HP Bullets Hanging Up in Mold and Pins

[bowfin]

I have a .45 2 cavity NOE mould that has hollowpoint pins. It casts beautiful bullets, but I really have to wrestle with it to get the bullets to drop from the mould and release the pins.

Since it is a new mould, I don't know if it needs a breaking in period (if such a thing exists), or maybe I need to speed up my casting to get the mould and pins to temperature. Of course, the problem with the bullets hanging up is that it slows the process way down.

I am using Lee 6 cavity mould handles, which seem a bit sloppy.

Any tips, tricks, or voices of experience are surely welcome.

[btroj]

Heat is your friend. I have problems with mine and sticking to the pins until the pins get hot. Because the pins have little contact with the rest of the mound they take longer to heat.
Are you preheating the mould? That will help a lot.

These moulds do a gear job they just have a learning curve that is different from other moulds. Keep at it, no other mound will ever give you the volume of HP bullets this one will.
Brad

[fishnbob]

Check the pins for any burrs. I get them hot by putting a propane torch on them and coat them with Bullplate Sprue Lube and cast them as fast as possible to keep the heat up. You can also use dry graphite on them. I use a two cavity mold 'cause it's easier to keep hot and dropping. Even then I have to beat on 'em every once in a while, but the more I use it the better it gets.

[GLynn41]

I polished mine with fine steel wool - but hot is your friend --other things light smoking the inside of the mold can help but likely just hot will work-- as long as the pins have good taper--my mold is by miha

[Bulltipper]

Crank up the heat! go up to 800 and work down from there...

[GARCIA]

I pulled the pins and chucked them up in a drill and polished them. Then I smoked them with a lighter. Have not had a problem since.

Heat is your friend in casting the HP's like others have stated.

Tom

[Doby45]

Heat the MOLD and pins, not the alloy. I use a spray on graphite spray for the first few times casting with a new HP mold. I spray the PINs only, not the mold.

[btroj]

Yes Doby, the mould needs to be hot, not the melt. I have turned up the heat on the pot with my RG4 but only because it is for the 313640 and has so little cavity for the block size that the extra heat in the melt helps keep the mould hot. For a 45 like the OP mentioned that is not an issue.

Have not tried the release on the pins. Might have to try that.

Brad

[white eagle]

i noticed that when the pins are used the first time they can stick
but after that all is good
did you follow the break in protocol ?

[bowfin]

did you follow the break in protocol ?

I can't say as I saw any instructions for this mold. I did preheat the mold before starting, but I have also heard that some people heat up the molds and let it cool down three times before using it.

What exactly is the break in protocol?

[bootsnthejeep]

I was going to say, I've followed the directions to a T with all my NOE moulds and have had ZERO problems.

Directions are to heat-cycle the mould three or four times. Take it up to 400 degrees and then let it cool down to room temp. I do this in my toaster oven. Set it to 400, crank the timer as far as it goes (half an hour) and just walk away.

Right after I get them a new mould I douse it with a whole can of brake cleaner. Get all the cutting oil and lubrication off it. Then heat cycle it.

Then, slap a set of handles on and cast away. I preheat the mould on top of the pot, pins down, and after a few fills was getting good fillout, and the slugs were JUMPING off the pins. Never a hesitation.

The only problem I ran into was when I was done and filled the moulds with lead for storage. (old habit). Was a bit of a bear getting them off cold, but a little twisting did it.

Try a good cleaning and heat cycling and see what happens.

[captaint]

Kroil - Wipe the pins with Kroil and get the mold hot. And I agree with " don't overheat the melt" enjoy Mike PS I also heat my pins with a little torch to get them hot enough.

[bootsnthejeep]

I don't have one, but its on my list, I think the RG moulds are great candidate for hot plate pre-heating. Set the pins right on there and let the rest of the mould warm up around em. Bearing in mind the steel is going to take longer to warm up than the aluminum.

[Blammer]

I touch my pins with some old NEI mould release and then preheat the mould to pretty hot before casting.

I didn't do this on my FAVORITE NOE RG4 and grabbed a pliers to pull a boolit off of a pin. BIG mistake, I dinged the side of one cavity and boy was I really mad at myself.... to punish myself I thought about grabbing the mould bare handed and heaving it outside against the truck... after a split second of thinking I decided NOT to do that, but set it down an walked away.

SO now I make sure I never miss a step in my routine for NOE RG mould break in procedure.

[songdog53]

Use Lyman hollow point and heat runs about 800 degrees and mine works like charm.

[redneckdan]

I was kind of frustrated with my first NOE, took several session to turn out nice bullets. The second one I bought I heat cycled 3 or 4 times on the stove before even thinking about putting mold handles on it. Worked like a charm from the git go. I took my HP pins for my RG 4 and polished them using a drill motor and 2000grit lapping compound.

[Dale53]

My NOE mould is for a solid bullet (five cavity). I have had no problems with my particular mould.

However, I have a couple of Mihec hollow point moulds and found that carefully wiping the pins with NEI or Rapine mould prep solved the minor sticking problem.

I just prep my mould pins before casting. The prep lasts the whole session.

By the way, I put NOTHING in my mould cavities.

Dale53

[Artful]

I put my pins in the electric Drill and hit with a cotton patch with Flitz metal polish - that got release but fill out required turing up the pot and I bought some lead with tin added to use.

[shotman]

You all need to forget the old stuff and use Kroil IT works
you said 15 yrs ago computers would never make it now your hooked on them try the Kroil it wont hurt like the doctor does

[runfiverun]

and the noe's do do better after using them 4-5 cycles.
get the pin hot and smooth.
keep it that way.

[jbelder]

I have a .45 2 cavity NOE mould that has hollowpoint pins. It casts beautiful bullets, but I really have to wrestle with it to get the bullets to drop from the mould and release the pins.

Since it is a new mould, I don't know if it needs a breaking in period (if such a thing exists), or maybe I need to speed up my casting to get the mould and pins to temperature. Of course, the problem with the bullets hanging up is that it slows the process way down.

I am using Lee 6 cavity mould handles, which seem a bit sloppy.

Any tips, tricks, or voices of experience are surely welcome.

Did you do the break in thing that Al says to do? Bringing it up around 400 and letting it cool down and repeat that 3 or so times. I have a brand new brass mould, that's what I did this weekend still haven't dropped any bullets yet, but cycled it in my oven. Might help just my two cents!