Cost of Molds

[MGySgt]

Checking for a few new molds this morning. Looked at Arsenal, MP Molds and Accurate Molds.

Wow how much more Arsenal Molds than the other 2.

It shocked me. How many customers will go to Accurate or MP for their mold purchase???

[Joe_7910]

Accurate gets all the custom designs market and are absolutely top of the line. MP has some great high capacity molds and inexpensive high quality hollow point molds. Arsenal has great 5 cavity affordable molds, but are limited on bullet design options. I have a few of each makers molds. They all have their pros and serve a different market depending on what you want.

[jdgabbard]

Yeah, different strokes as you might say...

I find MP to be the best bang for the buck IF you don't need something custom.

Accurate is really the only mold maker around besides Lee that is still doing custom molds. The problem is they have the same limitations that Mountain Molds had - minimum diameter, and flat nose only with a minimum meplat size.

Arsenal's molds always reminded me of NOE, but with less options. Their molds, at least at one time, looked identical. To the point that I was pretty sure that Arsenals were actually made by Al.

Of the three, the only two I'll be using as it sits right now is MP and Accurate. MP for their cookie cutter molds, and Accurate if I need something custom. If Mihec would ever get back into the custom run game I've got several molds I'd propose for group buys... They be perfect in his blocks, and very similar to the styles he is already making. A good fit for him to keep on making.... But considering he still hasn't responded to an email nearly two years old at this point, I don't see that happening at any time.

Of course, similar emails to Al and Arsenal also went unanswered. So maybe inquiring about custom molds post 2023 is taboo....

EDIT:

I really am hung up on lack of availability for custom designs...There ARE still designs that are needed that do not exist - or at least are no longer made....

The drive for this actually has me designing my own CNC Milling machine right now. It's a tabletop design, from Aluminum Extrusion. I'm about 1/3 the way through the design at this point. And the goal is to be able to mill my own designs in mold halfs with greater than 0.001" accuracy. If I can do that, then I can make "good enough" quality molds for myself. And I'll be out of the mold buying game... Considering my experience with 3d Printers, CAD, and basic understanding of CNC machines, I feel this is completely doable.

[MGySgt]

Just priced a Clone of the 358 477 for a 4 cavity, good design for .38's and .357.

Arsenal $85.00
Accurate $150

So where is the custom in this mold?

[jdgabbard]

Just priced a Clone of the 358 477 for a 4 cavity, good design for .38's and .357.

Arsenal $150.00
Accurate $85.00

So where is the custom in this mold?

His molds are basically all the same price.

But if I send him my own specs for a mold he will cut that mold for me if it is within his limitations. That is why his catalog is so vast - any time someone has a new mold cut he adds it to the catalog.

Also, I think you mixed the two around - Arsenal should be $85, and Accurate with $150.

[Joe_7910]

Just priced a Clone of the 358 477 for a 4 cavity, good design for .38's and .357.

Arsenal $150.00
Accurate $85.00

So where is the custom in this mold?

Haha where is the custom in this clone

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Just priced a Clone of the 358 477 for a 4 cavity, good design for .38's and .357.

Arsenal $150.00
Accurate $85.00

So where is the custom in this mold?

Do you have that backwards?
I just priced a 5 cav Alum 41 cal Keith type SWC from both of them

price before shipping added.

Arsenal $90.00
Accurate $169.00

[MGySgt]

Yes it is backward, I will fix it

Fixed.

[Tom Trevor]

Do not forget Buffalo Arms for molds as well.

[Good Cheer]

Accurate has been making my design innovations into realities and doing it very well.
Big thumbs up.

[MGySgt]

Do not forget Buffalo Arms for molds as well.

They are real proud of their molds aren't they.

[MGySgt]

Accurate has been making my design innovations into realities and doing it very well.
Big thumbs up.

That is great, I just think that their catalog molds should be lower. But it is their business and they seem to be doing real well.

[Joe_7910]

That is great, I just think that their catalog molds should be lower. But it is their business and they seem to be doing real well.

