New Bullet Mold

[Walt]

I ordered a 4 cavity mold from Accurate Molds about a month ago and it came in over the weekend. It's an aluminum mold which weighs about the same as a traditional iron 2 cavity mold. I have half a dozen other Accurate molds and I can't say enough good about them. They heat up quickly and when they're at normal casting temperature the bullets literally fall out of the mold. Very nicely made, I like this one, my first aluminum 4 cavity mold so much that I'll likely order others.

I really like and have cast and loaded Lyman's 358156 for years but I wanted a gas check bullet that was not a SWC. From left is a 358156, then Accurate's 36-160G. On the right is Lyman's 358665 which is very similar to the Accurate bullet except that it's a plain base design and has a much larger grease groove.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I love a good mold. I have several of Veral Smith’s molds that were easy to use.

That looks a lot like what Veral used to make.

[Walt]

Although Veral made some fine molds, I found him to be a cantankerous old poot. I had ordered a 325 gr mold for my .454 Casull with the understanding that it would include the top punch. It didn't and I had to pester him for a couple of months before I finally received it. In the meantime I had to use a top punch with a flat face to size the bullets and I doubt they came out as concentric as if I had used a fitted top punch.

[Bill in Oregon]

Walt, nothing but good things to say about Accurate Molds -- and the two or three Arsenals have been very nice as well.

[Ysabel Kid]

I've got a couple of them and they are fantastic. Ordered a hollow-base .38 wadcutter mold a couple-few years ago (to use in 1851 conversion cylinders), and they work great!

[yooper2]

I have a pile of Accurate molds and all are excellent. Haven't ordered any since the ownership change, glad to hear they are still doing good work.


Eric

[earlmck]

Yep, Accurate makes great moulds, Arsenal makes great ones. My only complaint about the 6-cavity Lees moulds is they don't make them in enough styles. I guess I am just easy to please.

Moping around here with a wounded wing that isn't gonna' let me cast anything for a few weeks yet.

[Bryan Austin]

I ordered a 4 cavity mold from Accurate Molds about a month ago and it came in over the weekend. It's an aluminum mold which weighs about the same as a traditional iron 2 cavity mold. I have half a dozen other Accurate molds and I can't say enough good about them. They heat up quickly and when they're at normal casting temperature the bullets literally fall out of the mold. Very nicely made, I like this one, my first aluminum 4 cavity mold so much that I'll likely order others.

I really like and have cast and loaded Lyman's 358156 for years but I wanted a gas check bullet that was not a SWC. From left is a 358156, then Accurate's 36-160G. On the right is Lyman's 358665 which is very similar to the Accurate bullet except that it's a plain base design and has a much larger grease groove.

Ordered one Oct 2nd, hope it gets here soon!!!

[Shasta]

I could not agree more on the quality of Accurate aluminum molds. I currently have nine, all are either four or five cavity and cast perfect bullets every time if I do my part correctly. My only screw-up was ordering a four cavity mold that cast two different bullets. It's difficult to keep the two seperated after dropping from the mold. My favorite is the John Kort designed 43-205C for my .44-40's. I really like its wide grease groove.



I also have eight or so of the Lee six cavity molds, which cast good bullets but the mold build quality is noticibly less robust than that of Accurate molds, and I dislike the handle on the sprue cutter. I prefer using my rawhide mallet to knock the sprue cutter.

I recently purchased my first Arsenal aluminum mold, a five cavity clone of the 225 grain Lyman 429215 gas checked .44 caliber. Build quality is much better than Lee but not quite as good as Accurate, although it is very close and cost much less. Usually with a new aluminum mold I can start getting perfect bullets after twenty or so cycles casting at 725*. With the Arsenal mold, I made over fifty cycles and still got slightly wrinkled bullets, indicating the mold was not getting hot enough. I bumped the alloy temperture up to 750* and increased the cadence speed and soon was getting perfect bullets. With my Lyman 429215 mold I need to use a seater to install the gas checks. The new Arsenal mold accepted gas checks without needing to use a seater.

Here is my bullet casting set-up:




Shasta

[GunnyMack]

Now thats a casting setup!
Very nice Shasta.

[Walt]

On new aluminum molds I spray down the cavities, the pour holes and the underside of the sprue plate with brake cleaner. Then I use 90% isopropyl alcohol on q-tips to wipe out each cavity and the result is that I get perfectly filled out bullets in 6 or 7 cycles and the weight is correct. I made a sheet metal lid to cover the lead reservoir on my furnace and my molds preheat for 20 or 30 minutes on the lid before I begin casting. The humidity in my area is so low that I don't put rust preventives on any of my molds including conventional iron mold blocks.

I drop my hot bullets directly into a small plastic water bucket. I only put about 3 or 4" of water in it and float a couple of small sponges on the surface so that they tip and the bullets don't get dents before they're fully cooled in the water. I dump the water out when I'm done casting, spread the bullets out on a towel in the sun and shortly thereafter, they're ready to size.

[Bill in Oregon]

Holy cats, Shasta! That's a mold library you have there!
Walt, I've got to try the water-drop method. Never have. I usually just squirt isopropyl on a new aluminum mold, scrub with an old toothbrush and let it evaporate.

[samsi]

Now thats a casting setup!
Very nice Shasta.

Yes it is. I've got a big ol' Taco Wagon toolbox that I no longer use, now I know why I've been hanging on to it.

[Ysabel Kid]

I find casting so relaxing...