Anybody else noting super poor quality of Lee moulds lately?

[ballistim]

Is an elitist someone who won't own a Lee product or is an elitist someone who belittles others for owning Lee products?

There are products I prefer not to own but I keep my mouth shut when speaking to others. Am I an elitist or a mild mannered guy who just knows what he likes?

I guess I'm neither! Here's my latest Lee mold, just arrived, a custom 6 cavity 311041 copy.

[Farmer&shooter]

Bedbugbilly : I started this post. I was not trying to bash Lee, I have a lot of their (older) moulds, which have served me well. I was only asking if my experience, lately, was unique. Since I posted this, I politely contacted Lee Customer Service. I got a response from Lee. It was EXACTLY like you described. It could only be described as Sh--ty! The anonymous responder said "they would be able to tell if I overheated the mould (the ONLY reason they said would cause the block misalignment!) This comment was made after I told him that it was the very FIRST bullet, and the mould was so cold the bullet was "cold wrinkled".

I was willing to give Lee the benefit of the doubt before I got the : "We don't give a s--t" response. Now I am pretty much done with them. They refuse to admit that they could possibly have let a bad mould get past their "quality control", and like one of the above posters said, they are fully aware of the complaints on here and other sites and clearly don't care.

Farmershooter

[dudel]

There is a reason that on the bottom of the order form for LEE molds it says . . .

People that bought LEE molds also bought . . .

Lottery tickets.

Perfect! LOL. I also have a number of Lee molds. I can live with having to fix loose handles and sprue plates that scratch the top of the mold. My Lee pistol molds seem to throw better boolits than my Lee rifle molds. I'm having fits getting my new Lee TL309-230-5R to throw usable boolits. I'm using J words in the 300Blk till I get it worked out. My Lee Bator mold is the fussiest mold I have.

OTOH, my Lees for .380, 38. 357, 9mm and 45 all work well enough to keep them. I could spend more; but I'm not sure I'd get a corresponding increase in boolit quality.

[RJM52]

I just bought two Lee molds...a 357-125RF and a 44-200RF. I only cast with the 357 mold last week and my friend used the .44. Zero problem casting with either mold. I have not lube/sized mine yet but when talking to my friend yesterday he said that some of his boolits seemed out of round...so we shall see.

I have two other Lee molds from group buys here and could have not been more pleased....

...a six cavity mold for $40.00...in this case you get a LOT more than you pay for...


Bob

[noonanda01]

I am getting ready to send my lee 44- 200gr rf 2 cavity mold in for warranty repairs. The mold alignment pins will not stay in or in place once the mold heats up while casting. I have been slowly picking up older lyman and ideal 1 & 2 cavity molds off of ebay. I still use some lee molds but I have had these for a few years now. This 44 mag mold is of the new design and needless to say I am not impressed. I have always been a lee products user, probably 98% of my die sets are lee.

[wlc]

I guess I better go out an buy that lottery ticket. I have several Lee molds and other than the design of the bullet in the 309-230 blackout mold and that fact that I wish they would make their diameters just a hair larger on some molds I've not found fault with the molds I have. Never any misalignment problems, out of round bullets etc. Just lucky I guess. I do prefer other makers molds just for sheer pleasure of casting and the bullet designs, quality etc etc, but for a cheap mold I have enjoyed the Lee molds I have.

[robg]

ive been given a 2 cavity lee 358 mold casts great boolits straight away but are b******s to get to drop from mold,but my win94 loves them & it saves me using gas checks.ill get it working better,thats proabley why i was given it.

[tomme boy]

Like I said. Send it back to where you bought it. They will (1) give you a new mould or (2) refund your $.

[mold maker]

LEE sure gets a lot of free advertising in these threads. Even bad publicity is good if you spell the name right.
I also have good results with their products, but I love the NOE and Mihec molds. My guns are less picky than some casters.

[stubby1]

I guess I better go out an buy that lottery ticket. I have several Lee molds and other than the design of the bullet in the 309-230 blackout mold and that fact that I wish they would make their diameters just a hair larger on some molds I've not found fault with the molds I have. Never any misalignment problems, out of round bullets etc. Just lucky I guess. I do prefer other makers molds just for sheer pleasure of casting and the bullet designs, quality etc etc, but for a cheap mold I have enjoyed the Lee molds I have.

Casting for several years, have Lee in 9mm,38/357, 44,45 and two in 30cal. All throw quality boolits.
Had one mould arrive missing a alignment bushing, Lee sent me a replacement in 3 days. The 309-230 for blackout (have 2 moulds) throws very nice boolits with a 50/50 mix of pure lead and linotype, then powder coated with pbtp.
No complaints from me about Lee moulds, they are a very good value and my customer service experience has been great.

[KLR]

Here's my data point:
I bought a new c309-170-F last week. I cleaned, lubed, and smoked it.

Pro: It casts easier than any mold I've ever had. The bullets just drop out with no tapping. The nose size is right on at .300.

Negative: The bullets are .3085 with coww and the two halves are offset by .001. I was counting on lapping it anyway to get the size I needed so it's not a big deal to me.

One other big positive - It cost $21 delivered. At that price I can tinker and modify all I want and not feel bad if I ruin it.

[dkf]

Overall I am happy with the latest Lee I bought, 6 cav 356-95RF.(size is great at .360)Though I will say the mold is a little finicky, bullets don't drop free very well and it doesn't want to fill out that well. Plus the adding of set screws to keep the bolts tight. Don't have those issues with any of my other brand aluminum, iron or brass molds. I think I am going to end up lapping the cavities with a little 600grit compound.

[Elkins45]

For production casting lots of handgun bullets to be fired at short range a 6 cav Lee mould is hard to beat. Other than that I avoid them.
A Chevy will get you around town but a Mercedes will make the drive more enjoyable.

My opinions of the six cavity and the two cavity molds aren't even stored in the same part of my brain. The six bangers continue to be a fantastic bargain. The two cavity used to be until the started milling the cavities instead of lathe boring them. Now they are often a giant mess.

[1bluehorse]

I have a few Lee products that I still use and find them to be o.k.........I prefer "other" brands of molds though....but no "bashing" from me....no need, I think Lee products are pretty much worth about what you pay for them, so no complaints from me...

[Frank V]

I haven't bought a Lee mould in quite awhile, those I've bought worked well.

[mikeatl]

If you buy a Lee 2 cavity mould you get the mould plus the handles for 25.00 . If you buy a Noe , Lyman , Redding or just about any other mould for about 70.00 you are paying for the mould only . If you take the price of the handles from Lee , 15.00 , you are only paying 10.00 for the Lee mould .

[cbrick]

That brings up an interesting question. Is that all there is? Price? And NOTHING else matters?

Rick

[mikeatl]

Not really , Lee prices are what let me get started . I have had good luck with their products . I have Lyman and Heavy Metal moulds also .

[altheating]

Not bashing Lee, but I will never purchase another as long as NOE, Mihec and LBT are producing high quality molds. I do use the collet neck sizing dies for several 22 calibers.

[ballistim]

Maybe it's just the way it seems based on my personal experience but I've done best with the old single cavity and the newer 6 cavity molds and not so much with the two cavity Lee molds.