Lee mold kit?

[Revolver]

Arrived today... What the heck is this, a kit that I have to deburr and do the finish work myself? :-?

Oh well, at least it was reasonably priced and made in the USA. I put in an inquiry to Lee about it, will see what they say.

http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j407/mainejunker/01ed2a7d.jpg

[Suo Gan]

They all pretty much come like that. Usually it is just loose fragments of aluminum from machining. It helps to give them a scrubbing and a bath.

[Revolver]

They all pretty much come like that. Usually it is just loose fragments of aluminum from machining. It helps to give them a scrubbing and a bath.

These are still attached, tried scraping with my fingernail & stabbed my finger on one. :-x

[Bullet Caster]

I believe I'd have to send that one back. That is not up to standard for a mould. BC

[leadbutt]

That looks rough.

[MT Gianni]

Junker, are you sure that you didn't mention your handle when you bought it?

[Ben]

send it back ! !

[Revolver]

I was thinking (my wife says that's rare), maybe this was made near the end of the life of whatever cutting tool they use. In other words, dull tools.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

there have been a few threads of Lee molds with tooling "chatter" marks or other poor workmanship. I got one...an undersized .501 440 gr. FN
just send it back, Lee will make it right.
Jon

[Suo Gan]

These are still attached, tried scraping with my fingernail & stabbed my finger on one. :-x

Send er back and this time tell them not to send a junker :-P

[Rangefinder]

The term "Leementing" didn't just pop out of thin air ;) BUT, considering the fact you can get a LEE for $20-30 versus $60 on up well over $100 for most other options unless you get lucky on fleebay, there's some expectation to the amount of finish work involved. I buy the lee molds expecting to tinker a bit to get what I want--most of my molds get modified anyway, so doing a final polish isn't something that bothers me. In the past I've even traded guys that Lee sent out replacement molds for their "chatter" molds just for the project--my .357 fires one of those very well. You aren't going to drive a Vette at VW prices--It's gonna take a little wrenching.

[HangFireW8]

I've got a bunch of Lee molds. They've come with internal cavity finishes everything from polished, clean and smooth, covered with flakes but servicable, a bit rough, all the way to something that looked like a corncob- serious galling.

I return the worst and Leement the rest. Lee has replaced them every time, the only complaint I got back was that I need to lube the mold- they don't understand what Bullplate is.

If it doesn't clean up, send it back.

HF

[fredj338]

Lee QC strikes again! Really, what can you expect for such a cheap price??

[Revolver]

I shipped it out today, here is what Lee emailed me. The guy was very nice and said his name was Andy Lee. I like how they were honest and straightforward.

"Those burrs are on the edge of the gas check shank are from the final faceoff in the machine cycle, burrs like this can generally be avoided if the cutter speed and feed are properly set. In the event of something as your picture shows, we would deburr the mold before the final assembly and being shipped out the door. The mold you have simply was overlooked on accident by one of our employees. If you send it back to us, we can deburr the mold cavities for you, or replace the mold if it is not repairable."

[Revolver]

Lee QC strikes again! Really, what can you expect for such a cheap price??

I "expect" any retail item that I buy new at any price to be of acceptable quality for its intended purpose. If it's not, I contact the vendor or manufacturer for resolution. I think if more people held companies responsible for products there would be less cheap junk out there.

My wife hates it when I rant about this. She no longer tells me when something fairly new breaks or fails because she knows my response is always, "You get it at WalMart?" And the answer is always yes.

She still sometimes asks if I need anything from Walmart... nope. I buy some stuff there... used to buy cheap plinking ammo before I reloaded. Bought some art pencils for testing lead hardness recently. Cheap spray paint for stuff that doesn't matter. etc. It's fine for some things.

[Doc_Stihl]

What's acceptable quality for $20?

A mold is a cavity to cast a boolit. There are alot of people (myself included) that like a "perfect" cavity to work with. That's not required to get a shootable projectile. There are lots of paths to get there. Spend $100+ on a mold from NEI, Hoch, Accurate or others, or spend $20 on a lee and spend 30 minutes improving on what $20 buys. I have plenty of lees that have been worked over, I also have plenty that have dropped lots of boolits without ever being smoked or adjusted.

[Revolver]

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if a company can't make a $20 mold that isn't all raggedy then they need to charge more than $20. If people would hold mfg's responsible then the mfg's would be more worried about quality. If they have to bump the price that's fine. I just expect something I buy to not have problems like this... I didn't set the price, they mfg & retailer did.


What's acceptable quality for $20?

A mold is a cavity to cast a boolit. There are alot of people (myself included) that like a "perfect" cavity to work with. That's not required to get a shootable projectile. There are lots of paths to get there. Spend $100+ on a mold from NEI, Hoch, Accurate or others, or spend $20 on a lee and spend 30 minutes improving on what $20 buys. I have plenty of lees that have been worked over, I also have plenty that have dropped lots of boolits without ever being smoked or adjusted.

[Buckshot]

..............Don't care who it is but if there is any volumn involved in their production and a human is involved in QC, a stinker is going to make it out the door once in awhile. I've had a couple Lymans, and one RCBS that should have never left home. The only real issue I've ever had with Lee moulds is their tendancy to cast a bit smaller then I'd like. I've been REALLY casting since the early 80's, and in ham fisted newbie mode I wreaked a few Lee moulds before I found out what I was doing wrong. Had Lyman's been made of aluminum I'd'av probably wreaked a couple of THEM too :wink:

The one thing that REALLY irks me about ANYTHING new you buy that is broken, inoperative, or poorly assembled is that you, the purchaser has to pay the shipping back to them or go back to the place of purchase in order to get satisfaction. It's not a dig at Lee in particular as that situation is 99% universal.

................Buckshot

[Revolver]

The one thing that REALLY irks me about ANYTHING new you buy that is broken, inoperative, or poorly assembled is that you, the purchaser has to pay the shipping back...

Actually, I am being reimbursed for the shipping.

Also, for the last 15 years I have operated a computer repair shop and in the last few years vendors and manufacturers have really stepped forward, at least in my industry. Now when things need to be returned the mfg will usually overnight me a prepaid shipping box for things like laptops, tablets, etc.

When I complained to Remington about some junk 22 ammo they sent me a prepaid shipping label to return it.

Been having good luck with that lately... but it does take time to pack stuff and go to the post office.