Whats the record wait time on a GB?

[MBTcustom]

There's nothing sweeter than seeing a long awaited GB come to fruition and finally getting your hands on the object of much patience and hope. The lack of GB molds for sale on S&S just shows that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
But some of these GB's can drag out so long, that the patience of those waiting on them is even more impressive than the mold itself!
The longest I have seen one go is 2yrs 4months and counting, but I wonder what's the record? How long have you waited on a GB mold to be done, and how awesome was it when it finally got delivered?

[725]

A year or two ago there was a group buy for a .375 from Mihec. It never happened. I gave up and dropped at about a year and a half. Too bad. When you can get 'em, he makes nice moulds.

[osteodoc08]

The short answer it TDL.

I reevaluate my need for a mold at the 6 and 12 month marks. If I can find a similar replacement readily available, I will cancel my GB and order from the other vendor (Typically Tom at Accurate or Al at NOE) or completely withdraw. If I still decide I gotta have that particular mold, then I will stick it out. I have plenty of other things to occupy my time. Thankfully I've only been here for a little over a year and have only dropped out of very few GBs.

Traditionally I see MiHa's taking the longest. Not sure why. Never got a real answer as some of the GBs have plenty of members to get it going in a fairly short period of time. Maybe its an equipment thing. IDK.

I am glad that NOE and Accurate exist and have a VERY FAST turn around time. Ive ordered more from Al and Tom lately than anyone else. I do have 4 MP molds on order currently though.

[alamogunr]

MiHec 3 cavity brass solid - 6.5mm Cruise Missle is at 27 months, 21 days. I suspect it will have the record by the time it is cancelled. I hope the cancellation doesn't happen but there seem to be technical problems.

[MBTcustom]

Hmmm, to be clear, this was not started as a gripe thread. I just figured that if you wait 1, 2, or even three years for a mold, instead of buying from one of the venders that could get you something similar in a few days or weeks, then there must be a lot of pride about the lengths that were gone through to own the best.
I want to hear from the guy that went the distance and got exactly what he wanted.
I know it's worth it to you, because otherwise, no one would wait that long for something that can be had faster.

Let us hear marvelous things from the guy that ordered a mold when his daughter was born and gifted it to his new SIL when it was finally delivered! LOL!
So far we are at 2 years 5 months for the 429244 GB.
Did any of them make it to 3 years?

[TXGunNut]

I've lead a charmed life as far as GB's go. With one exception the GB closed and went into production soon after I signed up. Six months, tops. On one occasion I felt there wasn't enough interest based on the time it took to get a few folks signed up so I dropped out when I found a mould I liked better. On one occasion I mentioned a mould on Swede's suggestion thread after another member expressed an interest and by the time a third member chimed in Swede had made a run and they were on his site. I'm familiar with manufacturing lead times and the economy of scale so you won't hear any gripes from me.

[MBTcustom]

goodsteel:

My comment is really not so much a gripe as it is a curiousness. Mihec's molds are outstanding and I own a BUNCH of them.
I sure do not know why it should take 2 1/2 + years to produce one though ! ;) There is indeed a very long list of molds waiting
in line to be made !

Jerry


Indubitably. I only own one from that maker but it's one of my very most favorites.
Seriously, it's such a pleasure to use a really good quality mold, and they last so long, it's really worth something. Especially if you are trying to make consistent rifle boolits. The factory molds just cant hardly touch our custom makers.

There are two universal lifes truths that apply to custom molds:
1. You get what you pay for
2. Good things come to he who waits.

I was just trying to make sure this is not coming across like an invitation to bash any particular mold maker. I was just wondering how patient some of our membership is.
Personally, I'm willing to wait up to a year on a design that I know works, and that I can't get from any other maker. Haven't found that particular situation yet, but I'm sure I will. I just can't personally wait any longer than that (mostly because I get broke sometime during a typical year, and would have to do without my cigars for three months in order to pay, and I'm so very sorry, but a mold is only a mold but a good cigar is a smoke.
(slight adaption from Kipling. LOL!)

