Are 6 cavity LEE molds more apt to give oversize bullets?

[21Glock]

I have LEE molds in tumble lube design and standard TC non tumble design molds. I know the tumble lube design will usually drop bullets that don't need sizing and my 6 cavity tumble lube molds are no exception. I don't think I have ever had an oversize bullet out of the tumble lube molds.
Over the weekend, I was casting up some 175 gr. .401 Lee Truncated Cone bullets to lube and size in my new RCBS LAMII.
I should have mic'd them before I put them in the sizer. They are deformed and shived all over the place after trying to lube and size them. This is my first time using these bullets in my RCBS LAMII as I just got it a few weeks ago. I can see that alot of the the bullets are over sized and I can see that the mold wasn't closing as tight as I thought it was. I was going to send the mold back to Midway as defective, but I did some work on it and it's closing a good bit better now. I can still see a very slight bit if light between the halves when I have the mold closed. Alot less than before, however.
If this persists with the oversizing, should I just get a 2 cavity mold in the LEE Truncated Cone format since it should have less "real estate" on this mold to line up and correctly close.
I really want to use my RCBS LAMII and the oversized bullets are stopping me dead cold.

[geargnasher]

Watch that you don't grab all three handles together when casting because putting pressure on the sprue cutter handle can cam-open the blocks a bit and you won't notice the gap between the blocks under the closed sprue plate.

Do a careful check to make sure the blocks aren't warped, do this cold AND hot, that aluminum moves quite a bit with temperature changes. Sometimes moulds that mate perfectly at room temp can bow at casting temp, and vice-versa.

Gear

[21Glock]

I cleaned it up good last night. It was closing better. Thanks for the tip on not grabbing the sprue cutter while I'm casting. I never realized it could open the blocks some.
I'll try it again this weekend and see if my bullets have come down in size to use in the RCBS LAMII. I mic'd my tumble lube bullets and they were all within specs.
If not, I'll send back to Midway.

[btroj]

Look at the alignment pins on the ends of the blocks. I have had a few where the male ends moved out of the block a bit and it prevented the blocks from closing completely.

[Swede44mag]

I put some bull plate (sp) under the sprue cutter and on the face of my six cavity lee to keep lead from sticking.
If you put on to much it can/will migrate into the cavities.
If/when this happens use a Q-Tip with some alcohol and wipe out the cavities.
It don't take much lead on the face of the boolit mold to make the boolits oversize.

[Alan in Vermont]

I have had to drive the alignment pin on the handle end of the mold back in when my molds were new. If the pin is out too far it can hang up when you open the mold. Granted, that particular flaw doesn't affect cast qualities but it sure can run the frustration level off the chart. I don't remember having a too far out pin bother on closing but it certainly could.

There is some funky problem with closing that comes from the handle pinching in the handle slots in the blocks. IIRC, the handle contacts the front of the blocks and can keep the rear from coming all the way together. One of my handles had an intimate visit from a file to take a little metal off near the tips so there was a little wiggle room there.

[cajun shooter]

Lee 6 cavity moulds are famous for that problem and many others. I have sent as many as five SO moulds back because of this. I had one that had 4 cavities dropping different sizes.
I have not used Lee Moulds for a long time and enjoy my casting sessions as they should be.
Either purchase a couple of 2 cavity RCBS moulds so that you may keep a steady pace without over working either mould or Look at the moulds by Tom at Accurate.
Accurate moulds have taken over my storage drawer as I started using him about 3-4 years ago.
I just purchased a very nice 40 S&W mould from him in aluminum and it is out of his 4 cavity size block but with only 3 cavities cut. This allows me to have more metal for cooling.
Just a few more dollars and casting is once again fun and no problems.

[ShooterAZ]

In my experience the Lee 6 cavity molds are much better quality than the 2 cavity. I have seen however that Lee just upgraded the 2 cavity, I have not used a new one yet. For the most part it is a good thing to have a mold cast a little larger (as in a couple of thousandths over) than nominal diameter. This way you can size to the proper diameter for your bore(s). Too large can be a problem, but sometimes this can be solved by tweaking the alloy a little. I like Lee's 6 cavity molds, but as others have pointed out keep your hands completely off of the sprue cutter handle when pouring! I love being able to cast a huge pile of boolits in a short amount of time, but I also really like the uniformity of my boolits cast from a quality 2 cavity cast iron mold. In this case...quality over quantity.

[williamwaco]

Watch that you don't grab all three handles together when casting because putting pressure on the sprue cutter handle can cam-open the blocks a bit and you won't notice the gap between the blocks under the closed sprue plate.

Do a careful check to make sure the blocks aren't warped, do this cold AND hot, that aluminum moves quite a bit with temperature changes. Sometimes moulds that mate perfectly at room temp can bow at casting temp, and vice-versa.

Gear

See the last two photos here:
( click on the images to expand them.)

http://www.reloadingtips.com/pages/missing_tumble_lube_grooves.htm

[shotman]

gear and alan have the 2 things to watch. The handles may also be a problem they have started to cut the last 1/2 in straight. put a file on them from the pin hole out and look at way they close

[wallenba]

I have had two six cav Lee 38 wadcutters. Both dropped so large from the inner cavities, that the TL grooves were almost wiped out during sizing. Sent one back. The other I bought used, no recourse.

[williamwaco]

I have had two six cav Lee 38 wadcutters. Both dropped so large from the inner cavities, that the TL grooves were almost wiped out during sizing. Sent one back. The other I bought used, no recourse.

Are you sure?

I have been told they will replace those even though you didn't buy it new? ( I have not tried if )

[MT Chambers]

For me anyway, it would take a very large and hard bullet to not go through a proper die with the RCBS luber.