What's the best hollow point mold?

[3jimbo3]

What do you guys prefer for a 9mm hollow point mold? I have been looking at a Devastator from Lyman.

[jmort]

I would look at NOE or Mihec

[fryboy]

define best ? best for the cost ? best for spitting out the most boolits ? i cant add anything to what jmort stated except check out the noe 135 grainer
sadly they're out of stock on the rg4 in the plain based version
http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=34&products_id=346&osCsid=7il2ru1e3bj88ltbi9rpe6k6n7
but do have a 2 cavity in stock
http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=34&products_id=345&osCsid=7il2ru1e3bj88ltbi9rpe6k6n7http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/images/358-135-FNRG2cavityPB%20001.JPG

[Gamsek]

151105151106

MiHec is worth considering. Good investment, easy casting of HP and beautiful boolits....

[Electric88]

There is a group buy going on right now for a MiHec mold. 2 cav or 4cav HP mold, I believe 120 grain boolits? Even has the penta pins... Everybody I've talked to raves about that mold. I'd definitely recommend jumping into it. Some of the boolits people have posted pics of show amazing expansion.

MiHec had said that it will be a fairly quick group buy, so hopefully soon

[Maximumbob54]

I think the bottom floor price is a converted Lee mold from Hollowpointmold.com but a good NOE or Mihec mold is what will last longest and make them in bulk.

[3jimbo3]

There is a group buy going on right now for a MiHec mold. 2 cav or 4cav HP mold, I believe 120 grain boolits? Even has the penta pins... Everybody I've talked to raves about that mold. I'd definitely recommend jumping into it. Some of the boolits people have posted pics of show amazing expansion.

MiHec had said that it will be a fairly quick group buy, so hopefully soon

How does one get into this group buy thing? I have read about this a lot but have never pursued it.

[Beagle333]

Go down to the active group buy section and find the one (group buy thread for that mold) you want. Add your wishes to the list (just look at the other guys for examples) and put your Paypal email address down there. When the buy closes and the molds are ready, Miha will send an invoice to your email address. You simply Paypal him for it and it'll show up about 9 business days later. The only thing is nobody knows when Miha's group buys are going to close. Some happen in a month and some take over 3 years.

If you want a great custom mold to your door in about 3 days.... get one from NOE's website. They keep most of them in stock.

Miha molds are great also, but he has absolutely no schedule on his group buys... I just get in one that I want and ride it till the end. It's always a great mold, but you just have to be patient.

This one might go faster, since blocks and cherry are ready.... but I don't know if it's the one you want and I also don't know how many he wants to get on the list before he closes it. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?288653-359-125HP-(9mm)-4-cav-or-2-cav-Brass-MP-Molds-(MiHec)-Group-buy-re-run

[Larry Gibson]

Only criticism I have of the Lyman Devastator 9mm mould is it's not a GC'd bullet. Not a serious handicap just a personal preference for such.

Larry Gibson

[Elkins45]

I think the bottom floor price is a converted Lee mold from Hollowpointmold.com but a good NOE or Mihec mold is what will last longest and make them in bulk.

Unless he has dropped his prices a converted Lee is only slightly cheaper, and it's still a Lee.

I have the MP and it's fantastic. I shoot them in 9mm, 357 Sig, 38 special and 357 magnum. Not cheap--the exchange rate was a lot better back when I got mine.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm35/elkins_pix/IMG_0454.jpg (http://s292.photobucket.com/user/elkins_pix/media/IMG_0454.jpg.html)

[fredj338]

I have several molds done by Erik @ HPMS, great work. I would probably just go to NOE, find something I like & call it good. Unless you want a very specific design, NOE makes good stuff.