[dragon813gt]

358156, I lost count of how long that one went. But there were well over people signed up and I think there was at least one Honcho change. Pretty sure that buy was close to two years. I was on the list for the 6.5 Cruise Missile. But I bought a 358 Winchester instead so I dropped off that list.

[Beagle333]

The longest one I was in, was the 358156, which was 2 years. The 358-165-RF closed before Christmas and it hasn't been invoiced yet though. It might be a while.

[MBTcustom]

The longest one I was in, was the 358156, which was 2 years. The 358-165-RF closed before Christmas and it hasn't been invoiced yet though. It might be a while.

Wow. That's awesome.
So, now you have your mold that you waited two years on?
I trust it is everything you hoped it would be and worth every second.

[TXGunNut]

Instant gratification is fine if you want a Big Mac. Patience will get you an awesome custom mould.

[Beagle333]

Oh yeah. I bought two of em. Of course I would have rather gotten them "next day" ;) when I put in my name.... but yes it is worth it and a great mold, and I don't regret sticking out the wait. I'd much rather have a MP mold 2 years from now, than to be too impatient to ride out a buy and never have one!:cool:

[SciFiJim]

The longest group buy I've seen took place when NOE was going through growing pains. It was the 323471 MkII. I was the honcho. The buy opened on 6/23/2011 and the molds were delivered on 1/24/2014. So, 2 years 7 months. NOE's growing pains was uncomfortable, but Oh So Worth It!

[MBTcustom]

The longest group buy I've seen took place when NOE was going through growing pains. It was the 323471 MkII. I was the honcho. The buy opened on 6/23/2011 and the molds were delivered on 1/24/2014. So, 2 years 7 months. NOE's growing pains was uncomfortable, but Oh So Worth It!

Very true! Love me some Swede Nelson molds!
Matter of fact, he's helping me with a custom right now. Can't wait to get some of that.

[rintinglen]

^What he said, in spades.^
Personally, the longest I have waited was for my 312-640"s. I dropped out when I bought my house due to financial burdens--darned wife is addicted to having a roof overhead--and it was still active over 8 months later when I got a promotion and a raise. I signed back up and got my molds about 10 months later. I do not begrudge the wait. I have 7 MP molds now, all but one is a Cramer HP. I cast almost nothing else these days for my 38's, 32's, 44's and 45's. Accurate and NOE take care of my rifles, so a lot of my old time favorites have fallen by the way.

[Bigslug]

The curious thing about the 29 months for 429244 GB is that there are currently over 100 buyers committed!

Seems an easy enough thing to put a gas check base on a 429421 clone, and that it would be a clear enough seller to actually run it. One must wonder. . .

[Green Frog]

I've only been in on two group buys. The first one "spoiled" me as it was an NOE buy for a 314008 four cavity aluminum mould... that I got into just as it closed and production began. It's my favorite heavy (125 gr) bullet for the 327 Fed Mag.

Next, I was in on the Mihec GB for the 314640 as well. I signed up for mould the same time I started to process of having my custom "Project 616" built. The gun was ready in 7 months while the mould took more than 18 (from reaching quota.) I recently had a great casting session at the home of Dale53 and that brass Mihec mould is every bit as good as promised, it just took what I regard as a super long time to get. To repeat what other folks have been saying, if you need a mould right away, then by definition a custom GB mould is probably not for you; but if you want a specific custom mould, you must decide whether you want it enough to put up with the wait. JMHO and my limited personal experience.

Froggie

[Beagle333]

You gotta love the new NOE Group Buy requirements...... Find a mold that several people like, using the discussion forum, then just get ten people signed up and he orders the tooling and runs the thing! And, you get 15% off the price if you were signed up for the GB.:-D
The .270 mold buy that I was just in, went from "Open for signups" to "Last Call - ordering tooling" in only 8 days!

