What size does the Lee 457-405-RF drop at?

[FergusonTO35]

Hey folks. Those of you who have the Lee 457-405-RF, what size does it drop for you? I have a Marlin 1895 with micro groove that shoots commercial .458 slugs great but not the 457-340-RF from my mold, I think they are dropping small. Most of them don't touch or just barely touch my .459 sizer die. I'm thinking about switching to the 405 grain boolit and wondering if this mold will likely drop on the small side. Thanks!

[Oklahoma Rebel]

it can differ from mold to mold, because of the cutting head wear and also your alloys all shrink a little differently too. maybe someone who has that mold will respond and give you an idea. you might already know all this, just trying to let you know they wont necessarily all be the same. have a great day!

[PoisonIvyMagnet]

Mine came out at 0.457, too small for my Marlin. Powder coating added another thousandth, but still had some leading problems. I ended up getting a NOE 405-460 that come out at 0.462, and size down to 0.460. Shoot very well.

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[mdi]

Don't have that mold, but there are many reasons for finished bullet size; alloy, mold temp, melt temp, and of course the mold itself. It's hard to make a mold drop smaller bullets (temp and alloy), but there are ways to make the finished bullet larger ("Beagling" is common)...

[Tackleberry41]

I have 2 Lee '458' molds. One is the hollow base 405gr, it casts about .460, the 500gr tumble as they are undersized. I leemented it, got one driving band up to spec, the other 2 bands still under. Havent messed with it since I got a NOE mold. Its rare to get an oversize Lee mold, they are either barely the right size or under.

[FergusonTO35]

With my unscientific range scrap alloy, most of my Lee molds drop right on the money or somewhat over. I have Leemented them pretty well which may have opened them up a bit. A Lee mold that is well broken in and Leemented is a joy to use, takes awhile to get 'em there though.

[fredj338]

Mine also dropped small, bought a RCBS instead. I will try to PC some w/o sizing, see how that works in my Marlin GG.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

will noe 5 cavity handles fit all noe molds, including 2 cav.? and also what about other brands, like lyman,rcbs, or saeco?

[stubert]

If my memory is right, I think the Lee handles will fit the NOE with slight modification