Lee Mould Disapointment

[mtgrs737]

I got a new Lee 452-230-TC six cavity mould from Midway the other day. I cast some up today and was pleased with the way they drop ouf of the mold with just a shake and the weight in right on the money. My beef is that the mould halves are off just a tad so that I get a missmatch across the diameter. Sizing in a .452" die does not remove this miss match as I can still feel a slight ridge at the mould line with my fingernail. I would guess that after sizing the mismatch is less than half a thousandths. Lube does not flow into this area from the grease groove.

I suspect that the alianment pins are either not concentric or during the installation of the pins some shifting occured. I have a feeling that a lot of mouds share this problem. I am thinking of lapping the cavities to see if I can clean up the problem somewhat, but six cavities would take some time. (I have also thought of rapping one side of the assembled mould in the right direction, but just can't bring myself to do this one)

How about the rest of you Lee mould users out there, ever have this problem and what did you do about it, if anything?

[Ben]

MidWay will send you another one. Give them a call.

If you begin " fixing " things, they most likely won't take it back.
Why even try to fix it ? MidWay wants to keep you happy. They
will keep sending you molds until you are happy.

[dromia]

Yep Lee like many others now get the customer to do their quality control for them.

Don't fiddle with it and send it back from whence it came and just hope the replacement mould is a good one.

[plmitch]

Midway seams to be a top notch outfit, just send it back and they should replace it at no cost.

[HeavyMetal]

Many of Lee's products are great but thier QC program seems to be a bit lacking.

In my opinion the only way a manufacturer knows they have a problem is when they must deal with returned goods.

Don't touch it...send it back.

[mtgrs737]

I will give Midway a call on Tuesday about sending it back. I really don't want to mess with trying to fix it, but am afraid of getting something even worse.

[waltham41]

I have had great luck with all of my Lee molds, my brother has had a couple that had small casting imperfections and Midway happily exchanged them for him.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

try midway first.
BUT...
I had a Lee 22 Bator custom mold from Midsouth,
I bypassed midsouth and sent it back to Lee first,
3 weeks later Lee sent a new mold, much better than the first.
Jon

[bryonbush]

my 401-175-tc was/ is still perfect. then i got my 45 roundnose 230 and the first one was over sized quite a bit. midway sent me a new one. still over sized but not as bad. called midway and thanked them for offering to send me another, on their dime, but told them i would be contacting LEE directly. wrote them an email and included pictures of my bullets that were over sized and here is what i got.

Mr. Bush,

Thank you for choosing Lee Precision. First make sure that you have lubricated the mold as per the instructions. When the diameter varies by that much it usually means that the mold is not closing all the way or consistently. A technique that works well is to have a glob of hard, stick-type bullet lube (like Lee #90007, but any alox/beeswax lube will work) about the size of a .45 slug rolled into a football; when the mold gets hot, touch one end to the aligning grooves along the sides of the mold block, on the underside of the sprue plate around the sprue pivot, and on the steel pins along the bottom of the mold block. Use sparingly, if any gets into the mold cavity it will cause wrinkled bullets.

thanks for the hollow words LEE but thanks to you, instead of spending money on shipping and dealing with any more over sized bullet issues, i broke down and purchased a sizer die. i know most people size, but it made me mad because for years, the two 40 moulds i ordered that are LEE worked GREAT and didnt need a sizer. long post short, your not the only one.

Patrick
Tech Service
Lee Precision, Inc.
4275 Hwy. U
Hartford, WI 53027
262-673-3075

[lotech]

I have had good results using many Lee moulds. While I don't abuse any mould, those made by Lee require more delicate handling than other moulds, and even with delicate handling, it's doubtful they'll last as long as other moulds. I've damaged and thrown away a few Lees. For the price, however, they're hard to beat.

Being made of aluminum may be a factor in the durability of Lee moulds, but other parts don't always hold up well for extensive casting work. I've found a tendency for the sprue plate hold down screw to work loose in some moulds and recently had a pin that holds a mould half to the handle fall out. Replacement of the pin and some slight peening took care of that problem.

Treat Lee moulds gently and you'll make good bullets; just don't expect the moulds to last forever.

[41 mag fan]

Bought me a Lee 501-440-GC. I've ran maybe 75 boolits thru it. My sprue plate is bowed and I get flashing around all my bolits now. Plus on the Fn you can see where the cherry maybe went too deep causing a slight hump. I'll be sending it back to lee. Really infuriates me. I just sent back a press to them due to nonstop problems, now this mold.

It'll be awhile before I buy Lee again. I'll stick with NOE and Mihec from now on. At least I know I'm getting quility.

[JIMinPHX]

At the risk of asking a few stupid questions, Did you check for burs around the locating pins & mating surfaces? Did you lube with Bullplate? Are there any lead spatters on the mold faces? Does either locating pin look bent or dented? Can you post some pictures?

[geargnasher]

+1 JimInPHX!!!.

