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Thread: How long do lee ignots molds last? Mine just broke....

  1. #61
    Boolit Master





    SSGOldfart's Avatar
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    My Lee ingot molds are 25years plus old,they work great, I have over 60 Lee molds all are in good working order..
    I started out with nothing and I still have most of it left.
    Paralyzed Veterans of America

    Looking for a Hensly &Gibbs #258 any thing from a two cavity to a 10cavityI found a new one from a member here

  2. #62
    Boolit Bub
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    Quote Originally Posted by mdi View Post

    Mebbe the casting gods did it just made to feed some Lee Hater's ego and unreasonable feelings about inanimate tools...(post 15)
    Hey, I resemble that remark!


    My FIL uses a Lee ingot mold without issue.
    I use a muffin pan.
    Both work just fine.

  3. #63
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    These won't break


  4. #64
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    RogerDat's Avatar
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    This fellow makes and sells the angle iron molds http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...nd-Ingot-Molds as a vendor has a pretty solid rep in straight shooters and deadbeats thread.

    I made some myself but I think the ones above or those made by D Crockett are better workmanship than mine. Been a decade since I welded much and had to work at a neighbors using a wire feed, rather than my preferred stick welder. Might have been just as bad but since we'll never know that's my story. Wrong type of welder.

    Length matches length of SFRB or MFRB for ease of shipping. Weight is controlled by size of ladle. For cheap molds that stack and store well bread loaf pans from thrift store. Filled to maybe an inch they make slabs of between 10 and 12 pound. Can get a big stack for cheap from garage sales, thrift store, or Walmart. They tend to get sort of beat up in short time but they work for long enough, are a little bit different sizes and don't fit boxes well for shipping but for stacking in bulk they rock.

    Might be worth mentioning that once the handle became loose it might have become a pry rather than an extension of the tang. Those handles if you care about them being tight can be set with JB Weld, just as one would the Lee 2 cavity mold handles.
    Last edited by RogerDat; 10-25-2017 at 07:23 PM.
    Scrap.... because all the really pithy and emphatic four letter words were taken and we had to describe this source of casting material somehow so we added an "S" to what non casters and wives call what we collect.

    Kind of hard to claim to love America while one is hating half the Americans that disagree with you. One nation indivisible requires work.

    Feedback page http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...light=RogerDat

  5. #65
    Boolit Master


    Walks's Avatar
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    Lee makes ****. If they didn't they would have a better warranty. I bought 2 ingot molds last year just to use for a dual specific purpose. I was going to melt down 4 35lb bricks into 1lb ingots that would be marked with the Lee logo so that would instantly identify those ingots as pure lead. And use the 1/2 lb ingot mold cavities for storing/identifing, recast "Foundrytype" alloy for later alloy mixing.

    I use ingot molds from the various mold manufacturers to easily identify/separate different alloys. Some of them like the OHAUS AND SAECO one's are over 50yrs old. No real made cast iron ingot mold I own has ever cracked or broken in any way. Regardless of how hard I have treated them.

    Then I bought the Lee. Both had their handles break off before either had cast 20 ingots a piece 2lbs of lead a pour. And I waited at least 3 minutes before I turned the molds over. Just turned them over. Didn't bang them or drop them.

    LEE wanted me to return them for replacement at my expense with proof of purchase. I paid $30 bucks and would have had to pay $8 bucks more to send them back.

    I used a good set of vice grips to finish my ingot pouring sessions.

    I then dumped them into the Recycle bin.

    You'd think I'd have learned by now.

    BUY CHEAP, GET CHEAP !!
    I HATE auto-correct

    Happiness is a Warm GUN & more ammo to shoot in it.

    My Experience and My Opinion, are just that, Mine.

    SASS #375 Life

  6. #66
    Boolit Bub
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    Why did lee need a purchase reciept...........
    I BELIEVE IN JOHN 3:16

  7. #67
    Boolit Master

    pworley1's Avatar
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    I have never broken an ingot mold in the 50+ years that I have been doing this. Sorry that your handle broke, but it will still make ingots just fine.
    NRA Benefactor Member NRA Golden Eagle

  8. #68
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by JonB_in_Glencoe View Post
    I use one for a 'drip tray' under my Lee pot...
    Aluminum pie plates don’t last very long.......

