NOE 311407 clone

[dragonrider]

Thanks to Night Owl Enteprises I got my new mold on Saturday and drooled over it until I could cast with it today.
First impression is a positive one. I have yet to see a mold as well machined as this. Fit and finish are impeccable. However looks don't count as much as castability does. And it casts as good as it looks. The parting line is barely visible. When lead temp is good and mold temp is good fillout is excellent. Diameter averaged .314"-315" consistantly. Length is 1.00". My shop made Star size die is .3105". When sized the NOE boolit is a thing of beauty. There are no wide spots in the surface of the land as compared to the grooves that would indicate the boolit is out of round. It looks the same all over, which is a rare thing at least in the molds that I have. But the type of size machine has a part to play in that issue. Gas checks snapped on easily and crimped securely. In short I don't have a lot to complain about with it, actually nothing at all. Also I got the 3 holer and I think that I will get that whenever I get an NOE mold.

All that said need to compare the NOE mold to the two other 311407's that I have. a Lyman 2 cavity and a Lee 6 cavity. Of the three the Lyman iis the longest at 1.045" the Lee is next at 1.012" and the NOE iis the shortest at 1.00". So of course iit follow that the Lyman is the heaviest at 168 grains and Lee at 165 grains and NOE at 160 grains. When comparing diameters Lee is the biiggest at .315"-.316, NOE .314"-315" and Lyman the smallest at .309"-.311" When sizing the Lyman is the ugliest as it is more out of round than the other two. The Lee bieig the biggest get low marks because it seem that the lube grooves get thinner, probably because it is moving more material. The NOE is damn near perfect.

I haven't shot any NOE's yet and don't know when I will be able to perhaps someone else will get to before I and can give us some results.

[bgokk]

I found mine stuffed in the mail box along with about 5 days mail on Friday. I've got to get a bigger mailbox or quit getting in these group buys.;-) I had previously received the NOE
358429-168-Keith but this is the first chance I have had to try either mold. I posted this info in the 358429 GB results thread, but here it is again.
The first session, after cleaning with brake cleaner and lubing the mold with BullPlate, resulted in only getting grip and forearm exercise, every thing went back into the pot. I was also casting with NOE's 311407 modified, with the same results. The next session I ran things hotter and started getting real boolits.

Here's what I did.
N. O. E. 358429-168-Keith, 168 Gr., My Wgt. 176.795 Gr. Avg., .358 Dia., My dia. .3612 Dia., My length .748", my alloy 10#COWW/10#SOWW+1#1st B(high tin content), date cast 8/9/2009, kept after culling 246, Stats: Sum of 10=11767.95 Gr.; Std. Dev.=0.2629 Gr. (.0015%) Pan lubed 119 with Speed Green.

The NOE's 311407 modified, a 2 cavity. Produced the following:
N. O. E. 311407 MOD, 170 Gr., my wgt. 171.805 Gr. Avg., .311 Dia., my dia. .314+ Dia., my length 1.044", my alloy 10#COWW/10#SOWW+1#1st B(high tin content), date cast 8/9/2009, kept after culling 57, Stats: Sum of 10=1718.05 Gr.; Std. Dev.=1.0531 Gr.(.0061%) All lubed with LLA. Weight with lube no gas check

I found that I had to run with the pot at 750* to 800* until the molds got hot then could lower the pot temp to around 700*. The 311407 MOD required that I maintain at least 750*.

Between the two casting sessions I must have run that 20# through the pot and molds twice.
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[dragonrider]

Well two things to note is the difference in length and weight between your 311407 and mine. I use straight ww's and water drop. Temps I run are normaly 750 to 800 I find that covers most of the molds I have for good castability. I have one or two that need to be run above 800. About the length I assume you are measuring without the gas check, Yes???

[bgokk]

Yes without the gas check.

[SwedeNelson]

bgokk

PM sent.

Swede Nelson