Why I like LEE molds......

[Lefty Red]

Just got finished casting about 50 pounds of 158gr .359" ( as dropped from my mold) flat nosed round points, or the 358-158-RF. Had very few "bad" boolits, and those were probably from the first casting. The mold smoothed up and was dropping quickly. I sent more time trying to keep it cool than warming it up. And I never thought a 20 pound pot would be "not enough"! LOL
Three pot full and think I will get another four pots done tomorrow.

I literally have about $100 worth of bullets, based on commerical prices, maybe more. I could sell my 6 cavity mold for about $31 shipped and my out of pocket costs is $15! Or I could sell it and buy double cavity mold and just too off my bucket monthly. Or fill another bucket with 50 pounds of bullets and never miss it.

Think this one will stay here. Would like to try out the hollow point version, in double cavity. Think it would make a mean self defense round in the 38 casted in soft lead.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/14/bbb1702f1bdbf76dbd67d93bfd13fb50.jpg

[jabo52521]

Those look great.

[jmort]

Completely agree with everything you said Lefty Red

[zuke]

If you were to cast another 100 lbs of boolit's you's be WAY ahead of the game!

[srtolly]

Pretty. I like my Lee molds too.

[TCFAN]

That is a very good boolit. It is my go to boolit for the 38 special and I use it in my S&W 14-6 pretty much all the time..............Terry

[tomme boy]

Your sprue plate was not fully closed on a bunch of them. Look at the off center cuts. Other than that they look good. Try to make sure the plate is closed for a more consistent bullet.

What alloy were you using? Looks like you might need a little more heat too.

[DrCaveman]

That mold is probably my best performing Lee design. I have the 2-cavity, and they drop easy and consistent, no muss no fuss. I think the bevel base helps things out, as far as boolit production. It doesnt seem to hurt accuracy, for me...but, just to tinker, i was kind of thinking of getting rid of the bevel portion

Do off center sprue cuts hurt accuracy?

[tomme boy]

Not at short pistol ranges. Just if it carries over to a rifle mold then yes it "could" make a difference. The more consistent you are at casting the exact same way, the better the results you will get out of your bullets. I shoot some pretty ugly pistol bullets as most of my shooting is at close range of say 10-15 yards. These will do perfect for the same thing. But I will reject any rifle bullet that has a base like that. It happens to everyone here. No matter how good "I" or others think they are. We all screw up now and then.

Don't get me wrong, they look really good. I would shoot every one of them. But maybe look into why they were off center.

[Idz]

To me it looks more like tear-out than an off center sprue. Cooling a little longer may cure it or it may just be a cranky alloy. I doubt it would make any noticeable difference unless you're a master marksman.

[nekshot]

I agree with above and also you can play around with them as in making them a little deeper, more meplat and if you screw up your only out 20 bucks if using the regular mold. I ruined the first mold I tried to improve and I learned from it and the rest were succes.

[leadman]

With the Lee 6 cavity molds one has to be sure not to put a finger on the sprue plate handle when casting.
Those boolits look very shootable though.
I did quite a bit of testing on boolits with various amounts of sprue tear out. Boolits like the ones in the picture shot just fine.

[Donor8x56r]

I love Lee molds because they work for me and price is right.

I wish Lee updated some of their designs and kept an eye on quality.

[Lefty Red]

The torn bases were from too much heat and not enough time I let them set before cutting them. Not the molds mistake but mine. Still very shootable, even from my rifle.

Finished up the coffee "can" tonight and its 63 pounds worth! Not bad for a total of 4 hours, which included breaks while letting the alloy heat up.

Jerry

[Lefty Red]

Your sprue plate was not fully closed on a bunch of them. Look at the off center cuts. Other than that they look good. Try to make sure the plate is closed for a more consistent bullet.

What alloy were you using? Looks like you might need a little more heat too.

Plate was completely closed. I just cut the spruce too early on the first batch, trying to hurry up. The second and third pots came out prettier.

Jerry

[Lefty Red]

I love Lee molds because they work for me and price is right.

I wish Lee updated some of their designs and kept an eye on quality.

Me too! Would like to see a 147gr 356 caliber bullet and a 170-180gr 358 caliber bullet.
Jerry

[Lefty Red]

To me it looks more like tear-out than an off center sprue. Cooling a little longer may cure it or it may just be a cranky alloy. I doubt it would make any noticeable difference unless you're a master marksman.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! :)
I was rushing the casting and cut the spruce too soon. That was from my first pot. The rest look prettier.
Jerry

[Lefty Red]

I agree with above and also you can play around with them as in making them a little deeper, more meplat and if you screw up your only out 20 bucks if using the regular mold. I ruined the first mold I tried to improve and I learned from it and the rest were succes.

The LEE molds I have been dealing with lately, the newer ones, have all drop a tad larger. I like that! I can size down.
Jerry

[kungfustyle]

A Lee 6 cavity will empty a 20lb pot in a hurry....Ever tried the 45 230rn? Great job, now that you have the fish in the boat how are you going to cook them? Powder, tumble, or ?

[Lefty Red]

A Lee 6 cavity will empty a 20lb pot in a hurry....Ever tried the 45 230rn? Great job, now that you have the fish in the boat how are you going to cook them? Powder, tumble, or ?

I used a 458-405-FN DC that drain it fast, but couldn't imagine a 6 cavity in something that big. I only have two 6 cavities, this one and the 358-148-WC. Others are doubles. But looking at a TL429-240-SWC. Nice to literally cast once half a day session and have enough for half a year!

I am a tumbler! :)
I have pan lubed a bit, but til I get a house and and some more room I stick to the tried and true and cheap.
I want to try PCing them! Just will have to wait.
Jerry

[WILCO]

Nice job Jerry!

