Mould Ordering

[dddddmorgan]

So I'm getting more serious about casting. I've always cast boolits for my reloading (going on 40 years or so) but it was "haphazard" to put it nicely.

I've gathered up much better equipment in the last couple of years and I intend to really make a go of it this winter.

That leads me to my question: I am in search of a hollow base wadcutter mould for both 38 and 44 caliber; I see all the listings on the various maker websites but I'm not sure about ordering. Do you just order and when there's enough call to make a batch you get what you want?

Do any of you all know who might keep these as a stock item?

I don't need anything crazy, just a two cavity of each and I'm not fussy on material, I believe all the choices have their advantages.

I've never used brass moulds, are they the bomb?

Thanks

[dverna]

Can't speak to the .44's but there is so little improvement in accuracy with HBWC .38's that is not worth the hassle to cast them. IMO you will be better off with a good quality 4-6 cavity mold that "rains" BB (bevel base) bullets.

I did a decent amount of Ransom Rest testing to come to that conclusion.

[dddddmorgan]

Thanks Don.

What about turning them upside down for low velocity hollow points?

[Minerat]

You can get HP molds from MP or NOE the advantage is you can get HP and solid pins with the moulds. They may have hollow base too.

Brass is nice and once you get the hang of them they are great. You have to run them hotter than AL or iron say start at 725° and use a hot plate to preheat. Search brass molds there's a lot of discussion on them here.

https://www.mp-molds.com/

https://noebulletmolds.com/site/shop/

[dannyd]

I cast an NOE HBWC, works good out to 50 yards. I cast mainly 38/357 bullets, but I also do rifle, 45 and 44. I don't shoot anything but cast bullets because I only hunt paper and cardboard.

320098

320100

[mdi]

FWIW; Back when the reverse HBWC fad was on most forums, I tried some. I didn't cast any (as I had a bit of experience with hollow base shotgun slugs) but loaded some store bought. I started with regular target loads and worked up to a bit under max, with Bullseye and W231. I shot most into wet magazines at about 10 up to 20 feet. Results were erratic; a few (very few) worked OK with lots of expansion, but with some the cavity would collapse, some would clog with wet paper, and act like a solid, and some would turn sideways. Accuracy was OK, not stellar. Fun playing with different loads, different OALs, etc. but not consistent enough for my liking.

Later I cast some DEWCs and worked up a load for one of my house guns. Near max/max loads of W231 under a 150 gr DEWC worked pretty good in my 3" 38 Special. IIRC a bit under 900 fps with a flat faced cast bullet, seems like it would get the job done at in house distances. Shot some at 12 or so yards with good accuracy... (serious HD for me is a 4" 357 Magnum with 125 gr JHP "Nukes")

[405grain]

Unless you're considering bullseye competition I would recommend solid base wadcutters, or double ended wadcutters over hollow based wadcutters. The solids are a lot more versatile. With hollow based wadcutters you are limited to low velocity loads to prevent skirt damage or separation. When loaded backwards to create "hollow points" they are hopelessly inaccurate at all but the shortest ranges, and in my opinion a solid wadcutter would be preferred over this if it were needed as a defensive round. A solid wadcutter can be loaded from mild target velocities up to more potent pistol velocities without any problem. Also, solid wadcutters are easier to cast.

[dannyd]

I have loaded 8,544 HBWC, but I have never loaded one backwards, so I don't have any opinion or data on that and don't think I ever will. DDWC are definitely easier to cast and work very well, so I would definitely use those before I did that with a Hollow Base.

Get a 8 cavity DDWC from MP great mould and you cast them by the bunch. ;)

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I have cast with a Lee hollow base mold,
and a NOE hollow base mold,
And a MP hollow base mold.

There is a learning curve to each of them and it can be frustrating.
MP has the better design IMHO, but with that said, the only MP HBWC mold I had, was a brass MP 411-195 HBWC 4 cav and I never did get it to cast like I hoped it would. I think the cavity design I had, just had too many sharp edges...looking at MP website right now, it looks like they have improved the design, I bet it casts better than the one I had.
https://www.mp-molds.com/product/mp-411-hb-wc-2-cav/

Honestly, I am with some of the others here that think a HBWC for casual purposes is just a waste of time, and reversing it for a giant HP is plain foolish in my mind...but that's my opinion. If you want to try them out, more power to you...you or your gun might prefer them. Good Luck

[35 Rem]

I've yet to try hollow base or points so will pass on commenting on those. Regarding mold materials, I only have one brass mold (NOE) and while it casts fine, I instantly found out that I didn't like the extra weight. Aluminum is my preference for that reason. Never would have believed it would make that much difference but it does over a long casting session. Thankfully my brass mold is for a rifle bullet so I don't need piles of bullets.

