New Moulds!

[TXGunNut]

Had the pleasure of breaking in my new NOE 314008 (311008) today! While I was hunting for a set of handles to swipe I found a new Lee 452-255 mould that I've been meaning to break in, decided today I would have the pleasure/aggravation of breaking in two new moulds.
The NOE mould took awhile to get up to temp, expected that with the small cavities. Once I got it up to temp it ran great, was a pleasant surprise as my first NOE mould took awhile to settle in. Soon after I got the sprue plates the way I wanted them I had a nice pile of boolits for my 32-20's. Boolits filled out nicely and dropped with very little coaxing or rapping.
Next up was the Lee mould. I bought it awhile back because my 2-cav Lyman 452424 mould just can't keep up with my hungry 45 Colt revolvers. It took awhile to heat up too, but soon overheated. Figured out this mould likes a bit cooler pour temp (700) than some of my other Lee 6-cavs. By the time I figured that out I had another nice pile of boolits and it was time to weigh in, clean up and call it a day.
Funny thing, the Lee mould dropped boolits just as well as the NOE, maybe a tad better. For some reason it kept getting lead between the mould halves but it only happened a few times and an ingot "eraser" got things running again.
Both moulds ran a bit hot, could have rotated two moulds and gotten more boolits cast but was pretty pleased with the tally: 251 314008's, 301 452-255's. Not bad for a few hours' work. :D

[Idaho Mule]

TX I broke in my new NOE 314008 today, and like you, am very happy with the results. Also have the NOE 314316 and had it out as well. Once the 008 was up to temp and running good I noticed I had time waiting for the sprue to cool, and thought, what the heck. So I brought both 008 and 316 into motion and cast quite a pile of 32-20 fodder. I didn't think I would ever be able to rotate the two NOE's like that but it actually worked ok for me today. They are both 4 cavities so boolits added up quick. I will sort and weigh tomorrow, and hopefully things turned out well. JW

[TXGunNut]

Never tried two moulds at one, figured a 6 cav 255 grn mould and a 4 cav 120 grn mould wouldn't be a good time to start. I really like that 314008 mould, so much that I ordered a 360318 from Al while the new moulds were cooling. Should have .313 and .359 Lyman sizing dies by tomorrow, may have loaded BP 32-20 rounds in time for the weekend. Good luck with the sorting & weighing.

[Certaindeaf]

"Getting lead between the mould halves" sounds like you need to lube the locator pins.

[TXGunNut]

"Getting lead between the mould halves" sounds like you need to lube the locator pins.

No, just need to quit dropping boolits back in the pot directly from the mould.

[Certaindeaf]

Lol, I thought of that but thought.. no one would do that..

[Certaindeaf]

And since no one would do that.. lube pins..

[Smoke4320]

congrads on 2 good dropping molds..
had the pleasure to do the same with a NOR 359-190 HP 4 cav yesterday .. just pure joy
an hour after starting I had 170 good bullets to PC and try

[Green Frog]

From another angle... I got my NOE 314008 mould about a year or more ago and in the casting palace of Dale53 we cast such a bunch of bullets that first time, I'm still using them! :mrgreen: I use mine for the 327 Fed Mag, but I have every reason to believe that my S&W 32-20 M&P and my Navy Arms 32-20 Cattleman SAA will both love them as well. You have chosen well in the heavy bullet 32 category. BTW, with a mix of old COWW and a smidge of tin, my bullets are dropping at almost exactly 125 grains... too big for the 32 S&W L, but just right for the "big guys" of the 32 family.

Froggie

[JeffinNZ]

I bought the first run of this mould and my Martini .32-20 LOVES the .314 bullet over a does of Green Dot with a very slight crimp. Subsonic load that is tres quiet via the suppressor.

[TXGunNut]

Purty mold, purty boolits.

102409

[Idaho Mule]

TX, I ended up with 210 keepers of the 008, not nearly so well with the 316 at 70 ish but I started late with that. Having both going at once kinda reminded me of a Texas Shottish with two good lookin' gals, it was fun. Frog, I am casting mine of 70/30 alloy and they weigh 125 gr. too. A little heavier than I expected but not a bad deal at all in my opinion. I figure I can use it for my heavy "rhino" boolit", not that we have many here in Idaho but if I run into one while packing my 32-20 at least I will be well armed. By the way, for all you .32 cal. guys I would highly recommend NOE's 314316 GC for those wanting a little extra speed. JW

[TXGunNut]

Ended up with 251 008 keepers myself. Lubed & sized 80, loaded 30 over 20 grs of KIK FFFg. Another new NOE mould arrived in my PO box today, REALLY looking forward to this weekend. :-)

[afish4570]

Running two pots to keep lead supply, an old Lyman as the melter and the 10 # Lee as the casting pot. Works great once you get coordinated and your little system going. Sprues and rejects get dropped into Lyman pot so that the temperature isn't dropped in the Lee pot used for casting....Good luck.afish4570;-);-)

[TXGunNut]

Running two pots to keep lead supply, an old Lyman as the melter and the 10 # Lee as the casting pot. Works great once you get coordinated and your little system going. Sprues and rejects get dropped into Lyman pot so that the temperature isn't dropped in the Lee pot used for casting....Good luck.afish4570;-);-)



Hadn't thought of that, have a 20# Lee bottom pour and a standard Lee pot. Also have a 2# ladle so this might just work! Thanks.

[Dale53]

TXGunNut;
I have a suggestion for you. go to Target or Walmart and buy a small manicurists fan (you'll find these in the fan department, not the cosmetics department). They cost $7.00 or $8.00. Mount it so it blows on the filled mould and it'll cool the sprues in two to three seconds and also maintain a proper mould temperature. It will never get overheated again. It speeds up the casting considerably. One of the best moves I have made to speed up production without lowering quality. I pre-heat all of my moulds on a hot plate so that right out of the gate, I am casting good bullets. The fan idea came from Mike Venturino and a good idea it is!

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Dale53/Castingfan-3723.jpg (http://s269.photobucket.com/user/Dale53/media/Castingfan-3723.jpg.html)

Dale53

[TXGunNut]

Thanks for the tip, Dale53. I've read about using a fan but I use a wet sock these days. May need to try that.
A Lyman mould that casts too big, excess650? Flies in the face of "conventional wisdom" don't it? lol With my alloy the .313 sizer barely touches the boolits; my rifle slugs @ .312 and my revolver doesn't chamber .314 boolits very well. Can't do much better than that, IMHO. Hope I get to shoot them next weekend, yardwork and honeydos kept me and my shooting buddy off the range yesterday, weather is keeping me indoors today.