[osteodoc08]

GS, I was thinking about this post last night before I went to bed. I was thinking about what the mold MEANS TO ME. There is one that I am still waiting on that will likely be my most treasured mold.

It is MiHa's Ruger only 45 mold that my father had signed up for, before his untimely passing. It was started on 4/2/13 puting it at almost 16 months now. I took over his spot on the list and have been anxiously awaiting this mold. This one will likely be my most prized mold out of the collection and I will wait as long as it takes to get it.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?193757-MiHec-2-or-4-cavity-brass-45-Ruger-Only-Cramer-HP

[Fishman]

Well I don't think an extended wait time increases mould awesomeness. Either a mould is awesome or it is . . . something else.

That is not a smack or a comment on anyone or anything. Simply an observation. Sometimes awesome things take time and sometimes they just show up.

[TXGunNut]

You gotta love the new NOE Group Buy requirements...... Find a mold that several people like, using the discussion forum, then just get ten people signed up and he orders the tooling and runs the thing! And, you get 15% off the price if you were signed up for the GB.:-D
The .270 mold buy that I was just in, went from "Open for signups" to "Last Call - ordering tooling" in only 8 days!

Or if he's got the tooling he just makes a run tells us to check his site.

[Catshooter]

Wow. More than two and a half years is a long time.

In the dozen or so GBs I honchoed I thought sixteen months was terrible and swore off of them. I hated all that money at Lee and nothing to show for it. Of course this was before MiHec and NOE and such. At one point Lee had over $12,000 from my GBs and would never say a word about when delivery might be.

I'm still pissed at 'em.


Cat

[dromia]

The GB wait times are a function of the companies ability to handle them and also sometimes they get caught out by their own success.

The Lee GBs seemed to go on for ages and on top of that there was the high likelihood that the mould wouldn't be to spec.

Mihec has now taken over from Lee on wait times but if you do ever manage to get one of his moulds then they are very good. I've all but given up on Mihec for rifle moulds though he seems to have problems with longer tooling.

NOE had a bit of a backlog and some growing pains but they have worked through it and developed what has to be the best mould GB system on the planet. Only ten sign ups needed and the mould is run and shipped absolutely brilliant.

Then main pleasure of the GB system for me is getting designs that are of sufficient diameter, I mainly load for old guns and over size moulds are the norm GBs have given us that as well as fine designs.

I have built up a collection of over 200 moulds and growing. I work with lots of different guns, mainly old military. I like to get them shooting and then move on. If I was waiting for GB's to come through then I wouldn't be able to get the turnover I like so I have built up my collection so that in most cases I can lay my hands on a suitable mould when a gun comes in rather than have to go looking.

The vast majority of these moulds are GB and the majority of them are NOE.

It is a testament to the vision of Cast Boolits that this forum has created the market for a pinch of high quality bespoke mould makers to thrive.

For me that supply of suitable moulds has been one of the biggest contributors to the development of our knowledge of cast boolit shooting, the allow us to try out boolit ideas rather than the "what if" speculation when we were limited to production runs from RCBS Lymanand the like.

Finally the GB market place has also meant that we can get quality moulds at a very friendly price along with features like bespoke top punches and being drilled for temperature probes. Sophistication or what?

GBs I love them, bring them on!

[jethunter]

The hollow base 41LC boolit is currently at 2 years + 2 months.

[alamogunr]

Miha has mentioned several times that he has a "day" job. That probably has a lot to do with the long waits. Also, I'm sure that he does not want to give up a stable income and depend only on the custom mold business. I wonder if he has paid for the CNC machine he bought awhile back.

Does Swede Nelson have other business than custom molds? I suspect he does. I can't imagine molds paying for that nice shop of modern equipment.

A lot of the expansion of GB's is due to new members coming on this board. Many of them are long time caster's and know a good thing when they see it. Even those new to casting have become educated and want in on the action. I'm sure some are like me and are beginning to feel saturated and really don't see much that fills a need any more. I'm sure many others are also like me and try to satisfy a want when funds allow. I just hope I live long enough to enjoy the fruits of these long waits.

