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Thread: First time I have had this happen with a Lee 6 cavity

  1. #1
    Boolit Grand Master tazman's Avatar
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    First time I have had this happen with a Lee 6 cavity

    I was in the middle of a long casting session this morning with my Lee 358-158-RF(recent purchase, 6 months ago) when the boolits started looking a bit off center. I wasn't doing anything different so I couldn't see why that would happen.
    I stopped casting since it was time to refill the pot anyway and let the mold cool off.
    I was picking up the boolits out of the water dish( I water drop) when I came upon a small metal cylinder with a tapered point on one end. It took me a moment to realize what it was.
    Apparently one of the locating pins had popped out during the run. Probably about the time I noticed the problem.
    It turned out to be an easy fix. I removed the mold from the handles, slid the pin back into position(it went in easier than I thought it should have) and tested it to make sure the mold closed properly and wasn't loose at the pin.
    Then I staked the pin back in place on both sides of the mold(inside and outside) with a small screwdriver and a very small hammer as Lee aluminum molds are easy to damage if you are too rough with them. Checked the mold again for alignment and closure.
    Then I reheated the mold and continued casting for another 800 boolits or so.
    I have cast thousands of boolits with Lee molds and never had that happen before with a 6 cavity. I have seen it with 2 cavity molds though.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master Garyshome's Avatar
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    I had a locater pin come out of a
    Lee 2-Cavity Bullet Mold 356-102-1R
    I am going to send it back to them with a bunch of other stuff needs reparin'

  3. #3
    Boolit Master

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    Tasman- have had the same thing happen. Fixed it the same way you did. One thing that helps is to follow the procedure from NOE and temp cycle the mold two or three times before it is used. This will help seize the pin into place.

    Carl

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    I have not had that happen as yet. I have six, six cavity Lee molds and 15 two cavity Lee molds. The OP has came up with the solution and that is better than doing a three to four week turn a round with Lee. I do like most of the Lee products. I have heard a number of Lee horror stories on here and I am sure they are viable, I guess I have just been lucky.
    Last edited by 45-70 Chevroner; 05-16-2015 at 03:16 PM.

  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master tazman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by chboats View Post
    Tasman- have had the same thing happen. Fixed it the same way you did. One thing that helps is to follow the procedure from NOE and temp cycle the mold two or three times before it is used. This will help seize the pin into place.

    Carl
    This was probably the 6th or 7th casting session with this particular set of mold blocks. They had been heated and cooled many times. They gave no indication there was a problem before this happened.
    I have several other 6 cavity Lee molds and they all work perfectly.
    This one worked well before and does again.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master

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    So much for that idea

    Carl

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy birddog's Avatar
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    Had a similar issue with a lee 6 banger that was a group buy and while casting, was having misaligned booits and found one of the alignment pins was pushed back some and had to peen it after resetting it.
    Charlie

  8. #8
    Boolit Master

    GP100man's Avatar
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    1 of my 6bangers pins slid back & didn't find it until I was lube sizing, I removed the pin & peened the hole with a self powered center punch (2 rows of 8 peens) then peened behind it to ensure no more set backs of it. Moves no more !

    GP
    GP100man

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BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
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GC Gas Check