Using foil or thin tape in the blocks to make the boolits 1-3 thousands (or so) wider. Yes they are a bit out of round but the sizer can take care of that for those that care, and the seater and throat for those who don't.Originally Posted by birddseedd
I give loading advice based on my actual results in factory rifles with standard chambers, twist rates and basic accurizing.
My goals for using cast boolits are lots of good, cheap, and reasonably accurate shooting, while avoiding overly tedious loading processes.
The BHN Deformation Formula, and why I don't use it.
How to find and fix sizing die eccentricity problems.
Do you trust your casting thermometer?
A few musings.
So the mold is out of round?
So your just not happy with it?
So you have very limited understanding of what you are asking for or how difficult it is to produce?
So you want to send it back and deal with the headaches?
Sounds like you got your moneys worth to me.
Look, we are awash with custom mold makers the likes of which the world has never seen before. They all advertize here on this site. They all will produce molds that the pickiest person in the world would call acceptable to superb.
Why not give them your business instead of scraping the dregs off the bottom of the barrel?
I have a few Lee molds and they serve one purpose: peppering the berm with lead I don't want anymore. I use the 6 cavity molds to run defense drills where I want to ring steel, or burn 600 rounds.
If I'm going to get my nose bent out of shape with molds that were not cut round (and I do) I'm not going to be doing business with Lee or Lyman. RCBS maybe. Sometimes.
I highly recommend NOE and Accurate. If I need something with a flat nose of .180 or larger dropped on my doorstep 6 days after I order it, then I talk to Tom at Accurate Molds. I get what I want fast, and the boolits rain down like water a week later.
if I need something with a HP or a sharp nose, or in a mold for "the top shelf" I talk to Al at NOE molds.
I also have a mold from ACE, MP, and have gotten to see one from HM2.
All are superb quality, and all the makers stand behind their product.
Instead of buying Lee and hoping to maybe someday find a mold I like that I can try to keep from wearing out, I find my money is better spent on a real mold that was created by a person who is as uncompromising as I am, and I place enough value on that, that I will pay these people to do what they do so well.
I mean honestly, if I knew that a certain boolit design would do what a very few have done for me in certain rifles, I wouldn't have thought twice about dropping $250 on a single mold. If it's the last one I would need to buy forever then why not?
One measly hundred dollar bill for something that might be all that and a bag of chips is very reasonable to me. Not only that, but if I decide I don't like it for some reason, I can list it on the S&S forum and recoup my money a few minutes later. Like tossing a kitten into a pen full of hungry doberman's: it wouldn't even hit the ground LOL!
Last edited by MBTcustom; 08-26-2014 at 02:32 PM.
Precision in the wrong place is only a placebo.
is that how they are able to get a size larger than what the mold is made for?
Yes.
Check this out: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...#8220;beagling”
"Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the face!" - Mike Tyson
"Don't let my fears become yours." - Me, talking to my children
That look on your face, when you shift into 6th gear, but it's not there.
I am new yes.
Im sure my next mold will be one in which i can afford a better one. Ill look here for one
Maybe a a new guy i can ask. If the mold dripps perfectly round bullets, is there a need to size? .355 all around wouldnt really change going into a .355 press
I wouldn't classify LEE Precision molds as bottom of the barrel.
LEE Precision molds have always performed as advertised for me.
I enjoy their products. I'll purchase more. I always vote with my wallet.
"Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the face!" - Mike Tyson
"Don't let my fears become yours." - Me, talking to my children
That look on your face, when you shift into 6th gear, but it's not there.
Only for seating and chambering fit purposes. If it seats without shaving and chambers with at least .001" to release the boolit, you're good.
I give loading advice based on my actual results in factory rifles with standard chambers, twist rates and basic accurizing.
My goals for using cast boolits are lots of good, cheap, and reasonably accurate shooting, while avoiding overly tedious loading processes.
The BHN Deformation Formula, and why I don't use it.
How to find and fix sizing die eccentricity problems.
Do you trust your casting thermometer?
A few musings.
On the Lee quality issue, Goodsteel is right... but that doesn't mean there are no good Lee dies or happy customers.
I have a bunch of Lee molds, good, bad and indifferent. Many have benefited greatly from "leementing", a consumer QA process of deburring, flattening, checking and cleaning. Some have had to be returned- one twice. One 6-Cavity I will give up when it is pried from my cold, dead hands.
If you don't have the time or patience, buy the good stuff. We are really in the golden age of quality molds. If your Lee is cut wrong, return it and try again. Read up on Leementing and decide if it is worth it to you.