Burrs and lack of lubrication of the "wedge" alignment points of Lee two-cavity moulds are most likely the culprit here. I have a large pile of Lee moulds and I have NEVER seen one cut wrong, usually it's a hickey with a burr or ding caused by use, shipping damage, or whatever. They can get screwed up fast with improper use or lack of proper lubrication, but the cavities, IME, are cut to line up right when they are new, UNLIKE the recent Lyman moulds, which close properly most of the time but have the cavities offset about .003" or so in the blocks due to (I assume) excessive tolerance in their boring vise.

Gear

[DrB]

I did have one cut wrong, out of about a dozen... It was a 358 swc, and the cavity was oversize/out of round, and I did check the mould halves for lead bits and lube. Lee concurred and replaced it free of charge. The new one is in spec. I have also had a couple get tiny bits of lead on the mould faces. Inspect very closely and use a bamboo skewer as a pick works for me.

When I was first getting up the learning curve with lee moulds I did experience the issues gear and jim refer to, though, including inadequately lubing the sprue plate, alignment pins, and additionally I tried to "deburr" one and screwed it up. I sent three moulds back to lee in a single package and they repaired two and replaced one, free of charge. The machinist wrote a polite and personal letter explaining where he thought I went wrong... I have no complaints with lee. They would have been within their right to have had me pay for repair or buy replacements for the two moulds. Instead they educated their customer and set things right for me. That machinist accomplished more with his thoughtful reply in terms of my appreciating lee precision as a company (when he could have had a sour attitude) than any amount of advertising could.

Inadequate lubing of the sprue plate will cause wear and can eventually result in flashing. I did have this problem with a two and six cavity before I improved my lube practices. Proper lubing with the lee moulds is critical for their having a prolonged useful life.

[MikeS]

... It'll be awhile before I buy Lee again. I'll stick with NOE and Mihec from now on. At least I know I'm getting quility.

You do realize that you're comparing the cheapest moulds available with some of the finest, right? It's kind of like saying "It'll be awhile before I buy a Yugo again. I'll stick with Cadillac and Lincoln from now on. At least I know I'm getting quality." For the money spent, the Lee moulds are an excellent value. No, they're not even in the same league as an NOE or Mihec mould, but then they don't cost anywhere near what those moulds cost.

[Sonnypie]

Well, I reckon some folks can make things work.
And others...
Best to return something if you don't like it.

[mroliver77]

I EXPECT to tinker with every Lee mould I buy. I get the 2 cav for $17.50 at the gunshow we go to. I think last 6 cav was $35. I expect to invest 1 hour or so Leementing a 6 cav mold. I enjoy tinkering and get some satisfaction from tweaking them in. If properly lubed and not abused they are good for tens or hundreds of thousands of cycles.

I love my MP molds but cannot afford to have many of them. They are top shelf! His brass molds are a joy to use!

The Lee molds allow me to have a good selection of boolits for each caliber I shoot. I have only had to send one back in 20 years of using them.

If the original posters mismatch is what I think it is a good wallop with a dead blow hammer will align the blocks.
Jay

[mtgrs737]

Man I have to keep track of these posts I start! I agree with mroliver77 the fore and aft missalinement is most likely caused by non concentric alinement pins/bushings or shifting during the installation of the same. I always check for burrs on aluminum and brass moulds using my fingernail or popsickle stick to remove them. This mould was off enough that I can feel a ridge at the seam of the cast bullet. Sizing would not remove the ridge and I was not wanting gas to leak past in the two places opposite on the circumference with possible leading.

I have called Midway and sent it back to them for replacement. I got an email from them tonight that said: "My order is on the truck!" Here is the nice supprise part, they are refunding me the shipping cost to send it back to them! I was not aware that they did that, and I did not ask for that either. I know that Midway is a little higher than some other suppliers but their service is top notch in my experiance.

Yes I could of just kept the mould and lee-mented the missmatch away or at least enough that it would size out, but like the early posters suggested I am not Lee's rework mechanic. Don't get me wrong I like Lee products but sometimes I think they get in a hurry, but as long as I can get them replaced I will still buy them.

I use my own form of bullplate lube that works as good as bullplate as I would not cast without lube in the right places. I have many of Lee's moulds and yes they do need to be kept lubed or they will wear out before their time.

I should receive my replacement mould in a couple of days, I will let you know how it works out.

[Sonnypie]

"I love it when a plan comes together!" Hannibal Smith.

Glad you sent it back. I hope the new one is to your satisfaction!

[59sharps]

never had a lee that I liked send it back get a real mold

[Springfield]

I have at least 25 different LEE 6 cav's and they all work fine as long as I do my part. My 2 44-40 Big Lube moulds have over 100,00 bullets each through them and the cavities are still fine. I hate the pivots, almost always re-do them, but hey, can't have everything. I also have Mihec, NOE, NEI, Accurate, Lyman, Ideal and RCBS moulds, so I am not a LEE fanatic, just use what works.