Custom Lee Precision 6 Cavity Mould. Designed after the Lyman 358-429. (Pics)

[357shooter]

Hi guys,

I loved the 3 cavity Mountain Mold that I posted about some time ago. But casting with a 6 cavity aluminum is tough to beat. I decided to take the plunge, spend the money and invest the time to work up 358-429 design for Lee. They said they could make it, and now I have it and have started getting some early results.

Designed after the Lyman version of the 358-429, which I really like and my guns seem to like too, it's casting some nice bullets. My wife asked if the bullet on the left had a ding. It turns out that's a reflection:

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/ab341/prgallo/Picture008-1.jpg

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/ab341/prgallo/Picture003-1.jpg

At first, I thought the mould cavities looked a little rough. It turns out they are not and they cast smooth fully sized Keith bullets. I also had a hard time casting during my first session. Cooling the mould down to 375 degrees, to start, and setting the pot to 750-800 solved that problem. My alloy is lead plus 2% solder, which like a lot of heat. The 750-800 degree alloy is cooler than the other moulds I've used.


Some early range results, 25 yards - rested with iron sights (no scope going onto my Taurus 669, it's staying stock):

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/ab341/prgallo/100_2385.jpg

With H110:

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/ab341/prgallo/100_2387-13-0-H110.jpg

I'm very happy with it! What do you think?

[Grandpas50AE]

Purdy boolits them are! Great bullet for 357 mag IMO. I have loaded tons of these (from a two cavity Lyman mould) and loaded over 13.5 gr. H110 they will shoot to the same place all day long. One of my hunting buddies likes this load for deer hunting. I have not had an opportunity to chronograph them since I no longer have a .357 myself, but those were some great performers in mine and my friend's Colt Python.

Good shooting too by the way.

[youngda9]

750-800...holy ****. I cast at 650 with my 6 cavity lee molds...just keep the mold hot. Nice bullets !

[357shooter]

Purdy boolits them are! Great bullet for 357 mag IMO. I have loaded tons of these (from a two cavity Lyman mould) and loaded over 13.5 gr. H110 they will shoot to the same place all day long. One of my hunting buddies likes this load for deer hunting. I have not had an opportunity to chronograph them since I no longer have a .357 myself, but those were some great performers in mine and my friend's Colt Python.

Good shooting too by the way.Thanks! 13.5 of H110 is my load too. It shoots equally well in my revolver and lever action.

[357shooter]

750-800...holy ****. I cast at 650 with my 6 cavity lee molds...just keep the mold hot. Nice bullets !Thanks. With my soft alloy I usually cast hotter. But this cooled-down 750 keeps droppin' them nice. At 800 they start to stick and frost (the alloy does transfer the heat to the mould, so alloy temp and cadence heat the mould). That's with between 3-4 pours a minute to keep the mould in it's temp sweet spot.

For some reason, less than that just drops small bullets with bad fillout, even with tin added. I just use what works for me :Fire::Fire::Fire:

[Grandpas50AE]

I just use what works for me :Fire::Fire::Fire:

That's the main key to success - find what works for you and your molds. There is always more to learn and experiment with, but when you adjust working parameters and get the nice results you're getting, it is good to stay with it. Great job.

[357shooter]

This style likes to be loaded to an OAL of 1.560, with a light crimp on the front band. Even with magnum loads, the light crimp consistently outshoots a "normal crimp / in the groove". At least in my guns.

[HeavyMetal]

I load this boolit, cast from a SC Lyman HP mold, for use in my Contender.

OAL Is set to click closed on the rifling so not really a number for revolver use.

It does shoot very well.

[Hang Fire]

Purdy boolits them are! Great bullet for 357 mag IMO. I have loaded tons of these (from a two cavity Lyman mould) and loaded over 13.5 gr. H110 they will shoot to the same place all day long. One of my hunting buddies likes this load for deer hunting. I have not had an opportunity to chronograph them since I no longer have a .357 myself, but those were some great performers in mine and my friend's Colt Python.

Good shooting too by the way.


Odd, I have a Lyman single cavity #358249 bought back in 1965 and it was too long of a boolit in the Python. It out worked great in my Blackhawk but in the short cylinder Python, due to boolit length was forced to seat it very deep, reducing powder capacity and raising pressures except in much lighter loads.

My Lyman #358249 Casts WW at 168 grains, what weight does the Lee custom drop them at.

[Grandpas50AE]

Odd, I have a Lyman single cavity #358249 bought back in 1965 and it was too long of a boolit in the Python. It out worked great in my Blackhawk but in the short cylinder Python, due to boolit length was forced to seat it very deep, reducing powder capacity and raising pressures except in much lighter loads.

My Lyman #358249 Casts WW at 168 grains, what weight does the Lee custom drop them at.

Mine cast out at 173 gr., and with the 13.5 gr. of H110 I can seat them with the crimp groove covered up where there is about .1" of front driving band out of the casing. A heavy crimp hasn't been necessary, and the load density is about 95% so the pressure curve is very consistent. Seated beyond the crimp groove, the loaded round will fit in a Python, and shoots very well in my friend' Python and my old Ruger Blackhawk (when I still had it).

[357shooter]

This custom mold drops my BHN 7-8 alloy 178-179 grains. WW would be about 3 grains less.

I've been loading various 358-429's long, crimped in the crimp groove. This one will fit in my Taurus 669 loaded at 1.630 to 1.650 and chamber & shoot well. It just shoots better and more accuractly at 1.560. The Lyman cast bullet handbook uses 1.553, FYI. Oh, with a light crimp it is very accurate.

I don't always understand it, but the results are the results.

