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mistermog
03-14-2012, 07:09 PM
Hi everyone,

I know that lee molds arent always the best, but so far out of 3 of their 6 cavity molds, at least one cavity or more have been oval and .003 undersized on one dimension.

I know wheel weights will be a tad smaller, but does the leementing process actally make it any bigger, or just clean off any burrs?

Ben
03-14-2012, 07:16 PM
If it is a new mold, sent it back to Lee.

They advertise round to within .001 "

David LaPell
03-14-2012, 07:22 PM
I had a Lee mould for my .45 colt and I know when I was sizing them there was no resistance in my sizing die for .451. I didn't even have to expand my .45 Colt cases to get them into the brass. I got rid of that one and picked up a Lyman 452424.

excess650
03-14-2012, 07:25 PM
Undersize? That would be new. Out of round, yeah, some worse than others. I had a new 6 cavity 450-230-TC that was about .006"OOR because the alignment pins didn't fit the sockets. They sent me another that they cast the (2) outside cavities with and I noticed the the pins weren't a good fit on it either. I'm normally looking for molds that cast close to nominal dimensions, and Lee's are almost always .003" oversize. These days I'm only buying NOE. Saecos are almost always good.

mistermog
03-14-2012, 07:27 PM
Ive sent one back already, the one i got in return only has 1 cavity that is undersized. I think anyway.

I dont know if its always undersized or something I'm doing wrong. I was just wondering if the toothpaste/ajax type deburring might even it out a bit.

The funny part is when I put them into the sizer, there IS sizing done, and it looks like it shrinks em down past the advertised number, and then an hour later they poof back out a bit. (about 1 or 2 thou).

mistermog
03-14-2012, 07:29 PM
Interesting, I havent noticed any issues on mine closing at all. I have the 125 gr 356 round nose and the 228 gr 452 round nose.

Yes, I meant out of round not undersized.

MT Chambers
03-14-2012, 07:32 PM
While I am not a fan of Lee, most production mold outfits put out some molds that are on the small side, I've seen it from Lyman, Rcbs and Saeco, not LBT, NOE, or BRP.

DLCTEX
03-14-2012, 08:25 PM
Go to castpics and look up the thread on improving Lee moulds. It gives the correct way to repair the mould with good results.. You do not want to just dump abrasive on a boolit and go to grinding.
Actually the thread I had in mind is by Oldfeller in this section ; Sticky: Lapping 301 Changing Lee feature diameters. This is an excellent read.

462
03-14-2012, 09:30 PM
My experience with Lee moulds has been mixed. I had to return two that cast boolits too skinny by .003", buy have kept the ones that cast .001" to .002" too fat. Lee's cavity dimensions are as inconsistant as any other mass production mould maker, but their quality control is nowhere as good.

mistermog
03-15-2012, 07:33 PM
Wow I read Oldfeller's writeup sticky there and the only question i have is... was that english?

I have no idea what most of the stuff he said meant. :) I'll just continue on and pretend everything is fine. :)

41 mag fan
03-16-2012, 10:47 AM
Really not a surprise....you said Lee, enough said there.

1bluehorse
03-16-2012, 11:56 AM
While I'm not real excited about Lee molds, I do own 5 of them I've bought over the years. None of them throw undersized bullets, all are actually 1 to 3 thou. over. However they don't get much use as I don't like the itty-bitty grease grooves on them. The 358 RNFP 150grainer isn't bad though....

HangFireW8
03-16-2012, 01:11 PM
If it is a new mold, sent it back to Lee.

They advertise round to within .001 "

I second this. I have had mediocre luck with new Lee molds, some fine, some problematic. They do have great customer service. You don't have to get complicated. Just send it by USPS as cheap as you can, with a short note stating the exact problem. You'll get a replacement back fairly quickly.

HF