Lee TL309-230-5R just shipped out from midway, Do I need a sizer?

[Boosted98gsx]

I plan to load 300 BLK with it.

[ratboy]

it is intended as a tumble lube boolit so to answer your question, no.
look into recluse's lube (i think that is what it is) it is a modified lee alox that ends up not as gooey/sticky and does not gum up the dies as quickly.
i have the mold and have cast some but have still not shot any.

[Boosted98gsx]

Okay, thanks. Just wanted to make sure I didn't need anything else (besides lube) for this boolit before I loaded them. Thanks a ton!

[jmort]

I want one or two molds for .308. That bullet looks too cool. Definitely falls in the "cruise missile" category. You may or may not need a sizer, either a "standard" size, or custom size. Shoot as is and see what happens.Way to go Lee Precision and Midway USA.

[singleshot]

What twist is required to stabilize it at sub velocities?

[Boosted98gsx]

AAC says 1:8 will work, but I chose 1:7 for my 8.5" SBR.

[mdi]

First, ya gotta know the dimensions of your gun, and what size the bullets are as cast. Slug the barrel and measure the slug with micrometers. Measure the bullets as they are from the mold (with the alloy you plan on using). If there's more than .002" or .003" difference, you should size..

[Boosted98gsx]

Since these are going to be subsonic, a 10-13 BH should be adequate, right?

[Boosted98gsx]

Okay, so warmed up the die (via 1000w electric burner) warmed up my lead to 750-800F, poured out some trial boolits. ALL GARBAGE! The cavity in the right die half, closest to me / the handle binds the boolit and it won't release without SEVERE tapping. When I can get both boolits out of the mold, the rear mold has lube ring imperfections, and the forward mold casts with lead flow issues.

I will try to cast a couple more and show you what I'm talking about via pictures.

[Boosted98gsx]

I am certain that this mold is absolute junk. Poured at a definitive 750-775F, poured enough boolits to ensure the mold was warm. Still the same. Both rounds would not cast without "splash" marks around the secant of the boolit (indicating an inadequately warmed mold), and the rearmost round still getting stuck in the mold, indicating poor machining.

Lee is getting an ear full from me on this. I didn't wait 3 months for a mold to receive this junk!

Pictures of boolits (and mold, which I believe to not have enough mass around the nose of the boolits to retain heat):

Mold Geometry - Minimal material around nose of mold cavity. Not enough mass for proper heat retention IMHO
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v448/Boosted98gsx/Guns/Casting/Boolits/DSC_0052_zps799f9273.jpg

Inside of mold
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v448/Boosted98gsx/Guns/Casting/Boolits/DSC_0053_zpsc22de196.jpg

Foremost boolit. This was cast after 20 or so sacrificial castings to ENSURE that I had the mold up to temp. Notice splash marks around nose. Lube grooves and boat tail are shiny and formed:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v448/Boosted98gsx/Guns/Casting/Boolits/DSC_0048_zps97ef958d.jpg

Rearmost boolit - Lube grooves misaligned resulting in mold cavity retaining boolit and not allowing it to drop out of mold cavity without lots of love with a wooden handle
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v448/Boosted98gsx/Guns/Casting/Boolits/DSC_0050_zps343450c7.jpg

Opposite side
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v448/Boosted98gsx/Guns/Casting/Boolits/DSC_0051_zpsf1a4f191.jpg

From the rear
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v448/Boosted98gsx/Guns/Casting/Boolits/DSC_0049_zps3b63b07a.jpg

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Is this your first Lee 30 cal mold ?
Now I haven't bought any of the NEW style 30 cal molds, and I would have hoped that they may have fixed a few issues with the change.
Below is a link to my evaluation of several Lee 30 cal molds bought NEW about 2 or 3 years ago.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?189534-Lee-30-cal-2-cav-molds-not-necessarily-as-advertised&highlight=

first it looks like you need to get the mold hotter,
BUT, it also sounds like your mold will need some Lee-menting of the cavities to get them to drop from the mold, let alone allow for easy opening of the mold halves.

You may have some Luck with Lee, but expect a wait...heck it's only a $20 mold.
If you're comfortable with your own abilities, the Lee-menting will only take a few hours of your time.
that's my 2¢,
Jon

[tom357mag]

You need to "smoke" the mold with a wooden match or candle and the boolits should just drop right out. Give it a try before you call Lee.

[Boosted98gsx]

Tried that too. Butane BIC lighter.

[mdi]

I can't tell from the pics what you're doing wrong. But, how did you clean/prep the mold. Scrub the mold in hot water and dish detergent. When you think it's clean scrub some more. I also use brake clean to make sure all traces of machine oil is removed. I never smoke a mold, it just adds gunk to the mold cavities. Some molds need to be "lapped" with a semi-abrasive compound (I like Comet cleanser), but most just need to be hot enough and broken in. IMHO, 99% of "junk molds" are just operator error...

[Boosted98gsx]

I sprayed it down with engine degreaser.

And no matter how I cleaned it, it doesn't account for the lube rings from one half being off of the other, or the marred partition line on the bullet that sticks in the mold.

[xacex]

Have to agree with MDI on the mold prep causing possible issues. I scrub with dish detergent,heat on a coil-less heat plate up to temp, and smoke with wood matches exclusively. I tried the bic long ago and it didn't hold a candle to using a wood match to get those cavitied black. I have a big box of those matches I picked up at a dollar store just for smoking molds. It looks like the mold, and the lead is not hot enough, and or you have contamination from the manufacturing oil. If that picture is your mold after smoking you need to get some matches and turn those cavities dark. As for the alignment I close my Lee molds while resting on a flat surface to align them better, but that little bit of mis-alignment is not going to affect much of anything at the speeds you will be shooting these. If you want a perfect mold I would recommend a NOE, or better yet a MiHec mold, but get out your bank card and prepare for the wait. :bigsmyl2:

[Boosted98gsx]

No, i washed out the soot because I thought it was causing the boolit to stick in the mold.

[xacex]

You want the soot, but from a match not a bic.

[mdi]

There's quite a few things to try;
Raise the temp of the mold (hotplate very popular).
Raise the temp of the melt.
Lower the temp of the melt.
Put the spout against the sprue plate as you pour.
Try pouring into the mold from 1" (or 1/2" or 3/4").
Try tilting the mold to 45 degrees when pouring.
Run the melt flow straight down the sprue hole.
Run the melt flow against the side of the sprue plate hole.
Try any combination of the above.

And make sure your melt is exceptionally clean!

"The only way to learn to cast bullets, is to cast bullets".

[xacex]

"The only way to learn to cast bullets, is to cast bullets".

Ain't that the truth! I have cast thousands of boolits only to drop them back into the pot and melt them for something else I needed. When you get it right make sure to write down the particulars like pot temp, hot plate setting,distance,pace, ect. That way when you go back and cast that mold next time several months from now you will skip the dozen of toss aways, and only have a few as the mold warms up.

[waksupi]

That mold is not hot enough. Second thing I think of, did you lubricate the mold as recommended? I have found Lee's may not close properly without doing this.

[Love Life]

Mold is too cold and operator error.

[earthling121757]

I've been casting some of these the last couple days. I cast straight COWW with a bit of tin added. I cast at 700F (PID Controlled).
I preheat on one of my stove burners on medium low. And get good results after two or three cycles.

A couple things I've found are I need to have everything hot to the point of getting some frosting. The other thing was to pour a bit slowly straight down the sprue hole. If the lead stream hits the side of the sprue hole going in I almost always get a cold shut (wrinkle). My mold is the older pin and groove alignment system and I had to carefully remove the burrs from the side of the cavity with a scalpel. I also scrubbed the cavities with Comet and a toothbrush. Boolits fall out with just a shake of the wrist. Oh, and I don't put any coating, smoke or otherwise in the cavities.

[jmort]

The owner-user reviews/ratings on Midway USA are positive 4.7/5 stars. One customer in-line with your experience and the rest good/great. 15 5/5 star and 2 4/5 star and 1 1/5 star. Basically 17 out of 18 happy/thrilled owner/users. Which tells me you should really think about post #16 from mdi. I can't wait to get the two I ordered.

[s mac]

This was my first mold, purchased 3, 4 months ago. After getting it warmed up cast pretty boolits, and me a newbie.

[2wheelDuke]

I must have the 1st generation of this mold. I did some minor Lee-menting before it ever touched lead. The long, skinny cavities were a bit fickle, but I did get good boolits on my first session.

I haven't got it to cycle .300blk subsonic yet, but so far, that's probably related to the powders I have available to me for loading. I'm holding off on judgement until I can get some AA 1680. Even in the good times, nobody carried it locally. Since the panic, nobody's had it in stock online.