[AndyC]

Looks excellent - well done :)


I decided to take the plunge, spend the money and invest the time to work up 358-429 design for Lee. They said they could make it, and now I have it and have started getting some early results.
By the way, what is involved in having Lee make a custom mold? I'd love to have a true H&G #68 (200gr SWC in .45acp) 6-cavity mold made, so I'm interested in hearing what the process is.

[357shooter]

Looks excellent - well done :)


By the way, what is involved in having Lee make a custom mold? I'd love to have a true H&G #68 (200gr SWC in .45acp) 6-cavity mold made, so I'm interested in hearing what the process is.
I contacted Lee via phone, they confirmed the pricing on their website. I talked with Andy, who is great to deal with. Then I made up a drawing, with key dimensions and emailed it to them. In my case it was very complete and specific. He emailed back to confirm my design was feasible and doable with their equipment.

Then I pad the full amount. At that point, they draw it up and send you their design and some paperwork. You can ask for changes or sign off and return the paperwork. Than you wait up to 4 weeks for it to arrive. Mine took about 3 weeks.

Not cheap by any means, but extremely rewarding. My gun has big throats and for some loads really likes a fat bullet. I shoot the 3.5 Bullseye load ]them unsized. The H110 likes them sized with a .360 Lee sizing die (also custom, but far less costly).

Hope that helps.

[AndyC]

That's very interesting indeed - thanks for the explanation :)

[fecmech]

I have always liked that bullet. I bought a 4 cav Lyman mold in the early 70's with the round lube groove and don't have a clue as to how many thousands of bullets it's cast. It has been very accurate in every .357 I've owned (and that's a few!) and 4 different .357 rifles. That bullet (IMO) does it's best at max loadings of 296/H110, WC820, 2400, Blue Dot and AA9. I load it to an OAL of 1.638 and taper crimp on the front drive band, that way it fits my GP100 and feeds in my Rossi 92. That bullet in a .357 Nickle case to me just says ".357 Magnum"!

[parson48]

Them there pictures oughta be framed! Purdy boolits!

[357shooter]

Thanks guys. I'm really please with how the Lee custom mould pumps these babies out.

I'm suprised it's liking a shorter OAL so far, shorter than my previous "long" loads. Needless to say, I'll be tweaking and messing with it for next couple of thousand rounds. Just because... it's fun and you never know what will unfold.

[MikeS]

Looks excellent - well done :)


By the way, what is involved in having Lee make a custom mold? I'd love to have a true H&G #68 (200gr SWC in .45acp) 6-cavity mold made, so I'm interested in hearing what the process is.

There's no reason to have Lee make a custom mould for that boolit, they already make it as a stock item! Just get their 452-200-SWC 6 cavity mould, and you're good to go. It's as close to the H&G as you could hope to get considering that the H&G #68 itself had changed a few times over the years. There's really no sense spending the money to get a custom mould made to make a very small change to a mould they already sell for under $50.00.

I've cast that shape boolit from Lee moulds, SAECO moulds, and a custom MP group buy mould, and they all shoot the same.

[LAH]

I have always liked that bullet. I bought a 4 cav Lyman mold in the early 70's with the round lube groove and don't have a clue as to how many thousands of bullets it's cast. It has been very accurate in every .357 I've owned (and that's a few!) and 4 different .357 rifles. That bullet (IMO) does it's best at max loadings of 296/H110, WC820, 2400, Blue Dot and AA9. I load it to an OAL of 1.638 and taper crimp on the front drive band, that way it fits my GP100 and feeds in my Rossi 92. That bullet in a .357 Nickle case to me just says ".357 Magnum"!

I used the round lube groove Lyman 358429 in the 70s-80s. It shot very well with full loads but best with 5.5 grains of 231 in mag cases, crimped in the crimp groove. Great S&W 586 load.

[DLCTEX]

There's no reason to have Lee make a custom mould for that boolit, they already make it as a stock item! Just get their 452-200-SWC 6 cavity mould, and you're good to go. It's as close to the H&G as you could hope to get considering that the H&G #68 itself had changed a few times over the years. There's really no sense spending the money to get a custom mould made to make a very small change to a mould they already sell for under $50.00.

I've cast that shape boolit from Lee moulds, SAECO moulds, and a custom MP group buy mould, and they all shoot the same.

Is the H&G #68 a bevel base? The Lee is and that shuts down my interest on it.
Wonder if it would be cheaper to pay the custom fee or have the BB removed?

[GLL]

357shooter: VERY nice looking bullets ! Great photos as well !

AndyC: I have run six custom 6-cavity Group Buys through LEE over the past few years. The greatest benefit is that the last couple had the price down to $62 each including shipping and a delivery receipt to each buyer ! Prices have increased two or three bucks but still very reasonable. The worst drawback then was that delivery took FOREVER ! It appears that is no longer a problem. If you can get a few members to join you the set-up fee is waived and the total delivered price would still be under $65 !

Jerry

[MtGun44]

H&G 68 came as plain or beveled base.

The Lee 200 SWC ars ago (have not seen one lately) was not particularly close to the
H&G 68 shape, IMO. Longer nose, smaller meplat, no necessarily going to work like
the real thing. Small differences can be critical in feeding.

Bill

[leadman]

I had a 1911 that shot the Lee version of the #68 into 1" groups at 25 yards. My Contender 45acp carbine barrel would do that at 50 yards and a bit beyond with the velocity over 1,300 fps.

The OP bullet looks just like the old Saeco mold I sold here a few months ago. It was a very accurate boolit also.

[Moonie]

Doesn't Miha do a six cavity #68? It would be more expensive than the lee, but worth every penny.