Lee 22 Bator mold caution

[kbstenberg]

Is there some way of identifieing if a mold is an old style or a new style?

[JIMinPHX]

Is there some way of identifieing if a mold is an old style or a new style?

Look back at the picture in post 28 on page 2 or the picture in post #57 on page 3. The difference should become apparent.

[Faret]

So what is everybody doing about the oversize nose?

[JIMinPHX]

So what is everybody doing about the oversize nose?

I take offense to that remark!

[JIMinPHX]

Just kidding.

Actually, I haven't done anything about the big nose yet, but I plan to make a little swaging die that is similar to the one that SmokemJoe makes for the Swiss rifles.

[jmh54738]

The big nose is not the "new style", it a continuous screw up, the inability of Lee to
produce a mold to the blueprint as the older molds had been. Send them back. Maybe some day they will get it right.

[stubshaft]

The big nose is not the "new style", it a continuous screw up, the inability of Lee to
produce a mold to the blueprint as the older molds had been. Send them back. Maybe some day they will get it right.

I plumb gave up. It was costing me more in shipping then the mold initially cost me.

[JIMinPHX]

The big nose is not the "new style", it a continuous screw up, the inability of Lee to
produce a mold to the blueprint as the older molds had been. Send them back. Maybe some day they will get it right.

I agree that is the proper way to handle this type of situation 95% of the time & I believe that Lee would make things right if you did send it back to them. It was a mistake on their part & they have always been good about standing behind their products & correcting their mistakes in the past.

I'm just doing what I am doing because this particular "mistake" in manufacturing gave me an opportunity to easily try some things that I had been wanting to try for a while now anyway. That plain base Bator is pretty close to being the exact boolit that I wanted to experiment with & the beer can base Bator is another one that falls into that same category. It was a lot easier to modify this mold than it would be to cut the entire cavity from scratch on a mold block that I made myself.

I'm not saying that I think everyone should follow in my footsteps here, but I suspect that a few others might want to take advantage of the opportunity if these off-spec boolits end up working out well. I hapen to be modifying my blocks on a Bridgeport, just because that is what I have in my shop. The reamer trick that I am using would likely work just as well in a slow speed drill press. Most anyone with good general tool using using skills, a drill press & a $20 reamer should be able to make these same modifications with equal success.

I may be opening up a can of worms here in saying this, but I have sort of had the expectation that having a small grease groove just forward of a short GC shank might be a good thing. If the theory about a gas check scraping lead off the inside of a fouled barrel is true (which is debatable) then this grease groove might give that scraped off lead a place to get deposited. That may be helpful in high speed boolit performance. Or that theory may be a bunch of hogwash. I don't know yet.

I plan to try these things out & see how they fly for me. I think that it will be interesting to learn what impact these subtle differences in heal geometry have on external ballistics, especialy in a fussy little .22.

[Moonie]

I'm sending mine back, soon. And will be pointing out both the oversized nose and stepped gas check shank.

[jmh54738]

Yes, I agree with all of you, either find a use for it as is, modify it to suit, or return it. And after paying shipping three times for an $18 mold, it is difficult to have pleasant, warm fuzzy feelings.

[JIMinPHX]

I loaded up 10 of the plain base Bators over 6 grains of Green Dot & tested them today. Speed was around 1875fps, but varied by a little over 5%. Accuracy was not that impressive. Barrel fouling was slight. I think that this can be made to work, but I don't think it is just going to fall into my lap all ready to go. I'll post more as I get time to try different variations. Today's particulars were -

Brass-mixed
Primer - WSR
Powder -Green Dot
Charge - 6 grains
Hardness - 13 BNH
Lube - Carnuba Red, both grooves
Sized - .225"
COAL - 2.075"
Crimp - slight

[JIMinPHX]

I was starting to get a little off topic here, so I started a separate thread to talk about some of the modifications that I'm going to try on the Bator. You can find that thread here - http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...76#post1199576

[lesharris]

I have purchased 2 double cavity and 2 six cavity Bator molds from Midsouth and all 4 are wrong. The nose portion is not like the "old" version and the gas check shank is too short. In other words wrong.
Lee will be getting these back in Mondays mail.
Les.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

lesharris,
I just got my 2 cav bator back from Lee.
Do not expect a change in nose profile.
ALSO, if you molds have the "stepped" Gas check shank,
the mold you get back will be tapered.
Just letting you know what I got.
Jon

[lesharris]

The nose profile I can live with.
The "stepped"gas check shank will not do. There is almost nothing for the check to grab on. Taoered is ok.'
Thanks for the heads up.
How long was turn around time approx.
Les.

[lesharris]

meant tapered.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

lesharris,
It took 4 weeks to get the one mold I sent in for fix/replace..they definately replaced it.

Also, you might check with "Bullshop"
he was wanting one of those Bators molds with the stepped gas check shank.

also you may want to cast some of those with your alloy,
run the pot a little hot, at least 750º and maybe as high as 800º
then see exactly how your prefered brand of gas check actually
crimps on.

I have one 2 cav. mold with the stepped gas check shank that I kept.
when using Lyman #2 alloy running at least 750º gets the boolits
about .229 the Gator checks fit loosely but not sloppy on the shank,
and when sized to .225 in a Lee push through sizer, the Check crimps
on nice and tight, even with the tiny stepped shank. they shot quite well
in my Ruger #3 22 Hornet, check out my targets in Bullshop's 22 only postal shoot
that just ended.

But, don't let me tell you what to do...I'm just offering my advice.
all Lee molds are hit and miss. I had 2 bator molds and one was a hit
the other was a miss. The one I sent in was a Bator with a taper
gas check shank that I ordered in Feb.
But the shank was too small and the check fit on
sloppy before sizing and wouldn't crimp on at all...it would just fall off.

I haven't tried casting with the replacement they sent me...yet.
Jon

[lesharris]

Excellant suggestion on trying the molds first,they can be returned later if I am not satisfied.
Still too cold to cast here in PA. Temps in teens again last night.More snow possible next Wed. again.Summer will come.
Thanks for the reply.

[koehlerrk]

Well, I just placed an order with Midsouth for a 2-cavity 22 Bator.

We'll see what I get when the brown truck shows up.

[stubshaft]

Well, I just placed an order with Midsouth for a 2-cavity 22 Bator.

We'll see what I get when the brown truck shows up.

It should not be like entering a lottery and seeing if you won. The biggest disappointment for me was that the big nose version had a perfect GC shank. I had one mold left with the oversize shank and proper nose profile so I milled off the shank and made a 40gr PB boolit.

I hope that the mold you get is correct in both the nose and GC dimensions.