Lee and Lyman 69 cal moulds

[barnabus]

anyone know what these moulds actually drop at? im needing a ball no bigger than 687-688. do they run small or over like my rcbs moulds. im sure ill hear it depends on alloy but looking for those who actually have experience with these moulds

[GooseGestapo]

I have the Lee .690” and if my memory s correct, it throws to .687” with w/w metal. Shimming it with Aluminum tape will enlarge it if needed.
I use mine for 12ga loads so it’s fine as-is.

[longbow]

I have an old Lyman 0.690" ball mould I bought used in the 1970's so not sure of its age. It casts about 0.691" with ACWW. All my "12 ga." RB moulds 0.662", 0.678", 0.690", 0.715" and 0.735" all cast from about 0.001" to 0.004" oversize with ACWW or range scrap. Not sure about new Lyman RB moulds. Their regular bullet moulds are supposed to cast to size using Lyman #2 alloy but in my experience they cast small

If you want a custom mould try https://www.ballmoulds.com/

He will make whatever cavity size you want but you have to detyermine what alloy you are using and the shrinkage. Here is a link to the FAQ's with shrinkage addressed:

https://www.ballmoulds.com/faqs/

ACWW of typical composition shrinks roughly 0.5%. Wheel weights apparently used to run about 5% antimony but I believe newer wheel weights are about 3% antimony.

What is your goal with the ball and why the limit of 0.687"-0.688"?

Longbow

[Bmi48219]

I have a Lyman I bought in the early 80’s. The balls I cast back then dropped .6635-.6640 from WW. I happened upon some today in the loading cabinet. They’re 427 grains m/l.