Who says you can't:

[armyrat1970]

cast good boolits with a Lee mold? These are what I consider grade one that I cast this past weekend with my Lee 358-158-RF mold. Cast with WWS and water dropped and sized between .358 and .359. Picture appears a little fuzzy because it was taken with a cell phone, but you get the idea. Gotta get me a digital.

[Jim]

Rat, there's ALWAYS somebody that says you can't do this or that. And there's always somebody that can do what nobody else can. If you ask me, that's a fine looking batch you got there. I'd be proud of that if it was me.

[XWrench3]

I make a lot of decent boolits with lee molds. Very few of them are shiney (most are frosted), but who cares about that. The big thing is that the boolits fill out well, and everything comes out round with good crisp edges.

[armyrat1970]

Thanks guys. Here is a pic of some of my grade twos that have slight defects but plently good enough to load and shoot. Note a little more of the parting lines showing in the nose of the boolit. The grade threes go back into the pot. Again the same casting session and sized.
The dull look in the first part was actually from my own (intelligent?) mistake. After sizing the boolits had a little lube ring around the ogive and I wanted to clean them off before taking the pic. I did a few by hand with a towel and thought, hell this is taking to long. Soo's I figured I would drop them into my vibrater with corn cob and run them for a couple of minutes to get them really clean. Bad mistake. All I got was boolits with the lube spread all over them and little pieces of corncob all over them. Heh Heh. Won't do that again. So I took them in the bathroom and under warm water brushed them off with a soft toothbrush which spread the remaining lube all around them and dulled the apperance. The grade twos I just wiped off with a towel and they appear a little brighter. Now I just have to re-lube 'em and load 'em. I'll post more pics of my 30carbine, 45ACP and 8MM boolits later. All are dropped from Lee molds.

[Shiloh]

Geez, I'd never make such a claim. I cast GREAT boolits from my LEE molds. Lyman as well.
If you do your part, most molds, other than the defective ones, will cast good boolits!!

Nice boolits and pics!!

Shiloh

[Bret4207]

I can cast some of the worst looking boolits you ever saw out of a Lee mould. Or, I can get my head out of my........the clouds and turn out fine boolits. I know people get tired of me saying it, but it ain't the arrow, it's the indian.

Nice job. I just made a mess of very similar 35-180 GC's out of a GB from some years back.

[shotman]

armyrat The part line is usually caused by touching the sprut handle on a lee 6 banger. If it a 2 cav set down on level surface when you close the mold. rick

[armyrat1970]

armyrat The part line is usually caused by touching the sprut handle on a lee 6 banger. If it a 2 cav set down on level surface when you close the mold. rick

It's a 2 cav and need to work with it a little more to get them to drop the same everytime, but we all know that won't happen. Got it to a point where setting on a flat surface and pushing the blocks together with a flat piece of wood will work well. Maybe need a solid piece to push the mold against to close the blocks completly square and decrease some of the parting lines. But I am happy with the results so far. All pictured are good enough to load and shoot. I'll post some other pics of some from my 30carbine, 45ACP and 8mm boolits. All dropped from Lee molds. Addicted and love it.

[WILCO]

Very few of them are shiney (most are frosted)...

I cast some "shiny" ones yesterday and got all excited like a redkneck looking at spoons in walmart....

[qajaq59]

I think Lee gets a bad rap on that one. I would suspect an aluminum mold made by anyone is going to require a different technique to cast properly then a brass or iron one?

[armyrat1970]

I think Lee gets a bad rap on that one. I would suspect an aluminum mold made by anyone is going to require a different technique to cast properly then a brass or iron one?

Every Lee mold I own has needed a little tuning. Once you get them right and learn how to close the blocks right they drop very good boolits. They are also much less expensive than others. I have Lees in 357, 45ACP, 30carbine and 8MM. I have also found that their sizers size very close to what they claim. For instance my .358 sizer sizes my boolits at .3585. Plenty good enough for me. But I run my boolits twice through the sizer. Turning them 1/4 turn. A little more time spent but you get good boolits. Not saying Lee is the best but for the money and if you are willing to do a little extra, you can't beat 'em.
Also different alloys will produce different size and weight boolits. I have some #2 alloy that I haven't tried yet and it may be a little different in the results. Will deal with that when I do.

