Accurate or NOE??

[04hunter]

I am looking at buying my first custom mould. I am looking at a .44 cal mould in the 200 grain range. Could some of you more learned folks give me your pluses and minuses of each brand. Things like ease of use, customer service, value, turnaround time, are all of interest to me. Thanks much.

[Ben]

Accurate or NOE??

You're talking about two " Cadillac molds ".
You can't go wrong with either one of them.

Personally, I really like NOE, but I also have Accurate molds and they are very nice also.

It may come down to which of the two can supply you quickly with the exact mold that you want.

Ben

[bonza]

Have never bought from NOE, but Accurate Molds has given me nothing but great product with excellent customer service & quick turnaround. Besides the dozen or so molds I've bought for my own use (most aluminum, but some brass) I've also headed-up a couple of Group Buys for 50+ molds & have had nothing but good feedback. Tom is the owner & runs a great company!

[M-Tecs]

Both great molds and both great to deal with. Tom at Accurate builds to order and my turn around time has been about a week.

[PWS]

NOE molds cast on the large size for me and preclude water dropping bullets for hardening. But, for loads that run better soft such as the Specials, ACPs etc, their aluminum five-cavity blocks are bullet making machines that don't weigh a ton.

As far as turnaround time, customer service, ease of use, and value, both brands have been outstanding. I look to Accurate for the oddball or a particular design and NOE as more of a standard product producer. You really can't go wrong with either.

[04hunter]

Wow, thanks for the great info. That is what I was hoping to hear. I am trying to get a mold that will drop good plinking bullets for my Ruger Blackhawk .44 Special and my Marlin 1894 .44 Mag. What specifics do I need to make sure and mention to get bullets that drop at .432?

[cainttype]

Both offer an excellent product and outstanding customer service.
NOE (Swede, aka Al) keeps a nice stock on hand, and currently provides many group buys from their forum. I imagine he could easily provide whatever you desire, if you don't find it already waiting for a buyer.
Accurate (Tom) seems to concentrate more on a customer by customer order basis, providing top-notch moulds cut to your exact specs.
Both have websites with lots of good info. I'd visit them and read A LOT if I was curious.

[jmort]

Have two from each. Accurate is a custom mold maker. Tom had my last request designed and in his catalog in 24 hours and I had the custom mold a week later. Tom will get you your choice of iron, aluminum, or brass and a pick of block sizes. You designate the alloy to be used and can pick from his catalog or easily design a custom bullet. The essence of custom and close to instant gratification. Noe manufactures off group buys and stock molds. You can get a custom group buy mold in or buy an in stock mold from NOE. NOE has hollow-points, Accurate does not. My favorite is Accurate. I like meplats.

[MarkP]

Accurate is truly custom you get exactly what you want. Just need to follow a few guidelines and you will get your mold in short order. If you want a 44 mold that drops large at say .436" or small at .428" or move lube grooves around Accurate can make it.

I would submit a drawing, Tom (Accurate) would e-mail me back with a catalog number for my design the same evening, I could order it immediately. All of my custom molds were on my porch within a week. No hollow points unless that has changed recently.


NOE is more off the shelf custom, can only purchase what is in stock. They have hollow point molds. Very fast shipping.

I own several of both molds NOE & Accurate in brass and aluminum.

[04hunter]

I just want to be sure that I get a mould that throws the diameter I want. I have a Lee mould that drops about a thousandth below advertised diameter. Will either place be able to make sure I have the correct diameter if I tell them what sort of lead I am using? Again, thanks to all that have chimed in!

[MT Chambers]

Both make great molds, Accurate is easier to order and will be there before you know it. Noe makes great molds but damned if I know how to order them, they are on here, they have their own site, they have "group buys" that you can't order like a "group buy", but have to order from their "store". I don't get it?

[TXGunNut]

As mentioned above, both are second to none in quality and customer service. The difference is their approach to designs and the machinery used. Tom is a custom mould-maker; he can take one of his many stock designs, customize it to your wants and needs (or help you design your own) and have it in your mailbox in a couple of weeks. Simply amazing. There are some bollit shapes he is unable to make, however.
NOE makes hundreds of great designs, most are improvements or modified versions of Lyman, Ranch Dog, and other designs. He also offers his RG HP system which I'd like to try someday. If NOE doesn't make the boolit you're looking for drop by his forum and kick it around a bit. If enough folks express an interest, Al will order the cherry and produce the mould for about the cost of a quality production mould.
I have several NOE moulds, used my first Accurate mould just the other day. Couldn't ask for a better quality mould or expect better service than I've received from these guys, both are awesome machinists and class acts IMHO.

