First session w/ new Lee Mold

[philthephlier]

.45 ACP TL 200 gr SWC cast fairly round but the bullets miked out at .448" at 90 degrees to the seam and .4505" on the seam. Good mold fillout but I was running the melt on the cool side. Should running the mold on the traditional Lee hot side get me another .001-.0015 in diameter?

[Buckshot]

............I doubt you'd gain that much unless your boolit's weren't that well filled out. Sounds like a mould Lee will tell you "Send it to us" and will replace.

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

[chris in va]

Sometimes I wonder about Lee quality control. How can they advertise a 358 boolit when it drops fresh out of the mold at 362?

[Marlin Hunter]

Sometimes I wonder about Lee quality control. How can they advertise a 358 boolit when it drops fresh out of the mold at 362?

You got one of those also.

358-125-RF

[Marlin Hunter]

.45 ACP TL 200 gr SWC cast fairly round but the bullets miked out at .448" at 90 degrees to the seam and .4505" on the seam. Good mold fillout but I was running the melt on the cool side. Should running the mold on the traditional Lee hot side get me another .001-.0015 in diameter?

Clean the mold with a brass wire brush. You won't hurt it. Most likely you got some lead chips on the V and they are offset. I had/have the same problem with my 410-210-TL mold. I sent it back, then they sent it back with a yellow note telling me to clean it. I have to watch that mold and keep it clean. I cast some today on that mold and they were good.

[Recluse]

.45 ACP TL 200 gr SWC cast fairly round but the bullets miked out at .448" at 90 degrees to the seam and .4505" on the seam. Good mold fillout but I was running the melt on the cool side. Should running the mold on the traditional Lee hot side get me another .001-.0015 in diameter?

I'd Lee-ment it, making sure to polish the cavities good and thorough, then crank up the heat some more and see what you get.

I've found with the TL molds, they do best when run hot and with the alloy hot--I cast my TL boolits at around 850F and keep the molds hot. I also add just a dash more tin into the alloy mix to help with better fillout, especially in the microbands.

All else being equal, however, I agree with Buckshot--you aren't going to get that much more diameter with just heat alone.

:coffee:

[243winxb]

miked out at .448" Heat is not going to get you .003" more. Return to Lee. Or make adjustment to the mould using some tricks here. http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/faq/index.cgi