[jdgabbard]

I am also of the opinion of HBWCs being somewhat pointless. There are much better SD options out there, so the hole backwards loaded thing is silly to me. Even a 358477 over a stiff charge is going to yield about the same results in my opinion. And while they may slightly improve accuracy in slower loads, I haven't ever see a practical accuracy improvement in practice. Just get a 358495 or clone, and start casting. The LEE 6cav version is good if you want to make a pile in a short time at the pot. Or, if you're looking for something really nice search out a H&G #50 mold. I haven't shot any MP or NOE WCs, but I'm sure they're about the same. But as mentioned, Brass molds are REALLY nice. I love those things and have several...

If you're lubing, my experience says that the best way is to only lube 1 groove of the three they typically come with. Anything more and they're just smokey and gum up the action. Best load I've ever found for them was 3.0gr of Bullseye over the 358495/#50 with a single lube groove filled. It's a laser beam.

[KCcactus]

I guess I'm the oddball here. I've loaded a few thousand hbwc and never loaded one the "right" way. Light load 38s with backwards hbwc work great on nuisance critters and water filled targets. 44 and 45 light loads are even more impressive. Soft lead mushrooms nicely and wheel weights fragment. I have MP 38, 44 and 45 hbwc molds.

[rintinglen]

Back in the day, PPC shooters, or at least the winners, shot Remington HBWC bullets, factory loaded, if someone else was buying (I'm looking at you LAPD, Pistol team), or handloaded for those of us who didn't have a sponsor. However, a good cast 358-495, H&G 50, or similar boolit will do just fine out to 25 yards, and they cast soo much easier. I still use my old Lyman 358-63 and H&G 50 4 bangers, while my M&P and NOE HBWC molds sit idle.

I also deplore the use of reverse seated HBWC. MY experience was the same as MDI's. Expansion was unpredictable, accuracy beyond watermelon seed spitting distance was poor, and there was a lot of malarkey at that time about how handloaded ammunition was a straight ticket to prison, even if you used it to save a bus load of babies from imminent demise at the hands of a blood-crazed axe murderer. Given that there were plenty of better alternatives, I abandoned that approach. But don't let my croakings stop you if this interests you. Your gun and needs may be different from mine. And even if not, shooting is fun.

[Recycled bullet]

If you want accurate explosive hollow point bullets I would recommend the MP molds 359 hammer with the deep hollow point pins. I shot over a hundred of them loaded over hodgdon h110 in 357 Magnum starline brass to strike a steel plate at 60 and 80 yards out of my Ruger Blackhawk. When I went down range and inspected the ground in front of to the sides and behind the target I could not find a single fragment of blue powder coated lead anywhere on the ground. I posted some pictures of those bullets in the coatings and alternatives sections of this site.

Shooting some of them into the loose sand was like watching a small meteor strike!!

[shooting on a shoestring]

Here’s a handful of various solid wadcutters that were lying on my bench from various “expansion tests”.
I think it’s pretty easy to get full meplat wadcutters to expand. I cast them just hard enough to keep them from stripping the rifling and tumbling. If I want to go faster I go a little harder. If I want to go slower I go a little softer.

320350

[Jtarm]

Unless you're considering bullseye competition I would recommend solid base wadcutters, or double ended wadcutters over hollow based wadcutters. The solids are a lot more versatile. With hollow based wadcutters you are limited to low velocity loads to prevent skirt damage or separation. When loaded backwards to create "hollow points" they are hopelessly inaccurate at all but the shortest ranges, and in my opinion a solid wadcutter would be preferred over this if it were needed as a defensive round. A solid wadcutter can be loaded from mild target velocities up to more potent pistol velocities without any problem. Also, solid wadcutters are easier to cast.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Go with a double-ended WC, and you essentially have a nose-pour mold.

[Jtarm]

I have loaded 8,544 HBWC, but I have never loaded one backwards, so I don't have any opinion or data on that and don't think I ever will. DDWC are definitely easier to cast and work very well, so I would definitely use those before I did that with a Hollow Base.

Get a 8 cavity DDWC from MP great mould and you cast them by the bunch. ;)

The MP 8-cavity DEWC is what I run.

Pre-heated, it throws perfect bullets from the first cast and produces 300 per hour. That’s with one cavity sticking badly and increasing time about 10% per cast.