Help - Mihec 9mm HP 125gr Brass Mold sticking and hard to open

[rototerrier]

My very first casting session went perfect with this mold. I cast again today and things went way different. Not sure what the issue is.

Basically, its hard to open. All 4 cavities are sticking on the side opposite the pins. When I go to open, I have to quickly "jerk" the handles open to get everything to release.

This will result in little dents in the lube groove where the pints are just yanking and pivoting the boolits out of the opposite cavities.

First session everything was nice and smooth. Any ideas why I'd be hanging up? I've gotten it torn down and will be cleaning it all over again to try to "start over".

This is my first brass AND first hollow point mold. I've only ever used aluminum, so this is new territory for me.

Figured you folks may have already dealt with issues like this. Boolits look really good though. Other than not wanting to drop, everything seems fine.

I've checked all the pins to make sure they are nice and tight and smooth in their channels and it all just appears to be working as it should.

Here's some pics. Both the bullets shown here are from the exact same session. One on the left dropped fine and the one on the right was from a drop that stuck and you can see the dent at the lube groove. Towards the end of the casting session, every drop was sticking. I actually stopped because of it.

136168
136169

[rototerrier]

Update... I cleaned the mold and it still sticks, but I determined it must have just "worn" in a bit during the first casting session. As if the tolerances loosened a bit.

I figured out that if I break the sprue and then leave it right side up, I can open it with a little jostle. I can then turn it and tap the pins. Really doesn't slow things down but does mess with the rhythm.

I prefer to break the sprue and flip upside down, open and then tap. Breaking, going back right side up, opening and then flipping adds that extra step.

Oh well. Might just be how this mold has to be run. Boolits look perfect and no damage when done this way.

If anyone has any suggestions that might get me back to where I can open upside down, please let me know.

[runfiverun]

hit the hinge pin when opening.
or push your stick against the corner of the mold when opening.
one of the two usually works.
you might also want to look at the alignment front to back of the cavity's [you'll see a slight mis-alignment at the seam] a slight adjustment to one of the pins may be necessary.

[Dale53]

I have a number of Mihec moulds both solid and hollow points. I have HIGH regard for these moulds.

However, like anything I have ever done, it helps to have a bit of experience with the particular item.

Now, the first thing I do with Mihec's hollow point moulds is to loosen the hollow point shafts just 1/4 turn. This allows the pins to line up perfectly and NOT BIND.

Secondly, I lightly coat the part of the pins that actually form the hollow points with mould release (microfine graphite in an alcohol base).

Further, I put a single drop of the Mihec furnished Sprue plate lube on the hollow point shafts outside of the blocks. That will lubricate the shafts and minimize binding.

Finally, after the mould is pre-heated, I use a q-tip and put a coat of sprue plate lube on top of the mould (keep out of the cavities), under and on top of the sprue plate and IMMEDIATELY use the dry end of the q-tip to rub all of the oil off. The object is to just leave a film on those surfaces. This will keep any splatter from sticking and if you happen to cut the sprue early you won't have a build up of molten (or nearly molten) lead under the sprue.

That should do it. I pre-heat all of my moulds on a steel topped hotplate just under the casting temperature and let two or three casts bring it up to final heat. That insures that I will NOT be warping the blocks, etc.

Dale53

[2wheelDuke]

I have the same mold. Giving the handle hinge a couple quick taps after a I cut the sprue and before I open the mold seems to help the issue you describe.

[rototerrier]

I have the same mold. Giving the handle hinge a couple quick taps after a I cut the sprue and before I open the mold seems to help the issue you describe.

This does the trick. I knocked out another couple hundred last night and adding this one extra rapy tap to the hing knocked them loose.

Dale53 makes some good points. I'll try lubricating the pins and will also try loosening them a bit. I have mine tight right now and was wondering about loosening them a bit. I did notice they were a little binding but it hasn't effected the actual bullet quality. I'll do everything dale53 suggests and see if that doesn't also improve the mold performance.

Thanks everyone for all your suggestions and assistance. I LOVE this mold, and will probably love it even more once my forearm muscles get acclimated.

[rototerrier]

...Also, would you guys happen to know if these molds typically leave a slight seam? I have some lees that do and some that don't. I've seen some posts on these molds where users indicate they produce seamless boolits. Mine, as pictured, have just the slightest seams. Could that be a product of tight pins or a slight misalignment? I'll be tweaking it a little to see how it does, but I'm guessing the seams are here to stay.

It doesn't really matter. They still look great and I usually PC them anyway. But, mostly out of curiosity, what's everything think?

[Moonie]

keep in mind they can get sticky if the pins are in a bind, loosen the shafts and with the mold closed tight tighten them up just enough to stay secure.