It seems like you have some sort of predisposed negativity towards Accurate molds. You just don’t like their prices, or is there more to it? They definitely live up to the price point.

[MGySgt]

No, I have no problem with them, I have a few of their molds myself. And they are great molds.
It is just that since I bought the last one ( been a few years since I bought one) that there prices have gone up a higher percentage than the other mold makers. I got sticker shock when I went looking for 2 new molds.

[MT Gianni]

Yeah, different strokes as you might say...

I find MP to be the best bang for the buck IF you don't need something custom.

Accurate is really the only mold maker around besides Lee that is still doing custom molds. The problem is they have the same limitations that Mountain Molds had - minimum diameter, and flat nose only with a minimum meplat size.

Arsenal's molds always reminded me of NOE, but with less options. Their molds, at least at one time, looked identical. To the point that I was pretty sure that Arsenals were actually made by Al.

Of the three, the only two I'll be using as it sits right now is MP and Accurate.

Arsenal worked for the shop that made NOE's molds when Al first started out. After NOE bought their own lathes and moved away from having that shop contract with him, one of their employees started Arsenal. He may have had a noncompetitive agreement with the old shop but that did not extend to all employees starting a new business.

I believe that Accurate uses a different aluminum type of block than NOE. I do know that both are much more durable than Lee's.

[jdgabbard]

Arsenal worked for the shop that made NOE's molds when Al first started out. After NOE bought their own lathes and moved away from having that shop contract with him, one of their employees started Arsenal.

Makes sense. I always thought there was some kind of relation there. The molds are too similar. But that explains a lot. Thanks for sharing!

[jdgabbard]

No, I have no problem with them, I have a few of their molds myself. And they are great molds.
It is just that since I bought the last one ( been a few years since I bought one) that there prices have gone up a higher percentage than the other mold makers. I got sticker shock when I went looking for 2 new molds.

I haven’t noticed any real price discrepancy. They’re about the same price as they were a few years back as best I can tell.

Also, where else can you get a custom made mold in iron!!! That is a service that basically nobody but Accurate offers!!!

[Harter66]

I caught a sale once unfortunately the sale was at a place with sliding rate shipping and $78 mould got to $102 in a hurry. I paid $112 and had a 5 cavity stocking run NOE over the 2 cavity RCBS .

I honestly don't remember what I paid for Mountain mould but it was a fair price especially for what I received.

RCBS and Lyman singles are $78-86 , doubles go 100-125 .
Lee is still $25 for 1&2 cavity and 58-65 for the 6s .
You can get an Accurate 4 cav in something 400 different bullets up to like a 450 gr 45 cal for like 145 .

I have moulds from a dozen makers . I didn't have and haven't had an Arsenal . I started with Lee . I actually have a 40 cal RNFP Lee 6 cav that I kept over the LBT and RCBS versions because there's was no discernable target or charge weight difference and the Lee made 3 times as many every pour . I've also sent several on their way because they just didn't work for me .

The best part about about a "clone" custom is that if you want a 310299 or 8mm Karibiner but you need them .318 to size .317 you can have it . You can also get a 435421 .

I guess we all just have to decide if Lee good enough is good enough or if we need something better.

[20:1]

You probably won't like hearing this, but according to Mihas site his sale pricing of the last few months ended last week, and all moulds will return to full price when his new website is up and running again. LBT is gone now as is Magma, and NOE is on it's way out, even though Al has only had little to no production for a couple of years now, but Arsenal is still around. We're running out of options, especially for custom work.

[jdgabbard]

You probably won't like hearing this, but according to Mihas site his sale pricing of the last few months ended last week, and all moulds will return to full price when his new website is up and running again. LBT is gone now as is Magma, and NOE is on it's way out, even though Al has only had little to no production for a couple of years now, but Arsenal is still around. We're running out of options, especially for custom work.

One more reason I’m in the process of building my own CNC milling machine… I can think of a thousand reasons to have one. And being able to make my own molds is just one of them. Every week I’m one piece closer. And even if it takes me a year to complete, I’ll be that much closer to being able to handle my own jobs…