Another defective Lee mold 309-230-5R

[stubshaft]

Against my better judgement I ordered one of the Midway (Lee) molds for a project that I was working on. The boolit is designed for the Whisper/AAC round and is intended to be subsonic (or supersonic with slow twist barrels).

I finally received it yesterday after ordering it three weeks ago (Midway UPS innovations bites!).

Anyhoo, couldn't wait to heat up the pot and drop a couple to measure. I figured that #2 alloy would be a decent choice to get some measurements and weights. After a quick spritz of Kroil and a couple of passes with an old toothbrush the mold was ready to go. This was done as the alloy got up to temp.

Attached are a couple of pics of the mold and boolits (sorry for the lousy lighting but I got home late from the range).

The mold is one of the prettiest that I have seen from Lee in a while. It took about 15 casts before I got some keepers. Nothing special about casting with this mold, and no quirks were noted. Just for the record I always ladle cast. It does away with the drippy spout and gives me more control over the flow of alloy. As far as the temperature goes. I have been casting for over thirtyfive years with no thermometer and don't see a reason to get one now.

The boolits measured as follows:

Nose in front of driving band - .299"/.301"

Front driving band - .306"/.307"

Tumble lube grooves - .311"/.312"

Base band before boattail - .312"/.313"

Average weight 228.6grains

The larger dimension was always ninety degrees perpendicular to the seam?

Yes it is slightly out of round and has an undersize nose and front band. BUT, it looks like it may work in my 7.62 X 39 Contender barrel. It has a long throat and I can seat the boolit out.

Should I return it? Probably, but I played the return game with the Bator mold and reached of diminishing returns. The shipping costs got to be more that the dang mold was worth.

Will "Leementing" help it? maybe but I'll try some of the as cast boolits first, they DO drop easily from the mold.

The thing that stupefies me is that the largest measurements are 90 degrees to the parting line? They are real purty boolits though...

[Moonie]

I've got one that is about the same, shoots beautifully in 2 300's.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Shoot a few of them before you change anything.

[leadman]

The Lee mold have been cut on a milling machine since they Makarov group buy. The cut one half at a time. Mine is .002" off center but gives only minor release problems.

My mold have about the same dimensions as yours but before the next casting session I am going to open up the front driving bands to see if this helps the boolit go thru the target straight.

A gas check should fit on the base if you are so inclined. I have shot this GC boolit out of my old Savage '06 at 1,900 fps and was ok in the accuracy dept at 100 yards.
I do want to extend the range to 200 yards and see what happens.

[stubshaft]

The Lee mold have been cut on a milling machine since they Makarov group buy. The cut one half at a time.

Thanks for clearing that up. I couldn't how they would screw it up with a cherry.

The boolits drop out just fine, in fact it is probably one of the easiest Lee molds I have ever worked with.

If the boolits don't work as planned then I might open up the shank and make it a straight plain base rather than use a GC.

I am going to use it in a 7.62X39 barrel with a .311 bore and play with subsonic loadings in a Contender.

[ShooterAZ]

Just for FYI, Midway will reimburse your shipping charges on returns. I just sent 2 defective molds back and they credited the shipping.

[MikeS]

As the larger diameter is always 90deg from the parting line, have you checked the mould good using a jewelers loupe? It's possible there's a burr or something else keeping the mould from completely closing. As far as being undersized, I would try them, and see how they shoot in your rifle. Another thought, if you're running them thru a sizer, that will make them rounder, and/or if you're shooting them as cast, your barrel will make them round, so it might possibly be worry over nothing.

[leadman]

I have yet to shoot a boolit from this mold that went thru the target straight on. This is in a 1 in 8 300 Whisper and a 1 in 10 30-06. Velocity does seem to help as does a gas check.

[stubshaft]

It's nice to hear that Midway is now refunding the shipping. The last few times I sent molds back they didn't. I'll try it first and see how it works. If it doesn't shoot well in the 7.62X39 then there are other 30's that I can play with it in. If worse comes to worse then I'll cut out the shank and make it a PB.

[nanuk]

I don't think we can get that mould up here....

Midway doesn't ship to Canada