[Bigslug]

NOE is simply awesome for an off-the-shelf mold, and you simply CAN NOT beat them for the price. My experience is that they tend to drop a couple thousandths over blueprint diameter, so if you're casting hard, you might want to put a cheater bar on your lubrisizer handle. They cast easy and if what you want is in stock, you'll get it fast.

Accurate is a fully custom affair - the mold isn't cut until you order it, specifying your diameter, alloy, and any other tweaks you might want, such as groove location. Tom is very quick. I think a SLOW order from him might run three weeks. His equipment does not allow for pointy noses or hollow points (hollowpointmold.com can convert). More expensive than NOE, but more to order.

You should also check out LBT. Veral is a little more old school in how he does business, but the man is a stud for getting you EXACTLY what you need. My father and I now have three of his molds between us and are in absolute awe over how well the cast and shoot. We sent Veral a pound cast for a frosted bore, oval chamber .38-55, and the slugs from the gas check mold are shooting just about 1 MOA - - from virgin, un-fireformed brass. Gonna be ordering a WFN .44 mold from him soon.

[h8dirt]

I have had great luck with NOE and I have a number of their molds. I have not used Accurate molds but I have only heard good things about them. If your casting experience is limited, I'd recommend that you not start with a hollow base or hollow point designs as these are more difficult to use.

Check the NOE website and if Al has what you want in stock (the website will show inventory levels), you will have it in about 3 days -- that's been my experience. My favorite 44 caliber mold is NOE's 434421. Using my alloy (2/8/90 -- similar to Lyman #2) it drops at about 250 grains and sizes to 0.431" easily in my Lyman 450. I have used it successfully in 44 Mag' but primarily use it in 44 Special. My 434421 is an aluminum 5-cavity plain based design. It will make a big pile of beautiful bullets in a hurry.

As for customer service, Al from NOE is the only business owner that has ever called me to discuss a problem with an order I made -- how often does that happen these days? I guess that is why I have stayed with NOE -- they have what I want, deliver it fast, stand behind what they sell and deliver a beautiful product. And, they are very responsive to customer interests. In fact, I was the first guy to show an interest in a 215 grain, 44 caliber HBWC. A number of other folks followed suit on NOE's forum. Al made a batch for us -- now it's a stock design.

[rintinglen]

The answer is--"I'll take both, thank you!" I watch the NOE website from time to time to pounce on molds that I want. I also subscribe to NOE so I get his "weekly special" e-mails. The only complaint I have is that right after I order a mold it will go on sale.
Accurate is the place to go for your one-off oddball stuff. I wanted a midweight .348 Winchester--I ordered a 220 grain Mould from Accurate and it was in my hands in 8 days.

[Springfield]

I have 3-4 of each, and FWIW I like the tapered locating pins better on the Accurate moulds better than the more square pins on the NOE. ALL of them work great.

[**oneshot**]

I have several molds from both and love casting with any of them. Both do a tremendous job and create works of functional art.

[Bzcraig]

Accurate gets the nod from me because it is a custom mold for a few dollars more than a NOE. I didn't read all the responses but Accurate is limited to 30 caliber or larger. I think Accurate pays a little more attention to detail.

[TCFAN]

I am looking at buying my first custom mould. I am looking at a .44 cal mould in the 200 grain range. Could some of you more learned folks give me your pluses and minuses of each brand. Things like ease of use, customer service, value, turnaround time, are all of interest to me. Thanks much.

They are both very good mold makers to deal with.For my 44's one a Super blackhawk and the other a Marlin Cowboy limited I went with one from each company.The boolits are about the same but the one from NOE is a RG2 hollow point and the one from Accurate is a 5 cavity solid point. Both drop at .434+ from my WW metal.The one from NOE looks like this http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product...roducts_id=626

And the one from Accurate is this one http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_...=43-230C-D.png

Both shoot very well in my guns. I size at .433 for the marlin and .431 for the Ruger.Turn around time for both was very fast.....................Terry

[popper]

Tom will cut a catalog mould to YOUR specs or make it to your design. He does NOT do HP and min. meplat is 0.18". He makes a trough cut sprue plate as well as the normal. I like the normal better. If Al mould, get the larger block as it will hold heat better. His cat. has a lot of choices AND has dim. drawings.