[462]

armyrat1970,

Thanks for the pictures...thinking about getting that mould.

[The Double D]

I have never had a Lee mold cast a bad bullet. They just didn't for cast for long.

Not really all that bad since the moulds are so cheap. But the last one was a customs mould that cost $60 and cast less than 200 bullets befor it started acting up.


In fairness I must add it was only my larger heavy calliber heavy bullet moulds that failed the fastest. The 45 ACP and 38 SPL bullet mould last several thousand rounds before they failed.

[pdawg_shooter]

I have lots of Lee molds and only 1 was bad. Lee replaced it without question.

[Storydude]

I love when people tell me I cannot do something.

Then I do it just to spite them.

[Bullshop]

There has got to be something to the user technique. I have Lee molds both double and six cav that have produced many 1000'a of boolits and have never had a mold fail or become so worn its is beyond use. I prolly have 50 or so Lee molds and have been using some of them for likely 25 years.
I work my molds gently with gloved hands, never whacking them accept tapping the tip of the wood handle to help them drop. If you properly lement your molds the boolits will drop without having to beat the mold. As I said I do lightly tap the tip of the wood handle which seems more effective then tapping the hinge and less damaging.
Also a real biggy is to properly lube the mold and all mating surfaces.
BIC/BS

[Char-Gar]

I don't recall anybody saying good bullets could not be cast with Lee molds, for most certainly they can. The problem with Lee molds has to do with service live. They don't last near as long as high priced bullet molds.

[Wayne Smith]

As I said I do lightly tap the tip of the wood handle which seems more effective then tapping the hinge and less damaging.

BIC/BS

Probably also helps keep the handles on, no??

[EMC45]

I like the RNFP 158gr. Lee bullet! I shoot it a bunch out of my 38/.357!

[Leftoverdj]

I don't know how long you want a mould to last. I bought a six cavity 358-148-TL the first year they were made, used it hard ever since, and it's still casting perfectly. If it ever wears out, I'll buy another, but I expect to wear out first.

[TAWILDCATT]

I have lee molds and never had a problem.except one and that was a 12 ga could not get the slug to come out.turned out it was WW they expand and jam pur lead is needed.so it was my error.
another thing is they need lubing get BULLSHOPS LUBE.I dont use it only because I have something that works.
at the price I dont mind working them over,it only takes a few miniutes.and run them hot. I dont mind frost as I know what it is.after 76 yrs of casting I dont have lead poisoning,I did have high lead reading but stopped cleaning parts with gasoline and that ended it.

[qajaq59]

I've never ordered an aluminum mold because all I've read about them says you need to work them hot and fast. But my best friend who's been casting for 50 years+ likes them. So maybe it's just a matter of how you like to cast. Plus he is casting for pistols, and I only shoot rifles, so he needs a 6 banger mold. For me a one or two is fine.

[Ugluk]

I'm still new to this, but..

My six-cavity isn't that stressful to cast with, it heats up fast and stays hot. A few of my 2-cavs are rather more demanding when it comes to speed.

I've got great expectations for the 5-cav custom mold I'm getting from the group buy. Haven't yet tried an iron or brass mold, but look forward to eventually doing so.

After several thousand *perfect* boolits, I love my alu molds.
My own cast seriously outshoot the bought swaged lead bullets I've tried loading, and they're "free"!:drinks:

[Humbo]

You can't tell me that aluminum molds don't make just as nice boolits as iron molds. I like both.

http://home.online.no/~kjel-phu/bilder/lfn.JPG

[wallenba]

I can go all day without any rejects with a two cavity aluminum mold once it is up to temp and kept there. But I have difficulty with the six cavs. The mold gets too hot or too cold, problems keeping it level while filling. They are all results of bad technique I know, but with the 2's I just don't have to think about it as much.

Humbo---bootiful boolits!

[qajaq59]

I love when people tell me I cannot do something.

Then I do it just to spite them. Careful now, or someone might say you can't eat a live Hagfish. :kidding:

[Bob.]

You can't tell me that aluminum molds don't make just as nice boolits as iron molds. I like both.
]

Nice lookin boolets!

Bob.

