I wonder if your mold handles are off, and you are accidentally peening the holes when you close.
I wonder if your mold handles are off, and you are accidentally peening the holes when you close.
Easy fix for the issue you are having is push the alignment pins in just about 20 thou.
I have done it on every Arsenal mold and it cures the problem 100% along with a touch of lube on the pins a couple times during casting.
I use my vice with soft jaws and it take a bit of pressure but the will move.
I have two Arsenal 5 cavity aluminum molds with the same problems described in this thread. I have a dozen or so Lee molds and never had a hitch with any of them. One of the Arsenal molds I put Lee handles on wouldn't open. Had to try two other handles before I could get the mold to open. It has gotten slowly better with use, and I think it's a good quality mold, but it is very frustrating to have to rap on the handle bolt 10 times to get the mold open and all the bullets to drop. I think I'll measure and try the vise trick to see if it helps. Good luck to all with your Arsenal molds.
What could possibly go wrong?
I had Jared at Arsenal seat them deeper but they are still to proud so I push them back until the mold will open with no drag. Usually between 20-30 thou. This still of pin used by Arsenal and NOE are prone to this.
Al just sets his deeper from the word go.
It is an easy fix and will make the mold a pleasure to cast with!
The longer blocks on the four and five cavity never open square so the pins being too proud cause them to “stick”
^^^^What he said. I used a brass hammer and tapped mine in until I cleared up the problem.
_________________________________________________It's not that I can't spell: it is that I can't type.
All this "adjusting" to the moulds seems ridiculous to me. I battled my Arsenal mould and eventually sent it back and it has worked fine since but really, if this was anything but a bullet mould, would you be satisfied with it?
Just turn it upside down and tap on it, then it will work? You are buying and paying for a precision piece of work that should function correctly out of the box and for a long time to come. I get all the "fixes" that we all have done on some things over the years but it strikes me as fixing someone else's problem that has now become mine. How many other things do you own would you tolerate this with?
Don't get me wrong, I love my Arsenal RCBS KT 150 Clone, it shoots lights out for me but the continual problems are real and should be fixed. It would do wonders for the company and the positive adjustment would be noticed. Instead, I, for one and only speaking for myself, question if I really want to order another one that may have the same issues and on top of that, even bigger issues getting someone to contact me back. Then we wonder why some go outside of this great country. Off the soap box now.
I've molds from NOE,Accurate and Arsenal and have had no problems with them. I did have an RCBS mild the had to set the pins back with a tap or 2 with a brass hammer. Have a set of handles that needed the bolt to be adjusted for alignment with one mold.
I have had to set back pins on NOE(2), Arsenal(2), Lee(6+) and NEI moulds(1). Lee being the worst. NOE, two out of 35 moulds isn't bad and Arsenal, two out of 10. 4 and 5 cav. moulds. Maybe 10 thou' or so. No big deal
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |