Lee drive key sticking

[hatcreek]

I'm having a heck of time to get my slugs to drop from the mold, I followed the direction to the t, lubing and applying carbon, slugs stick, I have to beat the heck out of it to get it to drop, any magic bullet to get it to separate from the mold, HELP. HC

[longbow]

More heat!

Well, first you might check the mould and core pin for burrs using a magnifying glass. If there are any burrs removed them VERY carefully.

Lee moulds are inexpensive and good value for money but there is a bit of a trade off quality wise sometimes and you might need to Leement the mould a bit. There is a sticky on Leementing if you do a search.

Basically, you should give it a thorough check over and remove any little burrs you find and possibly lap it lightly. That should solve the problem along with good mould pre-heat. You certainly shouldn't have to beat the mould to get slugs to drop.

Are slugs sticking on the core pin or in the mould blocks? Could be burrs along the slot in the core pin, mine had a few there.

Back to more heat. I find that my Lee 1 oz. mould likes to be run hot or I do get some sticking. Pre-heat your mould well and cast steady to keep it hot and that should help.

Longbow

[Pb2au]

Plus one on all of the previous statement.
Check for burrs. The center pin thingy on mine had some burrs, as well as one of the mold halves. Obviously clean and degrease. And run that thing hot. Mine is annoying until it is screaming hot. Then it is like magic. Pour, tap sprue cutter, open mold, slight shake and they fall out.

[TRG3]

A good idea for any newly acquired mold would be to run a cotton swap around the edges to determine and remove any rough spots. My new Lee Key Drive mold had a few that needed to be removed and, after doing so, the mold usually released the slug on opening but still sometimes needed a light tap to do so. FYI, I drop newly formed slugs on to an old thick towel for air cooling and experienced better accuracy with soft lead than hard lead in my USH.

[badboyparamedic]

Screaming Hot Mold, when I cast with mine I have to have mold HOT and usually increase lead temp by about 50 degrees above what I use if I am doing boolits

[hatcreek]

More heat did the trick, the slugs dropped great, thanks much. HC

[JIMinPHX]

That is the stickiest mold that I have ever used. As others have said, start off by deburring & then don't be stingy with the heat. I run the pot up around 850F when I use that mold.

Another thing that Lee recommends is only using pure lead in that one. They claim that this helps with the sticking problem.

In addition to that, this is the one & only mold that I still smoke before I use it. It seems to be a necessary evil, at least for me.