Lee 12 ga slug mould question

blacksmithden

blacksmithden

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I live among the creatures of the night (Edmonton)
My buddy reloads shotgun, and wanted me to cast him some slugs. We went and had a look at the Lee slug moulds. WSS only had two 7/8 oz moulds on the shelf. I took one out of the box and the handles were almost falling apart. I grabbed the second one and opened the handles......then I couldn't get them closed because the mould block kept jamming on a the handle. I went back to the first one and opened it right up. Same thing. I messed around with it for about 2 minutes, and finally got it closed. Not such a big deal in the store.......at 550 degrees, it would be a different story.

Anybody used these things ??? From what I saw, they're junk. Was I looking at 2 duds, or are they all that way ???
 
I use a 1 ounce, have to clamp it together with vise grips, kinda a pain but makes good slugs, and has cast about 1000 slugs. Not as bad a fit when hot and well smoked, price is way better than any other slug mould on the market.

A.
 
I've only used the Lyman moulds in the slug department so can't say but in the bullet moulds they are OK as a entry level kit. For me they don't last and one 6 cav. set on the first pre heat the alignment pins fell out:rolleyes: Steel and Aluminum, 2 metals that expand differently, go figure.

You get what you pay for. My 2 cents;)
 
Buy them new, fix them if you have good skills, then they work OK(providing you have lead and mold bottom very hot). The new 6 cavity are the best out of box but still need fine tuning and care.
 
I have a Lee 1 oz mould. I have cast over 100 slugs ( some pure lead and some with a bit harder alloy ) and have had no problems except if I try to cast with the mould too cool then lots of rejects. Just have a wooden hammer handle ready to knock the slug out ( it seems to stick on the centre part of the mould.
 
I have both 1oz and 7/8oz in my online store I have been testing these slugs all year... I will be using them on my hunt in one week... the range results and testing is great... I have put about 300 down range.

I am getting simmilar velocities to winchester rifled slugs, around 1600FPS 0-125 yards they worked well... I have been fireing them out of a Remington 22" Heavy barrel cantiliver with leupold scope. I just picked up a 18.5 smooth bore and have only tested about 50 rounds with it on our indoor range of 20 yards... its not as accurate as my rifled barrel because the lee slugs are getting no stabiliaztion from the lack of rifleing in the barrel.

I am still working on importing the proper wads so you can reload simmilar shells to the winchester premiere and remingtion high velocity sabots... as we have been wanting to reload or own versions of these at $15 to $20 a box for 5 they are way to expensive to put 300 down range for practice...
 
You've found the secret to Lee Molds inexpensive costs, they're CRAP! The Lyman molds that use a regular shotcup and you can use regular data are far superior, the slug itself is fairly long and shaped like an airgun pellet. These work more like the expensive factory sabot/slugs then the Foster type.
 
Only thing is the lyman slugs are 525Grs while the lee's are 444Grs for the 1oz or less for the 7/8oz, if your looking to use these for hunting velocity and energy are important factors... higher velocity and BC = less drop off. Where larger mass and slower velocity translates into more energy = knock down power...

Lymans molds are steel more durable, lee's are aluminum... they are both holobase, they both use shot wads.

Ben is the man when it comes to casting I value his opinion highly... Ben do you know of any slug molds that will work on magma's autocasting machines because they are holobase I dont think there are any solid slug molds on the market.
 
tank9c1 said:
Talk to that cigar smoking friend of yours about casting 12ga. slugs....
Click to expand...

I would......but he's never home and his cell is always turned off !!! I'll try him again tonight.

Thanks for the input guys. The two that I had my hands on last night weren't just a little hard to work with. They were outright jamming open. The only way I could get them to close was to hold a handle with one hand, and twist the mould block in such a way that I could force it past the protruding piece of handle.

I've got a pile of Lee rifle and pistol bullet moulds and I don't really have any major complaints. The one Lyman mould I have is actually screwed up. The driving rings on the bullet base are widest at the bottom, then taper as you go to the front of the bullet. If you're loading short necked cases like 300 win mag, as soon as the gas check gets past the neck, the bullet falls into the case. My Lee 200 grain 30 cal mould works perfectly.

I'll just write the two that I saw last night off as factory duds and wait for them to get some new ones in.

Thanks again guys.
 
I use a 1oz Lee and it has worked great so far (only 200 or so cast). I'll agree that it is not the best mould that I have used but I get good resaults out of my smoothbore HP9 for about one third the cost of purchased slugs.

The key seems to be the temp of the mould, once it is up to temp you can get a bunch done. When it gets too hot let it sit and cool a bit (smoke break) then go back to casting.

IMO it is a decent mould for the price.

Cactus
 
I don't see how a hollow base mold would work on those machines, I've never even heard of one with more then 1 cavity, NEI Handtools makes a 12 ga. slug mold that can be done up in 2 cav. and altered for use in casting machines, it is plain base.
 
Yah the lee and lyman mold will not work on those machines... Ill have to look into the NEI mold

I checked out NEI... is the mold your talking about #399A? looks like that design should work on a casting machine and I hope it can be loaded in standard wads might have to get one and do some testing with it.
 
Bore size on #399A is .734", according to NEI, so there is no room in the bore for a shotcup, I have used full bore dia. slugs with the bottom part of a shotcup, just trimmed off the petals.
 
I like my Lee 1 oz slug mold.... I've used it quite a bit , and I'm happy with the slugs..I make them out of both pure lead and wheel weights - both work good.. The pure lead ones will expand , flatten out on a hard target , but the harder W/W slugs quenched in a 5 gal bucket of water will penetrate like no tomorrow!.... Here's a tip for those of you who have problems with slugs sticking on the base plug... I use Rapine Mold Prep , and it works great.. Slugs don't stick , try some - you'll like it...I use it in my steel molds too , makes casting a pleasure instead of a pain.... I buy it from Buffalo Arms , and they still ship to Canada...
 
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