LEE 401-175-TC Hollow Pointed by Erik

[Zombie Whisperer]

Erik told me that he can do the 6 cavity lee molds, but not the 2.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/189804e29e6c6a659f.jpg

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/189804e29e773dff37.jpg

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/189804e29e8637b494.jpg

[bhn22]

at about $50.00 per cavity for a $40.00 mould?

[Zombie Whisperer]

bhn22,
Should I have bought a more expensive mold to hollow point that made the same boolit? I would bet if you bought a lee 6cav and a new gun at the same time, the gun would wear out before the mold would. Besides I had the lee mold that shot good, why buy another hollow point one?

[Echo]

at about $50.00 per cavity for a $40.00 mould?

Using that logic - Oh, forget it...

[cbrick]

at about $50.00 per cavity for a $40.00 mould?

Why not? Regardless of what the mold cost he has the bullets he wanted. If he had spent $40.00 for the LEE then spent $100+ for another mold and had it HP'd would he be better off.

Besides, the fact remains . . .

A guy just has to have his toys.

Rick

[BCall]

Thanks for the pics! If there was a Lee mold that I liked and used enough to justify it, I'd do that in a second. Looks good.

[white eagle]

boolit shoots good why change ??
everyone has their own ideas as to why ...
its obvious cost weighs big into your decisions

[white eagle]

curious zombie
what is the weight diff between the two
different type of boolits

[Zombie Whisperer]

eagle,
The mold shot well because the boolits dropped at the right dia, and the sizing die just touched it. The three cavities got hollow pointed because I wanted hollow point boolits, and I didn't want to try a different mold that may drop the boolits at the wrong diameter, besides I couldn't find a 40cal hollow point mold in the 170-180grn range.

The standard truncated cone dropped at 180Grn, and the hollow points at 170grn

[jmsj]

Zombie,
The bullets look great!
The set up looks good also. How was it casting with Erik's hollow point inset bar method?
I hope that they shoot as good as they look. Let us know how they shoot.
Good luck, jmsj

[geargnasher]

Zombie, I love it! Erik is a magician. I have that one in a two-banger and it shoots pretty well. Miha and Accuratemolds both make one with a little ogive to the nose that looks like it might feed a bit better, but if it works it works. Like Echo said, no use getting derailed on the expense chain of "logic" when it comes to custom tools that make us happy.

{Edit} you know your handles are on backwards, right?

Gear

[Zombie Whisperer]

Erik mentioned that some people run their handles the way that they are currently facing (backward) and I couldn't figure out why, until I had to keep the mold up side down at an angle to drop the boolits.

This is how I chose to cast with this mold: Holding handles with left hand fill the mold then flip it over, cut the sprue with right hand, and grasp right mold handle. With mold at a 45 degree angle sprue plate toward the ground so the insert will slide, open the mold and give a little shake, the boolits usually drop free, I have only had to hit the mold handle bolt a few times.

[bhn22]

bhn22,
Should I have bought a more expensive mold to hollow point that made the same boolit? I would bet if you bought a lee 6cav and a new gun at the same time, the gun would wear out before the mold would. Besides I had the lee mold that shot good, why buy another hollow point one?

I would have taken that bet. My intended point was that for $140.00, you could have a custom hollowpoint mould from NOE or Miha.

[Zombie Whisperer]

If there would have been a group buy for an NOE that made the same boolit I would have jumped on it. The Miha is a little lighter, and round nose. I have the irrational belief that all 40 S&W boolits must be a TC. I understand the logic in just buying another mold, and I thought about it and looked into it, but for me this was the right decision. Its all good.

[bhn22]

If there would have been a group buy for an NOE that made the same boolit I would have jumped on it. The Miha is a little lighter, and round nose. I have the irrational belief that all 40 S&W boolits must be a TC. I understand the logic in just buying another mold, and I thought about it and looked into it, but for me this was the right decision. Its all good.

Not an irrational belief at all, and that was a choice only you can make. I only offered an opinion. Others here have taken to using their signature lines as a disclaimer, which I certainly understand at times, but won't do. I've had a miserable history with LEE products and won't buy them any more. And I do hope this works out for you the way you want it to.

[cbrick]

I've had a miserable history with LEE products and won't buy them any more.

Now there is something that I cannot argue with. Spend your money on a tool and then see how much time & effort it takes to get it to do what you bought it for is my experiences with LEE. :veryconfu I'm with bhn22, not any more, not again, not me.

Rick

[Zombie Whisperer]

I agree also, I dont use stuff that don't work for me either. I started loading because I didn't have much money, and Lee was all that I could afford. Now almost all my stuff is Lee, and to this day nothing of mine has ever been bad, or wore out. Maybe that's where all my luck goes.

[Zombie Whisperer]

jmsj,
This is the only hollow point mold I have ever used, so I cannot comment on weather or not its any better than any others, but other than flipping the mold over to drop the boolits there is no real difference between casting with the mold regular. When the mold is opened sprue plate up the non hollow point boolits drop, then flip it to drop the hollow points seperate. the only hollow point that I recovered was a min load shot into a bucket of water, and it started to expand, but it needs a little more oomph to get them all the way open. I will get the pics up as soon as I can shoot some.

[myg30]

They sure look like some good boolits. Keep us informed on your sucess with em.

Mike

[Rangefinder]

I have trouble understanding why some have objection to modifying Lee molds. Personally, I see them as the perfect mold to modify--especially since I do all my own mods. I HAVE screwed up a couple times during the process of learning what and how I can rework a Lee mold. When I screw up, I'd rather botch a $20 dollar mold than a $60+ dollar mold. If it's going to turn out to be an awkward down-rigger weight, I'd rather not use something that kills my shooting budget in the process. The ones I got right turn out with wonderful results, too. ;) Just my 2-cents.

[HiVelocity]

Click the link and watch, (or copy and paste):


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InSJuNvai54

[94Doug]

Man, now I have to look through my Lee group buys to see if there are any new future projects!

Doug

[Oreo]

Very interesting. I'm interested in a .40hp as well. $50 / cavity is a lot of money for me though, regardless of the mould. I'll probably spend it anyway once I make my decision.

[Zombie Whisperer]

Sorry it took so long, but the over done Lee mold is still running strong, every alloy I use works pretty good, as long as it is allowed to age for a month, otherwise they break. This one was shot into a 5 gallon pail of water, and dented the bottom. I am using 6.5Grains of Longshot with a CCI small pistol primer.
The mold has made about 5000 bullets now, and the only wear is from a friend that I allowed to use it......yeah, yeah, will not happen again. I have been using White Label BAC, but just switched to Carnuba Red.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=67659&d=1366084400

[harley45]

I just tried the solid version of this boolit in my 10mm last night, worked well for me and now that I found this post I have another project!!