CWME
03-27-2011, 04:33 PM
Got what I thought was a good deal on a new 4 cav 429215 a few years ago at a local gun store. It was an older one that came in a white box. Looked good and for the price I couldn't pass it up.
Fast forward three years... Found out why the mold was being sold for a good price and why it was still brand new... The low price blinded me to the poor QC of the sprue plate.
Sprue plate would not close completely for a few reasons. Sprue cut was almost to the edge of the boolit it was so bad.
1- I had to surface the sprue plate on a hard surface and some sand paper, it was too thick and rough. Still a little too thick and if I am not careful closing it will separate the blocks.
2- Stop notch had a ridge down the middle contributing to the mold not closing. Ground that out with a dremel.
Vent lines where the cutter must have exited the cavity were completely blocked. Cleaned those up with a razor blade and then a soft eraser.
Slotted screw for the pivot bolt just would not stay tight. I couldn't get it tight enough without fear of stripping the head. Dropped in a small ball of lead and a new hex set screw.
Alignment pins were all way too far out. The first time I heated the mold up I had a very hard time getting it open even with bullplate lube on them. Drifted those pins back in and that fixed that.
Last issue I am not sure about but I think the pivot hole on the sprue cutter is off. When I open the mold the sprue plate covers a small part of the last cavity. Can't fix this one myself.
Long story short, after a little work it started dropping really nice boolits. This one made me really have to work for it. Hopefully this GC boolit is the answer to a very cantankerous Marlin 1894 Cowboy I have just about given up on.
Fast forward three years... Found out why the mold was being sold for a good price and why it was still brand new... The low price blinded me to the poor QC of the sprue plate.
Sprue plate would not close completely for a few reasons. Sprue cut was almost to the edge of the boolit it was so bad.
1- I had to surface the sprue plate on a hard surface and some sand paper, it was too thick and rough. Still a little too thick and if I am not careful closing it will separate the blocks.
2- Stop notch had a ridge down the middle contributing to the mold not closing. Ground that out with a dremel.
Vent lines where the cutter must have exited the cavity were completely blocked. Cleaned those up with a razor blade and then a soft eraser.
Slotted screw for the pivot bolt just would not stay tight. I couldn't get it tight enough without fear of stripping the head. Dropped in a small ball of lead and a new hex set screw.
Alignment pins were all way too far out. The first time I heated the mold up I had a very hard time getting it open even with bullplate lube on them. Drifted those pins back in and that fixed that.
Last issue I am not sure about but I think the pivot hole on the sprue cutter is off. When I open the mold the sprue plate covers a small part of the last cavity. Can't fix this one myself.
Long story short, after a little work it started dropping really nice boolits. This one made me really have to work for it. Hopefully this GC boolit is the answer to a very cantankerous Marlin 1894 Cowboy I have just about given up on.