New Lee 2-cavity mold

[kirill]

Hello,

I recently bought a Lee 2-cavity Makarov mold from Natchez. It had different alignment system the the other Lee molds I have. The pins look like what they put on th 6-cavity molds.

Has there been a thread discussing these new molds? Pros, cons?

Do they need lee-menting? Are they all going to be like this from now on?

Thanks.

Kirill

[Jupiter7]

Yes, that's the new molds, much better than old horizontal pins.

[Sweetpea]

Yes, that's the new molds, much better than old horizontal pins.

I think the jury is still out on that one.

As far as the workmanship, the new molds seem nicer.

As far as the molds opening/closing like they should, the old ones still seem easier to me.

I understand my new molds are still new, and I am not quite used to them, but I think everything is a little more sloppy.

Brandon

[davegalesr]

The mold to handle fit is sloppy on my new design Lee 2 cavity. I need to set the mold on a flat surface to close it. It does cast well however.

[41 mag fan]

This new Lee design is not what the jury thinks it is. My new style mold for my 300AAC, was just like any other Lee mold I have bought.
I had horrible burrs on the nose of the cavities, and had to leement it afterwards. Which i do this to any and all molds I buy regardless of maker.
The bottom 1/2 of the mold is of less material, which will cause more rapid heat loss. If you look at the new design Lee figured out a way to save money on making the molds. If you flip a new mold to match another new mold it's a way to save material and money for them. They fit like a puzzle. You'd have to have one to fully understand what I mean.
The handle to mold fit is sloppy and loose.
After about 15 casts, I cut the sprue by hand, the mold had to be placed on a flat surface to close fully.....just like the old design.
They might of redesigned the pin alignment, but you're still getting the same QC, and problems a person has with the Lee molds.
They want to really make a stir in the casting crowd, they need to up their QC by 100%

[mdi]

Well, not to be contrary, but the newest mold I purchased from Lee has the pins instead of the bars. Opened the box, cleaned with hot water and dawn, bullplated the pins, pre-heated and very first pour produced keepers. No tapping or smacking the hinge, just turn the mold sideways as I opened it and two, 200 gr. .45 cal. bullets fall from the mold...

[kirill]

Yes,

That's the first thing I noticed was that the blocks don't seem to line up well when I try to close the mold halves. I have to turn the mold so that the open sprue plate points toward the floor and then close the handles. Then the halves come together fine. Most times.

Haven't cast anything yet but the mold I have seems to have less burrs than the old ones. I'll try casting something in a day or so....

Kirill

[Mr Peabody]

I just got two of the new style. The sprue plates were too tight and there were burrs on the opening of the cavities. But! they did drop nice boolits very easily. I did need to put the ladle up against the sprue plate to get them to fill. Oh; I bought a .490 RB and a .50 caliber 320gr REAL. I really didn't see much of an improvement over previous molds.

[supv26]

I have 22 Lee molds now and over the years have discover the old alignment bars on the 2 bangers were the way to go. I have them in both styles and much prefer the older molds.
I can't say the newer ones are bad but personally I like the way the old style molds closed.

[MaryB]

Just got one of the new style, haven't had a chance to cast with it yet, will probably be after next week. Mine closes nice, doesn't seem to sloppy. Sprue plate had a burr that was gouging the blocks so I used my sharpening stone that is mounted on an aluminum plate to smooth it down. Was amazed at how rough/not flat the surface was. My annual BBQ the 4th of July and I have company most of next week.

[mdevlin53]

I just got a 452-160 and aside from it cooling off rather quickly it dropped nice boolits without any thing but a good cleaning with dish soap. I have some old style that drop with the best of them and some that were terrible. the two new style molds are at least as good as the best of the old style.