NOE 218-25-RF-D6 2 Cavity RG2

[Bob Pratl]

No regrets on the 2 cavity mold, I have dozens of 8 cavity molds and my hands go numb after a few castings, the two I just got are both the two cavity type and I was able to cast for a whole hour without stopping due to the hands giving up. 

I, like a lot of others, preferer a 2 cavity brass  mold, but the last 6 that I purchased have been aluminum because of casting fatigue.
Once I get the proper cadence I get nice castings with little fatigue. 15 years ago I could cast all day with a bass mold.

[Wayne52]

I do have a 5 cavity aluminum mold for the .217 BBT's it's not bad at all on the wrist however I've got a 4 cavity 250-34-RF mold that's a great mold but casting for a long time with that one can wear on ya.  I was listening to a "Full Lead Taco podcast on youtube, at the beginning of the podcast they talk about how NOE is ramping up things to start building steel molds soon.  That would be fantastic if they started running some of the more popular airgun molds from steel because I have always really like using steel molds, they even mention how casting with zinc alloys is more suited for steel molds because of the higher temps required for zinc alloys.  I would still use lead though.

[EdinGa]

I do have a 5 cavity aluminum mold for the .217 BBT's it's not bad at all on the wrist however I've got a 4 cavity 250-34-RF mold that's a great mold but casting for a long time with that one can wear on ya.  I was listening to a "Full Lead Taco podcast on youtube, at the beginning of the podcast they talk about how NOE is ramping up things to start building steel molds soon.  That would be fantastic if they started running some of the more popular airgun molds from steel because I have always really like using steel molds, they even mention how casting with zinc alloys is more suited for steel molds because of the higher temps required for zinc alloys.  I would still use lead though.

Yes sir, and a zinc alloy could be a great option for lighter air rifle slugs.

[Wayne52]

When putting away a steel mold I'd just spray down with some WD40, put it away then next time I used it I'd simply give it a dishwater bath before I started casting with it.  Steel would also save money for NOE as well as being able to get steel much easier than brass or aluminum.  It might even be easier on the tooling for machining the molds as well.  Both brass and aluminum can be problematic for machining, never know they might even be able to start building some .177 molds in steel as well.  I'm sure that's why Lyman molds have always been favorites for a lot of people that do their own casting is the fact that steel works REALLY good for casting projectiles all the way around.

[Spacebus]

No regrets on the 2 cavity mold, I have dozens of 8 cavity molds and my hands go numb after a few castings, the two I just got are both the two cavity type and I was able to cast for a whole hour without stopping due to the hands giving up. 

I, like a lot of others, preferer a 2 cavity brass  mold, but the last 6 that I purchased have been aluminum because of casting fatigue.
Once I get the proper cadence I get nice castings with little fatigue. 15 years ago I could cast all day with a bass mold.

I bought a couple of two cavity molds and wish they were four cavity molds. Haven't tried the .25 cal mold yet, but my NOE .22 hunter mold can get too hot when in a solid rhythm. You can tell when the mold is too hot because the pellets start dropping with hairs and wings.  On the bright side it cools off quickly, so usually a quick break is all it takes. I may even cast today since it is so nice.

[Firewalker]

When putting away a steel mold I'd just spray down with some WD40, put it away then next time I used it I'd simply give it a dishwater bath before I started casting with it.  Steel would also save money for NOE as well as being able to get steel much easier than brass or aluminum.  It might even be easier on the tooling for machining the molds as well.  Both brass and aluminum can be problematic for machining, never know they might even be able to start building some .177 molds in steel as well.  I'm sure that's why Lyman molds have always been favorites for a lot of people that do their own casting is the fact that steel works REALLY good for casting projectiles all the way around.

Very much an opinion piece there Wayne. Aluminum and brass are much easier to tool, cherries last much longer and the cut rate is exponentially faster.

With Zinc, I completely agree, steel will resist erosion with zinc casting much longer than aluminum and brass can become contaminated. I've been casting 1" balls for a BP cannon for decades, since wheel weights started to change over and found that zinc is very hard on molds.

I would guess that LEE outsells all others 10/1 with their molds just by price alone. I.e. 124gr .357; $40 for a mold from LEE vs $118 for an almost identical mold from NOE.

[Spacebus]

No regrets on the 2 cavity mold, I have dozens of 8 cavity molds and my hands go numb after a few castings, the two I just got are both the two cavity type and I was able to cast for a whole hour without stopping due to the hands giving up. 