Lately, I am looking more and more at NOE molds. Occasionally, I find one in stock that I missed the first time. His recent sale brought 2 more to my mailbox.

Think what it would be like if the slick paper gun magazines didn't have articles that leave the impression that Lyman, RCBS and NEI(?) were the only mold makers.

[tomme boy]

Miha gave up his "DAY" job a little over a year ago. It was to help speed up delivery times. The opposite happened as we just added a lot more GB's to the already long list.

I like his molds, but I have more problems casting with them than all others. I just wish he would give aluminum as an option on his non-HP molds. Maybe they would drop out of the molds without having to beat the heck out of them. NOE and Accurate have been a dream to use.

[alamogunr]

Miha gave up his "DAY" job a little over a year ago. It was to help speed up delivery times. The opposite happened as we just added a lot more GB's to the already long list.

I like his molds, but I have more problems casting with them than all others. I just wish he would give aluminum as an option on his non-HP molds. Maybe they would drop out of the molds without having to beat the heck out of them. NOE and Accurate have been a dream to use.

I missed that.

I have had very few problems with MP molds. Could be because I normally buy non HP molds. Occasionally I will buy a Cramer type just because. Also, I normally buy 2 cavity rifle molds. I don't need the production or aggravation of more cavities. Some of that may just be in my head.

[SwedeNelson]

"Does Swede Nelson have other business than custom molds? I suspect he does. I can't imagine molds paying for that nice shop of modern equipment."

Doing this full time for more than 2 years now and have a full time partner Matt.
And yes - moulds do pay for our nice shop of modern equipment.

Funny how things have evolved!
10 order group buys and a fast turn around!

Bullet maker, maker
Swede Nelson

[alamogunr]

Glad to hear it. My perspective is somewhat dated since I've been retired for over 8 years and my experience with machining vendors was with one off large items. They usually had to meet a short deadline and charged accordingly.

[FISH4BUGS]

The longest one I was in, was the 358156, which was 2 years. The 358-165-RF closed before Christmas and it hasn't been invoiced yet though. It might be a while.

Was that the 6 cavity plain base 358156? I bought one here from a member that had been worked over, Leemented and all. Screw in the body where the cam hits the side. Casts like a house afire. I cast 2000 bullets two years ago and never touched it again.
I totally forgot about that mould until you mentioned it.

[MT Gianni]

Still waiting for the jerk that ran off with our $$ for an AR receiver in 08. The shop owner he repped for is dead and buried and his estate was not accepting any claims. I got exactly what I wanted from Edd's Balisticast 7mm buy but i may have been the only one. On the other hand many here have honor, integrity and I have poured many a pretty boolit from gb molds.

[Beagle333]

Was that the 6 cavity plain base 358156?

No, I bought a 4 cav GC and a 2 cav PB on a buy from MP molds. Got em last summer. :cool:

[dragon813gt]

Has it really been since last summer? I thought it was cold when I received them. I know I casted w/ one, I ordered GC and PB, right away. Still haven't gotten around to loading any up. But I can say this for a lot of bullets right now :(

[Beagle333]

Going back to the GB and looking..... it was actually in the Fall. November. Still warm here. I was close!

[FISH4BUGS]

Still waiting for the jerk that ran off with our $$ for an AR receiver in 08. The shop owner he repped for is dead and buried and his estate was not accepting any claims.
I was lucky in that one. I got my parts kits but asked for, and got, a refund on the lowers before it all went south.

[alamogunr]

I was lucky in that one. I got my parts kits but asked for, and got, a refund on the lowers before it all went south.

Just the opposite here. I got the lowers and a refund on the LPK's

[94Doug]

I sure was thinking back in the Lee group buy mould days it WAS longer. Maybe because we had to put the money in up front.

Doug

[Catshooter]

Me too Doug. Money gone, looooooooooooooooooooong wait, maybe in, maybe out of spec, no communication from Lee, no wonder I quit doing them.


Cat