Guess I bought my last Lee mold.

[Tackleberry41]

I guess we all start with Lee at some point, beginners. And they CAN cast decent bullets, but usually only by luck out of the box or after messing with them. A kit as some say. Wouldn't think it would be so difficult for Lee to make a mold that will cast bullets that will be sized by a Lee sizer of the correct size, but seems pretty rare. The .430 310gr that came in the mail other day, now it casts 430, but not out of the box. The 452 300gr that came at the same time, its going back. Not even close to 452, and you have to watch the alignment when it closes, make sure its right. Wanted 2 so I could HP one of them. But think will just save me alot of effort and frustration to just go pay for a good mold.

[376Steyr]

Lee moulds are an excellent value for the money, and I'm most grateful that they are available to get new casters introduced to the hobby.

[tinhorn97062]

I cast with a Lee mold. I had to beagle it to drop a larger boolit, but otherwise it casts just fine. I'm unable to drop $100 on a nice custom mold at this time, so the $20 Lee mold made it possible for me to get up and running.

[williamwaco]

I guess we all start with Lee at some point, beginners. And they CAN cast decent bullets, but usually only by luck out of the box or after messing with them. A kit as some say. Wouldn't think it would be so difficult for Lee to make a mold that will cast bullets that will be sized by a Lee sizer of the correct size, but seems pretty rare. The .430 310gr that came in the mail other day, now it casts 430, but not out of the box. The 452 300gr that came at the same time, its going back. Not even close to 452, and you have to watch the alignment when it closes, make sure its right. Wanted 2 so I could HP one of them. But think will just save me alot of effort and frustration to just go pay for a good mold.

+1

Lee molds USED TO BE a good value. The last four or five I have bought were SERIOUSLY undersized and had other defects.
( The word "KIT" seems appropriate.)

9mm dropping at .354.

430 dropping at .427

The last .358 six cavity I bought was so warped the blocks would not close. ( mate )

Yes I know they have good Customer Service but they are so cheap I can buy a new two cavity for about 4$ more than It costs to return the defective one. and a lot faster.

I am finished. I would rather have one good mold than a shelf full of "Kits".

[Schrag4]

I've only been casting a short while compared to most here. I agree that a low-quality, low-priced alternative is needed to let newbies like me dip our toes into the water. I understand that my Lee mold is low-quality, although it's working well for what I'm doing. I suspect when I decide to, or am forced to get a different mold, I'll spend more for some quality. I'm pretty happy with the groups and velocity that I'm getting with the combination of these projectiles, the propellant, and the gun I'm shooting them from, so I hope I'm not forced to change any of those factors any time soon, even if it is for a step up in mold quality.

TL/DR: Anecdotal evidence - my mold works fine, but I would spend more next time.

[toallmy]

40 bucks for a 6 banger it gets it going. I like my hard molds but 175 for a 4 hole or 90 for 2hole can stop you from trying to many.

[GhostHawk]

I am currently up to 12 Lee molds, all 2 cavity except my .224 Bator is a 6.

Quality control seems to run in streaks. Good for a while, then some rejects, good again for a while.

Maybe I have been lucky. Some do run a bit smaller than I would like but a quick beagle job on 2-3 fixed that.

I have actually had worse luck on sizing kits than molds where size is concerned.
Maybe I was lucky, maybe they like the alloys I have been using.

I have had a few with small issues, but nothing that half an hour and some figuring couldn't fix.

If you would rather spend 90-150$ per mold, go ahead. Certainly a valid option. And no one will blame you.

My question Is I guess is it the molds that are faulty or your expectations? If the later is it really fair to drag Lee's name through the mud?

[stubert]

My Lee 430-310 casts at .432 I guess i got lucky.

[sparky45]

I ran a Lee 35-158 six banger that I recently bought and after tapping one of the alignment pins back a smidge she opened and closed just fine. I took a Butane lighter and smoked the cavities and placed her on my hot plate while the alloy heated. From the first try to the last, she dropped each bullet without even tapping the mold. Sprue cut easy and in less than a couple of hours I had 400 + slugs. They measured 158 - 160 grs and .358 - .359" in diameter and of those measured they are concentric. I'm pleased.

