Looking for feedback on Lee mold

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G_Alan

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Lee Mold 6 CAV TL452-230TC - LP-90286 I've borrowed my buddies Lee 230grn RN Tumble lube mold and have had good results with both casting and powder coating. I've had a few Lee molds that weren't as nice to use.
Anyone have any experience with the 230 Tc mold in both casting and powder coating?
Thanks
 
As Dan said the 6 cavity molds are good as long as you keep the temperature consistent. You will learn where the sweet spot is for how quick to work by pouring the lead and how much time to spend cutting the sprue and how much time it takes to pour the next bullets etc. You can speed the process up a bit by using an infrared temperature gun and after 5 pouring's in a row with good bullets taking the temperature of the mold to see what it likes. Also the temperature of the lead needs to be consistent as possible and for my 20 pound 40 year old Lyman Melter I have it controlled by a PID controller. So you control the temperature of the lead and the mold and you can kick out a lot of nice bullets with a 6 cavity mold.

Some of the higher end molds have a hole cut in the mold on the end to insert a temp probe so you can monitor the temp as you go. Problem is that a wire is attached to the mold which is a pain sometimes. Once you get the proper settings of the mold temp and the lead temp down you can remove the wire if you want. Once they figure out a wireless temp probe that can take the heat you will have something.
 
Lee mould work well. But like all aluminium block - they don’t last forever. With care - you can cast thousand and thousand of bullets with them. Myself I don’t use the tumble lube bullets style but my buddies who does have nothing but good thing to say about them.
 
I own a few LEE molds. The 6 cavity are decent. The biggest plus is the anodized sprue plate, something you wouldn't expect on a budget mold.

Some people just take them out of the box and cast away. I clean my new mold and then give it a good going over and lube. I sparingly lube all the pivot points and wear surfaces with a small film of 2-stroke motor oil. I picked Polaris Blue because I have it kicking around. 2-stroke oil is slower to gas than other oils and it sticks to hot metal. I try and keep any hint of the oil away from the cavities. After a 10# pot of lead, I'll apply oil again, a slight film with a Q-Tip.

I usually give the top of the mold a bit of a convex and re-polish it.

You can get some real decent production out of the 6 cavity, even on a bad pour, you'll still get 4 good bullets. I keep the temp a bit under 700, and keep the casting rate slow enough to avoid any frosty bullets.

I weigh my bullets, cull any light ones. Light ones will have inclusions or flaws. I still lube old school, with a 4500, and if the bullet looks a bit odd after lubing, I cull those as well. Even being a bit OCD, I still end up with over 70% good bullets.

The 2 cavity LEE molds are a frustrating tool, the sprue plate is never smooth, and never flat. I've lapped them and heat treated them, and they work a bit better, most of the time. A Lyman 2 cavity mold is far superior.

A couple of designs that work well for me are:

LEE 358-148-WC
LEE 452-255-RF
LEE 429-200-RF (only for 44-40, 429 is too small for most 44 Mags)

It was fairly easy to get accuracy with no leading with any of these. I usually "smoke" the cavities with a Bic when the mold is new, and sporadically "smoke" them after the first session.

Nitro

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nitro-express said:
The 2 cavity LEE molds are a frustrating tool, the sprue plate is never smooth, and never flat. I've lapped them and heat treated them, and they work a bit better, most of the time. A Lyman 2 cavity mold is far superior.



It was fairly easy to get accuracy with no leading with any of these. I usually "smoke" the cavities with a Bic when the mold is new, and sporadically "smoke" them after the first session.

Nitro
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Thanks Guys It was the 2 cavity Lee's that I've tried in the past , and agreed they dont seem to work as nice as my 2 cavity Lymans do. Probably just the learning curve from a 2 cavity steel to a larger Aluminum one.
 
I use Lee molds almost 100% of the time. I don't sell any bullets, I am not all that fussy about how they look. The tumble lube bullets are my favorite. I have used some in my Ruger PC9 and am quite happy with accuracy. But what do I know.
 
I have a LEE 2-cavity mold that throws good bullets about 60% of the time. Luckily, it’s not high volume. The LEE 145 grain 40S&W bullet mold I like, looks good but being a two cavity, it’s too much work for production. Hey LEE! Make it a 6 cavity mold.

LEE’s TL 148 grain wad cutter 6 cavity mold is outstanding, but 3 of the other TL molds I bought were disasters: totally undersize.
 
I bought a 452-230TC as my first 6 cavity mold, what a difference. I cast more in my first session with that than in any two sessions with my collection of 2 cavities. Works great, bullets dropped nice except for one cavity that has the occasional hang up but I can live with that. I have the a two cavity of the tiny 452-160RF and the different in loading was night and day. The bigger 230 slid into the cases so easy. They were a dream to load. About 9 second per on a lee turret. I’m going to get the 452-200SWC next, I’m feeding these into my Enfield Carbine and lighter 45acp loads can be zipped seriously fast in a 16” barrel.
 
20lb pot running 2 6 cavity molds will drop a thousand high quality bullets in no time. I used to cast the .356tc and the .452rn. Both tumble lube profile. Running two kept the temp just about perfect for the entire session.
 
I own over 25 lee molds, both 2 cav and 6 cav.
The only real problem I've had is not the fault of the mold. It's the fault of loaning the mold to a careless user, who beat the mold in places not meant to be hit with a hard (steel?) Item.
"Fool me once, your bad. Fool me twice, my bad."
I no longer loan molds.
 
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