Gifted some molds

[fingers284]

Abuddy of mine gifted me some Alum molds that he got in a large garage sale buy. From the photo he sent me i thought they were plain ol' Lee molds but now that i have in hand, their different from any Lee mold I currently have.

My old Lee molds all have a large "LEE" stamp along with a convoluted stock # that is sometimes hard to decipher what the mold will throw and the mold block tops are smooth. These molds have a small hand stamped LH & mold dia along with weight in the to left corner of one mold block, no other identifying marks of any kind anywhere on blocks or handles. The other thing is that they all have air bleed-off grooves cut in the block tops...are these a new generation of Lee molds or someone else custom manuf??

 

[yomomma]

Newer Lee molds have LH stamped on them to indicate "Left Hand" thread for the screw holding on the sprue plate

 

[Snider shooter]

Sounds like you have the newer style Lee moulds. The vent lines will be part of a circle with some facing each other. Also the bottom of the mould will be stepped in. Haven’t changed the handles much and should be pinned to the block.

 

[kjohn]

I use both new and old style moulds for various bullets. They work just fine.

 

[fingers284]

Thanks boys, now I know what I have. The "left hand" info will be made note of for sure.

i have numerous Lee molds of the old style and they all serve me well provided I warm the mix up hotter than usual. The previous owner of these molds used some sort of mold dressing that really carboned up the block faces (filled those spiral mill mark bleed grooves) so that i'm not sure they are usable anymore. The mold blocks dont join perfectly anymore so "out-of-round" slugs will drop from them. Will try to clean them up but that level of accuracy to dimensions will/may be difficult.

 

[ted_dent]

Thanks boys, now I know what I have. The "left hand" info will be made note of for sure.

i have numerous Lee molds of the old style and they all serve me well provided I warm the mix up hotter than usual. The previous owner of these molds used some sort of mold dressing that really carboned up the block faces (filled those spiral mill mark bleed grooves) so that i'm not sure they are usable anymore. The mold blocks dont join perfectly anymore so "out-of-round" slugs will drop from them. Will try to clean them up but that level of accuracy to dimensions will/may be difficult.

Try soaking the mold blocks in lacquer thinner and then scrub with the stiffest bristle brush you can find. I'm guessing that will remove at least some of the carbon crud from the vent lines. An ultrasonic cleaner might also work on something like that.

 

[vagrantviking]

There are solutions for carbon removal.
I'd start by trying bore cleaners on hand or carburetor cleaner.

Ed's Red is supposed to be good as a home remedy.

 

[Bassmaster]

There are solutions for carbon removal.
I'd start by trying bore cleaners on hand or carburetor cleaner.

Ed's Red is supposed to be good as a home remedy.

Agreed. Let it sit for a few minutes, rinse, repeat

 

[kodiak1]

Rapine made a lot of aluminum moulds.
Post a picture.

 

[fingers284]

already identified by the guys and i do have a Rapine .515 mold, these are very different in manuf.

Thanks again guys for the carbon removal suggestions , will be trying them this week.

 

[jethunter]

For cleaning molds I use a toothbrush and solvent. Varsol, naphtha have both worked well. After the solvent, submerge in hot-hot water with a squirt of dish soap and scrub with the toothbrush again, then rinse with boiling water.