Lee Mould Alignment Pins Backing Out

[Rattlr]

Just recently starting casting boolits for my .357. Purchased a Lee TL358-158-2R and a 358-140-SWC. After casting about 400 boolits the in the 158 mould I noticed that the mould halves were not aligning. I discovered that the two male alignment pins were starting to back into the mould block. The 140 mould has a completely different alignment set-up with both vertical and horizontal roll pins for alignment. Any way I took a drift and tapped the pins back out flush with the face of the mould and lightly peened the side of the mold at the pin location to attempt to hold in place. For the next 100 castings the problem didn't re-appear. I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this problem? An if so, what they did to remedy.

[nhrifle]

I've had that happen with a couple of their moulds. I did the same thing to fix it that you did and it stayed fixed. Overall, Lee produces an excellent product, especially when you factor in how inexpensive their equipment is. Sometimes somethings slips through the quality check system at the factory, thankfully the pin issue is easy to correct. You shouldn't have any more problems with it.

Welcome aboard, by the way!

[deltaenterprizes]

Roll the part on hard surface while pressing on top with a file. This will do a pattern similar to knurling and cause the part to increase in diameter making a tighter fit!

[Springfield]

I assume you have 6 cavity moulds. They will all do it eventually, I just use a pin punch and dimple the aluminum on the mould face near the pin hole to hold them in place. Some are worse than others but I have got 60,000 plus bullets out of some of the moulds so it works. Wish the pivot pins didn't loosen up, have to replace them/set screw them in place most of the time.

[chris in va]

After my 45acp mold pins dropped to the floor, I now inspect every new mold and hit them with a drift pin to crimp them back into place. I went back and looked at some older molds to find quite a few were in similar shape.

[runfiverun]

i am thinking this is with the new style alignment pins.
one other post was made about this happening.
i would definatly call lee.
if this is a recurring issue they need to be aware of it so it can be addressed.

[Faret]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?181334-New-Lee-mold-pins-not-seatingYep happened to me too see this link.

[Rattlr]

Thanks for the responses and good info! I will try to contact Lee and see what they say. I'm pretty sure I can work with what I have after my own fixes. But maybe something can be done to keep it from happening to others.

[Rattlr]

After poking around on Lee's website I found a lot of useful information including the following concerning my problem with the alignment pins.
http://leeprecision.net/support/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/542/62/mold-alignment-pin-dropped-out
Evidently Lee is aware of the problem.

[chboats]

One thing that will help is when the mold is new, temp cycle it 3 or 4 times up to about 400 -450 degrees and back to room temp as is recommended by NOE. This will help to bond the pins to the mold body. It is not a fix all but it helps.

Carl

[fcvan]

I've got of a dozen Lee molds and only one had alignment pins back out. I had read on here about peening them in but I was to busy casting to go look for the pin punch and hammer. My fix - I put the pin back and put a drop of alloy over the hole. I keep meaning to fix it properly but it has held for about 20k boolits cast so far. Yup, we be redneck

[nhrifle]

A little melted lead, some chewing gum, maybe even a little duct tape if it's serious, we casters can fix anything!