MP 9mm Smooth Issues, Out of round/undersize/Finning

[Rich22]

I got one of the Group Buy 357 135gr Bevel base smooth side 9mm molds. Had to try it a couple of times, had a couple problems and then I had to stop casting and everything else due to a health problem. Just tried it out again a couple days ago and am still having issues. Major issues are



1, Significant flashing around the base


2 Quite out of round. Parting line is wider than 90 degrees to the parting line, I am having them come out small, .353-.354 and then on the large side between .359-.361. If it was just too large I would generally be ok but small I don't believe will work.




Issues that are apparent, sprue plate I cannot seem to get anywhere near tight, I tighten the upper right corner bolt ok but there is far too much play in the area where the sprue plate goes into contact with the lower left corner bolt, it just does not seem I can get that tight enough to eliminate the play.




I have tried


1, Complete disassembly and cleaning twice
2 Made sure I am not putting pressure on the sprue plate handle
3 Tried different alloys
4 Tried different filling techniques
5 Tried both water and air dropping




Hopefully someone has seen these issues and solved them before, Love the bullet design but these problems are driving me insane.

Thank you

[dkf]

Take the handles and sprue plate off. Put the mold halves together. Do the cavities line up or are they offset? See any gaps (light) between the halves?

[Dan Cash]

If the mould is casting wider at the parting line than at 90 degrees to the parting line, the mould is miss made and not good for much. Was it Lee? Perhaps they will fix it.

[MiHec]

One think to consider..... Are handles free in the mold halves? Mold halves must rattle a bit. If they are fixed, such problems may shows.

[Rich22]

Thought I would resurect this instead of making a new thread. Miha has sent me parts and a guide on how to adjust the mold but so far to no avail except the finning is gone with the new sprue plate, the size issues remain.
Take the handles and sprue plate off. Put the mold halves together. Do the cavities line up or are they offset? See any gaps (light) between the halves?

Appear to line up correctly no light is visible. Handles are free to move , when put together without handles or sprue plate the mold looks like it lines up correctly the mold sides will move slightly against each other when pushed together if using fairly significant hand force but the move is extremely slight, the size is only off by a few thousands both ways but that is enough to make the bullets useless at this time. I'm totally out of ideas at this point.

[Dale53]

Rich22;
I have carefully read this. It appears to me that the alignment pins are not set out quite enough. This will allow sideways motion and offset the cavities just enough to do what you have reported. Take the molds apart. You mentioned that you can move the mold halves slightly side to side when you exert pressure. This should NOT be possible if the alignment pins are properly adjusted. The cure is simple. Just slightly move the pins outward (towards the opposing mold block). The procedure is to lay the mold halve with the pins on a resilient surface and gently tap the pin from the rear using an appropriate pin punch. Go slowly. If you go too far, the base of the pin will be above the surface of the block face not allowing you to close the blocks completely. The cure for that is to gently tap the pin (with a PLASTIC hammer) back into the block.

Good luck and - Let us know the results of your efforts... I believe that if you get the alignment pins properly set your mold will give you what you hoped for. Mihecs are the BEST.

Dale53

[Rich22]

Miha is sending me a new one he says so hopefully that should fix everything. I will try it out when it gets here (damn international shipping times) and see how it goes.

Thanks