Lee mould not closing flush

[Jal5]

This is a brand new Lee mould, for the 9mm makarov. 365-95-1R double cavity.
I cleaned it good with mineral spirits and smoked the cavities with a butane lighter.

The mould doesn't seem to easily close flush: each side of the block seems loose as attached to the handles, consequently it never lines up flush whenever I open and close the handles. it requires some jiggling or turning it upside down to see if its flush after dropping the boolits. It is supposed to drop at .365 but I am getting .366-.367 with range scrap. The lack of flush fit doesn't seem right to me, even as a novice caster. Any suggestions?

I tried tightening vs. loosening the bolt on the handle with no different effect.

Thanks,

Joe

[Jim]

Jal,
the Lee molds are notorious for being loose on the handles. That's the way they're made. I keep a short section of broom stick close by when I casting. Some of my molds don't close properly either. I close the mold, hold the handles together with a light pressure and tap the underside of the mold with the stick. The halves close properly.
Lee tells you, in the paperwork that comes with the mold, to tap the mold on the handle bolt to dislodge sticky boolits.
A lot of people don't care for Lee molds for this and other reasons. A lot of people use them, however, because they're economical to buy, especially for the beginner or financially limited caster.
Sometimes, ya' gotta remember, you get what you pay for and learn to work around the problem. I've been doin' that for decades.

[lylejb]

By not flush, do you mean one block tries to close higher ( up / down misalignment) or do you mean the mould doesn't close all the way?

If up/ down misalignment, remove the blocks from the handles, and see how they fit together. If they now fit correctly, the problem is your handles. look for any bends, irregularities, ect.

If the blocks wont fit without handles, look carefully for any burrs, tiny drops of lead, or other contamination on the face of the blocks or on the alignment pins.

Is this a 2 cav, or a 6 cav? (they have different alignment pins)

If a 6 cav, it's possible the alignment pins are not as deep in the blocks as they should be, or have burrs or some contamination on the pins or in the pin holes.

look at that especially if the blocks are not closing fully.

[docone31]

With Lee molds, of which I have quite a few,
after ejecting the castings, I close the sprue plate. I then close the mold. It seems the sprue plate is instrumental in a good close. All of my Lee Molds do that.
They have been good to me.

[MtGun44]

You need some bullplate lube (Bull Shop, link at bottom of page) on the alignment
features to help is GENTLY close.

Bill

[johnvid]

Set the mold on a table as you are closing it. It will align and close every time.

[Jal5]

By not flush, do you mean one block tries to close higher ( up / down misalignment) or do you mean the mould doesn't close all the way?

If up/ down misalignment, remove the blocks from the handles, and see how they fit together. If they now fit correctly, the problem is your handles. look for any bends, irregularities, ect.

If the blocks wont fit without handles, look carefully for any burrs, tiny drops of lead, or other contamination on the face of the blocks or on the alignment pins.

Is this a 2 cav, or a 6 cav? (they have different alignment pins)

If a 6 cav, it's possible the alignment pins are not as deep in the blocks as they should be, or have burrs or some contamination on the pins or in the pin holes.

look at that especially if the blocks are not closing fully.

It is the up/down misalignment. And on the Double cavity mould it doesn't look like it comes off the handle, there is a pin on each arm of the handle and is integral to the block.

Bill I just ordered the bullshop lube, was using pencil graphite but that doesn't seem to work as well on aluminum as on the Lymand mould.

Despite the misalignment it drops some nice boolits, I made a pile in a short time even fiddling with the alignment issue.
Joe

[MtGun44]

Bullplate lube will help the alignment features slide over each other easily. Setting it
down to pre align it is good, but the real solution is the lube, you will see when you
get it. Lube the top of the mold and bottom of sprue plate, also. It prevents lead
smears and will slowly remove pre-existing lead smears. Keep it out of the cavity.

Avoid the Lee recommended boolit lube on the alignment features, it burns on a really
hard to remove crud. Not a good idea.

Bill

[rayzer]

+1 on the Bullplate. Use as MtGun44 suggests, and casting with youre Lee molds will be much easier. I have a Lee .38-105 that was giving me lots of grief, until i tried Bullplate lube. now it's a joy to use.

[Moonie]

Have to agree here, when my lee molds get to where they don't want to close up right I put a little bullplate on the alignment surfaces and the issue disappears.

[Jal5]

Thanks guys am eagerly awaiting the Bullplate lube.

This is a related question on sizing- If I need to start a separate thread let me know.
Berrys Plated bullets for my 9x18 are .364 and feed & shoot fine. My Lee mould lead boolits drop at .366-.367 using my digital caliper (don't have a micrometer). The mould box shows .365 as boolit dia. Alloy is range scrap. Lee doesn't have a sizer in that range without having them make up a special order one. What should I do?

I am thinking I would make up a dummy round and see if it chambers in that gun as cast. If so, try them as cast. If not looks like a special order sizing die?

Joe

[mooman76]

I'd try as is. They should be fine but make up a round first like you said, to see if it chambers ok.

[Jailer]

I'd try as is. They should be fine but make up a round first like you said, to see if it chambers ok.

And if it doesn't Lee can make you a sizing die pretty cheap.

[madsenshooter]

I'm a tapper too, with the Lee molds it's to get the pin and its groove to start. With molds like NOE's or BaBore's it because the alignment pins are so perfectly aligned they're sometimes hard to pull apart or need a certain tension to get all the way together. Makes the boolits drop nice too. Tap, tap, tap...

[MtGun44]

Slug the bore to see what size you will need. Or just try the as cast, as recommended,
and see if a dummy round will seat all the way with light finger pressure in the dismounted
barrel as a guage. Look on Enco tools site for a $35 or under micrometer that reads to
0.0001.

I strongly recommend a separate taper crimp die, set the seating depth and amount
of TC with the barrel as your guage.

Bill

[Jal5]

they cycled ok as cast. I still think I will slug the bore and see where I am at after that.

Joe