knifemaker
02-22-2013, 01:40 AM
Last year I purchased a 41 cal. 220 gr. brass mold from Accurate molds for my Ruger Blackhawk 41 mag. I was so impressed with the mold that I had to buy another one from Accurate Molds. This time I got a 4 cavity Alum. mold for my son's M1A Scout rifle. He told me that my grandkids just love shooting that rifle and was going to put him in the poor house on buying ammo for it.
I requested a 308 cal. mold that will drop at .312 dia. and a weight of 160gr.FP. using clip on wheel weights with 2% tin added. I placed the order on the evening of 2-9-2013. The mold was sitting in the post office today.
I could not wait to use the mold. Used Dawn dish soap and toothbrush to clean the mold and attached the 6 banger handles. Cranked up the Lee 20 lb pot and loaded it with 16 pounds of wheel weight ingots and 3 pounds of lino type ingots. I knew my boolits would drop a little lighter then 160 gr. due to adding the 3 pounds of lino to the mix.
Counting melt time I had just over 300 boolits casted in 2-1/2 hrs. using the mike they measured dead on at .312 doing 4 measurements around the boolits, and dropped at an average of 158.4 gr. Lightest was 157.4 to 159 from all four cavities and I weighted all of the 300+ bullets. My throwback rate was less then 7% and most of that was due to me not having the mold up to casting temp at startup. Had my ceramic lab type hotplate set too low.
Boolits came out looking perfect on fillout and most just fell out of the mold. If I had to tap the handle bolt, just a light tap was needed to drop the boolits.
I have used many factory molds in the past from Lee to Lyman, RCBS and none of them will compare with a mold from Accurate or NOE custom molds. I know they cost more, but in the long run the added cost is justified by the end product you get. Many of you are on fixed incomes and that makes it hard to justify buying a custom mold, but if you get the chance to save the money up for one. Try one in the caliber you shoot the most and you will be spoiled on what a top line custom mold will do for your casting.
I requested a 308 cal. mold that will drop at .312 dia. and a weight of 160gr.FP. using clip on wheel weights with 2% tin added. I placed the order on the evening of 2-9-2013. The mold was sitting in the post office today.
I could not wait to use the mold. Used Dawn dish soap and toothbrush to clean the mold and attached the 6 banger handles. Cranked up the Lee 20 lb pot and loaded it with 16 pounds of wheel weight ingots and 3 pounds of lino type ingots. I knew my boolits would drop a little lighter then 160 gr. due to adding the 3 pounds of lino to the mix.
Counting melt time I had just over 300 boolits casted in 2-1/2 hrs. using the mike they measured dead on at .312 doing 4 measurements around the boolits, and dropped at an average of 158.4 gr. Lightest was 157.4 to 159 from all four cavities and I weighted all of the 300+ bullets. My throwback rate was less then 7% and most of that was due to me not having the mold up to casting temp at startup. Had my ceramic lab type hotplate set too low.
Boolits came out looking perfect on fillout and most just fell out of the mold. If I had to tap the handle bolt, just a light tap was needed to drop the boolits.
I have used many factory molds in the past from Lee to Lyman, RCBS and none of them will compare with a mold from Accurate or NOE custom molds. I know they cost more, but in the long run the added cost is justified by the end product you get. Many of you are on fixed incomes and that makes it hard to justify buying a custom mold, but if you get the chance to save the money up for one. Try one in the caliber you shoot the most and you will be spoiled on what a top line custom mold will do for your casting.