Midsouth's LEE 6.5mm 170gr boolit mold

[bruce drake]

So I'm preparing to purchase the LEE custom 6.5mm 170gr boolit mold from Midsouth Shooter's supply and on the bullet design graphic is a note that its for Carl Gustav and Oberndorf-made Swedish Mausers only. It also states that is made using Revision #7 drawing from 2002. Is this the right design as originally designed or is this the design that folks say LEE/Midsouth altered?

I'm planning to use the mold in my Carl Gustaf (1906) 6.5 Swede and Beretta-made Type I Arisaka rifles.

[17nut]

The Swedish Mausers were made for a 160grain round nose bullet seated long so they have a looooong freebore. The mould was designed with that in mind, thus not seating the gascheck below the neck and filling said freebore.

[Eldon]

"right design" ???? what does that mean ? It's a mold made by Lee with all that implies. Probably will work fine for a $20 mold.

Not to be confused with NOE 270-163-FN 2 cavity GC that costs $80.

My 1899 Mauser made Swede (sniper modded) deserves the best.

[bruce drake]

Eldon,

You may not be aware that before NOE made his 270-163-FN, there was a custom bullet mold run made by Lee on this forum for a 170gr FN design that really made the Swedes into tack drivers because it was designed to handle the long throats of the 6.5x55 Swedes.
And then, a second and third run of that mold by MidSouth Shooters Supply in Clarksville TN was made based off the success of that first design but when LEE made their molds for Midsouth, there were certain distinct differences between the original and their version that caused major issues in accuracy. AND then MidSouth had them change the design to try to match the original again...and again...and now there is a comment on their bullet design sheet now that it is the 7th Revision so I want to know if they have finally gotten it right and matched the original mold.
And I've cast bullets for over 20 years now and I've seen excellent LEE molds and horrid Lyman/Ideal Molds as well. My most favorite antique mold to cast with is a 257100 Herter Spitzer GC mold and my most favorite modern mold is a MiHec brass 4 cavity .225" 69gr RN GC mold that cost twice what NOE charged you for "The very best".

Bruce

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

So I'm preparing to purchase the LEE custom 6.5mm 170gr boolit mold from Midsouth Shooter's supply and on the bullet design graphic is a note that its for Carl Gustav and Oberndorf-made Swedish Mausers only. It also states that is made using Revision #7 drawing from 2002. Is this the right design as originally designed or is this the design that folks say LEE/Midsouth altered?

I'm planning to use the mold in my Carl Gustaf (1906) 6.5 Swede and Beretta-made Type I Arisaka rifles.

I'm following this with interest.

I've bought two different Midsouth cruise missile molds at two different times.
The first one I bought (before 2013) as a fat .272 with a fat nose. It didn't work in my Jap T38 custom. After 2013, when Lee improved their 2 cavity molds, I ordered a 22 bator from Midsouth, and besides having the new block design, this mold was cut to the exact Bator specs, unlike the two previous Bator molds I bought which were cut on the old style blocks. At that time it was explained to me, that Lee also changed how they cut 2 cavity molds, and their infamous batch to batch variance was greatly improved. So on that note, I ordered another cruise missile mold, as well as both the 8mm custom molds...the Cruise missile mold was Fat like the others I had...no where near the original (2002) OldFeller design.

Anyway, Please order one, do a test cast with it ASAP, and report back. If Midsouth/Lee has truly reverted back to that design, that'd be great !

[Eldon]

So you guys are going to mess around with molds that may or may not work ? We know the NOE works as does Lyman 266673 and the SAECO 140 SPGC. All are 10x the quality of any Lee mold. All will also handle the long throat just fine. I own 9 Lee molds including a custom for my 61 caliber Baker. They all work fine but would never be confused with an NEI, Lyman, NOE or SAECO mold.

[swheeler]

I'm following this with interest.

I've bought two different Midsouth cruise missile molds at two different times.
The first one I bought (before 2013) as a fat .272 with a fat nose. It didn't work in my Jap T38 custom. After 2013, when Lee improved their 2 cavity molds, I ordered a 22 bator from Midsouth, and besides having the new block design, this mold was cut to the exact Bator specs, unlike the two previous Bator molds I bought which were cut on the old style blocks. At that time it was explained to me, that Lee also changed how they cut 2 cavity molds, and their infamous batch to batch variance was greatly improved. So on that note, I ordered another cruise missile mold, as well as both the 8mm custom molds...the Cruise missile mold was Fat like the others I had...no where near the original (2002) OldFeller design.

Anyway, Please order one, do a test cast with it ASAP, and report back. If Midsouth/Lee has truly reverted back to that design, that'd be great !

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Inquiring minds want to know!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

So you guys are going to mess around with molds that may or may not work ? We know the NOE works as does Lyman 266673 and the SAECO 140 SPGC. All are 10x the quality of any Lee mold. All will also handle the long throat just fine. I own 9 Lee molds including a custom for my 61 caliber Baker. They all work fine but would never be confused with an NEI, Lyman, NOE or SAECO mold.

Yep...every chance I get.

[Retumbo]

I bought one last year...still have to break it in.

