Guess I bought my last Lee mold.

[SSGOldfart]

I really like most of the Lee molds,I've got over a 100 now and maybe 3 or 4 that might need some work or help.I guess it's all a matter of opinion, Noe makes a good mold but your going to pay for it. where you can get 4 or 5 Lee molds for the same money. A small bit of advice by used 2nd hand Lee molds,they might look it,but the problems if any have been worked out already..

[CHeatermk3]

I'm left-handed and I ladle cast.

Turning the blocks around on the new molds is quite iffy, unless you can drill and tap for new handle mounting screws if those things the factory uses don't go back in right...they are about 2 TPI.

[rbuck351]

I have several Lee molds and I have good enough luck with the pistol caliber molds. I also have 5 or 6 nose rider rifle molds that don't come anywhere near being nose riders. I would rather they made oversized loverin style molds than nose riders with the nose to small. It's real easy to size a boolit down a bit. Getting a .005 under size nose up to size isn't so easy.

[robg]

ive got 4 lee moulds 2 rcbs moulds all work well ,i like the lee moulds their light weight makes up for any tuning you have do to them and their low price cant be be beat

[LUCKYDAWG13]

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

me too good mold

[Tackleberry41]

I'm left-handed and I ladle cast.

Turning the blocks around on the new molds is quite iffy, unless you can drill and tap for new handle mounting screws if those things the factory uses don't go back in right...they are about 2 TPI.

I'M a lefty and ladle cast alot, never saw an issue w the way molds are. Almost seems like their backwards for righties. Can hold the handles with my right hand, ladle with the left. Easy to bust the sprue loose. Guess just get used to it.

Will see how the 'screws' do. They look like screws, but have never actually gotten any out, even on a mold fresh out of the box, I think they press them in, saves money vs threading. I drilled a set yesterday, don't imagine they would fit in the lathe with the handles. Go to the next step up, if it works Ill do some of the other molds. Be nice if it was just the blocks, you know like every other mold on planet earth. Take up way less space on the shelf.

I guess I just got a pair of particularly bad molds. When I am trying to make a bunch of bullets with a 2 bullet mold, times I think be nice to have this in a 6 banger. But then that would be 6 holes to fix vs 2. Probably still a cloud of obscenities hanging in the garage.

[Maximumbob54]

I always wonder how many of the Lee complaints are operator error. Heat up the mold, smoke it if needed like the directions tell you, keep it lubed, don't bash the mold blocks, use the right alloy, and poof all my Lee molds work just fine. It may take some effort to learn how to use any mold and get it to drop good bullets. And if you dish out the high dollar price for a custom mold, I've found even some of those can be a pain.

[rintinglen]

Although many argue with some reason that the low cost of the LEE molds affords the new would-be caster an economical means of testing the waters, I suspect that the difficulties in getting good bullets from them has repelled as many as it has brought into the fold. I own and use a number of LEE molds, but I absolutely affirm and believe that it is Much easier to learn to cast with a quality Iron/steel mold. Sometimes it is false economy to buy cheap.

In my view, the LEE molds are best suited for the fickle experienced caster--like myself--whose interests vary with the seasons and who already know how to coax good boolits from a recalcitrant mold. For me, it is a cheap way to try a different style or weight boolit. But it is not what I would choose to teach a newbie how to cast. I'd use a 44-45 caliber RCBS, SAECO, or Lyman for that.

[psweigle]

I don't have a problem at all with my cheap little 158 grain round nose 2 hole. It makes perfect boolits for my Blackhawk and 77/357. I must have made 3000 out of it so far. All with range scrap and all sized in a lee sizer. I would and will buy lee products again. Next one is a .32 caliber pistol mold.

[Uncle R.]

My first moulds many years ago were Lee moulds.
I bought them because they were cheap.
Some of them worked fairly well, some of them didn't work worth a darn. I struggled with perhaps every casting problem you could possibly have as I tried to learn.
I had a mentor, and old experienced caster, who despised Lee moulds. He claimed they were the source of most of my casting troubles and counseled me to buy Lyman or RCBS if I wanted good boolits.
I didn't follow his advice for a long time. I resisted because I didn't want to spend the extra money. I thought the old man was just another grumpy Lee basher.
After a year or two of casting I finally bought my first RCBS mould.
The difference was like night and day.
Easy fill out, easy casting, uniform round boolits.
The bullets from my Lee moulds couldn't match the quality, uniformity or long range accuracy I got from my RCBS Boolits.
The old man was right.
I never looked back.
I won't say I'll never buy another Lee mould, but they are certainly way down toward last choice on my list.

Uncle R.

[bangerjim]

I always wonder how many of the Lee complaints are operator error. Heat up the mold, smoke it if needed like the directions tell you, keep it lubed, don't bash the mold blocks, use the right alloy, and poof all my Lee molds work just fine. It may take some effort to learn how to use any mold and get it to drop good bullets. And if you dish out the high dollar price for a custom mold, I've found even some of those can be a pain.

I will have to agree with that 100%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mine ALL work great for me. And I DO smoke them the 1st time with a BEESWAX candle to get that nice thin even carbon coat. Many laugh at that, but is does work!!!!!!!!!

Follow the directions and they will give you many years of excellent castings.

Thank the Lord many are coming around to the use of an electric hot plate ($10!) to heat the molds up to full casting temp, and not just warming them on top of the pot. This applies to Lee and ALL other brands and makes/designs of molds we use.

