?