Advice on Mould Basics Wanted

[OTShooter]

I'm looking at buying moulds for both .32 Auto and 7.62 Tokarev bullets, aiming at 70-ish grain .312 RN for the .32 Auto and 85 grain .308 RN for the Tokarev.

Since these are both short, small diameter bullets, I got to thinking about how hard it might be to keep aluminum moulds up to temperature. Do two-cavity moulds stay up to temperature better than four-cavity moulds, or vice versa?

Do brass moulds get up to temperature faster than aluminum? Do they stay hot better than aluminum? Are they enough better than aluminum moulds to warrant the higher costs? Especially if I'm not going to be casting thousands and thousands of any one bullet type at any one time?

Finally, I've looked at NOE, Lyman, Lee, RCBS and SAECO, and not found what I really want, particularly for the Tokarev. What mould makers should I be looking at for this kind of small, light bullet?

Thanks in advance!

[country gent]

Smaller bullets take a little higher temp of the alloy and or a faster cadence pouring. ( always had a hard time with a cast iron mould (RCBS)for a 55 grn 224 bullet keeping it hot and casting good bullets. Start around 725*-750* and cast at a fast pace over filling the sprue plate.

Brass and steel mould may take longer to heat up casting but hold the heat better. An aluminum mould heats up faster but sheds heat quickly. Brass moulds can be heavy with big blocks and small cavities. Two cavity blocks hold heat better d to the mass of material being poured in. IE, one cavity may be 100-125 grains ) 70 grn bullet and sprue) while a 2 cavity may be closer to 300 hrns more mass = more heat transfer. A 4 cavity would take this effect even farther.

Another technique is to use a hot plate to preheat moulds on getting them up to temp while pot is melting. This can produce good bullets from the first pour. Some even set the mould on it between pours.

[Land Owner]

Several question beg answers:

1.) What is your intended use?

2.) What does your budget allow?

I have brass, aluminum and steel molds. My uses include personal defense (revolver and semi-auto), plinking, and hunting (by rifle and less than 300 yards). My budget allows me to purchase brass molds (I have two - but have not heated them yet).

My aluminum two and six cav molds shed heat and while I use pre-warming, they need a higher cadence to deliver best fill out, fewer rejects, and consistent weight boolits. If the alloy is too hot wrinkles occur. The spru cutter must be kept hot for flat base fillout.

My steel one, two, and four cav molds are given pre-heat, come to heat well, stay hot, allow smooth even cadence, need a hot spru cutter, and if the alloy is too hot, will deliver wrinkled boolits.

So it really comes down to the two questions asked up front. Either metal will deliver...and I am certain my brass 2 and 4 cav molds will become my favorites in their caliber.

[OTShooter]

My intended use is recreational shooting; neither of these calibers offers what modern 9mms, .40s or .45s will do for defense, and I don't know of a single competition program that even allows something as small as the .32 Auto.

My budget has to be adjusted by whether or not expensive iron moulds will be "better" enough to justify the cost. Iron moulds like Accurate's 31-77B (for .32 Auto) cost over $150 for a 2-cavity mould - which needs cleaning, preservation and upkeep. Aluminum moulds for the same bullet cost about $90. Lee offers a similar bullet design, the 311-93-1R, which can be had in a 6-cavity mold for $43 or a 2-cavity mold for $23 from Midway USA.

This is pretty much why I asked the questions I did. Functionally, is a 6-cavity aluminum mould more difficult to keep at the right temperature than a 2-cavity aluminum mould? Would brass moulds (more expensive than aluminum but less than iron) stay hot better, whether in a 2- or 6 cavity mould?

[WRideout]

I have been using the Lee 311-100-2R double cavity in my Tokarev and Nagant pistols, and most recently, in my 32-20 revolver. Functionally, I don't find it any more difficult to use than an iron mold. Aluminum molds seem to like to run at a higher temperature, but that doesn't appear to be a disadvantage. They do come up to temperature quickly, so I get good boolits faster.

Wayne

[Rick Hodges]

I have a NOE 4 bullet aluminum mold for 90+ gr. 380 bullets and have no problem keeping it running with good bullets. I do pre heat it on a hot plate. I also have a Lee 2 hole mold for the 95gr. ranch dog .380 bullet and have no problem with it either. I preheat on a hotplate and pour large sprues until I get the sprue plates hot.

[jsizemore]

A hot plate will get you to good bullets quicker. If your concerned about maintaining heat as you cast, pour a bigger sprue to help with keeping mold blocks to temp along with a faster casting pace. I pour 115's in a 10 cavity iron and a 6 cavity aluminum and the pace is the same which is on a par with my 158-200 gr 4 cavity iron molds.

[MrHarmless]

Lee will work just fine. With that said, I just got an Accurate mold in aluminum, and the quality is incredible. Well worth the money, and it got here a lot faster than I thought.

[OTShooter]

Wayne, Rick, Mr. Harmless; that’s the kind of info I was looking for!

I will probably, eventually buy moulds from NOE and Accurate, but being new to casting in general, I don’t want to spend a lot on equipment I may mistreat as I’m learning.

Knowing that aluminum multi-cavity moulds do OK if you use the right technique helps a lot. It means I have an idea of how to go about casting without second-guessing myself every step of the way.

[Bigslug]

The 78 grain NOE/Ranch Dog tumble luber might do ya for the .32, though their inventory is a bit depleted at present.

I am a fan of brass as it once it gets hot, it does a better job of staying hot, so if you have to wrestle with a sticky cavity or walk away for a minute of so, you're not so close to starting over again with a cold mold. That said, hot plates and simply dunking a corner of your mold into your pot for a 5- to 10-count can work wonders.

I generally prefer a higher cavity count, as time on the stool is harder on my back than weight of a mold is on my arms. YMMV

Aluminum is a good material and it is lighter - many prefer it for that fact alone.

[BC17A]

I'm just getting started with casting and bought several of the Lee 2 cavity molds. So far I've only cast about 400 usable boolits and have remelted just as many rejects. I found the molds just don't heat up very fast at all. What I learned to do is turn an iron skillet upside down over one of my stoves small burners (yes I have a dedicated stove/oven in the shop) and set all the molds I intend to use on it until needed.

I also reload 32 auto and thought I'd try and modify a Lee 311-100-2R to drop a shorter, but heavier than 71gn boolit without having to use a more expensive mold to start with. I milled down the mold so the .579" long boolit would be .470" long. It actually worked out exactly as I wanted and will drop right at 80 grain. To my surprise these turned out to be very accurate also.

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[Outpost75]

I collect .32 Auto pistols and shoot them all. I prefer the Accurate aluminum small blocks in 3-cavity. If you want just one mold which will fill the role for all of your .32s, both pistol and revolver, as well as for the .30 Luger and 7.62x25 Accurate 31-094H is a good choice which feeds in everything. Shoot as-cast and unsized, lubricating with Lee Liquid Alox for the .32 S&W Long revolvers, with 2 grains of TiteGroup to approximate factory loads. Use 3 grains of TiteGroup in the .32 H&R Magnum or .32-20.

Using 2 grains of TiteGroup in the .32 ACP, with the bullet sized to .311" and loaded at 0.955" Ctg. OAL gives you 940 fps in the Beretta 81, approximating .380 ACP energy from the .32 ACP.

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