small check shank on LEE mold

[JKH]

Hey Guys,

I bought a LEE C-309-150-F mold for a friends .30-30, it cast beauiful boolits consistently at .309/.3095 (I mic'd at least 50 and they all were at these measurements) which is very nice as they do not need sizing and are consistent enough for good accuracy.

Now, the only problem I have is that my homemade gas checks are loose on the base, I have a Freechex II and the checks fit 4 other LEE .30 cal dies I have to perfection, so I am assuming this mold is the odd man out :???:

I know I can Beagle this mold to correct the problem, but then it will mess with the as cast diameter of the boolit, is there any way I can enlarge the shank diameter without ruining the mold?

Thanks!

Jeff

[Ben]

If it mikes .284 , the shank is correct.

You mention you're using home made gas checks, if you're using beverage can material that is the source of your problem. You won't get a tight gas check until you begin to get into the .010 range of thickness. I personally use .014 thickness AL for my g/c's and they fit tight.

However, if you'd like to enlarge the g/c shank on your bullets , take a small wooden dowel that is slightly smaller in dia. than the g/c shank of your mold, and slit the end with a band saw. Cut a thin strip of 220 grit sand paper and fit into the slit in the dowel rod. With trial and error do this until you get a good snug fit when you close the mold.

Be certain the paper is in contact with the g/c shank area of the mold ONLY.

You can spin it with a slow speed drill on low ( probably safer to use your fingers to spin it ). Go slow, you don't want to over do this, you may only need a few thousandths enlargement to obtain the results you are looking for.

Cast a few bullets, try you checks, if still too small, repeat, so on, and so on until you get the fit you're looking for.

Please understand that when you alter your mold using this method , you can use your home made ( too thin ) gas checks, but if you try to put a new Hornady g/c on this modified shank that you've enlarged, you won't be able to get it onto the shank.

Thanks,
Ben

[Wally]

I have this problem with the 429215 bullet and I use a freechex GC tool in the. 44 Cal---I found a "trick"...attached the GC to the bullet--put in your sizer/lube machine..press the handle down harder then normal until you feel a slight thump...what happens is this swages the base of the bullet to fit the GC...or you can use slightly thicker aluminum stock...that will work as well.

[DLCTEX]

I use the "bump' method for the old Ideal checks if they fit loosely. That would be harder to do if you are using a Lee push through sizer. The dowel and fine sandpaper will open it up quickly.