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cabezaverde
02-15-2009, 01:20 PM
From an earlier post of mine:

Only one strange thing. The bottom of the sprue plate has a cross hatch pattern which you can actually see on the base of the bullet. Looks like honing marks, very even and consistent. These marks obviously causes some build up on the bottom of the plate. Has anyone else seen this on the newer Lee molds?

Any input provided would be appreciated.

Willbird
02-15-2009, 06:23 PM
I have seen it on the last few molds I purchased, it is a milling or grinding mark from the machining process, it has caused no harm in my experience even when I got overly hasty and cut the sprues on some "wet" bullets.

If you were to polish the marks away you would have to remove the anodising to do so.

Bill

mooman76
02-15-2009, 07:42 PM
I don't have any on mine but mine are a year old or better. I had a mould I bought used with the marks on the top of the mould though!

Orygun
02-15-2009, 09:12 PM
Greenhead ;), I believe that these help in venting and if you use some Bullplate lube, you (shouldn't) have any problems.

Buckshot
02-16-2009, 02:26 AM
..............If you have a few Lee 6 cavity moulds on hand that span any number of years, check them out. You'll find that each one can have different features on it. For example I have a couple where the flycut venting on the block faces is extra course compared to the others. Also the finish on the top of the blocks will also vary as will the sprueplate finish (as mentioned here) and also the apparent thickness of the anodizing applied to them.

It's almost each shift has their own idea as to speed and feed for the flycutting and other stuff. The anodizing shop may also take extra long lunches or play basketball in the parking lot letting some batches of SP's 'cook' extra long :-)

...............Buckshot

cajun shooter
02-16-2009, 09:09 AM
+1 on the Buckshot post. The last three Lee 6 cavity molds I've bought vary quite a bit. The thing that gives me the chew rouge is that all of them have been sent back to Lee for repairs. With one still there. I had a bad mould that was dropping 448-451 bullets for my Colt. Need to drop 456 for my liking. I sent it back with some bullets that it dropped. Lee sent me a new mold. Boy was I happy. I then started to cast some bullets and noticed that something was wrong. The bullets were different. Lee sent me a old designed mold that was no longer in production. I've now sent it back again. Then first wait was 5 weeks, we are now at going on 3 this time. NO QUALITY CONTROL!!!