On the fence

[44 mag nut]

I'm looking at ordering a mold from Accurate mold (4 banger) for my 45 cal rifles. The boolit will be 350 gr and not sure if I should try a brass mold or another aluminum mold. What are the pros and cons between the aluminum and brass molds? All I have ever cast with is aluminum and steel mlds.

My second question is, does the Accurate aluminum molds neeed to be as hot sa my HOE mold does to cast with? My Lee molds I run the lead around 700 degrees, with the NOE mold I have to run around 750 degrees for it to cast nice boolits.

44

[Doc Highwall]

Part of the answer is how large is the mould block itself, and how many cavities does it have and the size/weight of the bullets. Your casting speed/rate will affect how hot the temperature of mould is along with the temperature of your alloy. Alloys containing mostly lead need a higher temperature to get good flow. Most moulds made of the same material with the same number of cavities and calibers that are close will require about the same temperature. Who made them and the means of how they are vented come into play, along with how well the sprue plate fits that lets the trapped air escape when the lead is poured into the mould cavity. Even the size of the hole in the sprue plate in relation to the size of the bullet cavity makes a difference.

[Kull]

Accurate has a faq page on his site with some notes about mold material choices.

http://www.accuratemolds.com/FAQ.php

[41 mag fan]

I'm looking at ordering a mold from Accurate mold (4 banger) for my 45 cal rifles. The boolit will be 350 gr and not sure if I should try a brass mold or another aluminum mold. What are the pros and cons between the aluminum and brass molds? All I have ever cast with is aluminum and steel mlds.

My second question is, does the Accurate aluminum molds neeed to be as hot sa my HOE mold does to cast with? My Lee molds I run the lead around 700 degrees, with the NOE mold I have to run around 750 degrees for it to cast nice boolits.

44

I've got 2 molds from Tom for my 45-70 a brass 405gr 1 cav and a 2 cav 425gr aluminum mold.
All of my molds from Tom are fantastic!
I like the brass as well as the aluminum. Brass is more expensive than aluminum, holds heat better, but takes longer to get to temp, and brass is heavier if using for a long casting session.
That brass 4 banger will get and be REALLY heavy if used for an hour or better. You'll definitely feel it.

One thing i don't understand, and I've come across another poster saying his NOE's need to be run hot.
I've got a wide array of NOE's, Accurates and Lees and Lymans and Mihecs.
My Lees always have to be ran hotter than my other molds.
I can run my Lyman, Noe's and Accurates and Mihecs at 675*on pot temp, whereas my Lees need to be 700-710* on pot temp.
Lees molds need to be hotter as compared to my other also, they lose heat way to fast.
So the question to this is what Lee molds do you run at 700 and what NOE do you need to run up to 750*? Are they different molds, calibers??

[44 mag nut]

Most of my Lee molds are for .432 and .460. I have 1 22 mold from lee as well. The rest are RCBS and Lyman. I have only used the NOE 2 times now and still have to get a rhythm done with it. Then I should be able to turn down the heat.