Corbin core casting

[BrentD]

I just got mad at my RCE core moud for the last time and ordered a Dave Corbin core mould (.430"x3). I will be casting slugs for 550 gr .443" bullets with 16:1.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone that has used one of these. This thing weighs in excess of 2.5 kilos when empty (like 6ish lbs). It is not one hand operation. It is made to be bench mounted. Somehow I didn't quite realize this. Does anyone have any suggestions on tricks to do this? Corbin mentions using a hinge to allow it to rotate and dump the slugs, and a vice to hold the contraption. I have vice and hinges, but any special design considerations would be greatly valued.

Thanks,
Brent

[45 2.1]

I have a couple. Mine are about 18 years old now. They were meant to be screwed down to a bench. Normal long spure cutter over 4 dies to cast cylinders which are depth adjustable. I just got them adjusted to the same depth (whatever weight you want + a couple of grains at most) and started pouring cores. The bottom of the die adjustment is a threaded rod double nutted over a bar to raise the cores out of the dies. Worked good that way. You won't have any trouble figureing it out when you see it. Your setup should have a large box, under the dies, sufficiently padded to not damage the cores too much when ejected.

[Buckshot]

............Hey Brent, welcome to the board. What happened that you shucked the RCE core mould?

................Buckshot

[BrentD]

Buckshot,
The RCE mould has a few issues. They may reflect my incompetence or they may be real flaws. It is a 5-gang mould that is made of aluminum with steel, screws in handles and a double pivoting hinge. It is hard to get everything to line up properly. The design allows the two halves to come together (more or less) at different elevations, which leaves space for leakage under the sprue plate. The halves don't come together well because of all sorts of things, but the biggest issue is that they wear on each other which then really prevents them EVER coming together just right again. And the steel handles thread into the aluminum and that means that they constantly come loose as the mould heats up and the threads begin to wear on the soft aluminum and they also interfere with the halves coming together, etc etc etc. Anyway. they just don't work well. At least not for me.

If my DCorbin gang mould does the trick, then the other one will be dispatched. If anyone needs a .43" core mould really really cheap, I may have one for the price of postage and 6 pack of good beer. I think I paid $200 for the thing originally.

Again, this may reflect more on me than the mould, but let's just say, it is really easy to mess it up.

Brent