A few casting issues as well as mold suggestion

[lablover]

I wanted to put this here even though I have a mold question as well.

I guess the more you do this the more you run into problems. My 3rd run of boolits ever was less than stellar! I was getting flashing at the base of the bullet with the lee 2 cab mold. After some reading I see this is pretty common. I took apart the mold and the Sprue plate is not even flat. I tried to flatten it on a sheet of glass and sandpaper but no joy. I found when I loosened the screw a bit it gave me acceptable boolits but still a tad of flashing. The worst thing I had was keeping the screw in the same place! Any tips here would be great. I plan on PC the bullets and when I do that I also get a small bit of PC flashing on the bottom so I think I will get a tool and remove them both after the Powder Coating.

The lee mold was great to get stated but I'm already craving a "Great" mold. I shoot 1911's only so the H&G 68 mold design is high on my list. Whats a good mold for a newbie to get..i was thinking Accurate? With a high end mold, do you still get flashing, loose screws etc? I gotta think a stiffer thicker sprue plate would be a gimmie.

Thank in advance

Joe

[DerekP Houston]

You don't run into *as many* issues with the higher end molds but you still have to pay attention I guess. I haven't noticed any flashing or loose screws on any of my NOE or Mihec molds, but it was a constant thing to tighten them on my RCBS. I couldn't stand the lee 2 hole molds, too frustrating to get the cavities to square up for me, after 2 pours of my 44 cal mold it stopped lining up and just wouldn't cast line up again without using your hands. I haven't used Accurate yet for a mold, but they appear to be of the same caliber of the other 2 I do use.

[Yodogsandman]

Try a little steel wool in the sprue plate screw hole to keep it from backing out.

Lee is the only manufacturer that I know of that doesn't have a lock screw for the sprue plate screw.

[clintsfolly]

Mold blocks not lining up when closing molds has nothing to do with the blocks! The handles line up the block. If you are having trouble set the blocks on something flat and close. .

[country gent]

The moulds by Noe mihec Accurate Lyman rcbs and top end custom makers have a lock screw on the spue plates screw locking it in place. A small piece of lead shot or copper wire under the set screw and they only turn when you want them to. The sprue plates are thicker and ussually ground flat after being machined, not a stamping from a progressive die. The blocks are better quality materials and machining is normally better. You will have your choice of aluminum brass or steel blocks. Also your choice of number of cavities. On some they can be set up as hollow point or flat points depending on pins installed. Once broken in and a few sessions the higher end moulds are pretty much trouble free.

[runfiverun]

there are some molds that are similar to the H&G.
and work just as well.
the trick is in the magazine lips.
the H&G is designed to work in the older ball ammo magazines, but almost every new magazine now has the SWC style feed lips which angles the round just a click higher allowing more designs to feed perfectly.

anyway I now shoot the lyman swc copy which has a slightly shorter nose than the H&G which I was using.
once I got things figured out with the 4 cavity mold, the 2 cavity H&G mold went down the road.
I wouldn't hesitate to upgrade to the LEE 6 cavity or any one of the other makers such as accurate or NOE in one of their 4 cavity molds.
your production will increase and your molds quality will too.

[lablover]

Any suggestions on the flashing

And, the lee has a set screw now :)

[Mica_Hiebert]

run a little cooler lead if you can get away with it and let your bullet set up a little longer before cutting your sprue. what caliber is your mould? I find my big bullet mould heats up fast and I have good fill out after about the 4th pour from a dead cold mould and have to pace my self or I start havving issues with my mould running too hot like flashing in between the mould blocks... my smaller 357 mould takes forever to get up to temp even after pre heating and I so far havent been able to over heat this mould continuously casting with it.

[lablover]

run a little cooler lead if you can get away with it and let your bullet set up a little longer before cutting your sprue. what caliber is your mould? I find my big bullet mould heats up fast and I have good fill out after about the 4th pour from a dead cold mould and have to pace my self or I start havving issues with my mould running too hot like flashing in between the mould blocks... my smaller 357 mould takes forever to get up to temp even after pre heating and I so far havent been able to over heat this mould continuously casting with it.

.452 mold

[44man]

I hate the Lee plates as well as Lyman. Too thin! True that you can make them worse by lapping.
On the old Lee I drill and tap for a better plate screw and a set screw.