Ranch Dog mold problems

[44man]

I have cast hundreds of perfect boolits with this .44 mold but always had a tiny flash at the base of the back cavity. I could see a little light there but it was easy to scrape with a finger nail. Today I was getting a lot more and the nose had a large flash. I found nothing wrong, nothing between the blocks or in the alignment slots. The mold was clean.
I had to drill small holes from the top to drive the handle pins out so while I was at it I tapped the holes, shortened the pins and can now take it apart by taking out 10-32 set screws.
I wanted to mill the top very lightly but found it would not fit my mold vise without all kinds of blocks and shims. I checked with a machinist's square and there is not a right angle anywhere on the mold.
I gave that up and just lapped the top on glass with 400 grit.
I already had a set screw on the sprue plate screw so I put it back together, applied a little Bullplate lube and went to casting.
It is back to making perfect boolits that fall right out when I open it.
I have no idea why it was acting up so bad and really did not do anything but get rid of the flash on the base. A few figure eight strokes was all it needed.
But then again, it is a Lee mold! No rhyme or reason to get flash on the nose of boolits. :confused: At least it is gone now.
Now don't tell me there was something between the blocks, you all know I cast CLEAN! :Fire:

[JesterGrin_1]

I get the same thing on the nose of my BOOLITS some of the time with my RD 265. But they are easy enough to break off with a finger nail. :)

[dromia]

Lee, you get what you pay for.

I have a lot of lee moulds, 2 and 6 cavity and they all have little, or large, foibles that need sorting or living with.

[JesterGrin_1]

Well I am new to casting and have never used any other mold other than LEE as of yet. And yes at first there was a learning curve to it lol. But it was an easy fix after some thought lol. I just had to clean up some edges and to make the BOOLITS fall out a bit better I made a few BOOLITS and then put a screw into the center of them and used some tooth paste and spun them with my drill a bit then cleaned the mold up and now they jump out lol. :)

I will change that lol. As of late I have used a Lyman mold I purchased used in good shape but as what I have read the sprue plate is thin and does not stay flat against the mold so it will not cut the base correctly. So I put in an order for a new thicker Sprue Plate from Rick KAL Tool & Die and should have it in a week or less. :)

So I have Lee Molds and a Lyman and it seems every make has its own problems to overcome. Except I did have an RCBS in the 535Gr Postell for my 45-70 BPCR Sharps and it worked well. :)

[Slow Elk 45/70]

[smilie=1:As you said, It is a LEE Mold . Nuff said. I don't think the problem lies with R.D., he's out of business now because of LEE and their Lack of Quality Control. I bought my last LEE mold.:roll:

[jdgabbard]

[smilie=1:As you said, It is a LEE Mold . Nuff said. I don't think the problem lies with R.D., he's out of business now because of LEE and their Lack of Quality Control. I bought my last LEE mold.:roll:

I feel the same, but they do have a mold or two I might pick up at a later time. Still one or two I'm wanting.

[leftiye]

I've got summa them Lee molds. Can't remember when I last used one though.

[vanilla_gorilla]

I've never purchased a Lee mould, and after seeing the 6 cav .45 mould that a friend brought over to my house, I probably never will.

I say this as the owner of a full Lee reloading setup, that has worked well.

[Bret4207]

I've got a few Lymans that make Lee's look pretty good. Lee's moulds may not be perfect, but learn what their personalities require and they do fine for a long, long time.

[44man]

I have a lot of Lee molds and never have a problem. This was a first for me and since it decided to go back to normal, I must have burnt the gremlin, anyway he left but it could have been a female gremlin! :holysheep

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Never can tell bout them griminlins, tough critters.....I have several Lee molds, my comment earlier is directed at their QC program and their management , not the products.[smilie=1: