Which maker and why?

[Bazoo]

I’m in the beginning of looking at new moulds.

I have had an accurate mould before. I bought it second hand. It was marked .434 but it dropped .437 with my alloy. I don’t know what was spec’ed when ordered. I don’t want a repeat of that. It cast wonderfully and I’m considering several of their offerings. Do they drop larger as a rule?

Next question, should I favor arsenal, accurate, or NOE given they all have a suitable mould in my flavor?

Is there other brands I need to consider?

Thanks for everyone’s input.

Bazoo

[dannyd]

Arsenal molds are hard to beat; he will make it to fix you rifle or pistol. You can also control the some of the size issues with the alloy your using.

[Targa]

All mentioned are outstanding molds but if you want it fast MP(Miha) is hard to beat.

[georgerkahn]

All mentioned are outstanding molds but if you want it fast MP(Miha) is hard to beat.

I soooo agree with sentiments re MP (Miha) moulds... BUT, I am every bit as happy as the many moulds, as well as stand-by-his-product provided by Night Owl Enterprise -- aka, NOE Moulds. NOE has quite the catalog/listing, and after you buy but a few from them, you even get a discount on any/all future purchases.

That said, NOE -- https://noebulletmolds.com/site/ -- would be my first choice.

geo

[Bazoo]

Speed isn’t an issue. Thanks for the replies.

[dannyd]

If your not a hurry then LBT molds makes a great one.

[Huskerguy]

I will qualify by saying I have one or more from most manufacturers other than Accurate.

Each has their pluses at various levels of detail. Then you get into comparing aluminum, brass and steel.

Here is just one small man's opinion. And I would add I love well made products, fine details do not escape me and they have to be accurate.

Surprisingly, Lee makes a good mold in the 6 cavity. I find the twos a little less fulfilling.

NOE makes a nice mold. If you had a NOE and Arsenal side by side you would be hard pressed to tell them apart. When you start looking at little details like alignment pins, etc I have had better experience with NOE and problems with an Arsenal.

MP molds are a piece of art. I only have brass and it is a HP. His work is impeccable. You will spend roughly twice the price for a 4 cavity MP brass versus a 6 cavity Lee. Is it worth it? Depends on how you use it. For me they will last the rest of my life.

In the end, I am more about finding a bullet that is super accurate regardless of mold maker. If a Lee 124 shoots well for me, that is the way I might go. I found an RCBS 358-150 that shoots lights out and then found Arsenal made a clone of it.

So best is a matter of opinion for what you want best to be. Best looking, best shooting, best handling, best heating up, etc.

Good luck

[Outpost75]

If you really know what your alloy is, not guessing, Accurate is your best bet in ordering a mold to cast a specific size.

[Bazoo]

Preciate the replies. I had forgot about lbt. I use WW and WW/Pb 50:50.

[GregLaROCHE]

All mentioned are outstanding molds but if you want it fast MP(Miha) is hard to beat.

I agree, but will add that not only they are fast, they are good quality and very reasonably priced. Unfortunately, you need to be content with their stock molds, because they don’t do custom orders anyway. Perhaps they would for a group buy.

[ioon44]

Accurate is the only mold I will be buying in the future. Accurate is the best I have used in over 50 years of hand casting.

[Fernando]

Accurate is my first pick followed by NOE or MP
Accurate will cut to what ever you want.
And always brass

[375RUGER]

You can spec an Accurate mold to cast at whatever diameter you want. The NOE cast prettty much as advertised. No on your list but the MP molds cast as advertised too.

[gwpercle]

I soooo agree with sentiments re MP (Miha) moulds... BUT, I am every bit as happy as the many moulds, as well as stand-by-his-product provided by Night Owl Enterprise -- aka, NOE Moulds. NOE has quite the catalog/listing, and after you buy but a few from them, you even get a discount on any/all future purchases.

That said, NOE -- https://noebulletmolds.com/site/ -- would be my first choice.

geo

I'm with george

"Swede" Nelson & Night Owl Enterprises ...
110% Satisfaction with moulds & Customer Service .
Gary

[Rapier]

Almost all of my molds are RCBS or Lyman, all cast iron. I started that way in the 60s and saw no reason to change.
I have good friends that use Saeco aluminum, swear by them, they gave me some of their bullets over the years to try, their bullets were accurate, but they look weird to me with that beveled ojive nose.

[M-Tecs]

I have good friends that use Saeco aluminum, swear by them, they gave me some of their bullets over the years to try, their bullets were accurate, but they look weird to me with that beveled ojive nose.

Saeco/Redding currently are machined from solid cast iron blocks. The older Saeco company made a bid deal of using Meehanite cast iron. I have a large collection of Saeco molds. I have never heard of or seen an aluminum Saeco mold?

If I want a mold to drop a specific size with a specific alloy Tom at Accurate molds is my first choice.

[megasupermagnum]

If cost is no big concern, there really isn't that terribly much to debate. Tom at Accurate molds makes the finest hand casting mold to date. It drops the most round bullets, casts exactly to size, in exactly the design you can dream of. The vent lines are superb. There is simply nothing you can fault Accurate for. No other brand has stood up to the quality and flexibility of Accurate.

The only downsides I can think of is they aren't cheap, and they definitely are not cheap to have converted to hollow point. They also can not make perfectly 90 degree shoulders/lube grooves, or round nosed bullets.

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of NOE molds. I must be close to the $1000 club, and I'll buy more in the future. I also have a handful of Arsenal molds, and will buy more. The only brands I will likely never buy again are Lyman, RCBS and Saeco.

[Bigslug]

Depends a little on what you want.

The only two MP Molds I own are brass hollow-bases for my .455. If you want the front or back to have a cavity, I consider that sliding pin Cramer system a MUCH easier mechanism to deal with than NOE's tilting pin arrangement.

NOE is excellent bang for the buck. . .if an off-the-shelf design will work for you. Swede runs in batches of what is in demand at the time. I've had some luck on his forum and by drumming up support for group buy runs both there and here - active participation and feedback was the key - but if your tastes are a bit more esoteric. . .might be a while

Accurate will cut to order, is fast, and has a nice, thick sprue plate, but no spitzers, round noses, or hollow point/base options from the source. As for diameter, you pretty much get what you ask for, edging to +.001", which is a lot more workable than -.001". Odds are yours was spec'd for something considerably softer than what you poured into it.

LBT molds are a marvel, and their formed sprue plates are a marvel on top of a marvel. Veral's 230 grain LFN is the perfect 1911 bullet that I've only shifted away from after acquiring a preference for tumble lube grooves. I have a nothing-else-like-it 130 grain .3205" WFN mold for what I alternately call my ".32-20 Actual" or ".32-20 Kinda-Sorta" Martini Cadet that he cut from possibly the first pound cast I ever did. Both are wonderful machines that cast well and shoot well.

[Bazoo]

I appreciate the input. I’m in the research stages. I’m thinking I want a .430 220 grainish mould. But I’m not sure on design or what. I’m considering getting the lee 429-214 to try as an interim. If a lee mould works okay I’m happy enough with them.

[Targa]

I have 14 Lee molds, three of those are .429. Every one of my Lee’s does what they are suppose to do. The only reason I have other brands are simply because they have designs that Lee does not not offer.