Looks like Lee has up'd it's game ...Venting on a New Lee 2 cav.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

USPS delivered a CTL312-160-2R today from a Amazon vendor.
First off, there was a CBA business card/coupon for free copies of "The Fouling Shot" in the box, :) That was kinda Neat.

AND,
...WOW :shock: :shock: ...Big vent lines on the mold, and on top of the mold.

Also, much larger steel ferrules on the wooden handles.

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/Lee%20CTL312-160-2R_zpsxa4uhz8f.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/Lee%20CTL312-160-2R_zpsxa4uhz8f.jpg.html)

[dkf]

There was a thread here a little while back showing the new vent lines.(the OP thought the mold was defective) I like the new venting myself. They probably figured out they can skip a tool change this way and just take a pass with a high feed rate using the face mill they use to face the blocks.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

OH, I missed that thread

[dkf]

OH, I missed that thread

It was easy to miss. It is older than I thought but the link is below.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?259021-lee-mold-should-I-send-this-back

[geargnasher]

The vent lines, like most of the mill-cut lines, look next to useless on the block faces as they don't intersect the cavities in many places. The ones on top, however, I REALLY like, reminds me of BA Bore and LBT a little, glad they finally bought a clue about sprue plate venting....great for reducing base porosity.

If one took a fine file and broke the top edges of the blocks at a 45-degree angle, just enough to make a very slight vent trough, that would probably be a huge benefit as well, give all that air somewhere to go.

Gear

[Dschuttig]

Interesting, I haven't actually seen a Lee mold with that venting on it yet. Out of all the molds I own, by far the best casting is with LBT. I'm not sure if it's the venting, which is much more profound than most others, or what.

[otter5555]

USPS delivered a CTL312-160-2R today from a Amazon vendor.
First off, there was a CBA business card/coupon for free copies of "The Fouling Shot" in the box, :) That was kinda Neat.

AND,
...WOW :shock: :shock: ...Big vent lines on the mold, and on top of the mold.

Also, much larger steel ferrules on the wooden handles.

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/Lee%20CTL312-160-2R_zpsxa4uhz8f.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/Lee%20CTL312-160-2R_zpsxa4uhz8f.jpg.html)

just had to return that exact mold. when closed lead poured out the bottom. the mold blocks themselves were badly warped

[SSGOldfart]

I'd like to see the Boolit from that mold looks good to me.

[KLR]

Now if they could just figure out a better alignment system...

[leadman]

I have had a few of the old Ideal molds with no vent lines in the mold faces. They did cast just fine.

I also have an older version of the mold posted above and it is a good shooter in my SKS, Type 2 Arisaka, and both my Mosin Nagant rifles.
Mine does drop about 10gr heavy even with a harder alloy. Mine does drop about .314" which is nice.

Post the results of casting with this mold please.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

snip...
Post the results of casting with this mold please.
I will, maybe this weekend.

[Animal]

I just received a Lee 6 banger with the same vent design. It works well. But, I did find that the vent system is a breeding ground for burrs. I spent a great deal of time deburring mine.

[DR Owl Creek]

USPS delivered a CTL312-160-2R today from a Amazon vendor.
First off, there was a CBA business card/coupon for free copies of "The Fouling Shot" in the box, :) That was kinda Neat. ...





You don't have to be a member of the Cast Bullet Association, or buy anything to get a free copy of the "Fouling Shot". If you join the CBA Forum, and then contact CBA President, John Alexander, and send him your email address, John will email you a free copy of the Fouling Shot in PDF format.

To join the CBA Forum, go to: http://www.castbulletassoc.org/forum/

Then send John your email address at: john_alexander@umit.maine.edu

Dave

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

You don't have to be a member of the Cast Bullet Association, or buy anything to get a free copy of the "Fouling Shot". If you join the CBA Forum, and then contact CBA President, John Alexander, and send him your email address, John will email you a free copy of the Fouling Shot in PDF format.
...snip
Dave,
I am a member of the CBA forum.
I was just commenting that I thought it was neat ...that a Amazon vendor would take the time to promote that.
Jon

[Elkins45]

Dave,
I am a member of the CBA forum.
I was just commenting that I thought it was neat ...that a Amazon vendor would take the time to promote that.
Jon

The last couple I bought from Midsouth had the card in them too. I think they are being put in the boxes by the factory, not the vendor.

[dragon813gt]

Al those lines and very few touch the bullet :(

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

First session was quite successful !
COWW +1% Tin, PID set to 690º
My casting cadence was brisk, so I'd get frosty boolits, the sprue puddle would freeze in 4 to 6 seconds. The boolits dropped easily from the cavities.
164gr. and .3115" (maybe .0005 or less out of round)
Nose taper was .307 to .301

The Mold "felt" nearly burr free on the vent lines and cavity edges, But I did break the top edge with a diamond fine, like I do all my New Lee molds, right before the Hot water/dish soap/tooth brush cleaning.

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/boolits%20first%20time%20Lee%20CTL312-160-2R_zpsunww3kvd.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/boolits%20first%20time%20Lee%20CTL312-160-2R_zpsunww3kvd.jpg.html)

[MtGun44]

I am guessing that the new sparse lines are more like "manifolds" for the fine
(almost invisible) lines of the finished surface which vent, but perhaps not all the
way to the surface very well.

Bill

[Boogieman]

Got a Lee 200gr. SWC 45cal. mould last week. Ran 150+ boolits to check dia. & weight. they came out at .453+" & were less than .001 out of round. Weight after PCing was 205 gr. +/- 1gr. Casting was being done in a 36F shop so temp. control was not the best. Lee may have got this one right. It was ordered from Titan Reloading .took 3 days to get here .that's service.

[noonanda]

I just got a Lee new .44 200 Gr RFN replacement mold that has similar vent lines. The mold was a warranty replacement from lee since the older style without vent lines the alignment pins were falling out. Hope to cast some bullets up soon to go with the .44 Special brass I have on the way.

[JeffinNZ]

The results speak volume. Let us not forget these moulds are mass produced and very competitively priced. Nice going.

[BigEyeBob]

I have the same 312" mould and I also bought a 311" in 100gn .
I washed the 311 mould in white spirit and dried it , smoked the cavities with my kero smoker lamp . Heated up my alloy and started casting , after six or so drops I got perfect bullets . Havent tried the 312" mould yet .
I was rather chuffed with the quality of the mould for 19:95US from titan Reloading. Infact I have other lee moulds and never had a problem with them .
Kev.

[GabbyM]

Those lines look like plunge cuts with a fly cutter of some design. Not hard on a CNC machine. Just program in the drill cycle G code with desired Z depth and a set of x or y axis coordinates. You could control where the lines intersect the mold cavities and make all molds identically vented. Burrs would be diminished also since you're not pushing metal. I think it looks nice. If they keep this up I may buy one of there molds.

[gwpercle]

And I need ( sorta ) a couple more Lee moulds....just the excuse I need to order them....new and improved design...yes!

Gary