Replacement Lee Mold Bad

[tomme boy]

I sent in a couple of molds that I was having problems with. The one the sprue plate kept comming loose. I would tighten it down, it would loosen. It finnally stripped out. Every time this would loosen the bases would have a flashing on them. So I sent them back.

The replacement mold had the front and rear cavity smoked on the 6 cavity mold. So they at least looked to see if it works. I will say, all of the bullets fall out of the mold on opening. Don't even have to shake or turn. So they can make a mold to drop the bullets out. It was also leaving a flashing around the base of the boolits.

Now the problem with it. The mold is the 200 SWC H&G style 6 cavity. If you measure the bullets at the seem, they measure 0.4500. If you measure at 90 deg. from the seam, it measures 0.456".

I called Lee and talked to one of their techs. He wanted me to cast some bullets with the sprue plate open and to measure them this way. His thinking was the sprue plate was keeping the mold open? So I casted some boolits the way he wanted and measured them. They measured the same thing. So on to the flashing. He says it is a lube problem and he asked me what I was using. I told him Bullplate. NOW WAIT FOR IT!

He says he has never heard of anything good about using bullplate for a lube on the pivot points and pins! I laughed and said I would just send them back to them and hung up on the guy. Well hopefully they will fix this.

[sig2009]

Clinton Iowa. Ha. I lived in Davenport in the early 70's. I just got a 6 cavity replaced. Along with smoking the mold they included a piece of Alox to lube the pins.

[tomme boy]

Ya they had this in the box as well. That was what I was using before the bullplate. He said that using the bullplate was the reason for galling. On the old mold.

[sig2009]

I guess Lee is no different than any other manufacturer. They want you to use only their products so when you told him you used Bullplate he said that.

[Char-Gar]

Ah yes, Lee tech folks. Don't waste your time dealing with them.

[tomme boy]

You know whats really bad? I just went and tried out the other mold they sent. A 00 buck shot mold. Every single one of the cavities has flashing around all of the balls. The mold has no light showing when closed. Nothing is between the halves. And I already sent the other mold back. Now I am going to have to pay to send it back again. I already talked to them about getting them to pay for the other mold to ship back to them and they said NO. Looks like another call in the morning.

[Ben]

UUUmmmm, this doesn't sound good at all.

I hate to hear all this ! I thought that Lee was doing a better job of late, I guess not ? ?

Ben

[runfiverun]

i wonder if the mold you got [H&G 68] is one of the rejects from the broup buy run here a couple of years back.
just recycled a couple of times.
airc they started out too small, then were out of round.

[stubshaft]

Welcome to my world...

I had so many problems with one of the Bator molds that I spent more in postage returning it 3 times than I paid for the mold itself.

Finally got tired of the runaround and milled the GC base and made it a PB.

[youngda9]

I had a horrible experience with Lee customer service as well on one of their molds. They couldn't believe that I got a lemon.

[HangFireW8]

I don't bother with Lee phone support any more. I just return the mold with a polite, clear letter. By clear I mean, I don't bring in the entire history of the mold, its precessors, my entire reloading history, etc., etc. Just the facts.

Yes, Lee as a company has a real attitude about their molds. To them, all molds are returned because of unrealistic expectations and/or lack of lube. I've explained I lube my molds with Bullplate, and inevitably the replacement comes back with a note about it being "unlubed" and a sample of Lee NRA 50/50. I must have half a dozen samples floating around my bench. :) Never mind none of the molds I've returned ever got enough use to get any real galling. All of them had significant out-of-the-box issues, like misalignment, warping when hot, undersized, etc.

I have a funny story about Lee just last week. I went through my casting stores and had a bunch of mislabeled boolits last month. This month I realized I had a mislabeled mold, so I took some steel wool and swapped the labeling on my 8mm Karabiner and my 8mm Maximum. Then I went to load up some Max and found I had more Kar's. Hmm. I looked through my notes. I had returned an undersized Max this time last year, and it appears I got a Kar in return. Now I have two double cavity 8mm Kar's. This would be funny except I also have an earlier single cavity 8mm Kar.

