I broke my mold

sallen

sallen

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Ontario
I’m looking for some insight here as I am new to casting bullets. On the weekend I started my first casting session. I had a new Lee 6 cavity mold, which I prepared as per the instructions (cleaned, then smoked). I cast about 100 bullets without any problems, then I set the mold aside to cool. I went through the bullets that I had cast, for quality control, and weighed them etc. which took about half an hour. I decided to melt the rejects and cast a few more. I placed the mold on the top of the lead pot to heat up, then proceeded to cast some additional bullets. As I was on the third batch, I was moving the handle to cut the sprue’s and the sprue cutter broke about 2 mm from the handle. I then tired to cut them by tapping on the cutter with a wooden dowel, and it broke again on both sides of the screw.

As I’ve never casted before this brings up a whole bunch of questions. Did I use too much force to cut the sprue’s, or did I just get a defective mold? Should it be possible to use too much force? Could I have someone destroyed the heat treating (if any) by letting the mold cool for half an hour, but not get entirely cold?

Thanks in advance.
 
Lee produces some useful products but durable, they are not, the molds, sprue cutter and even some of the screws are aluminum and break if used roughly. All wear points should be lubed because of galling and screws may not allow loosening or tightening or they could snap, again due to galling.
After using a Lee mold, try a Saeco, or LBT, or RCBS, or one of any number of high quality molds and you will see the difference, you get what you pay for.
 
The sprue plate on the Lee 6-cavities is notoriously prone to breakage. The internet is full of tales of their breaking and I did it myself to one the 2nd time I used it. The trick seems to be to ensure the mould is good and hot, so that the lead is slightly soft and shears easily.
 
Any insipiration on a good mold for 38-55? Slugged @ .377 but there was a definite bottleneck in the barrel. Tightest diameter maybe 2/3 way from the chamber.
Lee lists a 250 grain .379 ; but the broken mold thing does'nt sound to cool.
Lyman has a .378 dia mold will this be tight enough?
Its an old rifle and the rifling is quite ...ah...well used? Still shoots accuratly; but I'd like to ( carefully ) reload some hotter stuff. The killing power of Winchester factory loads left me shaking my head this season.
I'm thinking a oversize cast bullet with a gas check and a decent load will restore my faith in the old gun.
I was set to get the Lee but... broke is'nt cool
 
FYI a LEE rifle mold is $26.99, A Lyman rifle mold is $99.95, there is a reason one can be offered so cheap... lee is aluminum block with pot metal cast parts for spru actuation soft wood handles... Lyman is all steel block with, real steel parts and hardwood handles...

Once you learn the quirks of the lee mold they wont break... I have used both lee molds by hand... and I have a magma casting machine that uses steel magma molds... they are a bit pricey but the magma molds have never broke on me yet because they use real metal parts not cheap cast pot metal... I am not bashing lee I have used there product and sell there products... just like in life and everything some people can afford a porsche and some have to buy a ford... you often get what you pay for. the lee molds are more then good for your weekend caster I would not make a casting business with them but for your needs they will work just fine...

Biggest problem with the molds is people dont preheat them... its more important then smokeing them etc... for the first few you will need to bring the mold block and spru cutter up to temperature... you will know when this is achived when you can dip the corner of the mold in the lead pot and the lead wont stick to the mold anymore.... once you cast a few you will have to let it cool for a minute or two...

This will eliminate most basic casting problems... like broken spru lever because you forced it... and problems with wrinkled bullets till the mold gets up to temp if you dont preheat it.
 
Most of my problems with my Lee moulds went away after I bought a $10 electric burner to pre-heat my moulds on. The rest were solved by the Lee-menting stickies on cast boolits. And yes, Lee do honor their warranties.
 
Where is a good Canadian source to order from? The fact that Lee tags on a 35% shipping and handling fee is kinda making me P.O.'d
If a Canadian supplier can come close to and Lee + 35 % price I might as well keep my money in Canada.
Any small suppliers to recommend?
 
Thats alright there is some stat that says most people dont read forum signatures its kinda like telemarketers no one picks up those calls anymore lol
 
Higginson's Powder is the biggest source for Lee products in Canada. About the only thing positive that I can say about Lee casting gear is that it is cheap (for a reason) and it will get new guys into the game who're on a budget. Lyman or RCBS are much better choices.
 
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