Got a package from SLOVENIA!!

[FN in MT]

I was able to snag one of the last H&G #68 moulds from Miha a few weeks back. It was in the mailbox this afternoon.

I know most of you have heard the accolades before......but let me go off the deep end for a few seconds.... WOW! Oh My GOD! What a piece of ART!

Even my wife ....doesn't care about any of my hobbies was impressed by it.

I even had a new set of LEE 6 cavity handles to complement my new mould.

Other than a good clean up, any tips for using a brass mould?? Any lube issues.

FN in MT

[JesterGrin_1]

Yep cast HOT. I use mine at around 800 to 825F. And yes they are darn nice. Congrats on the mould.

[frankenfab]

Dude, sounds like you had a moldgasm!

Mihecs molds are so nice that you want to buy ones that you don't have guns for. We are so fortunate to have mold makers like Noe, Mihec, BRP, Mountain Molds, and Accurate Molds. Forgive me if I have omitted anyone.

[Jailer]

These posts are killing me.

Earlier this week I ordered 2 356-125gr 2 cavity cramer HP molds for me and a buddy of mine. Still waiting for an invoice on the 452-200gr 4 cavity cramer HP mold that is in production now. And the group buy on the 4 cavity 358 HBWC was closed this week. All these great works of art I'm waiting on and the anticipation is KILLING me. I don't remember being this anxious on Christmas eve as a kid.

AND, I have a Accurate Molds 452-220-WC 3 cavity paid for that I'm awaiting delivery on and I just sent a check out tonight for the last left over NOE 453 196Gr. SWC 5 cavity mold from the group buy.

I think I have a problem.

[geargnasher]

Jailer, you'll get Tom's mould first, I'll bet. Before he died, I got to see 257Shooter's (Jim) Miha mould, truly a work of art, and I'd have one if he happened to make what I was looking for. I bailed out of the Ruger Only group buy because it took over a year to get off the ground, and it ended up not being exactly what I wanted. That Miha mould of Jim's sold me on brass, though, and that's all I get from Tom, although I'm considering getting a particular mould design worked up and asking him to make it in steel.

As far as brass goes, use a slightly hotter alloy than you would use for aluminum, meaning add 25 degrees or so to the 100-over-liquidus guideline, and cast FAST to keep THE MOULD hot. If you overheat your alloy, for example running wheel weights with a little tin added at 850 degrees, you'll soon find out that gunbarrels aren't the only thing that can develop antimony wash, and you're pretty brass mould won't be anymore. I know this from experience, and I also know that antimony stuck to brass makes lead stuck to aluminum look like masking tape stuck to wet glass, antimony melts at nearly 1200 degrees, and the dentrites accumulate on the inside of the cavities and vent lines if you run your alloy too hot in a brass mould. Get the mould hot and run a cooler alloy instead.

If you overtin your alloy, meaning it's oversquare or has more tin than antimony, you might find that the excess tin (due to the phase characteristics of overtinned ternary Pb/Sb/Sn alloy) deposits on the mould cavity surface too, but is much easier to remove due to the low melting point.

On the up side, you can crank up the production with a brass mould since it loses heat so fast, and the mould needs only the slightest bit of Bullplate Sprue lube to keep running in tip-top shape, since the brass blocks are largely self-lubricating and polished steel sprue plate has a natural resistance to galling to the blocks.

Gear

[Jailer]

That's some great info gear, thanks. Had no idea of the antimony wash in the mold from running it too hot. Definitely something to keep an eye on once my molds get here.