I got a defective Lee mould!

[Chicken Thief]

A 8mm-Max from midsouth.

It casts beautifully and the boolits falls out of the cavities.

Of the @40 Lee moulds i have and have had this is a first[smilie=l:

And then again not quite, because the 2 Ranchdog moulds i have is OK too.

So it got me thinking (http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm153/Chickenthief/Blandet/Smilere/Brainfart.gif), is Lee's QC better on their custom moulds?

[I'll Make Mine]

So it got me thinking (http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm153/Chickenthief/Blandet/Smilere/Brainfart.gif), is Lee's QC better on their custom moulds?

Wouldn't surprise me -- when you're making one of something, it gets 100% inspection, instead of "representative sample" that could let hundreds of not-quite-right get by before an inspected part finds a problem.

[stubshaft]

Wouldn't surprise me -- when you're making one of something, it gets 100% inspection, instead of "representative sample" that could let hundreds of not-quite-right get by before an inspected part finds a problem.

Not necessarily true. Look at Lee's record on their Bator molds. I am hoping that they have tightened up their QC as I just received a 309-230 mold from them. Keeping my fingers crossed that this one is "defective" too.

[I'll Make Mine]

Well, I'll have a couple run-of-production bog-standard Lee molds in my hands in the next week or so, though I don't expect to actually get to cast with them until mid to late November (shooting school next weekend, then need to sight in my hunting ammo for hunting season opening the first Saturday in November, then hopefully have to take a day off work to butcher a buck, then still have to get the last details in hand and smelt enough ingots to cast from).

I'd expect a one-off custom to get better QC than production items, but if Lee is trusting their CNC the way some gun manufacturers apparently are these days, they might be no better (or even worse) than the main line numbers.

[Ben]

I got a defective Lee mould!

Isn't it interesting that when Lee does make a good mold, this is what is said.

No wonder they left the forum.

[I'll Make Mine]

No wonder they left the forum.

Well, if they make a lot of molds people consider defective (out of round, over- or under-size, and so forth), then I guess "if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

[Castlead]

I have several Lee molds, every one works like a champ. If you are having trouble with them read the instructions as they are a little different than steel molds.

[MikeS]

I too have had very little trouble with Lee moulds. I think the problem is that it's popular to complain about Lee and/or Lyman moulds, along with the fact that people rarely rave about one of them working as they should, so from reading the forums you get a wrong view of them. By the same token, it's also popular to rave about the custom makers (and I'm guilty of this too), so you do hear about all their great moulds. There's really a double standard here, if you complain about getting a bad mould from Lee, you get 20 responses moaning along with you, but should you make the same complaint about one of the custom makers, you get 20 people telling you not to bad mouth a small starting company, but rather to go to the maker, and see if they'll help you out. If somebody complaining about a Lee mould got the 20 complaint responses to go to Lee, and not air the problem here, pretty soon the Lee complaints would stop. I personally don't know of any cases where a person got a bad mould from one of the custom makers, but I'm sure it happens, nobody makes perfect product 100% of the time!

Now don't take what I'm saying wrong, I'm sure Lee could do better on their QC, but really at least they usually make it right if it's brought to their attention. Then there's also the cost factor, with a Lee mould, you're paying right around $20.00 for a 2 cavity mould, as opposed to around 80 or so for a similar 2 cavity mould from the custom makers, 4x more. For $20.00 if I occasionally have to fix one of their moulds, I don't mind doing it. I mean really, how much is your time worth? $50.00/hour? So it takes you a half an hour to fix the $20.00 mould, add $25.00 and now you're up to $45.00 for the mould, still cheap. Of course the custom makers make better moulds, but you pay for it. If you're willing to pay, and I am most of the time, the custom moulds are the way to go. But Lee moulds are ok too.

[scb]

I personally don't know of any cases where a person got a bad mould from one of the custom makers, but I'm sure it happens, nobody makes perfect product 100% of the time!

I do and I got one of them. It was very well documented here. The difference is he took care of it immediately. Didn't have to send the mould back. There was none of that "well it's within tolerance" or "what do you expect for what you paid" BS. Didn't have to wait months to have it corrected. I had a new mould in less then 10 days and this guy is on the other side of the world. Now that's a stand up mould maker.

[largom]

Bought a new Lee 309-150 mold 2 months ago and one side of the mold blocks did not have any vent lines. I did not send it back, I fixed it myself.

Larry

[44man]

Bought a new Lee 309-150 mold 2 months ago and one side of the mold blocks did not have any vent lines. I did not send it back, I fixed it myself.

Larry
That's funny! I quit putting vent lines on both blocks when I make my own molds, not needed. True, Lee has tiny marks and they might benefit from both sides.
I have had a few bad lee molds that cast too small or out of round, they fixed or replaced without a question.
Lyman and RCBS have been the worst for under size molds.
I know just how hard it is to get them perfect. But to resharpen a cherry and make it smaller to save money is something that should not be done. CNC eliminates the cherry but the machine needs set.
Here are a few blocks. Just fly cutter marks or tiny vent lines are enough.
Hard to see the vent lines on the right blocks but they are there.

[spfd1903]

I have 20 Lee molds in rifle and pistol calibers. Never failed to produce the weight and diameter specified. Purchased three cast iron molds only because Lee did not make the specific caliber/weight I wanted. Had to quit thinking about how many Lee six cavity molds I could have bought for the same money, and was happy with the bullets cast from the iron molds. They are just as good as the bullets cast from a Lee mold.

[geargnasher]

I guess I have a whole bunch (30+) of "defective" Lee moulds. The only "bad" one is the Cruise Missile that's way oversized ever since the original GB run. I know they had a lot of trouble with quality a few years back with quite a few of the GB moulds, some of those were awful.

Were you able to get Midsouth to ship directly to Denmark?

Gear