Opinion on 2 NOE mould?

[GunsAndHarley]

I am starting casting in a few weeks and since I have no experiance any advice is welcome.

I chose NOE 460-405 RF 2GC 2PB for 1895GG and 311-165 RF 4 GC for the 30.30 marlin.

Those will be my first 2 moulds ever and I am wondering if anyone have an opinion on those.

Thanks

[reddog81]

NOE makes good molds. Are you looking for a 4 cavity mold with 2 Gas Check cavities and 2 Plain Base cavities for the 1895?

[GunsAndHarley]

NOE makes good molds. Are you looking for a 4 cavity mold with 2 Gas Check cavities and 2 Plain Base cavities for the 1895?

No! But it is the only one in stock. I would like a 4 cavity GC better.

[Yodogsandman]

NOE makes a couple of different 311-165 molds. If the one you want is the Ranch Dog with a very short band above the gas check, I've had "difficulties". That little band likes to rip when de-molding. Waiting a few seconds after cutting the sprue off helps some.

[MT Gianni]

I suggest that you buy a lee mold first and run it until it breaks. Learn to cast on it, see if this is for you and then buy the two NOE molds you want. NOE makes a great product but nothing is bullet proof and I would get my learning curve up to speed with a $25 mold first.

[Czech_too]

I agree with the suggestion that MT Gianni gave. Get your feet wet first, so to speak, using one of the inexpensive Lee moulds. You may find that casting isn't something you want to do long term and rather than dropping a lot of $$ into it, start out small.

Another thought is to first get some samples from the NOE moulds you're interested in before purchasing. See if those boolits work for you before buying.

[GunsAndHarley]

I chose a mould from accurate. 460-350 VG. A bit expansive but quality look great. Now looking for a 30.30 mould.

[jimofaz]

The 20-1 alloy boolits from my NOE 4-cavity .460-405-RF plain base makes for the tiniest .45-70 groups I have ever fired.

[kungfustyle]

If you post the mold on their forum and here under group buys you will probably fill the quota in no time. Go with the gas check version it will give you more options or get a split mold 2 w/ gc and 2 wo. That way you know what the gun likes. For Marlins its hard to go wrong with the Ranch Dog designs. Check out http://arsenalmolds.com/index.php?route=common/home as well. They use to make the mold blocks for NOE before they ran there own.