bullet mold questions steel vrs alum

Ok been lurking here for a year now decided to join I have 3 lee molds 357 45 and 44 they do ok but I borrowed 250 Kt from a friend wow that thing does great I like the mold but wish it had more cavities and started looking at the noe molds with four cavities what's yalls experience with those I think the steel molds do better but that's just me. Been loading h110 2400 tight group universal clays best yet was the tight group with the 250 Kt. I have made a bullet trap just to save all our lead been loading for bout 20 years getting another friend into it now he already wants to cast also. Thanks guys I have only cast pistol but thinking I need to do the rifles too.<br>
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The choice of mold material depends on a lot of other considerations about casting. Steel molds do not dissipate heat as quickly as aluminum. That means you can can cast slower and mold temp. will not drop with a steel mold. Using a ladle may be doable with a steel mold after it is up to temperature. You may not be able to ladle cast with a large cavity aluminum mold.
Some bullet designs require that you get the lead into the mold quickly. The best bullets are produced by a system and the mold material is just one consideration.

Several things about mould materials there are 3 basics steel / cast iron, aluminum, and brass. The steel / cast Iron is very good and stable, holds up to the heat well. Steel cast iron can rust if not cared for. Lyman, RCBS and others are available in this material. I use several steel / cast iron mould from lyman. They cast grat bullets and are very useable. Aluminum is lighter to handle during long sessions., casts good bullets and is sometimes cheaper due to the ease of machining. Aluminum is much softer and also its temps are much closer to leads melting point meaning it may be even softer when in use. Brass is heavier to use, holds heat exceptionally well, and is easy to work with. One thing I would recomend if you want production rates buy 2 2 cavity moulds instead of one 4 cavity. cast with both filling one while other sets cooling this makes casting much faster as the time spent waiting for sprue to frost and cool is spent filling the next mould. For this steel or brass works much better than aluminum, but they are heavier materials also. I recently cast for roughly 4 hours ( 45 cal rifle bullets in the 550 grn range ) one brass 2 cavity mould and a single cavity steel mould ended up with roughly shy of 500 bullets. Pre heat the moulds and run at a brisk pace. I set the mould on the pre heat shelf on my pot while filling the second. Production is what you need it to be. I ladle cast from a big pot. Keep it simple and easy. If using an electric pot 10 or 20 lbs and the 2 mould with larger bullets you will run thru the pot pretty quick. My 2 cavity 550 grn mould is just over 1200 grns of lead each pour counting sprue into it. each cycle is 1800-1900 grns or roughly 5 ounces from the pot. A 10 lb pot wont last long at that rate. My ladle pot holds 100+ lbs of lead. Look at what you want for production rates capabilites to keep molten lead going and your shooting levels. Decide from there

I would take an iron mold every time if it was an option, I believe that more don't make them because it is harder on the tooling, if I can't get iron, I'll take brass.

I like the iron moulds the best also, that being either Saeco or RCBS. They are really durable, and do a consistent job of producing quality boolits. Next would be the steel ones made by Lyman, which seem to ding up a little easier. But on a given day especially if I'm tired, I like the speed of the Lee aluminum blocks. So I'm no help at all, am I! But for precision, think iron or steel, but aluminum if you want to really crank out the volume, or if there is some gun you're not planning on shooting that much and want to keep your investment down. However I have no experience with NOE or some of the other specialist brands from aluminum or brass, so someone else would have to guide you on that. You can make good boolits with any of them, but great with the iron.

I have all types and prefer aluiminum
Tom at Accurate makes molds with all materials and uses aluminum for his personal molds. It can be argued that he is as good as or better than any other mold-maker.

csatrustburg, welcome to the site! I have Lyman and RCBS moulds that i've used over 40 years for pistol boolits and have cast thousands and their still in top shape.
For comparison i have one Lyman and one RCBS rifle moulds plus 4 NOE al. moulds all for 35 cal.
I love them all, but have been spoiled by the al. moulds from NOE. It's a much harder al. than you'll find in the LEE moulds.
They come up to temp quick, pour a ton of boolits in a hurry and are much lighter.
I have two more al. NOE moulds coming(one is used) for .30 cal. rifle. I expect them to last a few lifetimes just like the steel moulds.
Haven't tried brass yet, but that's on list too. I haven't had any problems with bottom pour or ladle casting with the al. moulds, but mine are all 2 cavity.

Btw, i've only been casting a lttle over 2 years for rfles and the al. moulds, but they still look almost new. I don't think you can go wrong whichever you choose. In fact when i give them a clean up(hardly ever), they do look new!

My preference is for brass moulds. I haven't cast any boolits in almost 2 years due to health problems, and I might not be able to for another few months, but I know when I'm ready to cast again my brass moulds will be waiting for me with little work needed to get them ready to start casting. My Iron & Steel moulds should be rust free, as I've given them a good coating of a rust preventative after each use, otherwise down here in FL they might start rusting fairly fast! Aluminum moulds are good as far as rust resistance goes, but they loose their heat too fast so you have to cast fairly fast with them. With brass moulds you can cast at a more relaxed pace and still have boolits that are cast at the proper temp range, you don't have to keep trying to chase after the right temp like I find I do with aluminum moulds (this is also true of iron/steel moulds, they hold heat almost as well as brass). Each caster will have their own preference of mould material, so there is no one answer that's right or wrong, just what you find is good for you.

I have steel and alum...my favorite mold is an old Lyman 4c 429421...but I like'em all. For production though, the alum 6cav are top dog.

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Originally Posted by jmort

I have all types and prefer aluiminum
Tom at Accurate makes molds with all materials and uses aluminum for his personal molds. It can be argued that he is as good as or better than any other mold-maker.

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This is is my experience as well. And welcome aboard. I have a preference for aluminium just because I can be lazy and steel would certainly end up rusty, have never tried brass but understand them to be heavy, again I'm lazy so......

Thanks guys this is a really good site we had all bullets touching at thirty yards using that rcbs 250 Kt and I'm all about accuracy. I love the 44 and just had questions on the molds I had read that Lyman molds have lost out on quality lately? I have ones of there's in 30 Cal but the entire length of the nose is. 299 that's why I have not even thought about them but it came with my 450 I picked up for 20 bucks a couple years ago. Its all about choice is what I'm seeing might just get the noe and try it out!

I have or have used most of the major manufactures of steel molds. I prefer the Saeco as they are significantly lighter than Lyman and the steel is better and they make 4 cavity molds. I personally think the old Saeco molds are better, but that seems to go for most everything. Once seasoned the Saeco molds produce excellent quality bullets capable of excellent accuracy, but their molds are more expensive. Of course if you look at as a lifetime investment they are cheap.

I have one NOE 4 cavity brass mold and it is heavy, but it turns out the best looking bullets I have ever made; you have to look to find the mold line. I have only tried Lee in the aluminium molds and was not impressed, but NOE aluminium might be worth a try based on the quality of my brass mold.

I used to prefer iron until I had a couple get rained on via a roof leak one storm. Now I have shifted to and strongly prefer brass molds. Aluminum just don't seem to hold up as well for me

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Originally Posted by tja6435

I used to prefer iron until I had a couple get rained on via a roof leak one storm. Now I have shifted to and strongly prefer brass molds. Aluminum just don't seem to hold up as well for me

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If I have steel molds that are not going to be used for a while I pack them in wheel bearing grease and store in a Zip lock bag. Stored like this and they are protected from extreme conditions and will last as long as the plastic bag and grease. A quick wash in acetone and they are back in service.

Just ordered a 432 265 noe to try out just more tests to do thanks guys!