[bangerjim]

I have over 45 Lee molds, mostly 6 cavity, and all are excellent quality and drop on-size and in-round boolits. So do the 2 cavity. No complaints. At all.

I also own several SAECO, NOE and MiHec brass & Fe 4,5,6 cav molds. Are they better. Yes. But they cost 2-4X what the Lee does and the boolits shoot the same. For me.

For those starting out or trying to do everything on the cheeeeeep ( as many on here seem to try to always do) the Lee products offer excellent results......at least for me. And I recommend them to anyone that does not have a lot of money to burn.

bangerjim

[brtelec]

I buy Lee molds unless I need something they do not offer. I have only had a problem with one mold that threw undersize bullets. I sent it back and was sent a replacement.

[mozeppa]

i have 3 accurate molds and 8 hardline molds...all iron....couldn't be happier.

used to have 19 lee molds....they are someone elses problem now.

[Tackleberry41]

Be nice if they would make up their mind which threads they are going to use on the spru plate. Got a brand new one, design change I guess, has the very visible circular marks on top. Its a left hand screw, one of my other ones I was messing with is left, but then next one I use is right hand.

Some of their molds I have not had issues with, round ball molds have been good, guess hard to screw those up. But these 2 new ones way undersized. One before that was fine. And I wish they would forego the 'free' handles that can't be removed, and put that money into making better molds. I think most of us would pay say $30 for just the blocks if they were not so dang hit and miss. But they seem to be getting flimsier now than they used to. I sent one back before, one of their R.E.A.L molds, it cast bullets that just dropped down the barrel. Of course it was me, not the mold, I didn't mark it or anything to know if they switched them and sent a form letter detailing what I was doing wrong.

Yes its true we all need someplace to start, just that with their hit or miss molds. You might get a good one and everything go fine, but might get a bad one and spend hours frustrated wondering what your doing wrong when its the mold.

[youngmman]

I started casting in the late 1980's and from the get go I adhered to policy I have always used with hobbies and that is if I couldn't afford good quality I saved until I could so I have never had the pleasure of being frustrated with Lee products of any kind. I do have a nice collection of original H&G's, LBT's and the like with a Magma pot.

I couldn't be happier.

[taco650]

I'm a noob on the casting thing and now own 4 Lee 2-holers. I went cheap because I wasn't sure I'd like it and didn't want to put out $75-100 for a "good" mold. My luck with them has been decent for the most part. Tried my two newest ones for the first time today. One worked great (429-240 SWCGC), the bullets just fell out with a shake of the handles or simply gravity! The other mold, a 358-158 SWCGC, had to be hit on the nut repeatedly to get them to fall out. I smoked it with a lighter several times and it got better but still had to hit it. I also scraped for burrs on the edges but its still a battle. This mold is also dropping them at around 161gr with the range scrap alloy I used. These will work fine for my standard pressure 38 special loads.

Would an NOE give better results? Probably but I'm satisfied with the results I've gotten from all my Lee molds. I also like to tinker with things so having to babysit a mold to get it to work good isn't a problem but rather an opportunity. Guess it depends on your perspective. Someday I may upgrade to the higher end molds but until then, I'll just stay the course with Lee.

[Harter66]

