MiHec HTC 357-135 FP SOLID 8 cavity Aluminum Question

[Smk SHoe]

Just received the 8 cavity Aluminum mold. Beautiful looking mold but one question. Since it is eight cavities in the same size as Lee's six cavity, there is less meat between the cavities. Should I slow down my casting to not over heat the mold, or is it a non issue?

[Drew P]

Dunno, but it sure is pretty isn't it? That's a mag each pour! (Well okay half a mag)

I'd assume it matters more what the total lead vs the mass of the mold is. For instance, if this mold is 8x135 =1080 gr

As a comparison a 6 hole 230gr is 1380 gr so more lead and more heat.

[hermans]

I have just received mine today as well, cant wait to get it up and running. Each of my several molds from MiHec has it's own cadence, so the sooner you can get it going you will find it's sweet spot:)

[Smk SHoe]

Looks like all three of us are happy campers. Wasn't planning on doing any cast till it cooled down some but I just gotta try it. So i'm heading out to the man cave.:drinks:

[Drew P]

It's raining on the 4th here!
Wow, as usual these are a work of art. This is my first aluminum mold from him, and I sure hope all my molds from him will be Al from now on. Bullets fall so nice.

I am kinda curious about the Sprue plate however, it doesn't have a dog ear off it to whack with my mallet for opening, so, I'm a bit confused on how to open. It even has the corner cut off to make it even harder. There's a hole in the plate to, making it even a bit more awkward. Input?

[alamogunr]

Did your mold not come with a sprue handle similar to Lee 6 cavity molds?

[Drew P]

Did your mold not come with a sprue handle similar to Lee 6 cavity molds?

Lol now I feel stupid. Maybe a little too eager to test it and I didn't even notice it in the box. And that's what the hole is for in the Sprue. Derp, thanks. :0

[Smk SHoe]

Well, 1st Heat cycle only had about 5 bullets that were keepers out of 80. Took a little getting use to filling 8 holes and getting my timing down. Set it off to the side to cool down and cast some .501 bullets. 2nd Heat cycle had about a 45% keep rate. Let cool down and cast some 6.5 bullets. Added a little tin and turned up the temp some ( about another 30 degrees) and cast as fast as I could. Once I got to the point just at the frosted bullet stage, Slowed down a bit and was raining bullets. Biggest challenge to deal with on this mold is when you cut the sprue and turn the mold over to drop it, half the bullets fall out of the mold:). Ended up casting a few hundred during the third heat cycle and never touched the mold mallet. Open the mold and turn it over and the rest of the bullets just fall out. This thing is gonna eat thru the PB supply quick.

[hermans]

Smk SHoe,

Thanks for the update, I will surely use this information when I attempt my initial run with this mold.

[Elkins45]

I have the lube groove version and I poured some this weekend. I had my PID set for 730 but was dumping my sprues back into the pot so it was really a few degrees cooler. I was able to keep casting at the same rate as I normally can with a Lee six cavity 9mm mold.

Dropping eight per pour sure piles the bullets up quickly.