Stubborn Lee Mold.

[Hanzy4200]

One of my 9MM molds, a Lee TL356-124-2R, has been giving me problems. I have cast upwards of 8,000 boolits from it, and it is well seasoned, but 2 cavities just don't seem to want to drop easily. I have to smoke the **** out of them, and they will drop for maybe 5 casts, then I have to thump the bullet hard with my knuckle to get it to release. Any ideas? Could there be a burr somewhere? Should I try some aerosol spray bullet release?

[Old School Big Bore]

The flat surfaces get pounded down after a while. Have you read the threads on reconditioning Lees?

[AlaskanGuy]

I would Never use any type of Spray on Bullet Mold release..... Period... if they wont drop, try a bore brush chucked up on a drill... giver er a good scrub with an oversize bore brush and then give it a try.. Be sure that you scrub the heck outta it after you use the bore brush.. I use a tooth brush with Dawn if I use a bore brush on my mold.. then I re-smoke, and re-heat up and down a couple times just like I do with a New mold.... That should do it...

AG

[Hawkeye45]

AG..you are talking about a nylon bore brush, right. I would not think a brass brush should do the alum. Very much. Just thinking, maybe not.

Mr. Ed

[Pb2au]

Another trick is to clean thoroughly, then take a piece of soft wood (think match stick) and gently rub along the edges of the problem cavities. It can burnish a micro burr off, and or lift a larger one up. From there you can take a new razor exacto knife and remove the burr

[AlaskanGuy]

I use a normal Brass bore Brush.... I do not use Nylon.... Just go easy...

[Ben]

I received a used , 2 cav., Lee 105 gr. SWC from a friend here on the board yesterday.

A nice mold, when I attempted to cast with it this morning, the two bullets didn't want to drop & release from the mold very well . I took a super sharp exacto knife and cleaned up the edges of both cavities. I thought that would " do the trick", not so , still no joy........! The mold continued to be very stubborn about releasing the bullets from the cavities. The old routine of tap-tap-tap on the hinge bolt to get the bullets to release.

So I thought.....Time to spin a bullet in the cavities. PRESTO ! ! !, that made all the difference. The bullets jump out of the cavities now.

If you have a Lee mold ( or for that matter any other mold ) that is stubborn about releasing it's bullets, I highly recommend this process.

Photos:

Here is my abrasive compound :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0001-22.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0002-16.jpg

Here is the coated bullet after it has been spun in the mold cavities :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0003-17.jpg

I used my cordless drill on slow speed :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0005-11.jpg

Once the cavities were smooth, the mold really began to produce some very nice bullets , I cast these in a fairly short period of time. The way the mold cavities were sticking prior to the Lee Lementing process, this would have been near impossible :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0010-5.jpg



Bullets are very round and you can see what they mike. I can use these in 38 Spec., 357 Mag., and size them down a little more and use them in the 9 mm Luger also :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0008-7.jpg

[leadman]

Use a pencil eraser and clean the cavities with it. Should be easy to see where you are cleaning due to smoking the mold. The erasers have a mild abrasive in them, usually clay also.

[Hanzy4200]

Good tips. Will have to give at least a couple of these a try.

[DLCTEX]

I do as Ben does and it works every time. I got a new to me 6 cav. yesterday that looks as if it will need a going over before I try casting with it. First clue was smoked cavities. It will also need a screw installed where the sprue cam hits the mould. It has a small divot there already.

[BNE]

I have had the exact same issue.

MtMann44 suggested I clean the mold with a wet tootbrusha and Comet or Ajax. These are mild abrasives. Very mild. This has worked very well so far. I think i need to do it again, but I could tell a big difference after this scrubbing. Obviously rinse and dry the mold before casting. Smoking works for a liitle while, but i kept having to re-do it. Keeping the cavities clean seems to work well the longer I run them.

Hope this helps.

[Animal]

I had a casting session with my (recently) new 6 banger yesterday. It was my 3rd session with that mold and I casted about 2500 boolits!
The first time I used it I followed Mr. Lees instructions: pure headache getting boolits to drop. I was worn out.
Second time wasn't much easier.
Before the last session, I went over the cavities with my kids eraser. After about 1000 boolits, it finally started to release with a good shake. Still tough, but much easier. I'll go over it with an eraser again and probably a match stick (as mentioned above) before I use it again.

But with the amount of boolits I have from it now... I don't know that I'll use it any time soon.

[Airman Basic]

Use a pencil eraser and clean the cavities with it. Should be easy to see where you are cleaning due to smoking the mold. The erasers have a mild abrasive in them, usually clay also.
The other end of the pencil helps, too. Graphite is a mild abrasive and dry lubricant.

[Foto Joe]

I've pretty much gotten into the habit of lapping out a Lee mold with Comet right away if there is an issue. It works surprisingly well.

[mdi]

I use the same method as Ben does, except the first time I use Comet cleanser and oil. Much less abrasive than valve grinding compound. If that doesn't work I go with a fine Clover compound...