Lee .430 240G TL Sprue issue [Archive]

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Tazman1602

11-11-2009, 10:19 AM

First off I'd like to say this forum is AWESOME. I've been casting for about 20 years although what I usually do is cast once a year because it's such a pain. Since I've been here for the last month or so and have spent countless hours reading posts my casting abilities have improved a thousand times over and my enjoyment factor has gone up even more. Instead of casting mostly culls I am now casting almost perfect bullets every time having realigned my pour procedure due to this forum.

My first mould was a Lee .44 cal 240 g 430-TL bullet. Never really liked Lee molds because they seemed "cheap" --- OK I do know the meaning of the word "ignorant", means lack of knowledge, not stupidity. Since I got to making perfect bullets with my RCBS and Lyman steel dies I decided to haul out the old Lee, clean it up and give it a shot..............

...........Holy Moley, this thing casts pretty freakin good bullets and weighs less than half of what my steel moulds weigh. I do have an issue I need help with though.

The sprue plate, when you cut off the sprue leaves some flashing around the diameter of the bullet. The sprue plate itself appears to have some play in it and I have disassembled and made sure it's as tight as reasonable. The sprue plate doesn't smear metal at all either although I understand that is from too much heat. I will be lapping this mold and using the Leementing technique on it because..........um, well, that one would be due to stupitidy many years ago but I'm sure the lapping will take care of that issue.

Any help on the sprue issue would be appreciated. Lee should give this forum a commission because I bought two more Lee dies to give them a shot after being here, you sure can't beat the price of these things.

Many Thanks,

Art

462

11-11-2009, 10:42 AM

Tazman1602,

As part of your Lee-menting, make sure to install a set screw to keep the sprue plate screw from backing out. Lap the underside of the sprue plate and the top of the mould, too. Put anti-sieze on anything that moves and the alignment pins.

Yesterday, I got a new Lee mould and Lee-menting it is today's project.

Tazman1602

11-11-2009, 11:02 AM

Maven

11-11-2009, 01:10 PM

Tazman1602

11-12-2009, 12:21 AM

Art, While you're Leementing that mold, check to see whether the sprue plate lies flat on the mold's top surface. If it's not, remove it, place the corner with the screw hole in a vise at ~45 deg. angle, and smack it with a hammer. Check it for flatness and adjust as necessary.

THANK YOU! I did the Leementing thing on the mold today and wow, MUCH better bullets but it's still leaving the "casting flash" around the base so I will try that. I did drill and tap so the sprue screw won't back off now and that was a huge improvement as well a lapping the mold.

Dangdest thing though, I had a NEW Lee 405 grain .458 mold come in today from Midway and after prepping it and throwing around 50 bullets I looked down and one of the locating pins was laying on my towel. NICE mold but it's going back to Midway for replacement tomorrow......appears a machine missed staking it in, I know I could do that but it's new...

Thanks again!

Art

Tazman1602

11-14-2009, 11:03 AM

Still working with that sprue plate -- you were right, I'd somehow managed to smack it hard enough it wasn't square.

Then I put some of my stones to it --- THAT was an eye opener. Very rough machining marks and if you look at the pic you'll see a low spot that still exists between the two cavities. Soon as I get it stoned out and FLAT I'll post some pics of some casts.

I was one of those guys who hated Lee dies/molds. I had a really significantly emotional experience with a 30-06 die I had from Lee about 20 years ago and the aluminum molds seemed "chincy".

However.......the economy falling to carp, not having a job after 30 years of full time work, and generally being broke as all git out has given me a new outlook on Lee molds. Hey if ya' got the money by all means buy the "good" dies which are gonna cost you $100 plus by the time you add handles and sizing dies. But if you've got some patience, a little skill, and some determination these Lee dies will cast with the best of them. OK they're not as durable but with the help of this forum they do work well. I'm currently going through all my Lee molds (I've got five of them which I haven't used in years.....) and two of them just needed some very minor care to throw perfect bullets every time -- and I'm a ladle caster who just likes to take his time. This made me feel really ignorant and just plain lazy to have these molds sitting around for years.

I'd been wanting some new molds for various calibers and didn't have the money for even ONE of the other guys.......SOOOO, this forum being the BAD INFLUENCE it is I sprung for THREE new Lee molds and STILL don't have as much money in them as I would have in ONE of the steel molds (hey I've got a bunch of them too and I love them...). If I have to spend a few hours tuning them, so be it. Keeps me out of the bars and gives me something to do in the winter time.

When I look at it (thanks to this forum) it's no different than the 9 X 20 Lathe I've got in my shop that I bought from Grizzly (GREAT company by the way). Now I knew that I could buy the lathe I wanted already to go for about $2-$5K -- that's coming someday but not today. On the other hand I got on the web, did the research, and found out what I needed to correct on the $750 Grizzly 9X20. Took about 20 hours worth of machining and straightening but my lathe will cut with any of the high priced models.

.......or maybe I'm just a weirdo who would prefer to fix/set things up my way (the RIGHT way.....) so they work as intended and save myself some money in the process. Must be getting old.

Anyone else here have this affliction??????

Art
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http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/cc336/Tazman1602/SpruePlate.jpg