[texasnative46]

bruce drake; All,

As I located a 16x16x6.5 Swede drilling yesterday PM, I'm interested in your experience, too.

yours, tex

[MUSTANG]

:popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:

[nekshot]

I milled one of my cavities to a flat base and 150 gr in wt. I really like that one and am going to get another one(cruise mold) and take more off to a 135-140 weight. For the money i have in Lee molds I get alot of opportunities to mess around and be creative with my mill! If it doesn't work i just lost 18 bucks. Some like it warm and some like it cool, and so is the creativity of a free society!

[Yodogsandman]

I believe I just got the Lee, Oldfeller 6.5x55 mold from evilbay yesterday. I bought this for use in my customized Swedish Husqvarna M38. Loaded to an O.A.L. of 2.855", the boolit marks evenly around the base of the nose showing the fit to the throat. The gas check is below the case neck but, not fully below. This is the longest length that would freely feed from the magazine in my rifle. It did not show any engraving of the rifling. I didn't expect any engraving due to the long military leade. When tried in the barrel at the muzzle they will not fully enter the rifling and hang up at an approximate .264" diameter on the tapered nose. Boolits were cast of COWW. Here are the basic dimensions measured only with a caliper. Cast just about one hour before taking measurements.

1.0" long
.269"+ on the base bands
.261" to .268"+ tapered nose
139 gr

Update: While doing some casual reading tonight it seems that "jumptrap" might have designed this mold. Again, Buckshot made a reference to it in a post. He called it the Lee first edition.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

So, I get an advertising email special from Midsouth, Special pricing on everything in honor of it being the anniversary of my first order with them (most items were 10% off). Pricing is effective for 3 days, limited to one order only. I haven't ordered a new Lee mold for a couple years...so last night I ordered the 6.5 Cruise Missile ($16.88), as well as a couple others to make the ship fees worth while ($9). I wish they had the 195gr 41 cal mold in a 6 cav, I already have it in a two cav and like it enough to have the 6 cav.

I'll report back in a week or so, when the mold arrives and I have a chance to pour some alloy into it.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

the molds that I ordered, arrived on Friday.
Rain today, means I was able to do some casting...I had 4 other molds to cast with, that I recently got and hadn't heated them up yet.

The midsouth custom 6.5 swede mold is near the specs called out in the 2002 drawing (shown below)
My mold produced a boolit (using COWW) that had a GC shank where a copper Gator 6.5 gas check fit on nicely.
The base band is .273
the next band is also .273
the next band is .271
the next band is also .271
the front band is .267
the largest part of the nose is .262
the boolit weighed 170gr.

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/images/product_images/006-65SWED/006-65SWED_2.jpg
204999

[bruce drake]

Perfect. Thank you. Those measurements might even work in my T38 Arisakas also.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I was kind of pleased with the size of the nose, not near as fat as the previous midsouth 6.5 swede molds I have bought ...and yeah, it should work in my custom Jap 257Rx6.5
I size a NOE boolit to .270 for it now,
reducing the two base bands by .003 should be no big deal.

[Retumbo]

CM...here we go again. Ordered this mold about a year ago from Southwest.

Just got around to casting a few the other day. 50/50 ww/pure.

Intersting are the measurements i got when compared to the drawing above.

I can only imagin it is one of the lstter redesigns

232621

Will try ww + tin next

[Dimner]

I realize this is a super old thread. I personally have been researching bullet molds for the 6.5x55 in a swede 96/38. This thread is one of the top results via google.

Search terms: 6.5x55 swede mold site:castboolits.gunloads.com


Therefore, I wanted to add some information that I found in a different post that really helped put, at least for me, JonB's data in better context.



JobB's 2017 Purchased Cruise Missile Mold:

the molds that I ordered, arrived on Friday.
Rain today, means I was able to do some casting...I had 4 other molds to cast with, that I recently got and hadn't heated them up yet.

The midsouth custom 6.5 swede mold is near the specs called out in the 2002 drawing (shown below)
My mold produced a boolit (using COWW) that had a GC shank where a copper Gator 6.5 gas check fit on nicely.
The base band is .273
the next band is also .273
the next band is .271
the next band is also .271
the front band is .267
the largest part of the nose is .262
the boolit weighed 170gr.

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/images/product_images/006-65SWED/006-65SWED_2.jpg
204999


Dutchman's ~2013 Purchased Cruise Missile Mold (reported to be out of spec vs original drawing):


With a 50:50 WW/Linotype alloy:
nose diameter .266"
4 bands top to bottom:
1- .270"
2- .2725"
3- .272"
4- .2705"
169.5 grains

Dutch


I felt this was important to get into a single thread. I had read about how the older cruise missile molds were not confirming to the original 2002 specs. And with the data JonB was showing it sounded like the 2017 version was better, but I had nothing to compare it to. ... anyway. carry on. No need to pay attention to this zombie thread.

[stubshaft]

I just got a M96 with a .268 throat and ordered one of these molds with the sole intent of cutting it down to 150grs.

[K.R._Rabbit]

Good morning Dimner,
I have just picked up the latest Midsouth version of this bullet. I went with the lee mold because of the long throats in the Swedish military rifles. My measurements are similar to the first ones you list above, my metal is WW with a small amount of Linotype. My question is two part, what size do you size your bullets to, and why do we need a bullet that is so thick? My bore is not anywhere close to .270, but I am willing to try a few. I understand the long bullet, and this bullet is long, but what was the thinking behind the larger diameter?
Thanks for your time,
Mark