Lee 358 Mold Question

[rlaw34776]

I am brand new to casting and have a question.

I ordered a Lee 358 mold from midway to load some 38's with. Well when I cast the finished bullets come out to be 354 which is too small.

I am using pure lead with a few wheel weights - do not know the specific ratio.

This occurs even after my mold is hot and after casting a few times.

The mold is a six cavity job.

I guess my question is, is there something that I could do to cause this such as the ration of lead vs tin etc - mold too hot or not hot enough etc?

[NuJudge]

I've always cast with Lead alloy (wheelweights plus a little Tin) as hot as I can get it, and run molds hot also, and my bullets have always run bigger than they are supposed to. Frosting on the bullets has never been something I avoided.

If you are smoking your molds or using spray graphite release agent, stop. I use spray graphite, and it does help with release of bullets from sticky molds, but some people claim they get a smaller bullet. I cannot measure any reduction in bullet diameter, but then I may be using less of it.

There is a lot of talk here about Antimony causing bullets to 'grow' a little for a couple days after casting. A good source of Antimony would be some high-Antimony Lead shot.

The 'Search' function is your friend. Spend some time looking at threads on these subjects.

CDD

[rlaw34776]

Great thanks.

And I am using Frankford mold release so I will clean it out and see if that helps.

[versifier]

If they're that small, call Lee and then send it back as per their instructions. That's way too small. Even with pure lead, a proper sized mould will drop them at least .357.

[44man]

Send it back! Lee screws up a lot.

[rlaw34776]

I washed the mold with gun scrubber and got all of the mold release off. I gained a little diameter, still not 358. The bullets are not falling in the cases anymore. They are running around 355.

Do you think that is still too small to work?

[redbear705]

What is the number on the mold?

Maybe you have a mold for a 9mm?

JR

[rlaw34776]

90306

[NuJudge]

That's the: "Lee 6-Cavity Bullet Mold 358-125-RF (358 Diameter) 125 Grain Round Nose Flat Tip"

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=916523

Definitely not a 9mm bullet. It should be larger than .354 or .355.

Just to be sure, test your micrometer or caliper against a known diameter bullet to make sure it's not just reading small.

[rlaw34776]

I think you may be on to something. I checked some semi jacketed HP's that are supposed to be 357 (store bought) and they checked 354. I am using a set of digital calipers (new) but not a name brand.

The battery is new but I think I will change it to see if makes a difference. If not I will go buy another set that are not digital and see if that makes a differnce.

[Ohio Rusty]

This thread caught my attention !! I have that bullet mould, but in a two holer. I just measured one of the 125RF's from my mould and it mic's .360. The bullets were cast straight WW's.
Ohio Rusty

[rlaw34776]

A combination of cleaning the mold release out, changing the battery in my calipers and pouring some more as hot as I could get them all seemed to have solved the problem.

Thanks for everyone's input and help.