[Electric88]

I will have to agree with that 100%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mine ALL work great for me. And I DO smoke them the 1st time with a BEESWAX candle to get that nice thin even carbon coat. Many laugh at that, but is does work!!!!!!!!!

Follow the directions and they will give you many years of excellent castings.

Thank the Lord many are coming around to the use of an electric hot plate ($10!) to heat the molds up to full casting temp, and not just warming them on top of the pot. This applies to Lee and ALL other brands and makes/designs of molds we use.

I have a few Lee molds that I bought, but haven't casted with yet. Thanks for these tips for them, I will make sure to follow them!

[MT Chambers]

Most Lee problems are "OPERATOR ERROR".....the operator that produced them made errors.

[Jeff Michel]

Spot on!!!!!!

I will have to agree with that 100%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mine ALL work great for me. And I DO smoke them the 1st time with a BEESWAX candle to get that nice thin even carbon coat. Many laugh at that, but is does work!!!!!!!!!

Follow the directions and they will give you many years of excellent castings.

Thank the Lord many are coming around to the use of an electric hot plate ($10!) to heat the molds up to full casting temp, and not just warming them on top of the pot. This applies to Lee and ALL other brands and makes/designs of molds we use.

[cold1]

I am a newbie so take it for what its worth. Lee molds have a place in any reloaders bench. A have 5 of them now and they each have a personality. They allowed me to start casting without worrying about wasting $100 to see if casting is for me. They allow me to test different guns with cast to see how they do. They allow me to experiment with different designs to see what I and the guns like. They allow me to to drop a few hundred boolits in a short amount of time.

I like them for pistol bullets to put down range. I like them for rifle bullets to put down range. For serious shooting I bought some NOE molds for my rifle. Havent decided on pistols yet because I have not used them to hunt with, yet.

[Tackleberry41]

Lee has a love/hate following. There are many that hate their stuff. I have plenty of their dies, they do the job. RCBS must have seen that they couldn't justify 2x the price for a sizing die that does the exact same job. But some of Lees stuff is not worth buying, I doubt any of us in here use one of their powder scales. A friend gave me 2 of their ram prime set up, he doesn't even remember where he got them, never used them. It can be frustrating to use at times, and some of the parts are pretty fragile. A good idea, but flawed execution, usually tends to revolve around being cheaper.

This seems to be Lees issue, always trying to be cheap. Some things it works fine for, others it doesn't. Be it the alloy they use in their molds, most may have ruined their molds, I was told by Lee they can take 400 degrees. After that they lose whatever hardening they had, and warp. So have a very narrow temp range to get decent results. Or just not using enough material. There really isnt much to a Lee mold. Its not that its aluminum, the NOE mold I have works beautifully. But theres also 3x the amount of material in the mold. And would imagine they use a higher quality alloy. It has always cast good bullets out of the box, I don't fight with it, or one day its casts good, next day it doesn't. And when they said .314, they meant it. Same with the Lyman 30 cal mold I have, never had a problem with it. I have 2 30 cal Lee molds, neither would throw a .309 bullet out of the box, had to be 'leemented'. Both sit on the shelf unused, okay as plinkers, but not for any serious work.

Yes I have bought Lee molds and they worked fine, their RB molds work pretty good. As does their 12ga slug mold. Their buck shot molds get frustrating pretty quick. I have learned they will cast for a while, then start screwing up, just set it aside. That stack of 3 RB is very temperamental about temp. Have switched to Sharpshooters molds, have yet to have an issue, doesn't really seem to care if the temp is off a bit. Yes Lee molds are good for experimenting, see how something works before shelling out the bucks for better mold. And I have guns I don't do much casting for, no need for a better mold. And I am not to concerned about tearing up a $20 mold modifying it. But in the future for any serious use, I will pay for better molds.

[ncrobb]

I have used LEE reloading products for almost 30 yrs but never considered casting my own until a .480 Ruger showed up at my house. I bought a Lee 476-400 and had to take a .454" sizing die and open it up to .476". I powder coated them and so far have been pleased with my results. I do have my name on the list for a Mihec 475/480 mold in the group buy. I also have a Lyman 429421 waiting for me when I get home. I am looking forward to comparing the results from theses to the LEE.

[oldblinddog]

Never had that junk! Never will!

[aap2]

Most of my moulds are MiHec,Accurate,NOE,Redding or Lyman but the Lee Moulds do have a useful place for some applications. For example I just bought a 1886 Steyer Kropatschek in 8x56R which is in great shape with a perfect bore and I wanted to shoot it. Ideal boolit would be a .326 round or flat nose GC weighing about 250 grains (has to be a long boolit to work thru the magazine). I bought a Lee 8mm Max from Midsouth for $18 and with a little work it drops .327 boolits of 245 grains with Lyman #2..a great boolit for this rifle. Sure, I did a little work on the Lee mould (removed and deburred the edges of the sprue plate and drilled and tapped a 10/32 hole to thread in a plug screw to keep the sprue plate screw tight but that was all I did). This $18 mould now drops great boolits and after I cast 100 it more than paid for itself. With proper care and lubrication I expect it to last a long time. Just my 2 cents worth.

[Tackleberry41]

Guess I will find out pretty quick which is the better value the Lee molds I have been fighting with, or the NOE. Ordered one for my 45s and one for my 44.