ShootNSteel
10-21-2012, 08:41 PM
First let me state I beleive NOE makes a wonderful product and Swedes service is unmatched, Thank you for that. I am still a beginner to casting and I hope my issues will pass with experience.
I managed to cast about 350 shootable hollow point 44's with my new RG4. I haven't quite got the hang of this mold yet. Every time I started getting the mold hot enough to fill out 100% the hollow point pins would rip the noses of the boolits apart upon opening the mold. At times the boolits would also stick badly enough that the base would get ripped apart upon opening, and most of the time the handles would have to be tapped numerous times to drop them. It seems as if the square lube grooves were binding big time when the hollow point pin slid over and reached the angled end of the guide, really messing everything up.
The mold was thoroughly cleaned, run through one heat cycle prior to casting, and the cavities were very lightly smoked as per first casting procedure.
pot temp was 650, alloy was 1/3PB,2/3WW, making about 3 pours per minute when mold was hot.
Here is a recovered slug from a shooting into a bucket of sand, only a light plinking load, making it about 11" deep into the loose sand.
http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=48870&stc=1&d=1350863585
I managed to cast about 350 shootable hollow point 44's with my new RG4. I haven't quite got the hang of this mold yet. Every time I started getting the mold hot enough to fill out 100% the hollow point pins would rip the noses of the boolits apart upon opening the mold. At times the boolits would also stick badly enough that the base would get ripped apart upon opening, and most of the time the handles would have to be tapped numerous times to drop them. It seems as if the square lube grooves were binding big time when the hollow point pin slid over and reached the angled end of the guide, really messing everything up.
The mold was thoroughly cleaned, run through one heat cycle prior to casting, and the cavities were very lightly smoked as per first casting procedure.
pot temp was 650, alloy was 1/3PB,2/3WW, making about 3 pours per minute when mold was hot.
Here is a recovered slug from a shooting into a bucket of sand, only a light plinking load, making it about 11" deep into the loose sand.
http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=48870&stc=1&d=1350863585