Ranch dog mold with not so smooth cavities?

[happyfast79]

i have a ranch dog tlc 460-350 rf mold and the cavites look to have chatter marks in them just enough so they dont look smooth, is this normal? none of my other 45 cal lee molds look like that

heres a picture

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd178/happyfast79/022-1.jpg

[JSnover]

How does it cast? You can lapp it out if it bothers you but try pouring some boolits first. Or contact Ranch Dog. Send him the mold or some pictures of it.

[mold maker]

Unless the marks are more than cosmetic, it wont hurt anything.

[happyfast79]

i added pics

[DLCTEX]

Again, how does it cast. If it casts to size and drops well, no prob. If you spin a boolit in the cavities it will enlarge the size in a hurry. I'd return it to Michael as he is very attentive to good machining from Lee.

[quasi]

I have several Lee 6 cavitys, Lee design, Cast Boolit designs and Ranch Dog, they all are not
as nicely machined as NOE or Mountain Mold Aluminum molds, but they work. I think Lee uses a cheaper type of Aluminum that does not machine as well as the custom makers.

[happyfast79]

these drop nicely, only thing i noticed was you could see some of the lines on the boolits

[Jailer]

All my Lee molds look like that. It looks like they are CNC machined and not cherry cut.

I have no idea how Lee machines their molds but that's what is looks like to me.

Anyone with any first hand knowledge like to chime in?

[Carolina Cast Bullets]

I have several of RDO's molds but only one has the long way marks in it. A 38-55/375 Win mold.

I havent mentioned it to Mike but the bullets come out nicely and seem to work well. I've not had any complaints from clients who have bought that bullet. I can only conclude that they work and work well.


Jerry
Carolina Cast Bullets

[leadman]

Lee machines one half at a time in a milling machine. They changed from lathe boring about a year ago IIRC. Got this info from Pat, a tach at Lee Precision.

I have several 6 cavity Lee molds with these marks that cast well and the boolits shoot well.

[JSnover]

I have lapped a couple of molds using the Lee-Menting kit from this site. One of them did not want to release the boolits no matter what. The other was just a hair undersize. In both cases it worked perfectly but I can't say it enlarged the cavities "in a hurry."

[DLCTEX]

It may depend on what you use for an abrasive. I used valve grinding compound on a 30 cal mould and opened it .002 easily. This was on an aluminum mould. The iron ones take longer.