[tazman]

define best ? best for the cost ? best for spitting out the most boolits ? i cant add anything to what jmort stated except check out the noe 135 grainer
sadly they're out of stock on the rg4 in the plain based version
http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=34&products_id=346&osCsid=7il2ru1e3bj88ltbi9rpe6k6n7
but do have a 2 cavity in stock
http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=34&products_id=345&osCsid=7il2ru1e3bj88ltbi9rpe6k6n7http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/images/358-135-FNRG2cavityPB%20001.JPG

I have to go with fryboy on this one. That is one excellent boolit in hollow point or solid either one. I have the mold in question and it works well and shoots better.

[MT Gianni]

Has anyone ever shot flesh with a 9mm cast HP and recovered their slug? I would like to see what different alloys do with cast. i am only interested in flesh, not sand, wet phone books or snow.

[bangerjim]

The one you own!

[Green Frog]

After waiting over a year for a group buy to finally come to fruition, I got the Mihec brass two cavity mould for my 327 Fed Mag. It uses the Cramer style pins to make hollow- or solid points and is a work of art as well as a pleasure to use. I would have liked to have it and been using it a long time sooner, but it is a great mould once I got it.

Froggie

[dragon813gt]

The one you own!

Best answer :)

I personally prefer a Cramer style over all others. They are faster and easier to use compared to the other types. I have the MP 359-125. But I use the 359-135, non Cramer version, as the hollow point fad wore off quickly for me. If a plug pin is available that's what's installed in my molds.

[Good Cheer]

GC mold, soft casts over bore, one lube groove, nose that feeds dependably in your piece, biggest possible hollow point (that will still cast good as well as expand when cast very soft).
:drinks:

[hatti]

Has anyone ever shot flesh with a 9mm cast HP and recovered their slug? I would like to see what different alloys do with cast. i am only interested in flesh, not sand, wet phone books or snow.

beaver shot with Lyman devastator at subsonic velocity from approx. 30 meters distance.

http://i64.tinypic.com/zxmz5h.jpg

http://i68.tinypic.com/2egh3e0.jpg

bullet fragmented,some pieces went out through skull,leaving holes.
penetration was only about 4 inches.

here's what was left inside.

http://i67.tinypic.com/30t721c.jpg

[Lefty Red]

define best ? best for the cost ? best for spitting out the most boolits ? i cant add anything to what jmort stated except check out the noe 135 grainer
sadly they're out of stock on the rg4 in the plain based version
http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=34&products_id=346&osCsid=7il2ru1e3bj88ltbi9rpe6k6n7
but do have a 2 cavity in stock
http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=34&products_id=345&osCsid=7il2ru1e3bj88ltbi9rpe6k6n7http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/images/358-135-FNRG2cavityPB%20001.JPG

I'm waiting for this mold to get back in stock too!
Well worth it!

I purchased a mold for hollow point.com for my 380. Great mold, but for the same price as a NOE mold, and like stated before, still a $25 Lee mold. But it works well and was in stock when nothing else was.

Jerry

[Hickok]

Hatti, what alloy did you use?

Truthfully, I was surprised when I saw a "hit" with a 9mm HP in tissue!

[Greg S]

20 years ago, the Lyman was great but with todays boutique mold makers, the scales tip to them. Granted, they are spendy but they have outstanding quality and production. Go with a 4c and don't look back. For the money iivestment a 4 c is faster than 4 lymans. By the way, what would 4 new lymans run ya. I might be biased as I have four masterpieces from Mihec.

[Bonz]

Really depends on how you plan to cast with it. I have a brass Mihec in 9mm HP 4 cavity and it casts great once its warmed up and will last a lifetime. Aluminum molds are not as dependable, IMHO

[hatti]

Hatti, what alloy did you use?

Truthfully, I was surprised when I saw a "hit" with a 9mm HP in tissue!

that was 1:1 ratio mix of pure lead and alloy scavenged from all sort of shotgun ammo (slugs,birdshot,buckshot) with
a bit of tin added.
hardness measures at around 10 BHN.

i believe,it is enormous cavity of particular boolit design that is causing violent expansion and fragmentation.
that makes it good boolit for small vermin.

in water bottle test,same boolit at same speed barely penetrated one 2 liter pop bottle and there was nice expansion without fragmentation,flesh and bone seems to be different matter.

