WTB N.O.E. 550 Pritchett Plug Mold

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Last Post 13 April 2025
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Aaron posted this 09 April 2025

Does anyone have a spare or unused N.O.E. .550 Pritchett Plug Mold they want to part with? I have ruined mine using Sculpey Clay and forgetting about it in the mold. The Sculpey hardened in the mold because I let it sit too long before popping the plugs out of the mold. Believe me when I tell you the Sculpey becomes iron hard and becomes "one with the mold" in a few short hours.

N.O.E. has been out of stock on these for years and I do not think they have any plans to make new ones. Email to them has been unanswered.

I'm hoping one of you has a spare one to sell me.

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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mhice posted this 09 April 2025

Have you tried an acetone bath? That should dissolve the polymer in the clay even after it has been "baked." If you want, send it to me. I love forgetting things in baths and coming back to find them perfect.

-Michael

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Aaron posted this 09 April 2025

I have not tried it but I will now.

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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linoww posted this 10 April 2025

did the trick work?

"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!

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Aaron posted this 10 April 2025

Yesterday I took a blow torch to it. The plugs glowed like charcoal briquettes and fell out for the most part. There was a ton of material still attached inside of the holes. I tried wire brushing it out, used 600 grit polishing compound, and a ton of elbow grease. I got a lot of the remaining residue out but some still exists. I went through 8 20ga cleaning brushes in the drill. I just made a batch of CLAY plugs to see if they would fall out or stick to the residue. They have fallen out so far. The mold is producing CLAY plugs and will never again see Sculpey or Bondo.

I have a batch of Sculpey plugs from a year ago soaking in Acetone and another few Sculpey plugs soaking in Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) which will take the hide off of you. The Acetone batch seems to be "dissolving" and is producing a goodly amount of precipitate and clouding the Acetone. Perhaps the Acetone will dissolve the remaining Sculpey in the mold. I'll try it tomorrow and get back to you.

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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linoww posted this 10 April 2025

are you going to compare non base plug vs plugged?

I'm curious of results.

"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!

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Aaron posted this 11 April 2025

The 550 Pritchett bullets need the plug. The 568 bullets can be shot without plugs. Is that what you meant?

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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Aaron posted this 11 April 2025

The 550 bullets have too much windage to be fired without a plug. The need something rammed up their base to get enough expansion to get a grip. I could always fire them without plugs to evaluate their figure of merit……

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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linoww posted this 11 April 2025

That makes sense, I guess I was getting the diameters and weight mixed up.I haven't played with rifle muskets in about ten years.

"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!

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Aaron posted this 11 April 2025

Did you roll them with a tucked tail or with the button (tied) tail?

Tucked Tail (568 bullets)

Button Tail (550 bullets)

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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linoww posted this 11 April 2025

my cartridges were crude and really I dint recall how I finished the bottom

there wasn't the information online there is now so I was winging it.Thinking again in was about in 2005 when I had the Parker Hales.I had the Musketoon,2 and 3 bands. I shot the 1858 most and mainly with the PH marked mold made by RCBS with loose powder.

"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!

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Aaron posted this 11 April 2025

Acetone dissolved the sharp edges of the plug and softened the bulk of it to where it could be removed.

Methyl Ethyl Ketone freaking dissolved the Sculpey plug. Gone. Vanished.

Methyl Ethyl Ketone rubberized the Bondo plug to where it could be squashed.

Cool beans.

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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CBA Member

Aaron posted this 11 April 2025

I have the mold soaking in MEK to remove the remaining traces of Sculpey. Should be clean tomorrow. I just can't believe a blow torch didn't burn the goop out but MEK dissolves it.

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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RicinYakima posted this 12 April 2025

MEK will also kill you very dead. Careful!

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Aaron posted this 12 April 2025

MEK will also kill you very dead. Careful!

We used MEK in the Corps decades ago and I became aware of its properties. Seems like it was going to be outlawed about 10 years ago yet I continue to find it in hardware stores. It is a volatile liquid for sure but I have never seen anything strip paint and epoxy coatings like MEK. The fumes will melt your brain too. Really..

Thanks for the heads-up and warning!

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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delmarskid posted this 12 April 2025

We used MEK to wash our hands before breaks in the finishing room of the furniture factory. It took oil stains off our hands then they would kind of tingle for a while. I didn’t work there for long.

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linoww posted this 12 April 2025

I used MEK cleaning tools and stuff in a furniture refinishing job in the 1980"s with no warnings at all.

The brain melt definitely explains why I am like I am.

"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!

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Aaron posted this 12 April 2025

I have about 300 clay plugs firing in the furnace. I put them in there at half 10 this morning and will shut the furnace off before bed tonight. Should be cool in the morning and I'll see how the plugs hardened. Eat your heart out Brett Gibbons!

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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Aaron posted this 12 April 2025

Gave them a 2000 degree soak for 5 hours. Should take 4-6 hours to cool down.

Fingers crossed.

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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mhice posted this 13 April 2025

Color me jealous. I want a kiln / fording furnace so bad; I cannot stand it.

-Michael

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Aaron posted this 13 April 2025

Color me jealous. I want a kiln / fording furnace so bad; I cannot stand it.

I was lucky to get this one. My X purchased it in the late 80s for her jewelry making hobby and never plugged it in. When she passed away a few years ago, my son asked me what it was and then was gracious enough to box it and ship it to me. While a tad heavy and large, the rascal gets to 2000 degrees! I am sure the X is rolling over in her urn knowing I am using it for bullets.

New ones I have looked at on Amazon run about $600 to $700 and would get the job done for clay plugs. Larger kilns for pottery making need a mortgage to acquire. Good God they can be expensive. Here is the Kiln I would purchase if I break the old one.

In case the hyperlink above does not work, here is the URL for the kiln on Amazon;

https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-Electric-Temperature-Stainless-Tempering/dp/B0D5LP6BYL/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=cSu1P&content-id=amzn1.sym.255b3518-6e7f-495c-8611-30a58648072e%3Aamzn1.symc.a68f4ca3-28dc-4388-a2cf-24672c480d8f&pf_rd_p=255b3518-6e7f-495c-8611-30a58648072e&pf_rd_r=KX7FCWGKV1DMTRHVAGSH&pd_rd_wg=pVYRa&pd_rd_r=e4ff2fd6-4761-4873-8f3b-7565e801b319&ref_=pd_hp_d_atf_ci_mcx_mr_ca_hp_atf_d

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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