First MP mold. Now I'm a believer!

[Wheelguns 1961]

I own more NOE molds because he offers a lot more. And all of them are solids. I tried one RG mold and sold it in short order. They don’t function nearly as easily as the Cramer molds do. Mihec has spoiled us in this regard. And even though the molds come w/ hollow point pins I have the plug pins installed if they came w/ them. I grew out of a hollowpoint phase rather quickly.

The only hollowpoints that I use are for anti-personell loads, and am also growing out of them. I just cast 500-600 bullets with the previous NOE mold, and had about a dozen throwbacks, and they were usable.

[georgerkahn]

Reading the wonderful posts, I have a question. To wit, I wash and rewash all new moulds with Dawn detergent in warm water, scrubbing with a toothbrush, followed by copious water rinsing. They then get handles attached and placed on my G.E. Hotplate, with an upside-down can atop it to make kind of an oven. My PID is set at 400*F. After perhaps a half-hour, I start casting with it, and like most others, my first boolits are wrinkled and/or have other defects. And, generally by the third session, uninterrupted "almost perfect" boolets drop.
Here's my query: I do all my preheating with the handles -- and, obviously, the mould -- tight together. From at least one of the posts, I got the idea mould is preheated with halves NOT touching? Part of my rubber-banding handles together has been my thoughts that it improved pin alignments in the halves.
But, it makes sense that to have them apart would/will help with the requisite oxidation/patina development.
Might someone elaborate "which" may be the better approach?

[Beagle333]

I do the same as you George. I agree, the third casting is when the perfect boolits start coming like rain.