[gwpercle]

GC mold, soft casts over bore, one lube groove, nose that feeds dependably in your piece, biggest possible hollow point (that will still cast good as well as expand when cast very soft).
:drinks:

similar thought myself ....so I got an NOE mould, 4 cavity , aluminum, 9 mm Luger, design 358 124 Truncated Cone with gas check , no hollow point. Cast of 50/50 COWW and lead. Sized some at .358 and some at .357 . Working up loads as we speak.
After I nagged Swede for about 3 months , the store was constantly "out of stock ", he made a run of 4 moulds, I quickly bought one, someone else another and if anyone else is interested , the other two are still in stock...I just checked.
I had read of another's experiences with hollow points and 9mm and his conclusion was the HP's weren't worth the trouble, cast soft, gas checked , driven to a good velocity, was the way to go...so that's what I'm going to try out first .....no sense reinventing the wheel.
Gary

[Lefty Red]

similar thought myself ....so I got an NOE mould, 4 cavity , aluminum, 9 mm Luger, design 358 124 Truncated Cone with gas check , no hollow point. Cast of 50/50 COWW and lead. Sized some at .358 and some at .357 . Working up loads as we speak.
After I nagged Swede for about 3 months , the store was constantly "out of stock ", he made a run of 4 moulds, I quickly bought one, someone else another and if anyone else is interested , the other two are still in stock...I just checked.
I had read of another's experiences with hollow points and 9mm and his conclusion was the HP's weren't worth the trouble, cast soft, gas checked , driven to a good velocity, was the way to go...so that's what I'm going to try out first .....no sense reinventing the wheel.
Gary

Good point.

[Hickok]

that was 1:1 ratio mix of pure lead and alloy scavenged from all sort of shotgun ammo (slugs,birdshot,buckshot) with
a bit of tin added.
hardness measures at around 10 BHN.

i believe,it is enormous cavity of particular boolit design that is causing violent expansion and fragmentation.
that makes it good boolit for small vermin.

in water bottle test,same boolit at same speed barely penetrated one 2 liter pop bottle and there was nice expansion without fragmentation,flesh and bone seems to be different matter.Hatti, you have that HP working!

[Lagamor]

There is a new Mihec 9mm group buy in progress. Gonna be a big bullet, 155 grain flat point. It's going to have a pin that's going to make a deeeeep hollow point that should be a 135 grain.

[Dragonheart]

I like my NOE 4 cavity brass mold #359-115 with HP pins so you can have hollow points or not. If you powder coat you don't need a gas check at handgun velocities.

[Boolseye]

There is a a NOE 150 gr ELKO available, last I checked. IF you get an RG then you can also cast 135 gr. HPs.
I have the NOE 358-135 RG4, it's all I need. LAtely I've been casting solids with it, that's the nice thing about an RG mold from NOE. I believe the Mihec HP molds can also cast solids, but I don't know for sure.

[rintinglen]

Buying an MP Cramer-style mold to produce solid nose boolits is like dating Scarlet Johansen to get her to iron your shirts. They are heavy, but produce hollow-points far faster than the Lyman Devastator style, and are a bit easier to use than the RG style. The RG has a bar bolted onto the bottom of the mold that bangs and hangs up on the mold guide, though otherwise, it is easy to work with and available in aluminum which makes for less of a work out.

As far as production goes, I have two 45 caliber MP H&G 68 clones, one is hollow point and one is solid. In side by side testing, I get roughly 10 Hollow-points for every 12 solids, over the same period of time. YMMV, but If you want to make hollow-points, get in line and buy an MP, or else get an NOE in less than a week, but steer clear of the 1950's Lyman design.

[Boolseye]

not saying buy an HP Mould if you only want solids, just that it's nice to have the option.