I had good luck with the Lee moulds . I've had as many as 15 at 1 time . I have several 6C moulds and they ran fine right out of the box. I don't need a lot from the 358-125 ,401-175 and 452-255 , 5" at 50 yd is good enough. Those 3 and the 00B are great . The Bator 2c is 2nd hand and was fussed with some it runs great . The 3 30 cal moulds well 1 of them I all but fussed to death but the other 2 run well enough . I'm not sure what it is about the 285-130 but I just don't like it. it's like it's just I don't know, it works, it drops it ,makes boolits ,they go bang and don't muck up the bbl , I just don't like it . The 323-175 I thought I'd never get it to pour right it wrinkled everything I poured in it and it didn't fit the 8mm for beans . Painfully simple fix ....... but lapping the plate was way down the list . The 32 Remington loves it so does the way oversized x39. Both even more so now that it's a plain base. The RB moulds wow where to start the 690 is ok of all the moulds this 1 could have been big like all of the others above but nooooo it has to drop dead on its not even short across the sprue. The double 454 is only 451 across the sprue and that does seal the .449 chambers on the 44 Remington so it can slide some but the 375 double the 1st 1 dropped at 370 and only 365 across the sprue ..... so I put it back thinking that'll make a conical for the 36 Remington 58' some day so 6 months or so later I order another to fill out for free shipping that 1 drops 375 except for the sprue flat and it's worse than the 1st one . Maybe I'll get a better 1 next year.
I've had just 1 that wouldn't shoot and the 2 RB above that will be reworked for something some day. Out of probably 25 2c moulds and 6 6C moulds from the cheap seats I guess I can't complain to loud about destroying 1 ......er.... reworking 1 by foolishness and 2 that will be better off as a larger boolit . I have I think 6 Lyman moulds ,3 RCBS, 5 NOE and an LBT . But I gave 20-30 each for the Lyman singles and 60 for the double and about the same for the RCBS and just 40 for the LBT but those were all 2nd hand (or 4th). The NOE moulds are all new to me and the 4c and 5 c are just under 2x the money of Lee 6-cavity moulds but only 1 of the CAL are available in a Lee 6C and unless I NEED a mould that happens to be in a 6C Lee or the next 375 is right I'm probably done buying their moulds . ( In chorus now "never say never ") . It is also 100% guaranteed that I wouldn't have gotten into casting without them .

In Aviation we sometimes buy cheap tools , end wrenches and sockets most notably because you sometimes have to chop them up,grind them down or bend them into bizarre offsets to reach a particular bolt or nut . Vacuum pumps on Lycoming powered 235 Cherokees come to mind and 185 and 205 Continental up thru the C35 Bonaza.... North American wing bolts on the AT6 too.
Sometimes we buy an inexpensive mould to destroy. ......er......modify to meet a need . Would you lap a $75 NOE 327-*** up to fit a 329 8mm ? No not likely would you buy a $100 custom to see if the slopped out bore would shoot ? Me neither . Without a 338 around I wouldn't buy a standard to size down either . So there it is . Lee makes a perfectly suited tool for the beginner and experienced user and they are value priced so your beginner can learn and if they should mangle it there is only a little lost . Meanwhile the more experienced user can cheaply alter a mould to try something in a bbl that is uncooperative with the standards.

[shoot-n-lead]

I have really been pleased with the Lee molds that I have used over the years. A couple have needed a little attention...but most have worked as advertised, right out of the box and the price can't be beat. And, I do not hesitate to recommend them to folks, when they inquire.

[retread]

I have pretty well rid myself of the old style Lee 2 cavity molds. I have a couple of the new style 2 cavity that are ok. I have around 8 6-cavity molds that I am very happy with. I do however immediately change the sprue plate for a good machined steel one to avoid the galling problems with aluminum on aluminum that I had with an earlier mold that I used with the factory plate. I think the 6 cavity are an excellent buy.

[TXGunNut]

I have a couple of ball moulds and 2-c moulds but mostly prefer the 6-c moulds. Many of those were sold by Ranch Dog so I suspect they were held to a higher standard. The only one that was a bit fussy was a 2-c copy of the 68 but I only bought it because I was too cheap to buy a 6-c to see if my 45's liked it. I also like the TL design, Lee sizers and of course LLA for many applications so I'll always have a few Lee moulds around.

[Gtek]

Step one, remove from box and immediately remove sprue pivot screw without even touching plate. Second step, clean all lower edges and check sprue hole for carry through and detail as needed. Third is to understand you just bought a twenty dollar scratch off, good luck. Yes I have a couple, yes I use them and they are what they are.