beagling questions

[mistermog]

Hello everyone,

Long story short i have 4 lee 6 cav molds. I just noticed that my 9mm was casting some out of round bullets. I was looking up beagling and wondered if you had to cast a bullet from each cavity to beagle with or could you just use say a .358x.355 oval one and coat it with some lapping paste and spin it around in each cavity?

(I dont know if my other 3 molds are oval, but if Im gonna do this, I'm just going to set up to do all of them at once. Or is there anyone here that beagles for a few bucks if I send them molds?)

[swamp]

Just so you know. Beagling is putting metal tape on a mold face to make it cast a bit larger boolit. What you would like to do is polish the cavity.

I prefer to use a boolit that was cast in the cavity that I am going to lap.
swamp

[mistermog]

yes, i mean lapping or polishing. thanks :)

is it hard to do?

[swamp]

It is described in the sticky: Leementing. The way I do it is to move the sprue plate to the side( Lee molds) and cast a boolit with a nut on top. The nut gives you something to grab. I used Comet as the abrasive. Read the sticky and it will guide you quite well.
swamp

[Rick O'Shay]

Not hard to do. Try it on one cavity and check your progress. With a little work you will have all the cavities round and the same size.

[Hannibal]

Just to muddy the waters, I've had mixed success. One mould I couldn't be happier with. The other is just . . . scrap.

I've since decided I'm going with iron moulds. Haven't yet tried a brass version, but I think I'm all done with aluminum.

Go slow and good luck.

[mistermog]

I tried the nut method once before and with the lee bottom pour pot i cant get it in there without the nut sliding off center and just failing miserably. I'm not sure if it accomplished anything really.

[Hannibal]

:veryconfu

This technique applies to Lee moulds. What problem are you having with your Lee bottom-pour pot?

[mistermog]

I cant use the pot to do the nut fill method on the mould :)

Im not sure why im casting out of round, if its the after bake powder coating changed the size or that they were oval to begin with. Obviously its probably not the baking so i want to try and make sure the cavities are round and drop 357-358

[Hannibal]

I presume you have a micrometer? You need to measure and see exactly where the out-of-roundness is occurring. If at the mould seam, then the problem is likely in the alignment pins. If it is across the mould halves, then this is a different issue.

[mistermog]

Yes, the halves... :(

[Dragonheart]

Just to muddy the waters, I've had mixed success. One mould I couldn't be happier with. The other is just . . . scrap.

I've since decided I'm going with iron moulds. Haven't yet tried a brass version, but I think I'm all done with aluminum.

Go slow and good luck.

I got my first NOE brass mold earlier this year, as I too swore off Lee aluminum molds years ago. I have to tell you give the brass molds a try as they produce about as perfect a bullet as you can make. I now have 4 four cavity NOE brass molds and couldn't be happier with them. In fact I am considering going to brass molds across the board. I have already sold my Lyman steel molds and considering getting rid of my Saeco molds, but they are hard to part with. The major downside of brass molds is the weight, but I can live with that.

[Hannibal]

Yes, the halves... :(

Ok, then Beagling is what you want to do. You may also find that you have to adjust your alignment pins outward to get the halves to align correctly if this is a newer mould with the 2-pin design. (?).

There is a sticky on Beagling I believe and describes the process in detail but basically you add shims to increase the diameter between the halves. Good luck and I hope this helps.

[mistermog]

Yes I saw that. I mean not across the halved is small but perpendicular. The bad way. :( I didn't mean beagle I meant lap.

I have been looking at noe but the price difference is hard to justify.

[Hannibal]

I suppose it's the same as justifying the expense of any tool, for essentially that's what a mould is.
If you don't see yourself using it much or often, then the less expensive way might make sense. But if you plan to use it often and for a good long while, the results and ease of use of the better version will likely pay for itself in both satisfaction and the quality of the production.

Just my $1.00 - $.98. YMMV

[Lonegun1894]

Yes, the cost is more, but you also get more for your money. No one can tell you if it is worth it right now for you, but in the long run, when you decide you are ready for an upgrade, I can tell you that it is definitely worth it. I started with and still have a bunch of Lee molds, and most have worked well to very well, but when I tried a few by Lyman, RCBS, NOE, and Mihec, the difference is like night and day. Only you will know when you're ready, but when you decide you are, hang on to your wallet, cause when you get your first one or two, you'll want a dozen more.

[country gent]

Lapping a mould isnt hard to do. on multiple cavity moulds you wanr 2-4 bullets from each cavity. ( you need to id them so you know which is which later on). Also knowing how far out of round or undersided gives an Idea of how much to remove. On lee moulds swivel the sprue plate out of the way. I simply make a wood jig and drill a 3/16" or so blind hole in the bullets. cut and glue 1/8" key stock into holes and let cure you want around an 1" sticking out. Clamp key stock in a tee tap handle coat #1bullet with fine lapping compound insert into cavity and close blocks alighning and lightly clamping in a vise. work 1/4 turn 2-3 times rotate 1/4 turn and repeat till full rotation has been made move to next cavity and repeat with this bullet. Clean and inspect cavities. with #2 bullet start with second cavity and repeat procedure. Cast a few good slugs and measure dia and roundness. Keep working till you have what you want. 600-800 grit lapping compound to start and shimichrome or flitz to finish. Keep in mind .001 removal is .002 on dia. Doing this correctly will make the mould round and to size along with helping to blend parting lines. Lapping can be slow process and may take a little time and checking. On the lee moulds the aluminum is pretty soft so work slowly and with finer grits. You can also ink the cavities with a permanant marker to help see progress. A little oil or water ( depending on compound used) will help keep it cutting. just a couple drops every so often.

[Dragonheart]

Or you could just use the time spent to earn the money to buy a NOE mold that will give you quality bullets to begin with.