200grain mold drops 180 g bullets

[aganger]

Hi guys. My 1st time casting today and had a great time. One question thought, when I weighted some bullets they weighted 179 to 180 grains. My mold is a 2 cavity Lee 200g mold. Alloy was stright ww. Is that normal or am I doing something wrong?

Best Regards
Aganger

Love this site!

[GP100man]

20 grs. does seem like alot but differences in alloys can make a difference.

Maybe the mold was boxed/machined wrong??

If it`s the shape ya wanna try & the boolit drops the correct size & works don`t worry `bout the 20grs.

& WELCOME TO[smilie=s: :cbpour:

[462]

All my Lee moulds cast wheel weights up to three or four-grains over the advertized weight. If 20-grains is, indeed, the correct difference, I would quickly return it.

Qualifier: I've returned Lee moulds because of their lack of quality control, and will do so, again, if need be. My time is my own, but I quit making their products right, and being their unpaid end user quality control department. However, I'll continue to buy their moulds.

[leadman]

Are the boolits filled out well and all lube grooves and driving bands sharply defined?

[geargnasher]

I've always had Lee moulds cast within a few (3-4) grains of advertised weight with wheel weights. Had a Lyman 45 Devastator HP in 180 grains consistently throw them at 203 with range scrap though. Oddities do happen.

Gear

[Bob Krack]

Most all of my Lee moulds cast over advertised weights, even with known lighter alloys like straight ww or ww with Tin. I MIGHT have one or two that cast a little light, but durned sure not 10% light.

Bob

[ipijohn]

I have a lot of Lee molds, none of them have cast light with any of the alloys that I use.:Luvcastboolits:

[Kraschenbirn]

Which 200 gr. Lee mould are we talking about...the .30 cal. rifle, the .44 RF, or the .45 SWC? If it's the .30 cal, you've, most likely, got a mismarked/mispackaged 309-180-R which, except for nose length, is identical to the 309-200-R. I'd get in touch with Lee Customer Service and ask for an exchange.

Bill

[Wally]

I've always had Lee moulds cast within a few (3-4) grains of advertised weight with wheel weights. Had a Lyman 45 Devastator HP in 180 grains consistently throw them at 203 with range scrap though. Oddities do happen.

Gear

Same here they always run heavier than listed. As I recall the bullet weight that they list is for a bullet cast with 90% Lead/10% Tin...

[Balta]

Have several Lee molds and there at regular basis drop bullets heavier 3 or 4 grains,with Lyman #2 alloy (90-5-5)....only 45 mold 230 TC drops bullets at exact 230 grain with alloy 95-2,5-2,5...

[aganger]

Thanks for all the replys. I will call Lee and give them the information. It's maybe just been mislabled. I will try to load some pictures.Its a 30 cal C309-200-Rhttp://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_2869502043e30ecb1.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=6152)http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_2869502044214db79.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=6153)http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_28695020444ea6521.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=6154)

[just.don]

How LONG is the bullet?
And does anyone cast these that will measure them for us so that he will have a reference?
I have the C309-180-R but have not cast with it yet.
My Lee's cast slightly over weight w/ WW.

[MrXrings]

I'd check my scale with a bullet of known weight, maybe it's my eyes or camera distortion but those bullets don't look quite right. Have you mic'd them?

[aganger]

Just.Don, I checked length with my micrometer and 1.010 is the length. Thanks for the suggestion. The bullets filled out good I think (I'm in no way a expert as this was my 1st casting session). I have sized several and plan on shooting them this week to see they do. I send information to Lee about this and am suppost to here back in 48 hours.

[aganger]

MrXrings,
I have checked the diameter and its 309~3105 slightly out of round. I put a 168 bthp match bullet on my scale and it ready it correct. I'm going to take a few to work tomorrow and run them thru the x-ray machine to see if they are completely filled out. The bullets look good its just not a good picture as I had to turn the camera down to reduce the picture size.

[just.don]

According to my dial caliper and my mold your bullet should be significantly longer than 1.015" if it is the 200 gr. you thought you bought.

Now please, if you will allow me to get off topic for a moment, tell me more about this x-ray that sees into lead.

[aganger]

Just.Don,
Currently I use a 3 inch diameter 1.5 inch thick piece of lead to block the xrays while the xray tube is heating up. It may not show anything but a dark spot. It shows thru 6 inches aluminum very well, but that nowhere near the density of lead. Thanks again for your help.

[Kraschenbirn]

Finished (lubed w/gascheck) 309-200-Rs from my Lee mould measure 1.130 OAL and weigh in at 203 (+/- .5) gr. cast from my 'rifle' alloy of 4 parts Lyman #2 and 1 part linotype. (Don't have any 'raw' Lee 309-200s on hand to check unfinished OAL and weight.) Compared to your OAL measurement/weight, IMO pretty much confirms my earlier suspicion that you've got a mismarked (or mispackaged) 309-180-R. Have you checked the Lee product # stamped on the mould blocks against the product # on the end of the the box? The 180-grainer is a 90369 and the 200-grainer a 90370.

Bill

[aganger]

Bill,
Thanks for checking that for me. The numbers stamped on the side of the die is 90307.

[Kraschenbirn]

'90307' or '90370' If your mould is marked '90307', I haven't a clue what it might be 'cause that SKU # doesn't show up, anywere, in Lee's current product listing.

Either way, I suggest you get in touch with Lee Customer Service...either by e-mail or phone...to see about getting a replacement. Other than a disagreement about a couple of flaws in the design of their "new and improved" Autoprime, I've always received fast response and excellent service from their folks.

Bill

[Larry Gibson]

Looks very much like the Lee 30-180 to me, apparently just mispackaged.

Larry Gibson

[runfiverun]

i'd just load up a dummy and see how it works in the rifle.
then shoot some.
it's a 20 dollar mold.
if it is too short or something then i'd buy the 200gr version and have both..
look it as saving 20grs of lead on every trigger pull.
or a free pair of boolits every ten pours.

[aganger]

Guys,
Thanks for the information. The # is indeed 90370 as I must have had dyslexia last night. Lee emailed my today and offered to replace it or half off a different mold and I am happy with that.

This is a great site full of helpful people.

Best Regards

[Larry Gibson]

Suggest you get the 200 grainer then at 1/2 off, the more moulds the merrier :cbpour: :D I'm sure you will find a god use for the 180 gr also, it's a good bullet for .30 cals also.

Larry Gibson

[1Shirt]

My 45 Cal. 405 Ohas drops blts out at 430 or so. Shoots well, so no problem. Have never had a lee mold that was over 3-4 grains off advertized wts.
1Shirt!

[Kraschenbirn]

My 45 Cal. 405 Ohas drops blts out at 430 or so. Shoots well, so no problem. Have never had a lee mold that was over 3-4 grains off advertized wts.
1Shirt!

I've several Ohaus moulds (and really like 'em!) and they all drop extra heavy. I suspect the listed weight may be for straight lino...or something awfully close to it. Haven't poured any lino boolits to verify that but all seem to run 8%-10% over from my 4/1 Lyman #2/Lino alloy.

Bill.