[Lefty Red]

That mold is probably my best performing Lee design. I have the 2-cavity, and they drop easy and consistent, no muss no fuss. I think the bevel base helps things out, as far as boolit production. It doesnt seem to hurt accuracy, for me...but, just to tinker, i was kind of thinking of getting rid of the bevel portion

Do off center sprue cuts hurt accuracy?

I went through the large coffee can and I think I rejected about 100 bullets. I had culled inbetween pot fillings.
I think the camera distorted the off set spruce cut. I had a few tears, from the first batch, and those were rejected. But the cuts were pretty good.
Jerry

[Lefty Red]

After going through the coffee "can" again, I think what looks like off center cuts is just micro smears from me not allowing the spruce to cool enough on the first batch. That and the macro setting on my iPhone distorted a few.

[glockmeister]

Lefty Red, I like them mainly because they work and are reasonably priced. When I started casting I was a LEO, small town and family of six and went to college. Lee molds were all I could afford and they worked well. Got a bunch I've bought and some given to me and all cast good boolits. Take care, John.

[Rugerman]

Looks great. I think you talked me into this for my blackhawk.

[MBTcustom]

Best 6 cavity mold on the market. Sure does pile them up. Love me some Lee 6 hole action. I put their 6 cavity mold design right up there with their collet neck sizing die or the hand primer. Just freakin awesome.
And don't worry about your bases. For SD style training and getting trigger time, you can shoot those babies all day long and have a good time. If I want absolute perfection I have a custom made by NOE or accurate and take things a bit slower.
Now, go get you a Star sizer and a Dillon 550! You're going to have to start shooting more! LOL!

BTW, realize that you can lube those just fine with 45-45-10 lube. It works just fine on regular lube grooves.

[facetious]

I kind of like that style , I do not have one like that but do have four or five other Lee mold's plus two LBT's , one lyman and one RCBS. The aluminum mold's do cast nice. I two think that design would be nice to have in a 170 to 180gr dropping at .360. If I could have it my way it would have two crimp grooves like #358156 so that it could be seated long in a .38 case and a shank for a gas check long enough that it would form the last lube groove. Heck why couldn't thy offer it with or with out a gas check? May be some one could could have a talk with them and put the bug in there ear.

[GhostHawk]

You know how much you spend for 100 bullets with gas check? A lee Mold the same size costs less.

And I have the ability to change the alloy, use some metal tape to make the mold throw bigger, etc.

And the best part, the rest of the boolits after that first 100 are in effect free.

And THAT is why I like Lee molds.

[hanleyfan]

The only complaint I have had with Lee molds is with their GC molds the GC base is too small and the gas checks won't stay on unless you glue them or some other way. I have tried different manufactors of GC's and they all were too large. And yes they were the right size check for the caliber.

[Lefty Red]

Looks great. I think you talked me into this for my blackhawk.

I just picked up a 357M BH and I will let you know how they shoot. Have two or three OT shifts this week so It won't be til net week.
Jerry

[Lefty Red]

The only complaint I have had with Lee molds is with their GC molds the GC base is too small and the gas checks won't stay on unless you glue them or some other way. I have tried different manufactors of GC's and they all were too large. And yes they were the right size check for the caliber.

Same here!

[Lefty Red]

I was messing with a 6-Cavity mold in 148-WC this weekend. Didn't don't drop as smooth as the 158-RF. And the handle on the cam broke off, but I had a steel one I had ordered. LEE has been notified and they have me another on the way. I think the 148-WC just needs polished out and another 10 or more pounds of alloy in it, then it will be as smooth as the 158-RF.

Jerry

[Rugerman]

I was wondering how Lee's customer service was.

[GhostHawk]

The only complaint I have had with Lee molds is with their GC molds the GC base is too small and the gas checks won't stay on unless you glue them or some other way. I have tried different manufactors of GC's and they all were too large. And yes they were the right size check for the caliber.

They are designed to be "crimped" on by putting the gas check on the shank, then running the whole thing through a lee sizer die.
If the die is the same size as the mold (or near it) you won't hardly feel the lead going through. But you will feel the copper getting squeezed down to the correct size. And getting crimped onto the shank in the process.

With a correctly sized boolit and gas check you should need tools to take a gas check off a boolit. Fingers and fingernails alone won't do it.
They don't need to be glued, the mold is the correct size. Sounds like the gas check is the correct size. But they do have to be sized to stick.

Now I don't have an personal experience with anything other than my 30 cal checks.

But I have no problem with the ones I have. Both the Hornady .30 cal checks I started with. And the checks made by a member here. Both copper. The ones by the member here were about 2/3rds the price. Have a bit more of a rounded bottom edge, but size on, load and shoot just fine in both of my Mosin's and my SKS. (my old Yugo SKS is just WICKED with 185 gr boolits with gas checks. Last couple times out I was hitting quarter sized chunks of clay pigeon on the bunker 5 out of 5. It is shooting EXACTLY to point of aim at 50m.

I have gone through about 900 checks thus far and am very happy with them.

All 3 of my .30's slugged at .312. The SKS is perfectly happy with .311-.3115-.312 boolits.
The Mosin's have not showed any accuracy with those. So I found a way to get my lee mold to cast .314 instead of .312 and picked up a second .314 sizer. Checks can be hard to get on, often take a tap of a hammer to go fully on and flat. Once in place and sized they stay there.

Hope this helps.

[hanleyfan]

thats what I have done, I have run them through my .452 sizer for 45 colt and they still don't stay on. I have 4 Lee GC molds and they all have the same problem, I thought this was normal until I got a NOE GC mold and those boolits the check fit on snug and would crimp down when run through the sizer just fine.

[starmac]

My lee mold for 45 colt is just the opposite, you can't even get a gas check started on it.