I called Lee and they said it's been a year, so they wanted me to send it back to replace it. Fair enough. Then I miked all my boolits (carefully batched, BHN tested, etc., so it was easy to figure out which mold they came from). I thought about sending a good dimensioned, carefully Lee-mented, broken-in mold back to Lee for a who-knows-what replacement. I decided to save my $6 postage, keep it and just spend $18 at MidSouth for another 8mm Max.

The nice thing about this mis-replaced 8mm Kar mold is that it's fatter than my other double cavity 8mm Karabiner mold. It is still not to spec (first three drive bands should each be about .001" larger than the last) but good dimensions for my generous bore Turkish Mauser.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I've only had one issue with a NEW lee mold (a custom 22 Bator mold from midsouth), which is not bad for I've purchased several (maybe 15) new from midsouth and natchez in the last 2 years since I started casting.

I didn't call, I just sent the mold to them with a short note saying, "Defective GC shank"
New mold arrived 3 weeks later...with a lube sample, lol.
the new mold had the correct size shank.
Jon

[Recluse]

I honestly think that the (so-called) techs at Lee think that if you're using one of their molds or one of their products, you MUST be a newbie to casting and/or reloading.

Don't know how much longer I can tolerate them. . .

:coffee:

[frkelly74]

Talk to Patrick. He seems to be a reasonable person and in my experience will make it right.

[captaint]

Our custom mold makers love this kind of thread. I mean, after we send a mold back three times, how cheap was it?? I actually have 3 Lee molds and one of them is a Ranch Dog for the .380. I'm betting that one will be good.. enjoy Mike

[Char-Gar]

This thread illustrates why we stopped using Lee for our Group Buys. Just way too many quality control issues and guff from the employees of Lee. At one point we were giving them so much custom business, Lee had to add new equipment to keep up. All the new equipment did was accelerate delivery of bad molds.

If Lee had been turning out acceptable products the new crop of custom mold makers would probably never hand jumped into to meet the need. I am glad they did.

Lee is one of these companies that don't seem to learn or care to upgrade their quality. They don't have to, as there are so many Lee fans out there who buy their stuff as a knee jerk reaction and swear how great it is. They have a dedicated fan base as rabid as Ron Paul's.

[tomme boy]

Well they sent me a email to refund my $ for the 2 molds. I told them I wanted the shipping replaced as well. I'll bet they don't refund that.

[MT Gianni]

Easiest fix for the loose sprue plate is to install a set screw like LY & everyone else has new since the 60's.

[Char-Gar]

Easiest fix for the loose sprue plate is to install a set screw like LY & everyone else has new since the 60's.


True..but why should have to fix what Lee didn't do?

[HangFireW8]

Our custom mold makers love this kind of thread. I mean, after we send a mold back three times, how cheap was it?? I actually have 3 Lee molds and one of them is a Ranch Dog for the .380. I'm betting that one will be good.. enjoy Mike

Let's see... $5.35 for Priority Mail Small Flat Rate Box (or $5.30 for padded flat rate legal envelope)
x3 = $16.05

Add that to the price of a mold,
2 cavity $18.06 + 16.05 = $34.11
6 cavity $36.85 + 16.05 = $52.90

(Prices from MidSouth and USPS. All math done in my head).

So, to answer the question, how cheap was it? Answer: Still cheaper than any other brand.

That's the only reason I put up with Lee at all. I haven't had to return any mold 3 times, mind you. I did return one twice (or more precisely, one type twice) before the third one was the charm.

So, I keep buying them, complaining about them (here), returning them, and then treasuring them once I get a good one. I'm now up to about dozen good ones. Does that make me a rabid fan? I don't think so. I own a bunch of other brands, too.

If anyone else has given up on them, well, I don't blame them, either.

-HF

[milprileb]

I have had to return molds to Lee , in fact two of them.
I got top service and return of mold repaired or replaced in 7 days
time.

While I don't disagree with aggravation of having to return a mold, I
have been well served by my Lee 6 banger molds and by Lee Service
personnel.

I can't find a ton of grief to write about, I am not suffering with my Lee Molds.

If you are not happy, send your mold back for repair: most folks just don't do that quick
enough.

One other thing: Lee is a sponsor of this site and I appreciate that. Lee may not
be perfect but who is. I don't think sniveling and bashing them makes much sense
when all you got to do is mail molds back and get satisfaction. I think they deserve
more respect from some of you.

