Lee's " NEW " 2 cavity molds.

[Ben]

As many of you by now are aware, Lee has a newly redesigned 2 cavity mold. Lee has abandoned the " V Block " arrangement that we've know for so many years in favor of conventional alignment pins similar to their 6 cav. molds.

Photo below courtesy of rexherring.



I contacted Andy with Lee Precision today and inquired about getting the Lee , 30 cal. , 200 gr. RN in the new block design. Won't happen today, but I thought that many of you might like to see Andy's reply to me :

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We have received your request and will get back to you within 48 hours. Our hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 7:30am to 3:45pm CST.

General Information

Ticket ID #MRM-285-51915
Name - - Ben


Subject: Product Question

I'm beginning to see photos from some cast bullet shooters of your new style 2 cav. molds.

I'm very interested in ordering one. Catch is, .....if I order I'm afraid that I'll get the old style blocks.

How to I guarantee that I'll get the new style blocks from you or a vendor If I order now ?

Thanks,

Ben



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Ben

You would need to ask the seller. We are switching all single and double cavities to the new design, that transition probably will take 1 year to complete. By transition I mean dealers selling old stock and replenishing with new stock. If you have a mold in mind in particular, I can run out to the factory and see if we have switched to the new style and you could order direct from us. We are the manufacture, so we charge full list $25.98.

Thanks,

Andy
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Ben,

The larger rifle molds are not available yet in the new style extrusion. We have a new style rife mold extrusion, pushed out of 6061-T6 Aluminum Billet. We are currently manufacturing the machining fixtures, to fixture and machine the new style rifle molds. They will be CNC engraved like the pistol molds.

Thanks,

Andy
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About half of the pistols and 75% of round balls, Minnies and slug molds are switched over.

Thanks,

Andy

[Jailer]

That's great to hear, thanks for sharing Ben.

[Marlin Junky]

Ben,

Was there any mention of how Lee plans to vent the rifle cavities cut in the new block design?

MJ

[Ben]

MJ,

Sorry, but no information was offered on your point of concern......I posted everything that he gave me.

Ben

[plmitch]

Thanks for the update Sir.

[41 mag fan]

I wonder how that'll work on closing with both alignment pins on the bottom only

[theperfessor]

I don't see alignment pin location as a problem. I really like the looks of the new molds. I bet they could sell a bunch of them just as blanks, for all the guys that want to hack, whittle, and gnaw out a cavity or two.

[JIMinPHX]

Those are bullet nose pins. I've used them before. I like them.

Just having 2 pins on the bottom should be fine with that type of pin.

The lack of venting concerns me.

[Ben]

Jim:

The lack of venting concerns me.

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That caught my attention early when I 1st glanced at their new blocks also.

Of course, I've got some old IDEAL molds that don't have a single vent line on them and they cast fine bullets.

Ben

[rexherring]

I poured about 100 with that mold last night and they worked great. There isn't overly visible venting but the machining marks seem to be enough but then again it's a small boolit. Larger rifle designs may need more venting. That pic I took isn't the best so you can't see the machine tooling marks but it vented o.k..

[Houndog]

I like the looks of that new mold AND from the looks of that particular mold it'd be an easy task to hollow point! I'm going to try to get my hands on one and find out!

[reloader28]

Sweet. I think they will probly up they're sales with that design. I know I'm more interested, I think the mold will last longer. I have some molds that need replacing.

[Bullshop]

Ben
What diameter is that mold pictured dropping?

[SciFiJim]

Depending on how the new mold design works out, I have a couple of molds that could stand to be replaced.

[madsenshooter]

Those are bullet nose pins. I've used them before. I like them.

Just having 2 pins on the bottom should be fine with that type of pin.

The lack of venting concerns me.

If the handles are as wobbly as the old ones, they'll need that bullet shape to get the halves to come together!

[Ben]

Ben
What diameter is that mold pictured dropping?

I don't own that mold , it belongs to rexherring.
According to rexherring, It drops right at .356 and 104 grs.

[Bullshop]

Perfect! A light RN for 38 spl.

[Ben]

Perfect! A light RN for 38 spl.

Bullshop*:

OOOOppps, Need to make a correction :

According to rexherring, It drops right at .356 and 104 grs.

That is close to where my tumble lube 125 Lee was throwing also.
However, I corrected that :

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...gr-Tumble-Lube

[rexherring]

My first batch was .356 with a softer alloy for the .380 the very bottom of the base was .357. I'm going to try some harder cast this week end to see if they drop a little larger. I just ran them in the RCBS lube sizer with my .358 die and lubed them but they didn't seem to do anything for sizing but lubed good. If they stay at the .356 size, I may just start tumble lubing.

The handles on the mold are pretty much the same but they are still tight. If they get loose, I just put some high temp silicone in the handle holes and re-insert the handle. So far that seems to work the best for my Lee molds.

The one thing I need is a better powder measure as the big Pacific one I have works great for larger loads but not so good for the .380 and 2 grs of Bullseye. Those small loads don't seem to measure as accurate as the adjustment is almost closed on the measure.

[johnly]

I don't see alignment pin location as a problem. I really like the looks of the new molds. I bet they could sell a bunch of them just as blanks, for all the guys that want to hack, whittle, and gnaw out a cavity or two.

Exactly what I was thinking of doing.

John