NOE HP Molds are PITA!!!

I don’t ladle cast, and very seldom have metal go off the left side of the mould. Like Ian mentioned a slight raise of the handle directs any excess off the end. When I do have some run off the left side I just wait until I open the mould and pull any off with my gloved hand, usually when that happens it is attached to the spruce anyway, so it makes a good handle. I preheat on a hot plates with the brackets and pins down mostly, then turn it over onto the spruce plate for the last few minutes before I start casting. I have a piece of 1” tubular steel I put under the mould handles while it sits on either side of the mould that keeps the mould flat on the hot plate. I usually don’t even look at billets dropped until about four or five cycles. I just automatically dump them back in the pot. I believe that also brings the nozzle on the Lee pots up to temp some. Works for me.
 
I do tilt the blocks away from the side pins, but I still occasionally get a drop or two going down the left side.
 
That turned out nice Waco. I cast some Keith bullets for my 45 Colt from my NOE brass mould today...it was spitting out bullets. No pins on that one though.
 
I didn't say I can't cast with the mould. I was saying that it done ** me off.
 
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Bob, was that the HG 503? Might be interested....
 
know that feeling.
I struggle with accurate molds until they are broke in [about 4 billion bullets later] then I'm okay with them.
 
358156 hp said:
I didn't say I can't cast with the mould. I was saying that it done ** me off.
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My 4 have not aggravated me that much yet. But, I have resorted to mostly using cup point or flat point most often. They do make really nice bullets.
 
I have at least 10 of them, and I can get all of them to work. They need to be hot, and the some of the pins have needed a good polishing with steel wool, but eventually they all work. I generally give the pins a good blast with a propane torch before the first pour.

I like the MP molds too, but I can’t cast with them for very long before the arthritis in my fingers objects.
 
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Just a thought from someone with zero HP experience (no preconceived notions, either). Make a pin holder from an aluminum block. Put a small hotplate on the bench with the block and pins on it. When you remove the pin, place it in the heated block. This assumes a hot plate will be hot enough.

I do have a minie-ball mould which uses a pin to create the hollow base. It was given to me along with the Hawken to shoot it. I've never cast with it not shot the Hawken. After reading this thread, I'm a bit better prepared for when that day comes.
 
I think my biggest problems came from trying to cast during the winter in a coldish garage.
 
I believe the pin polishing and heat to be the most helpful for me. Just takes a few seconds each pin when chucked in a cordless drill. Couple drops of synthetic two cycle oil on the steel wool and preheat both top and bottom of the mould on a hot plate. The longer the hp pin the more time it gets preheating.
 
The cup point pins that NOE offers are a happy medium. I imagine they offer some expansion of the bullet and cast just as easy as a flat nose.
 
I've still no plans to test the powder coat waters, but I like that color, too.
 
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