Lee TL mold WAY out of round

[SeabeeMan]

I was just checking the 100 or so TL452-230-2R boolits I cast a little while back before I lubed them with Ben's L/L and discovered that they are very, very out of round. Not just out of round, but I'd say fully out of spec. Across the block opening they measure .459 and 90 degrees to that they measure .441! The fact that one direction is undersize means it isn't the mold not closing fully or anything like that, right?

I contacted Midway to see about a return and Lee just in case Midway doesn't take care of me. I guess NOE is going to get some more business soon.

[Larry Gibson]

Have you considered it may not be the mould? If you are using COWW or some type of range lead it could easily be the alloy and your casting technique with it.

Larry Gibson

[SeabeeMan]

I had thought about that, and checked the mold to see if the alignment pins weren't seated or if the faces had something on them, but they did not.

I understand that different alloys have different fill-out and thermal expansion/contraction properties, but anything caused by the alloy contracting would apply symmetrically around the boolit, wouldn't it? I can also see how something interfering with the mold would make it not close and give me out of round boolits in the direction of the mold split, but they should still be close in the other direction. Even then, how would the be ending up .011 undersized in one dimension?

If we were talking about 2 or 3 thousandths out of round, especially oversize, I would suspect myself. It's the huge amount undersize in only one dimension that makes me suspect the mold.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

WOW, 0.009" offset !
You should be able to see that ridge in that boolit seam from 20 paces

If you have that gigantic ridge on every boolit, it surely is the Mold's poorly aligned alignment pins.

If there isn't a ridge and this 'out of roundness' is not on every boolit...then the mold is probably not closing completely for some reason or another.

[Larry Gibson]

but anything caused by the alloy contracting would apply symmetrically around the boolit, wouldn't it?

No it doesn't apply symmetrically if the alloy is poor in fill out characteristics, the mould is too cold, The alloy is too cold or your pouring technique isn't adequate. Lots of reasons could be causing your problem other than the mould. What alloy are you using?

Larry Gibson

[SeabeeMan]

I'm going to check them all this evening, the 30 or so I grabbed all had it and were noticeably out of round.

Sorry, I thought I stated what alloy I was using. This is COWW from one huge batch I made when I first started casting. Original smelt was all hand sorted, temperature controlled to stay below the melting point of zinc, and double fluxed with sawdust and gulf wax. Every load of lead in the pot gets fluxed with the Frankford Arsenal powdery stuff. I have cast thousands of tumble lube 9mm's and REAL's out of this stuff.

The exact same load in the pot that cast these cast a few hundred Lee 102gr lube groove bullets that look beautiful and sized concentrically based on the amount of "smeared" shiny lead on them after lube-sizing. Those had nice sharp edges at the lube grooves. I even cast a few from my NOE RG4 9mm mold and the HP's were forming nicely, so while it isn't impossible, I can't imagine that this is a shortcoming in the alloy.

[SeabeeMan]

Since we're talking about it, I'm still unclear as to how any casting technique would lead to boolits that is undersized. Since perfect would be flushly mated mold halves, wouldn't any error be related to mold halves not closing? Wouldn't this increase the dimension that lies perpendicular to the opening and, if far enough open, allow lead to run into the opening, creating flashing or a bulging of the boolit?

I'm not trying to argue that this isn't my fault...it very well could be and I'll be grateful for the learning experience at the cost of a few cents of electricity to re-melt them. I just pretty sure I'm not understanding something.

[HangFireW8]

I had a warped Lee mold once, but try to eliminate yourself as the problem. Check more boolits, if you find some that are more round, then "something happened" during your casting session. Take a magnifying glass to the mold and check for flecks of lead, burrs, etc, anything that might hold the mold open.

If returning to Lee, I found the best thing is just get the mailing address and return it with a polite letter. You can make a phone call, but you'll just end up in an argument, and in the end, you're still going to have to mail it in anyway.

[MT Chambers]

The bullet is obviously designed for bores with polygonal rifling.

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

You sound surprised.

Alloy does not affect the roundness of cast bullets. Only the mold quality, or lack of it does that.

My molds say NOE or Steve Brooks, and I do not have the issues many do.

good luck...

Rich

[SeabeeMan]

You sound surprised.

Alloy does not affect the roundness of cast bullets. Only the mold quality, or lack of it does that.

That's basically what I was thinking.

[Elkins45]

but anything caused by the alloy contracting would apply symmetrically around the boolit, wouldn't it?

No it doesn't apply symmetrically if the alloy is poor in fill out characteristics, the mould is too cold, The alloy is too cold or your pouring technique isn't adequate. Lots of reasons could be causing your problem other than the mould. What alloy are you using?

Larry Gibson

You really think this could account for a 0.018 diameter difference?

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Frequently, bringing a lament such as this, gives no helpful reply. Just send it back! and tell the manufacturer you want a mould that works.

BvT

[taco650]

Does every cavity of the mold produce out of round boolits or just one or two? Have you measured the mold half's individually to see if one side is actually larger than the other?

[Animal]

I had a Lee mold that was out of round in the opposite dimensions. I consulted the stickies on "mold enlargement" and now have a mold that works well in my gun. I didn't have this problem with my other two Lee molds. Either send it back or consult the stickies if you have eliminated yourself and supplies as the problem.