the new lee 358-200 gc mold

[nagantguy]

is anyone using the new lee 358 200 gainer for .35 remington? it looks like another 336 in .35 might be following me home soon and I was looking at the 6 banger mold, just wanted to hear 1st hand accounts and how it stakes up to the rcbs 358-200 that seems to be the gold.standard for .35 rem. thanks in advance!!!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I bought one on a Black Friday special from fsreloading. I don't have a 35 cal rifle anymore, but the price was just too cheap. I cast with it, then sold it. While the boolits looked great, The lube groove was too shallow for my taste and it cast undersized, I believe they dropped at .357 with COWW. Take that little bit of info with a grain of salt, as I obviously have never shot one.
Hope that helps.

[rockrat]

I haven't shot any yet, but mine casts at .359". Perfect size for my 357mag FA

[nagantguy]

a touch undersized, shallow lube grooves should be taken care of with a good pc coating....

[DerekP Houston]

is anyone using the new lee 358 200 gainer for .35 remington? it looks like another 336 in .35 might be following me home soon and I was looking at the 6 banger mold, just wanted to hear 1st hand accounts and how it stakes up to the rcbs 358-200 that seems to be the gold.standard for .35 rem. thanks in advance!!!

It is not a GC model, but I just recently cast a batch for 2 other members to test out. If you would like some I am still setup to cast those with 2% tin and range scrap. Shoot me a pm with your details if you want a sample.

Derek

[Pee Wee]

I will never buy another lee mold, they last one I bought fell apart the first time I used it, and left wings on the tip of the bullets, When I called lee to let them know that the pins fell out of the mold the first time, the tech told me that I must have beat on it to hard, and that they have not had any other problems with the new style pins. (there are tons of complaints on cast boolits about the pins falling out.) When I emailed photos in of the mold and the bullets with the wings on the nose of the bullet the tech told me that I was not closing the mold all the way.
I them called in to talk with someone about the problem, they would not give me any one in a supervisor position, told me I had to talk to a tech, when I explained that I had talked to a tech and had been emailing a tech and that they keep saying that I was using the mold wrong the lady put me on with a tech. He just said send in the mold and they would inspect it and determine if it would be replaced. I told him that I had been told to send in photos of the mold and bullets and that it would be replaced. I informed him that I had sent in the photos of both and that I was told I was using the mold wrong.
So at this point I am just done with Lee.

[DerekP Houston]

I will never buy another lee mold, they last one I bought fell apart the first time I used it, and left wings on the tip of the bullets, When I called lee to let them know that the pins fell out of the mold the first time, the tech told me that I must have beat on it to hard, and that they have not had any other problems with the new style pins. (there are tons of complaints on cast boolits about the pins falling out.) When I emailed photos in of the mold and the bullets with the wings on the nose of the bullet the tech told me that I was not closing the mold all the way.
I them called in to talk with someone about the problem, they would not give me any one in a supervisor position, told me I had to talk to a tech, when I explained that I had talked to a tech and had been emailing a tech and that they keep saying that I was using the mold wrong the lady put me on with a tech. He just said send in the mold and they would inspect it and determine if it would be replaced. I told him that I had been told to send in photos of the mold and bullets and that it would be replaced. I informed him that I had sent in the photos of both and that I was told I was using the mold wrong.
So at this point I am just done with Lee.

Sounds like the same issue I had with a 2 cavity lee mold. The 6 cavity ones have worked well for me so far, knock on wood. Since I found this forum and the nicer custom mold makers I haven't purchased any additional ones. The customer service does sound like it leaves something to be desired. I used amazon for some of mine so I could return them via amazon and let them handle lee.