Suggestions for using a new (to me) 4 cavity NOE 500 gr , 500 S&W mould

[Joe C]

I did some searching , but didn't find what I "think" I might need to know for using a mould like this

Most of my casting in the last few years has been for my 45-90 and 45-110, grease groove and paper patch, 450-550 gr bullets with single cavity iron moulds , using my Waage pot and a ladle .

Using the ladle (as suggested by many of the long range BP guys ) for the bigger and heavier bullets gave me a much more consistent bullet weight

This is a new/ used ??? 4 cavity mould

The only multi-cavity mould I ever used , was a 2 cavity 38 swc iron mould ,and that was many years ago.

I have no experience with aluminum moulds.
I read where they tend to cool off faster than iron moulds , and I am wondering if using the ladle method will keep
it hot enough.

My ladle will easily hold enough lead for two of the cavities and I would have to go back to the pot to fill the other two cavities..
Does this sound like it will work ,or maybe give me some problems ?

I also have a bottom pour RCBS pro-melt furnace, just wondering how that will work with the 500 gr bullets.

I did think that maybe using the bottom pour , it would fill the mould quicker and keep it hotter???

Does the NOE mould need any kind of break-in , or smoking , etc. ?

I know that I should use some sprue plate lube , and I do have some Bullshop lube .

thanks in advance , any and all suggestions welcome

Joe

[**oneshot**]

pm sent

[RobS]

Try the bottom pour and use a swirl technique by hitting the edge or slope before the sprue hole and direct your lead stream from the pot there. This will creating a swirl of the lead stream as it enters the mold cavity etc. You may be surprised how well this works. If the mold has not been cast with then I, with all my molds, will use hot water and Dawn dish soap clean the cavities with a toothbrush; this takes out any of the cutting oils that could possibly be left over. NOE molds typically need a few break-in heating cycles to cast their best and many will simply use a hot plate and heat them up and let them cool back down.

[Wayne Smith]

I have an early group buy .45 420gr Lee six banger. I typically load my Lyman ladle twice to fill this mold. Not a problem. Yes, NOE molds work best when they are temperature cycled about three times before using.

[Gunslinger1911]

I also have a big 4 banger .500 from NOE. I got much better results with a ladle than with my ProMelt. Tried pouring every which way with the RBS, but couldn't match the consistency of the ladle.

1000g of lead (first pour) will keep the mould hot for the second 2 cavitys.

[Joe C]

Thanks for the replies.

I didn't get the moulds yet ,, hope they are here tomorrow, but at least i know some of the things i need to do before using them .

Gunslinger , good to get your input.

I will probably start with the ladle and see how that works .
As i mentioned earlier , when i started ladle pouring the 500+ gr bullets for my Sharps rifles , i started getting much more consistant weights .

Wonder if the bottom pour might work for the lighter bullets .
I also have a 4 cavity 350 gr mould ordered.

thanks

Joe

[canyon-ghost]

NOE molds are pretty nice to cast. They usually function better than most.

[500MAG]

I pour my .500's with the ProMelt with no problem. I find that putting it right up to the spout helps best.

[Joe C]

500MAG

What weight bullet are you casting ?

Joe

[Spawn-Inc]

i've got the mihec 2 cavity 700gr grand canyon mold and use my lee 420 pot without issue once it's up to temp. i also have a 2 4 cavity molds from noe (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?138551-NOE-503-Ross-Multi-Weight-WFN and the 375gr spire point) that i use with my lee 420 pot. from my somewhat limited experience it's all about getting your mold to the proper temp and keeping it there.

i wired up a PID controller for my 420 pot and that's made a huge difference in my casting as it keeps the lead temps very consistent.

i've only used brass and aluminum molds so i'm used to how they cast.

[500MAG]

500MAG

What weight bullet are you casting ?

Joe
440gr & 350gr

[Joe C]

Well, I finally got my mould and had a chance to cast a little bit with it .

My first attempt with the bottom pour didn't work real well , probably didn't get the mould hot enough .
I had never used the RCBS pot before either , which probablly didn't help much !!!
I wasn't getting very good base fill out .

Second attempt went a little better , went back to using my Waage pot and ladle .
I got some pretty "frosty" looking bullets out of that attemp.
I was casting aroung 750 degrees , which is what i cast my BPCR bullets at , with a single cavity iron mould .

Next attempt , after talking to Al at NOE , i lowered the pot temp to around 700 degrees .
He mentioned that one of the things about casting with a 4 cavity 500 gr mould wasn't trying to keep it hot enough, it was trying to keep it cool enough !!
I kind of had to slow down my casting a little bit , these bullets came out pretty good.
Good base , and groove fill out .

I may go back and try the RCBS pot again, now that i know i can get a good bullet .
I don't think that the sprue plate was getting hot enought with the bottom pour.
When i am ladle casting , i get a lot more lead running across the sprue plate which i think heats it up much more

I was a bit disapointed with the weight variation between the 4 cavitys .
There is a full 2+ gr weight difference between the lightest and heaviest cavity .
It was a bit of a pain , but i was able to dump the bullets from the mold and keep track of which bullet came from each cavity .

I will probably try casting some with the two cavities closest in weight and see how that works out .

thanks for the replies .

Joe