Got a lemon lee mould! what to do?

I also own quite a few Lee molds and I'm very happy with them.
Whenever I have a problem, I email the company and they'll come with a solution.
I also read the pamphlets that come with the molds. So when the mold gets too hot, I briefly lay it on a wet towel and, voila, it's good again.
Cast 500 bullets today in about 2 hours and only had to discard one. Not bad at all!
 
My dad owns probaby a dozen lee moulds for bp balls and minies, and they all seem to work well. I had high hopes. I did end up with some useable bullets, it just takes 3 times as long to size them because you have to peel the little fins off of the base :(
 
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I've cast 9mm, 45 cal, 30-30 (two weights), 303 (2 weights) and Slugs. ALL without problem. Well, I had the one problem where I broke the sprue handle of the 6-cavity, 9mm mould; but a quick email to Lee with pictures solved that pretty quick!

I'm sure there are much better moulds out there. I myself want to get into a Ranch Dog 30-30 mould order one day. (then again, they order from Lee too right? I may be wrong).

But for me, as a brand new caster with zero experience, the affordability of Lee moulds has allowed me to cast boolits from all the calibres above. I've not experienced the fins that people talk about until recently with the 9mm moulds and thats only cos I was hurrying.

Be careful though, this boolit-casting thing is highly addictive! Especially with
the low price, you'll start collecting moulds and casting boolits in all your spare time. For me, it all started with the 303BR. Now look where I am!!!
 
I recently bought a Lee 6-cavity mould for .40 S&W. I cast a bunch of bullets, and quickly discovered when I went to size them that they were not round.

I didn`t even hesitate. I wrote a letter outlining the problem, boxed it up with the mould and mailed it to Lee. I expect a replacement to arrive any day now. Generous warranties and excellent customer service are de riguer in the reloading industry now, Dillon made sure of that.
 
AS far as I know the Ranch dog molds are made by lee or at least they use the same soft aluminum even on the sprue plate, the screws holding the sprue plate are either aluminum or pot metal. Once you've used a quality mold it is very hard to go to a Lee.
 
Just got of the phone with Pat in tech service/support at Lee. He said tht provided the gouges do not break into the cavity, it should be fine with a new sprue cutter. Took my address and said it would be mailed out today! Excellent!
 
mwjones said:
Just got of the phone with Pat in tech service/support at Lee. He said tht provided the gouges do not break into the cavity, it should be fine with a new sprue cutter. Took my address and said it would be mailed out today! Excellent!
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Good to hear you're getting some good service. I've had lots of Lee molds, and I've had best luck with the 6 cavity molds. I even own one of those 2-sided sinker molds that works very well (I fish too).
 
Silverback said:
I have tried a few Lee moulds and I think that they are crap, the blocks are too small so they overheat with any amount of casting and the alignment pin system is a joke unless you like having two bullet halves not aligned properly. Unfortunately they don't even make a good boat anchor as they are so small and light. I have moulds made by Lyman, RCBS, LBT, SAECO and Mountain Molds, all of which are vastly superior in quality to Lee moulds as they do not require any magic tuning or factory repairs to work properly from day one. I would say that the best for the money is Lyman, very good quality at a reasonable price.
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Oh come on now. Lee moulds just need some lovin' to cast great bullets. Look up 'Leementing' on the castboolits.gunloads.com site. The process takes a few minutes and deals with just about all of the issues people complain about.

Are Lee moulds the best available? Hell no! They are good enough though...and cheap enough to attract people to the hobby.

My personal favourite are moulds made by NOE (Night Owl Enterprises) They are effectively the Lee 6 cavity design (in 2-5 cavity though) made with better alloy and better machining. They are cheaper than most other mould maker's offerings (a 5 cavity will run about $90.00 CDN) but are ready for use right out of the box and cast beautiful bullets.
 
skit said:
just send it back and they will give you a new one.
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Yup...fill out the feedback form on their website. They will exchange it for you. Just make sure you are clear when you describe the problems. Make sure you tell them the mould is 'defective' and not just that it casts bullets with fins.
 
mwjones said:
Just got of the phone with Pat in tech service/support at Lee. He said tht provided the gouges do not break into the cavity, it should be fine with a new sprue cutter. Took my address and said it would be mailed out today! Excellent!
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When you get that new sprue cutter, assemble the mold and then soak it down with liquid graphite.(peavymart,CT) let it dry and pour the next day. No more smoking and waxing. The graphite does it all. I give it some spot shots while pouring, because I use a welding glove to gently pry the bullet out not hammering it out. Every 1000 bullets out of my 6 cavity and the sprue and all other hinge points get another soaking with liquid graphite.
 
DrNick said:
Oh come on now. Lee moulds just need some lovin' to cast great bullets. Look up 'Leementing' on the castboolits.gunloads.com site. The process takes a few minutes and deals with just about all of the issues people complain about.

Are Lee moulds the best available? Hell no! They are good enough though...and cheap enough to attract people to the hobby.

My personal favourite are moulds made by NOE (Night Owl Enterprises) They are effectively the Lee 6 cavity design (in 2-5 cavity though) made with better alloy and better machining. They are cheaper than most other mould maker's offerings (a 5 cavity will run about $90.00 CDN) but are ready for use right out of the box and cast beautiful bullets.
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My NOE mold needed work. I had to polish the alignment pins because they would stick.

Maybe the regular molds are better, but mine is the hollow point mold and the bullets stick to the HP pins, and there is casting flash on the bullet nose. My Lee mold is way nicer to use.
 
500cadillac said:
My NOE mold needed work. I had to polish the alignment pins because they would stick.

Maybe the regular molds are better, but mine is the hollow point mold and the bullets stick to the HP pins, and there is casting flash on the bullet nose. My Lee mold is way nicer to use.
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Email AL....he'll make it right. NOE moulds are made from higher quality materials and you should see any problem as the exception...not the rule. Having said that, I find Lee moulds to be entirely adequate....especially for the money :)
 
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