Shiloh Rifle Forums

I purchased an NOE 412-400 bullet mold in brass. I have several Lyman molds and have been a little disappointed about their ability to make round
Bullets.

I molded up a bunch in the NOE with 20-1 alloy. The were round, and weighed a consistent 399 grains.
Today we shot them at 500 meters and we were VERY impressed with their accuracy. A MUCH better mold than my Lyman 40 cal molds I think.

The Lyman 410663 bullets were giving good accuracy when everything was perfect, but I suspected poor quality bullets at the turkey and ram line.

Books by Paul Mathews and Robert Ballowe ( that I received as door prizes ) have made me take a closer look at my bullet making and reloading process.

Over the years I have become a member of the NOE thousand dollar club, mostly moulds for sixguns. I have yet to be disappointed.

I have molded for pistols and lever guns for years....BPCR makes me better at molding and loading I think. I'm 65 and learn something almost every day. The NOE mold is better I think, than some of the Lyman molds I have.

Good cast bullets from a good mold with better loading techniques make for tighter groups for me at 500 meters....and I need all the help I can get out there.

Casting for the Sharps has made me a much better caster, the sixguns are for mostly 25-50 yards, and I am willing to fudge a little on the overall quality, and it has never shown itself to be an issue, the Sharps on the other hand, where the distances stretch to multiple football fields, quality over quantity. I have some issues with my shoulders and back from time in the Air Force, so it takes me a lot longer to build up stock of Sharps bullets, but it is so worth it.

I have spent most of my life shooting pistols with lead bullets. If they looked OK I shot them. I cast bullets for Jeanne's 30-30 , 32-20 and 25-20 and the ranges were only 200 meters and in, so I wasn't too picky. With BPCR I need and have started paying closer attention to making cartridges. Our 1885 40-65 rifles like different loads so that keeps me on my toes.

Very nice! My last NOE mould was for my Great Granddad's 1894 in 32 WS.

That is SO COOL !! My dad gave me a Winchester in 71 and I am giving it to my grand son this year. I'll mold him a few bullets, loader up and put him in a tree.

This is the kind of stuff I love to hear, especially in today's world.

I believe Lyman molds are still "cut with the cherry process"

They will never be as "round" as a lathe bored mold , centering of either in the mold blocks is set up and tooling dependent

Casting and temperature management are also key to uniform shrinkage

Be consistent with your molding process

Dave

Dave
I have no idea what folks mean when they talk about the cherry Process. I have a couple of Lyman molds that make pretty bullets. This NOE bullet looks good and drops consistently . I must admit I have leaned a few things about casting by reading books awarded at a rifle match.

Glenn,

A "cherry" is a cutting tool shaped like the bullet the mould will cast. It is spun as the two halves of the mould blank are closed around it. Very economical and fast way to cut a bullet mould, but potentially not as accurate cavity that lathe boring will produce.

Woody

Glenn,

A "cherry" is a cutting tool shaped like the bullet the mould will cast. It is spun as the two halves of the mould blank are closed around it. Very economical and fast way to cut a bullet mould, but potentially not as accurate cavity that lathe boring will produce.

Woody

Have a look on you tube

Search, "making a bullet mold"

The cherry process should be the first one up

A bit over 2 minutes

From a toolmakers point of view, of the various ways to make a mold it all boils down to how careful the person cutting the mold is. If you are cherry cutting a mold it must close on the center of the cutter and the mold halves must be kep clean of chips and other debris. If you are lathe cutting the blocks they must be centered on the lathe bore, is not then one side will be deeper than the other and the bullets will stick. Both methods will produce good molds if done properly.
Cherry cutting is good to make a lot of molds of the same size and style. Lathe cut molds can offer a bit more flexibility to adjust the size of the cavity, or to make changes to the design. With CNC machine cut molds, size, shape, length and other factors can be easily adjusted. A skilled programmer can make the changes quickly and easily within reason and produce a one off or a run of custom designed molds. If the design is one that produces an accurate and popular bullet, the program can be called up from storage and reproduced easily.
A mold cherry is kind of a one of a kind thing. it can be made smaller by regrinding it, much like a chamber reamer. It can't be made bigger. To make the same design bigger a new cherry (cavity cutter) would have to be produced and that can be both expensive and time consuming. When you consider it has to be shaped on a lathe, the flutes need to be cut. Then it has to be hardened and the cutting edges need to be sharpened so that it will cut.
Sam

Here are a couple PP I'm working on. I will get them finished this winter.