Lee Molds vs Lyman and RCBS

[Jeff82]

I've exclusively used Lee molds, but am wondering how they compare in quality to Lyman and RCBS. My Lee molds have worked well, but especially with my six cavity 357 RNFP mold, I always have problems getting all of the bullets drop.

[Ben]

This will help with your bullet sticking problem :

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=47669

[PS Paul]

Hi, Jeff. Ben/s link does show a lot of good info and certainly there are copious amounts of info on this very subject in many areas on the board. some guys prefer Lee, some guys hate Lee and others are just indifferent. FWIW, I personally own and use several Lee 6 CV in .357 and a few in .45. They have worked fantastically after just some very minor "fine-tuning". the info supplied is quite useful, but I did not have to do that to get mine to drop, just had to "season" 'em a little with a couple of uses....

I own RCBS and Lyman molds, but those are primarily 2-CV and don't produce anywhere near the amount of boolits the Lee 6-CV versions do. BUT, they are iron and have their quirks as well. Like guns, I have found each mold is sort of a "law unto itself" and they all behave with individual personality. That is actually one of the fascinating things about casting and continuing to learn the process.

I don't know if this helps or not, but that's how I feel anyway.....

[Jeff82]

Thanks for both posts. The bullet spinning idea is worth a shot. I like my other Lee molds, and have not had problems with them. The six-cavity 357 is nice because I really need high production to meet my need for 357 rounds. It's just irritating when I have to beat it with a stick.

PSPaul, I notice from your post that you're a Ruger Blackhawk man. Blackhawk's truly rock!

[Wally]

Jeff,

Before you do so..try this. Find the offening cavity and burnish the edges with a wood stick pulling it carefully through the cavity. That should fix it--if not make a "plug" of 0000 steel wool, place in the cavity so it is tight and close--spin it in a drill. I may have to explain it better if need be. That will fix the problem.

[Jeff82]

Jeff,

Before you do so..try this. Find the offening cavity and burnish the edges with a wood stick pulling it carefully through the cavity. That should fix it--if not make a "plug" of 0000 steel wool, place in the cavity so it is tight and close--spin it in a drill. I may have to explain it better if need be. That will fix the problem.

Interesting. Last night I was examining the oppening of the mold cavity. It has lots of jagged pieces. This might be the cause of the problem.

[Wally]

Interesting. Last night I was examining the oppening of the mold cavity. It has lots of jagged pieces. This might be the cause of the problem.

Indeed you have--very easy to fix--rub the stick round side of it on the round side of the cavity--that will burnish the edges and the bullets will no longer stick to the mold. If the jagged edges are very small, just rub with 0000 steel wool, that works even better.

[rodsvet]

I don't own any 6 cavity Lees. I do have 4 cavity Saeco and Lyman molds and at least the ones I have are extremely well made and drop perfect bullets when up to temp. I tried Lee 6's when they first hit the scene many years ago when Midway had a lifetime warranty and free shipping. I could never maintain temperature and it was rare to get all 6 to throw good bullets. I sent them back and bought iron. Many guys swear by them and they can be fast. I just didn't have the patience and had always had steel or iron. Enjoy! Rod

[Ben]

I have found each mold is sort of a "law unto itself" and they all behave with individual personality.

No truer words have been spoken.

Ben

[MT Chambers]

I like Lyman and RCBS molds amongst others.......I give Lees a miss...IMHO.

[Junior1942]

I would buy a Lee mold if Lyman and RCBS molds were free. I don't like iron molds. They rust, #1, and they take forever to start casting good bullets, #2. However, after buying two NOE aluminum molds I would buy a NOE mold if Lee, Lyman and RCBS molds were free.

[Alan in WI]

Watching this Video should help you out. I just made up about 300 bullets from a new Lee six cavity mold. The mold was brand new and I followed the steps in the video. This should solve your problems. I have also used Kroil oil on Lee molds to help prevent sticking. http://leeprecision.net/HelpVideos/MoldPrep/BMlubingsmoking.wmv

Alan

[birch]

I have just recently got into casting, but I can say that the Lee two cav. molds are much harder to cast with than RCBS.

[cbrick]

I tried Lee 6's when they first hit the scene many years ago when Midway had a lifetime warranty and free shipping. I could never maintain temperature and it was rare to get all 6 to throw good bullets.

Don't think for a second that I am defending LEE molds, that isn't likely to happen but that is not a LEE issue or problem. It's simply that an aluminum mold will loose it's heat (proper casting temp) much faster than an iron or even brass mold. An Aluminum mold just takes a bit of getting used to and adjusting your casting rythm. Aluminum molds properly made cast great boolits once the operator error is solved by getting a bit of practice with it.

Your question was: Compare quality between LEE, Lyman and RCBS. That's a no brainer in todays mold market. RCBS wins that hands down. For production off the shelf molds RCBS is producing not only consistent high quality but some outstanding bullet designs as well. My ONLY beef with RCBS molds is that they only make 2 cav molds.

Rick

[1Shirt]

They all work to varied degrees, some better than others. I consider molds and rifles to be female, tempermental, and need to be fed right if they are to perform to your expectations.
1Shirt!

[PS Paul]

Jeff, I am indeed a Blackhawk fan. I've owned a few over the years, but my newset addition is one of the Lipsey's .45 Colt flattops on the smaller .357 frame. I just reamed the chamber mouths to .4525 on Thanksgiving and it now shoot like a dream! I can't "super-hot load" it like other .45 Colt versions I have owned, but 260 gr. boolits at 1,000 fps or so are plenty fast/powerful for me. The desire to send 260 gr. boolits at faster than 1,350 fps in .45 Colt sort of diminishes as one gets older. That is a fact!

It just dawned on me that every mold I currently own for .45 Colt is a Lee 6-cav. I do not own any 2-cav Lees and my rifle molds are ostly Lyman. I own several RCBS for other calibers too, but honestly I get more use out of the Lee molds than all the others.
Happy shootin'!
Paul