    There’s the tip of the week? Thanks Todd/3leg

  9. #69
    Boolit Master



    Crash_Corrigan's Avatar
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    I have Lee, RCBS and Lyman molds for ingots along with a dozen cast iron ashtrays with the Bass Pro Shops logo. These ashtray molds make a round mold of about 3" in diameter and about 1/2 to 3/4" thick. They stack well and have a neat handle like a miniature cast iron frying pan. None of any of my molds have even had a broken handle much less any damage over the years from '93 to today. A good friend of mine made me a set of angle iron molds that I find perfect for their intended use. My ingot pile has diminished some and I need to go out and get some more lead.

    I have not bought any factory fodder for any of my weapons other than ammo for social purposes and I believe that my ammo is superior to factory ammo especially since I practice with mine and with the expensive factory ammo not so much. I taylor mine for accuracy and ballistic performance and I do pretty well with it but the new stuff from Lehigh seems to have the best ballistic performance of anything out there. So I have invested some bucks to make up some street ammo for my carry guns.
    Pax Nobiscum Dan (Crash) Corrigan

    Currently casting, reloading and shooting: 223 Rem, 6.5x55 Sweede, 30 Carbine, 30-06 Springfield, 30-30 WCF, 303 Brit., 7.62x39, 7.92x57 Mauser, .32 Long, 32 H&R Mag, 327 Fed Mag, 380 ACP. 9x19, 38 Spcl, 357 Mag, 38-55 Win, 41 Mag, 44 Spcl., 44 Mag, 45 Colt, 45 ACP, 454 Casull, 457 RB for ROA and 50-90 Sharps. Shooting .22 LR & 12 Gauge seldom and buying ammo for same.

  10. #70
    Boolit Master

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    I use the cornbread ears moulds and the cornbread wedge moulds... Have only broken 1, dropped it!

  11. #71
    Boolit Master
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    Never, ever, put anything heavy in those lee ingot molds.

  12. #72
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I know this is an older thread but I have used a Lee ingot mold since this thread was started and wanted to comment. I just finished helping a friend smelt 400# of reclaimed shot that he scored. I own 6 of the Lyman style cast iron molds and when we do a group smelt the guys bring their ingot molds. This is usually 2 more RCBS molds and a Lee. Mine are Lyman, Ohaus and Saeco. After reading this I was cautious with the Lee. I found that the Lee was less fatiguing to use. Using channel loc pliers the cast iron 4 cavity molds would eventually tire your wrist out. The Lee was easier to handle and the ingots fell out of it when you turned it over. A couple of my iron molds required tapping them on the table.

  13. #73
    Boolit Master

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    I looked at the Lee ingot mold and it just looks "cheap" to me. Many of you have had great service, but they just look danged fragile to me. My best ingot mold is an NOE. I LOVE the fact that NOE mold handles can be attached (Lee handles would fit too). WONDERFUL! Ingots drop right out, and the handles make the whole process nice.

    My RCBS ingots work great too, but like to be hot to make good ingots. Also, don't try to dump ingots from the RCBS molds too soon, or they don't want to release. The NOE ingot mold is spendy, but dang it is a nice product and available in 4 pound or 4 one pound versions. I wish RCBS ingot molds would accept handles. Vice grips are ok, but not nearly as convenient.

    One difference about RCBS CS, is that one call or online CS form would be all that's needed to get a replacement on the way at no charge. Why I buy with confidence.

  14. #74
    Boolit Grand Master


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    For half the price the Lee comes with a handle, and if it ever does break off, you now have the same or better than the RCBS. Where's the fire? I'm in the majority of users, I don't know how long the Lee ingot mold lasts, I've not managed to break mine yet. I'm not been gentle with it either.

  15. #75
    Boolit Buddy
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    Don't have a lee mold, I have a Lyman, but can't remember what year it was when I bought it. I distinctly remember watching Richard Nixon's inauguration on my patio black and white tv while making ingots with mine though. Still going strong, the mold not so much me.

  16. #76
    Boolit Bub
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    Ten years and still good

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

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"
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LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check