[454PB]

I use my sprue knocker to align the block halves as they are closed. I hold it pressing against the bottom of both blocks while I gently close them while watching alignment through the cavities.

I have several Lee moulds that have cast 10K boolits with no lubrication or smoking of the cavities.

[geargnasher]

I won't say you can't cast good boolits with Lee moulds, but I'll say that THIS INDIAN is served better with steel or iron moulds. I can't stand any tool or piece of machinery that doesn't work like it's supposed to. Casting with a Lee mould is like trying to start a cold VW engine that has a broken choke cable, it can be done, but you gotta f#$% with it forever. I use water-pump pliers (Channel-Locks to those of you who haven't worked on brass windmill cylinders) to force the moulds closed, and then you have to check the top surface of the blocks with a straightedge before closing the sprueplate each time to make sure they haven't staggered. Gotta love the nice step in the RF noses and crimp/loob grooves that don't line up. By the time I get the blocks and plate fully-closed and true, I've usually burned myself and the mould blocks are cooling off. I have 6 Lee moulds and only one works anywhere close to well. I agree it's the Indian, but some folks are better at shooting crooked arrows than I am.

I think that having an alignment system that WORKS simply by closing the handles is an essential property of a well designed boolit mould, but maybe I expect too much. Heck, I'd gladly pay an extra $10 for a Lee mould if they could just fix that!


I only cast with Lee moulds when I can't get the boolit I want from another maker, which is to say I DO use them, and sucessfully, but my wife (who has to put up with me after casting sessions) had MUCH rather I didn't.

Gear

[Ricochet]

Careful now, or someone might say you can't eat a live Hagfish. :kidding:
Storydude, there is no way in blue blazing Hell that you can eat a live hagfish!

[Bret4207]

I won't say you can't cast good boolits with Lee moulds, but I'll say that THIS INDIAN is served better with steel or iron moulds. I can't stand any tool or piece of machinery that doesn't work like it's supposed to. Casting with a Lee mould is like trying to start a cold VW engine that has a broken choke cable, it can be done, but you gotta f#$% with it forever. I use water-pump pliers (Channel-Locks to those of you who haven't worked on brass windmill cylinders) to force the moulds closed, and then you have to check the top surface of the blocks with a straightedge before closing the sprueplate each time to make sure they haven't staggered. Gotta love the nice step in the RF noses and crimp/loob grooves that don't line up. By the time I get the blocks and plate fully-closed and true, I've usually burned myself and the mould blocks are cooling off. I have 6 Lee moulds and only one works anywhere close to well. I agree it's the Indian, but some folks are better at shooting crooked arrows than I am.

I think that having an alignment system that WORKS simply by closing the handles is an essential property of a well designed boolit mould, but maybe I expect too much. Heck, I'd gladly pay an extra $10 for a Lee mould if they could just fix that!


I only cast with Lee moulds when I can't get the boolit I want from another maker, which is to say I DO use them, and sucessfully, but my wife (who has to put up with me after casting sessions) had MUCH rather I didn't.

Gear

You ARE joking, right?:holysheep

[armyrat1970]

Storydude, there is no way in blue blazing Hell that you can eat a live hagfish!

I think that was his point.:smile:

[waksupi]

Storydude, there is no way in blue blazing Hell that you can eat a live hagfish!

Well, they would slide right down....and right back up!

[kamikaze1a]

I have several steel (Lyman and RCBS) and quite a few Lee Aluminum molds. I like the Aluminum molds for their light weight and low cost and don't really see an advantage with the steel molds. Then again, I am not hard on my molds. I don't baby them and don't give them any special care but I sure don't bang on the halves or drop them...

I've cast thousands of boo's with the Lee molds and have become less particular with how they look. In other words, I find that rejecting or remelting some with minor flaws totally unnecessary because they perform fine...

[geargnasher]

You ARE joking, right?:holysheep

About knowing what water pump pliers really are or about using them on Lee's *** moulds?

Four of my Lee 2-bangers won't close completely without an extra squeeze to get the daylight out, and 5/6 won't line up the blocks to within .010" most of the time so they have to be checked and tapped and squeezed until they are lined-up, even, and closed. I've Leemented them very thoroughly and carefully, all but one I bought brand-new so I know their history. I've used Bullplate on the alignment "pins" on the recommendation of another member here and that made them much easier to open, but still they won't line up straight without a lot of help. Makes casting a royal pain and very time consuming. Does make pretty boolits though if you are experienced and know how to control mould and pot temp.

