who says LEE is no good?

[Link23]

well this is what happens when you lose yourself to "just an hour of casting" and then by the time you know it its been 3 hours. This is what i did with a 2-Cavity LEE 228 Grain .452 they sure make perdy boolits, sorry for the fuzzy phone camera, for some reason this site wont let me upload from my good camera..

Enjoy the porn!!!

Link23

[plmitch]

Good looking stuff there! I'm very happy with the Lee molds I have.

[Harter66]

I'm fairly happy w/ mine too. I do have 1 that is line up glitchy and 1 that I wish I could tighten up closing ligament.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

On my 2 banger Lee mold, I found that if I close the mold when it is upside down, it closes perfect every time. Have fun Link23.

[frkelly74]

I always have to resize the photos from my camera to get them to download. We use the PMB program and it offers a " manipulate" option and in there is a resize function. 480X480 seems to work.

[MikeS]

In the past I had a few Lee 2 cavity moulds, and sometimes they cast good, other times not so good. I've since gotten rid of them, and now I find that the 6 cavity Lee moulds cast really great. I've had casting sessions where I've cast a couple hundred boolits without a single reject! Now that I preheat my moulds on a hotplate, I find that even the very first fill of the moulds comes out as keepers!

[357shooter]

Lee moulds work just fine. The most important factor I think is bullet design. This is the Lee TL-358-158-SWC, which is one of the best for 357 Magnum, 38 Special and Rossi M92 Lever Rifle.

[Stampede]

I have quit a few Lee moulds and they produce nice and accurate bullets, without any doubt. I have only a 6-cav .45 / 230 Gr / RN mould from Lee that i not use any more. This is because my 1911 doesn't like lead bullets that much, it's not the mould that causes the problems. And the Lee prices are a big plus. I all so have RCBS/Lyman moulds and two of them are out of specs, so a high end mould is not all ways a premium mould.

[Hometek]

I enjoy casting with my lee molds. Got a TL401-175-SWC 2 & 6 cavity, TL356-124-2R 2 & 6 cavity, and a 452-228-2R and every one casts undersize using wheel weight alloy. I've got 2 .452, 1 .356, and 1 .402 sizer and every one of those are undersized. as much as .0015 under. Getting frustrated in throwing money at a company that can't seem to build what they advertise. Which is a shame because as far as production goes they have worked like a dream for me. Except for the first TL401-175-SWC 6 cavity mold which had the holes cut so far out of alignment from the center that the bullets had to be pried out with pliers. Midway made that one right.

[fredj338]

IF you get a good mold from Lee & IF it stays together, it can produce good bullets. It's the fact that their QC is so poor that you never know what you will get or how long it will last.

[HammerMTB]

There will always be haters....
Some hate Ruger- they've had some bad luck, from whatever source.
Some hate Lee- same story.
Rarely do you find someone hating on the boutique brands, tho now and then it might come up.
I have had excellent results overall with Lee products, and I have a 5 gallon bucket full of their molds. Some are outstanding- the 6-cavs come to mind.
Some are good, and some only average. The 2-cav come to mind. When you consider what the discount price is on one, it's easy to see you get good value from them.
I can say I have had my share of frustrations with a few Lee products from time to time. Once it was sorted out, more than 1/2 were my own making. I try to avoid beating on the mfr for my mistakes.

[Hometek]

Please don't take me for a hater. I love the 6 cavity molds. Just don't like to use foil tape to make the bullets drop the size they are advertised. And especially puzzled at the push sizers. 4 sizers and all at least .001 less than advertised.

[white eagle]

I don't know the Lee products I have including molds are and is first rate

[Char-Gar]

The debate about Lee vs. other make molds seems to take extreme positions. I certainly do hate them or say they are no good. What I will say is they are inferior to a quality mold in terms of longevity and trouble free service.

Lee molds are like Timex watches, they work just find until they don't and then it is time to get another. A high quality mold will last for generations if given decent and careful handling.

If a fellow want a Lee mold there is not reason he should not have one and it will product good quality bullets...for a time.

[treadhead1952]

I have all Lee molds in my collection and they work great. I have followed the directions on breaking them in for first use and kept them cleaned up and in good working order over the years.

[geargnasher]

Please don't take me for a hater. I love the 6 cavity molds. Just don't like to use foil tape to make the bullets drop the size they are advertised. And especially puzzled at the push sizers. 4 sizers and all at least .001 less than advertised.

Boolits will come out of my Lee sizers anywhere from .001" under to .002" over depending on the alloy. Air-cooled wheel weights usually end up right on. If it's too small, hone it out or spend the money on a custom one made to your specs and your preferred alloy.

I've heard of some of the six-cavity moulds being machined undersized before, but if your boolits come out too small from both the mould and the sizer, it sounds like you're using a really soft alloy with little or no antimony.

Gear

[fatnhappy]

I'm not a hater but the track record of Lee custom group buys with which I've been involved has been checkered. Over 50% have been dimensionally challenged.

That's probably the single most important reason the majority of group buys have turned to NOE and Mihec. Turnaround time being the second.

In fairness I must say, a well dimensioned and leemented Lee 6 cavity represents a fantastic bargain. The light weight and high production rate are particularly noteworthy. I have a couple Lee moulds I'd be hard pressed to ever loan out.

[azrednek]

I've been spoiled by SAECO, RCBS and Miha molds but I'm completely satisfied with the apx 20 Lee molds I have. I've returned two molds to Lee for dropping undersized and they were promptly replaced no charge and now drop perfectly sized slugs. If I ever add another caliber to my gun collection Lee will be my first choice.

I certainly wish Lee still had the large selection they originally had when they introduced their molds. I'm sure it was a dollar and cents business decision to discontinue the slow selling molds and probably contributed to Lee keeping their current prices as good as they are.

[HARRYMPOPE]

Lee molds are like Timex watches, they work just find until they don't and then it is time to get another. A high quality mold will last for generations if given decent and careful handling.

If a fellow want a Lee mold there is not reason he should not have one and it will product good quality bullets...for a time.

I agree with your take on Lee.Larry Jennings who held about all cast bullet benchrest records for a time in the CBA told new shooters "buy a lee mold first because about the time you get the hang of making good bullets it will be worn out by your misuse or just plain fall apart by its self an you will only be out $15"

I have many lee molds but if they were the same price as Lyman or RCBS nobody would put up with them(2 cavity i am referring to)

George

[mongo]

All I own being a relative new caster are Lee molds. I think they are very good. I size all my boolits with the Lee sizing dies. The only thing I dont like is the handles come apart on the first time you use them. Usually when I have my casting rythm at top speed. JB weld works for the fix.