New to casting or thinking about it....please read.

[WheelgunConvert]

Some of you cretins just have no appreciation for the words Rare and Vintage.

But she isn’t into the art and science of boolitology

[mdi]

Instead of "overpaying" (?) for a $80.00 NOE mold, just buy a Lee mold ($30) and buy $50 dollars worth of lead. More good bullets...

OOPS! Forgot the $35.00 for handles for the NOE mold. So, buy a Lee, with the difference get 30-40 lbs of lead and enough 45-45-1- to last a couple years...

[SweetMk]

This is a timely thread,, especially to us newbie's,,
For example:
1) I ordered a 5 cavity mold from NOE ,, yesterday,, Will a Lee 90005 handle set be adequate? or do I need something else?

2) Is there a thread about how to best start with my new NOE mold?

3) I have one PID assembled, now I gotta get one assembled (the parts are here) for the powder coat oven.

4) THIS IS A MAJOR QUESTION! I read all the time about "slugging your barrel"
Sierra does not slug my 300 Win Mag , yet they sell me J-Words that shoot one hole at 100 yards.
Why is slugging necessary with DIY bullets, but, not with commercial supplied bullets?
It seems like we ALL should be casting bullets to a diameter, just like Hornady, or Sierra,,
What am I missing?

Thank you for the info,,,

[fcvan]

Lee mold handles fit NOE. I have used them on RCBS, SAECO, and Lyman as well. I remember someone saying they had a mold where Lee handles needed thinning a bit, I don't know which mold company. Another guy said something about pin holes not aligning with the mold blocks, still not a Lyman, SAECO, or RCBS. You should be good.

[Burnt Fingers]

Noe blocks use the standard Lee handles.

To season your new mold wash it with Dawn and lots of hot water. I use on old toothbrush to scrub the mold. Let it dry. Now turn your oven to 400° and put your mold in the oven. Let the oven come up to temperature and leave it there for 30 minutes. Turn off the oven, leave the mold in the oven.

Do the oven thing three times. Your mold should be ready to go. Make sure it's hot before you start casting. I preheat on a hot plate.

If the blocks are hot and the melt is hot and you're still getting wrinkled boolits take a butane lighter and LIGHTLY smoke the blocks. I use those long BBQ lighters for this.

Once smoked, and with the blocks hot it should start dropping perfect boolits. There are some that say it's not necessary to smoke the blocks. I've found about half my new molds, aluminum and brass needed a light smoking to drop good boolits.

Jacketed boolits don't lead the barrel. The reason we slug bores it to get good fit. If you don't want to slug then just size to the largest boolit you can chamber.

[AndyC]

I agree with the OP - he's not slagging off Lee, he's simply saying don't let panic make you overpay (Lee or not) and be aware of other options out there.

With that said, I have an unwanted Lee mold on eBay right now - and I'm astonished at the bidding. The mold is good, I just hope the person who gets it finds that their money was well-spent.