Just keep in mind that if you complain about Lee quality here, we have all heard about it and/or experienced it so you will only get small amounts of sympathy!
I give loading advice based on my actual results in factory rifles with standard chambers, twist rates and basic accurizing.
My goals for using cast boolits are lots of good, cheap, and reasonably accurate shooting, while avoiding overly tedious loading processes.
The BHN Deformation Formula, and why I don't use it.
How to find and fix sizing die eccentricity problems.
Do you trust your casting thermometer?
A few musings.
Ok fair enough. Who then (prey tell) cranks out cheaper molds that can be even passingly expected to drop usable boolits?
Prey tell who (given an honest unbiased choice) would take even a sideways glance at a Lee mold vs the same thing made by our venders? Sorry, the deck is stacked, and Lee is on the losing end.
There was a time when I would not know the difference, but anybody who has a good understanding of measuring equipment (such as the OP has demonstrated) comes very quickly to the conclusion that if you want good quality boolits, buying a custom mold from the custom guys hedges your bet pretty soundly.
Yeah, I've had Lee molds that drop good boolits but I have to try to keep them from wearing out as the sprue plates are not flat, and the design of the hinge point insures "repeat customers" LOL!
Again, don't get me wrong, like I said, I use Lee molds on occasion, but I don't like aluminum, and I am one picky sucker about what falls out. I really don't care how shiny the boolits are. I care about concentricity, straightness, and above all consistency.
This has a lot more to do with casting, than it does shooting. They are separate disciplines.
Your accuracy at the bench is a demonstration of your accuracy in each phase of the process that you used to get there.
Casting (that's alloy selection and repeatability, and casting repeatability)
Loading (Stack 'em the same every time. Change only one thing at a time and keep good records)
Shooting (Just like at the pot and at the press: Do the same thing over and over)
The OP is displeased with typical Lee QC. There is a very simple solution.
That's all I was saying.
Last edited by MBTcustom; 08-26-2014 at 03:48 PM.
Precision in the wrong place is only a placebo.
I prefer Lee molds to those of our vendor sponsors. I very much like Lee's sprue cutter design and the fact that they aren't cut grossly oversize (on purpose) to satisfy this boards tastes. Lee's quality is just fine for the price point.
”We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, yet they are still lying.” –Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
My Straight Shooters thread:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...raight-shooter
The Pewter Pictures and Hallmarks thread:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-and-hallmarks
With all the gratuitous, in my opinion, bashing of Lee Precision, I hope they pull their advertisement on this site. God Bless Lee Precision.
Bashing of Lee molds is warranted. Bashing of their other products is not. This is coming from someone who uses Lee reloading tools almost exclusively. You see consistent complaints about Lee molds for a reason. They are cheap molds designed to hit a price point. And there is nothing wrong w/ this if they dropped bullets to spec. I got rid of all my Lee molds and replaced them w/ custom ones. The old saying "buy once, cry once" is very fitting when it comes to molds.
There is nothing wrong w/ calling a turd a turd. It's even happened to the likes of Mihec but he sent out new blocks on his dime. Which isn't cheap considering he resides in Slovenia.
if you think Lee is bad try buying a brand new craftsman ratchet. Its depressing
Just since 2006?? I had crappy ones before that.
"The bullets and mold measure the same"...Something not quite right here..the cavity should be measuring slightly larger than the actual slug that dropped from it..all lead alloys shrink when solidifying. Although being out of round is not uncommon. I seem to remember when Lee first brought out their moulds..that the big advertising feature was their use of a hardened steel "bullet" being forced under pressure between the mould blocks.."coining" final size to shape & giving a mirror like finish..they no longer advertise this..has this process been dropped?
One side measured .357 to .358.
Maybe it was .3575 ish
I've had very little issue from the lee molds themselves. I picked up a group buy 480 mold and found I needed to reset the alignment pins and that cleared up the offset halves. And I have another maker ?? I beagled to get the diameter up to size across the mold.
Charlie
I bet you would find whatever you are going to squirt these out of probably will take the larger end of your measurements. I believe you are into this mold at around twenty five bucks or so. Learn about lapping, alloy goes quick. A .358"-.359" will slide through a sizing die just fine to where you probably need to be. I have Lee's, I also have silly money in molds that make magic boolits! Welcome to the madness.
ok well i think iv got part of it figured out. im not supposed to be getting .355 bullets. im supposed to get .356 bullets. part of the mold is undersized.
which is likely why i have been getting all of this dang leadding. if i get it back and its still dropping .355 bullets, lapping will open up the mold to .356?
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