Lee moulds..............

T

tacfoley

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are not as good as they might be, it seems. I'm well aware that they are at the economy range of the market, but.............

My new 500gr 45-70 mould casts a pure lead bullet ca. 465gr and the similarly new 405gr double mould produced two different weights of the same design flat-nosed bullet - ca 416gr and ca 422gr.

Has anybody else experienced such a range of weights that differ so much from the calculated/design weight?

tac
 
That REALLY surprises me. I have those same molds and many more from Lee and I've found them all to drop bullets +/- 1-2% from advertised (naturally pure lead is always heavier than advertized) and all bullets from the same mold to be almost exact. I have never heard similar complaints about their molds.

Are you SURE that you had complete fill out?
 
Do a run of castings and keep the front and rear bullets separate.

The weigh the two lots.

I have found lee molds as good as any I have used.
 
Your different weights from the 2 cavity is only +/- 3gr over a 419 gr slug. Try casting from just 1 cavity and weigh 40-50 slugs to see what the difference in weight is from the single cavity. I'm guessing you'll have at least a 3 gr spread in weight over those from a single cavity.
I'm not a big Lee fan in molds but they are very inexpensive compared to any other manufacturer.
 
I had a 358-150 drop at 140grs. One out of 15 or so.

From time to time they will sell runs of molds that don't match specs; I got a 453-330 which was a 300grs design that way.

Differences between cavities are more annoying...
 
Well, Gentlemen - the variation in the heavy bullets is just 2gr, and the same in the two [duplex] bullets, so my forty-something years casting hasn't been entirely wasted. As some of you note, other resutls from other Lee moulds are well in spec - my ROA mould throws a 146gr ball and has done forever with around 1gr variation, and a .577 Minié is as near as darnit spot on every time.

These two new moulds are just driving me bats, but sending them back to the US is out of the question - the shipping there and the tax coming back is about the same as they are worth, but thanks for the suggestions.

Best

tac
 
tacfoley said:
Well, Gentlemen - the variation in the heavy bullets is just 2gr, and the same in the two [duplex] bullets, so my forty-something years casting hasn't been entirely wasted. As some of you note, other resutls from other Lee moulds are well in spec - my ROA mould throws a 146gr ball and has done forever with around 1gr variation, and a .577 Minié is as near as darnit spot on every time.

These two new moulds are just driving me bats, but sending them back to the US is out of the question - the shipping there and the tax coming back is about the same as they are worth, but thanks for the suggestions.

Best

tac
Click to expand...

Have you contacted them yet? It's possible they may want a destruction photo, and then send you a new one. I haven't had any mold problems, but they patched me up on their dime for plastic ratchets for a turret press, and also the arm for the press. Which some bonehead broke. Who may have been me.

Never hurts to try.
 
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