Gear

[armyrat1970]

About knowing what water pump pliers really are or about using them on Lee's *** moulds?

Four of my Lee 2-bangers won't close completely without an extra squeeze to get the daylight out, and 5/6 won't line up the blocks to within .010" most of the time so they have to be checked and tapped and squeezed until they are lined-up, even, and closed. I've Leemented them very thoroughly and carefully, all but one I bought brand-new so I know their history. I've used Bullplate on the alignment "pins" on the recommendation of another member here and that made them much easier to open, but still they won't line up straight without a lot of help. Makes casting a royal pain and very time consuming. Does make pretty boolits though if you are experienced and know how to control mould and pot temp.

Gear

Gear, if you got a Lee mold that was really that bad you should have sent it back. Lee is pretty good about making things right. They do take a little tuning and work at times and I have had to do that with every Lee mold I have. I cast for the 357, 45ACP, 30carbine and 8mm. All Lees. Each had to have a little tuning and I don't mind the added time compared to the cost of a more expensive mold that may also have problems. When you get the Lee molds working right, they drop good boolits.

[qajaq59]

About knowing what water pump pliers really are or about using them on Lee's *** moulds?

Four of my Lee 2-bangers won't close completely without an extra squeeze to get the daylight out, and 5/6 won't line up the blocks to within .010" most of the time so they have to be checked and tapped and squeezed until they are lined-up, even, and closed. I've Leemented them very thoroughly and carefully, all but one I bought brand-new so I know their history. I've used Bullplate on the alignment "pins" on the recommendation of another member here and that made them much easier to open, but still they won't line up straight without a lot of help. Makes casting a royal pain and very time consuming. Does make pretty boolits though if you are experienced and know how to control mould and pot temp.
Gear
We're all different I guess? I simply wouldn't have the patience for something like that. That mold would be in the trash in the first 5 minutes. Which is why I'd rather spend the extra money on a different brand in the first place. And It's not as if I'm buying 60 molds. A little extra money here and there is easier for me then fighting a mold with a pair of channel locks so it will close correctly. When I'm casting the last thing I want is to be irritated. I do it to relax and have a good time.
But everyone is different and obviously they work fine for plenty of people. I suppose that's why there are different brands?

[Bret4207]

About knowing what water pump pliers really are or about using them on Lee's *** moulds?

Four of my Lee 2-bangers won't close completely without an extra squeeze to get the daylight out, and 5/6 won't line up the blocks to within .010" most of the time so they have to be checked and tapped and squeezed until they are lined-up, even, and closed. I've Leemented them very thoroughly and carefully, all but one I bought brand-new so I know their history. I've used Bullplate on the alignment "pins" on the recommendation of another member here and that made them much easier to open, but still they won't line up straight without a lot of help. Makes casting a royal pain and very time consuming. Does make pretty boolits though if you are experienced and know how to control mould and pot temp.

Gear

I've been using Lee moulds for 30+ years. I really can't imagine what examples you have that require methods like that. Lee isn't my favorite mould maker, but I've never seen anything like you describe.

[armyrat1970]

Qajaq59. Oh yeah. I can understand the frustration from a poorly pouring mold. I also understand the feeling about relaxing when you cast. When I am casting I am in a different world and think of nothing else. It is a way of just relaxing and doing something that I love. The same when I handload. I don't want any worries. I want to be left to myself and do my thing. The way I work on my job gives me a lot of free time to myself late at night or early morning when everyone else around the house, the wife, kids and grandkids, are asleep. I enjoy this time to myself and it is very relaxing.

[qajaq59]

armyrat1970 [smilie=s: before I retired the company paid me good money to get frustrated. And that was fine because I took their money. But it is also why I retired early. I certainly don't want to be irritated for free.

[armyrat1970]

armyrat1970 [smilie=s: before I retired the company paid me good money to get frustrated. And that was fine because I took their money. But it is also why I retired early. I certainly don't want to be irritated for free.

:lovebooli:-)