Best way to remove the bevel on a Lee mold

[six_gun]

A friend of mine gave me some bullets to try out in my 357 rifle. They were cast from a Lee 6 cavity 158 gr Round Nose Flat Point mold. They worked great.

I ordered the same mold from Midway and what I got was very different. Mine has a shorter, fatter, nose and is bevel based. I don't like the bevel.

Has anyone removed the bevel from a Lee mold? What is the best way? I don't want to screw the mold up but I figure it shouldn't be too difficult. Can I just take a drill bit, about .358 in diameter, and run it in the mold or is there a better way?

Sixgun

[felix]

A very slight 45 degree or so edge won't hurt a thing, and would be a seating aid permitting you to save your brass bell operation. If the bevel is more than an edge I would send the mold back for an exchange. An edge is too much of an edge if more than just a dab of lube is present after sizing. Don't wipe off this smattering of lube because it will help protect the edge of the boolit when fired hard. ... felix

[Willbird]

I have that same mold, and it is a decent sized bevel base, I have debated removing it, I was going to try buying a 2 cavity and re-working one cavity to see if it improves accuracy.


Has anybody gotten super good accuracy from that bullet in a sixgun ?? I got some initial good results (6" at 100 yards) shooting them un-sized with felix over a handfull of Lilgun, but it has not panned out with more extended testing.

I have also tried universal clays and that did not show promise, Blue dot is next. I would prefer a powder that is more frugal than H-110/296

Bill

[Buckshot]

............Are you talking about this one:

http://www.fototime.com/2D536DBA57B9FA1/standard.jpg

Mine are from a 6 cavity I bought last year. The BB is of no consequence and the barest bit of lube is present on the BB after lube-sizing. What is the mould number, so we can be sure we're talking the same thing?

I suppose a simple way to remove the BB is buy a reamer of the mould's shank diameter. You can get openstock chucking reamers in steps of 1 or 2 ten thousands. As the shank on these is longer then necessary, I would cut it off to just behind the flutes to provide better control. The aluminum material you're removing is nothing to the reamer and the distance is very short.

The job should be simple and a matter of only time in making sure of your alignment. It just depends upon if you want to spend the $17 -$20 + shp on the reamer or not, and how you feel about doing the work.

I would suppose you could also swage the BB ledge out of the cavity. With a piece of steel turned to the right diameter you place it in the cavity. With a short spacer on either side of the blocks across the cavity, you squeeze the blocks together. The existing bottom drive band would serve to align the rod. You'd get a small ridge of metal raised around the cavity but some 400 grit paper on a flat surface would make short work of it.

Lee uses the same type thing to produce their round ball moulds. A round cutter is used to cherry the bulk of the cavity out, They them place a carbide ball in it and crush the blocks together. I believe they use a 40 ton press which is way more then what you'd need :-). A bench vise would probably suffice. To turn the piece of steel, barring a lathe you can do a creditable job with a drill motor clamped in the vise and using a file and then abrasive paper.

............Buckshot

[Willbird]

358-158-RF

that is the one I have, and the BB is .04 LONG, but it only checks .02 on the radius so it is not a 45 degree angle, something shallower.

Are you getting sub 6 moa groups with it Buckshot ?

Bill

[Buckshot]

358-158-RF

that is the one I have, and the BB is .04 LONG, but it only checks .02 on the radius so it is not a 45 degree angle, something shallower.

Are you getting sub 6 moa groups with it Buckshot ?

Bill

The K38 and Ruger BH 357 x 4-5/8 have both shot sub 2" at 25 yards with the little I've done with it so far. I bought the mould to try for higher type velocities without a GC. Sure seems like a nice boolit.

.............Buckshot

[Willbird]

I am able to run them 1200-1300 easily with no visible leading, 25 yard accuracy is decent.....thinks just don't seem to come together with them at 75-100 yards tho. The lee 150 grain sorta keith shoots better, one group with 5 in 3" and a flier opening it up to 7"


Bill

[six_gun]

Yes, it is a 358-158-fn. That is the one that I have. I didn't measure the bevel but it has about a 16th of an inch of lube around the side after running through a lube sizer. That is more lube than I want to have on the base of my bullet, fowling the powder.

I cast about 200 of them last night and had to throw about 20 of them back because they were under weight, mainly because of not filling all the way out at the bevel. I will lube these with Lee Liquod Alox and stand them upright on a paper towel and see if the excess lube goes away.

These bullets do shoot good, about 3 inches at 100 meters. I use 5 gr of Bullseye and get 1200 fps from a 20 inch barrel.

The biggest problems caused by the bevel are the lube around the bullet and it is hard to eyeball them to determine if they are keepers or not.

The ones that I threw away last night were weighed. The keepers were 159.6 to 160 gr. anything lighter, I threw away. Most of them that I threw away had a hard to see, imperfection around the bevel. These were cast hot and slow. I wanted a little frost on them so the liquod alox would stick better. I will not size these, just lube and shoot.

Sixgun

[Buckshot]

.............Take an old towel (heck, take a NEW one if you're brave enough) or a rag but preferably with a heavy nap to it. Fold it over enough times to make it deep. When you pluck the slug off the ejector pin, set it on the rag and give it a twist. That will remove all or enough of the lube on the boolit's edge.

..............Buckshot