Most folks get more than their moneys worth from most Lee products.

[MT Gianni]

True..but why should have to fix what Lee didn't do?

Price and that it is considered in the same terms as a bic lighter. If I can extend that use it I get more out of that price.

[tomme boy]

All I wanted was good molds that worked. I told them to have someone cast with both molds in every cavity and the molds up to temp and make sure that they measure out OK and the bullets drop free. Instead they offered my money back. So to me that says they don't have any molds that work.

[Char-Gar]

Price and that it is considered in the same terms as a bic lighter. If I can extend that use it I get more out of that price.

It price is how your measure value, then I would agree. However I measure value over a long term and not a short term. Two ways of looking at the issue of value.

I have one mold that is 50 years old (I bought it new) and has produced about a half million bullets and is still as good as new in terms of what it does. I consider that a very good value. It is a Hensley and Gibbs six banger. No telling how many Lee molds I would have to go through to get that service and how many times I would have to do CPR on the molds to keep them working.

[Cooperwin]

Just fishing for information. I have several Lee molds. Most fine for the intended caliber. One was oversize, probably within "specs", but still too large for the 9mm. So I use it in the .38 Spl. No real complaints, they work for what I bought them for. So the question is about Lee's surplus items. There is a mold listed as TL257-50-RF. It seems to me I saw it listed the other day with a smaller diameter and stated then it cast oversize. I believe these are returns from a RanchDog order that was replaced last year. Did anyone who got one of these cast with it and maybe try the oversize results in a rifle? Maybe .25-20, .250 Sav or even .25-06? Might be an item to try for short range plinking small game shooting. I have used the 257420gc in these, but a tumble lube plain base & 6 cavity would be another expirement for the future. Dave

[pdawg_shooter]

What I find amazing is the people who buy a $20 mold , and complain about spending 30 minutes tweeking them, then turn around and spend $500+ on a Ruger and think it is just fine to need to spend big bucks with a custom smith to get it to shoot. Ream the throats, fire lap the barrels, replace the base pin, change the grip frame and on and on. That's OK, but God forbid that $20 mold isnt perfect!

[tomme boy]

How are you supposed to tweek a out of round mold? Or a warped block?

[pdawg_shooter]

Of the 20+ Lee molds I have I have had to return 1. Taken care of no hassle. The last 5 or 6 worked fine out of the box. Just clean and start casting. I could not afford to cast all the bullets I do if not for Lee's.

[HangFireW8]

Of the 20+ Lee molds I have I have had to return 1. Taken care of no hassle.

My experience too, Lee has never failed to replace a mold I sent in, and very quickly too. However my failure rate is much worse than 1 in 20.



The last 5 or 6 worked fine out of the box. Just clean and start casting. I could not afford to cast all the bullets I do if not for Lee's.

Same here. However I go into each Lee purchase with eyes wide open.

HF

[GT27]

I called Lee one time to complain about their shotgun slug mold(the drive key is attached to the floor plate with a aluminum nub) their customer service let me speak to the old man himself.I told him about the problem(the aluminum nub breaks of eventually causing the drive key to fall off unattached) His reply to me was asking me what my credentials were as a machinist!lol I then said maybe RCBS would have a different view!! I received a new drive key assembly in 3 days and a note inside explaining that they would review the design,but I see they are still making them the cheapest way! I use Lee products when the funds are short,but the higher cost brand names you buy 1 time normally,not saying you don't find one in the wood pile every now and then no matter what brand,just not as often as with Lee,and the price is reflective of that,plus I think ole Richard there may need some people skillz! GT27

[TNFrank]

I've never had a Lee 6-Cavity mold but I have owned quit a few double cavity ones and I've pretty much come to expect them to throw out of round bullets. I just normally pick up a Lee Sizer & Lube kit when I order a mold so I can run them through it and get em' back into some kind of shape for loading. IF RCBS would make a mold for $40 bucks I'd probably just buy one of those since I've got a set of handles but they don't so I plop down my $20 bucks for a mold and $20 bucks for a sizer and have at it casting and sizing.

[youngda9]

LEE CS SUCKS. I had a couple problems with one of their guys over a couple different issues. They are AWFUL.