Harter66
11-13-2016, 03:33 AM
I've read very little about Mountain Moulds here or anywhere really . Everyone is quick to point out that they have a neat little point and click design program , but I never see any in use , I really didn't do that right , or anything else . It's almost as if everyone plays but never buys .....
So I fussed around with all of my knowns, poked at the unknowns ,played it safe and took a huge Scientific wild asp guess and it worked out ......ok not on target yet but it feeds , chambers and has some wiggle room for adjustment .
To the mould . Well I'll tell you true and straight ,it would have killed me to have waited the whole 8 weeks of the projected 6-8 weeks . Imagine my surprise when 11 days after I poked the " yes I'm sure I want to buy it " button I had a mould in hand . I know what a Lee looks like fresh out of the box and the last 3 moulds were NOE so I had a certain expectation when I had that little jem in hand . It was well packaged and came with appropriate wrenches . A steel sprue plate on an AL mould , well blued and milled flat , with generous hemispherical pour holes . I don't know maybe things have been slow , maybe it was the standard blocks , but there were some aesthetic water marks , stains really . Definitely not the polished blocks I get from NOE . Nothing wrong just an aesthetic flaw which of course made me wonder a little . So off to the sink Dawn and a toothbrush ,a quick assertive scrub and rinse in very hot water and on to an electric burner for a heat cycle .
Let me say we have lousy water here . It'll eat a swamp cooler in 5-6 seasons. 3 yr is the outside survival for honey comb pads and if the purge pump fails you'll have hard crust in 2 weeks . The dog and cat get stainless water buckets . So I blame the water for the first flawed cast .
I speced the mould for WW plus tin and run an alloy for rifles of 75/25 WW/ 1-20 with some copper tracked in . Exact amounts are unknown as the 1/20 is derived from tamper seals cast on copper wire . Typically it yields 12 BHN AC and 16 HT and will retain 98% and go at least 150% dia in 100yd wet pack in 200 gr 30 cal at 1900 fps MV .
I turned on the lights and pot , affixed a set of Lee 6C handles to the standard blocks with the 453-350 RF cut out in 2 cavities and put it on the hot plate with the cast iron kettle plate while the 20# Lee ladle pot came up to temperature . This was my 2nd pour with a new RCBS ladle replacing my shoestring soup spoon ladle , so I was learning new technique there too. With the mould up to normal for the rest of the stable and the pot stable at 720 I made about 15 pours with all manor of unhappiness , but mostly cold mould and bad fill out on 1 side of 1 cavity . Remember the water ? New ladle ? So I turned the plate up a little set the mould down and fed the sprues and rejects back to the pot . This time I poured with the mould on the pot rim and bang great bullets . I made about 40 pours and after 10 I had to slow way down and keep the mould off the pot 2 for 3 pours . The fillout went away with the 2nd pour set and had fewer than 10 rejects netting 75 near perfect bullets .
My alloy cast .001-.0015 over spec , without a crimp groove to demand a depth the problem is solved by a .003 change in the desired OAL .
End results scale of 1-5.
Specs 5
QC. 5
Function 5
Aesthetics 3
Service. 5 +
Final score 5
Should I need to fill a particular need for a non-standard application I won't hesitate to spend the $100 again .
180591
Bullet as cast ,no cherry picking or polish , 2nd from the left .
180592
Also pictured left to right
Lee 457-340, 453-350 MM, Lee 358-200, NOE 360-228,312-230 .
So I fussed around with all of my knowns, poked at the unknowns ,played it safe and took a huge Scientific wild asp guess and it worked out ......ok not on target yet but it feeds , chambers and has some wiggle room for adjustment .
To the mould . Well I'll tell you true and straight ,it would have killed me to have waited the whole 8 weeks of the projected 6-8 weeks . Imagine my surprise when 11 days after I poked the " yes I'm sure I want to buy it " button I had a mould in hand . I know what a Lee looks like fresh out of the box and the last 3 moulds were NOE so I had a certain expectation when I had that little jem in hand . It was well packaged and came with appropriate wrenches . A steel sprue plate on an AL mould , well blued and milled flat , with generous hemispherical pour holes . I don't know maybe things have been slow , maybe it was the standard blocks , but there were some aesthetic water marks , stains really . Definitely not the polished blocks I get from NOE . Nothing wrong just an aesthetic flaw which of course made me wonder a little . So off to the sink Dawn and a toothbrush ,a quick assertive scrub and rinse in very hot water and on to an electric burner for a heat cycle .
Let me say we have lousy water here . It'll eat a swamp cooler in 5-6 seasons. 3 yr is the outside survival for honey comb pads and if the purge pump fails you'll have hard crust in 2 weeks . The dog and cat get stainless water buckets . So I blame the water for the first flawed cast .
I speced the mould for WW plus tin and run an alloy for rifles of 75/25 WW/ 1-20 with some copper tracked in . Exact amounts are unknown as the 1/20 is derived from tamper seals cast on copper wire . Typically it yields 12 BHN AC and 16 HT and will retain 98% and go at least 150% dia in 100yd wet pack in 200 gr 30 cal at 1900 fps MV .
I turned on the lights and pot , affixed a set of Lee 6C handles to the standard blocks with the 453-350 RF cut out in 2 cavities and put it on the hot plate with the cast iron kettle plate while the 20# Lee ladle pot came up to temperature . This was my 2nd pour with a new RCBS ladle replacing my shoestring soup spoon ladle , so I was learning new technique there too. With the mould up to normal for the rest of the stable and the pot stable at 720 I made about 15 pours with all manor of unhappiness , but mostly cold mould and bad fill out on 1 side of 1 cavity . Remember the water ? New ladle ? So I turned the plate up a little set the mould down and fed the sprues and rejects back to the pot . This time I poured with the mould on the pot rim and bang great bullets . I made about 40 pours and after 10 I had to slow way down and keep the mould off the pot 2 for 3 pours . The fillout went away with the 2nd pour set and had fewer than 10 rejects netting 75 near perfect bullets .
My alloy cast .001-.0015 over spec , without a crimp groove to demand a depth the problem is solved by a .003 change in the desired OAL .
End results scale of 1-5.
Specs 5
QC. 5
Function 5
Aesthetics 3
Service. 5 +
Final score 5
Should I need to fill a particular need for a non-standard application I won't hesitate to spend the $100 again .
180591
Bullet as cast ,no cherry picking or polish , 2nd from the left .
180592
Also pictured left to right
Lee 457-340, 453-350 MM, Lee 358-200, NOE 360-228,312-230 .