I, like a lot of others, preferer a 2 cavity brass  mold, but the last 6 that I purchased have been aluminum because of casting fatigue.
Once I get the proper cadence I get nice castings with little fatigue. 15 years ago I could cast all day with a bass mold.

I bought a couple of two cavity molds and wish they were four cavity molds. Haven't tried the .25 cal mold yet, but my NOE .22 hunter mold can get too hot when in a solid rhythm. You can tell when the mold is too hot because the pellets start dropping with hairs and wings.  On the bright side it cools off quickly, so usually a quick break is all it takes. I may even cast today since it is so nice.

Well... I pulled the out the .217-20-RF 2 cav mold and it's pretty warped... there's a clear gap when the mold is closed. I definitely got it way too hot when I was casting. This is a real bummer. I'll be extra slow with my 250-41-FN 2 cav mold.

[scion19801]

did some testing with what I've cast using this mold. Things look very good. Had to turn my scope down as they were super high poi/poa, to be expected. Holding 1-inch groups at 50 yards with just general sorting for visible defects. I did figure out my HP pin sticking issue. Need to call Al. my pins have a visible step and not a smooth taper on the hp and that is causing my sticking. I can see it under magnification.
Anyone got an idea what metal NOE uses for pins?

[Firewalker]

My 2 latest molds have the same issue, I chucked them up and checked the runout then the step, it's a cut so I tapered the pin to get rid of it.

Polished with Flitz and they drop fine now.

[scion19801]

Yeah, just got off phone with Al. Chuck them up and hit them with sandpaper and the step should polish out. if not get back with him and he'll make a new set.

[Firewalker]

Yeah, just got off phone with Al. Chuck them up and hit them with sandpaper and the step should polish out. if not get back with him and he'll make a new set.

The added taper was just over 0.001 so I can live with that.

[brewbear]

I don't have a lathe and if I did, I wouldn't know what to do with it. The HPs drop with a bit of coaxing but I see that slight step.

[Firewalker]

I don't have a lathe and if I did, I wouldn't know what to do with it. The HPs drop with a bit of coaxing but I see that slight step.

Mine were definitely a cut into the material, both sides the cut measured exactly the same on mine.

Looks like a CNC programming issue to me.

[scion19801]

Al is looking into it. it may have been cause by a chipped carbide bit. I chucked mine in lathe and a short spin with some 320 and 500 and then polish has them looking better now. Firing things up for a test run to see how they do now. Al also said to run the molds about 430 degrees or so and make sure the pins are hot and it should help with releasing as well.
Pic of current pin condition after worked.

[Madd Hatter]

I'm finally getting to cast some slugs today. I was suppose to be burning one of the pits down in the medow where we put all of the dead trees we cut down but the propane truck is finally going to deliver the last 100 gallons for this season. I'm real happy with the 218-25-rf mold. It's cranking out slugs faster than any of my other molds do with no sticking at all. I did swap out the hp pins for the flat point pins and they are dropping between 24 and 24.5. I'll see how they shoot after I resize them to.215 for my liberty. Do wish they were dropping at 25 grain's like their label but knew they wouldn't.

Just looked at the specs on noe and noticed that the bc is .0666. 😲😱😱

[Greg_E]

You could chuck them in a drill and hit them with sand paper too, don't really need a lathe just to polish them.

[brewbear]

You could chuck them in a drill and hit them with sand paper too, don't really need a lathe just to polish them.

That's what I did. 600 grit, 2300 grit and Fitz as a final polish.

[scion19801]

yeah. mine works better. I got one pin that needs just a bit more as it still sticks on occasion. man are these things accurate. I'm running off my .25 cal tune on my impact mk2 with just a caliber change. so not 100 percent perfect and I know I'm wasting a bit of air, but these little slugs are wicked so far. hitting around 935 fps and super flat. I barely need to make hold over adjustments. From 30-66 yards is almost all identical.

[Baco]

yeah. mine works better. I got one pin that needs just a bit more as it still sticks on occasion. man are these things accurate. I'm running off my .25 cal tune on my impact mk2 with just a caliber change. so not 100 percent perfect and I know I'm wasting a bit of air, but these little slugs are wicked so far. hitting around 935 fps and super flat. I barely need to make hold over adjustments. From 30-66 yards is almost all identical.

hey Dan, got any data for this one on muzzle energy compared to pellets?

[scion19801]

23.4 gr hp at 966 average for 48.5 FPE at muzzle is what I'm seeing