Does this new LEE Mold look OK to you !?!

[farmbif]

The mould has been returned to Midway. They took it back even though Lee couldn't see any problem. So trying the mould isn't possible anymore.

if they got it back it just might be in the closeout section for 1/2 price next week.
I guess ive been lucky, never had a problem with a lee mold. my most used lee molds are for the 30-30 one in 150 grains one in 170 grains that have cast many hundreds if not thousands of bullets and still work great I'm able to lube size at .310 with my wheel weight alloy. never saw a need to buy any other mold for 30-30 anyway. but back about 45 years ago I got one of the little c type aluminum presses and that thing would flex just resizing 222rem shells. so lee is hit and miss its an inexpensive entry point but sometimes the quality is not as good as products at 4 or 5x the cost.

[country gent]

We did some circle pocket milling with form cutters on the cnc mills and with form electrodes in the edm. They form the round part not cutting true circle but a large series of small interpolated straight lines. When the Steps become to large it needs to be changed in the program a major undertaking. The other is the straight flute form tool and feed rates. Bearings arnt nearly as consistent of a pattern.

Our tool room had the job of making several hundred brass throttle plates, not a big job, a .100 thick plate 2 screw holes and the edge round to a 30* angle. A fixture was made up and the first few parts showed this same finish around the dia. This was from how the fadells interpreted the circle. The cure was a boring head set up to turn the od in the fixture with a straight down feed. These were for the R&D department when the actual changes proved out A progressive die was built to produce them.

[Elpatoloco]

Don't throw any more in Garbage!!! I'll Pay Shipping!!!
One Man's Junk ya know!!! We-uns on a Budget Might Benefit!!!

I am very budget minded. Thats why I dont biy that crap anymore. Ill use the mould that has 5 or the 6 cavities good until it dont throw any more. Thrn you'd be welcome to it or I will repurpose it as a trot line weight.

I honestly dont know how anyone can afford to purchase production molds anymore. It always a gamble. Esp. With lee. Too many custom makers and the price is not out of line.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

[racepres]

I am very budget minded. Thats why I dont biy that crap anymore. Ill use the mould that has 5 or the 6 cavities good until it dont throw any more. Thrn you'd be welcome to it or I will repurpose it as a trot line weight.

I honestly dont know how anyone can afford to purchase production molds anymore. It always a gamble. Esp. With lee. Too many custom makers and the price is not out of line.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

All Good... but... if ya feel the need to throw stuff Away...Give a poor Fellow a Shot...Shipping is Shipping!!!! and One Mans Junk.......

[Willie T]

That mold should not have got past QC.

I cast with Lee molds. When I got into casting I was learning to shoot 200 yard silhouettes with a revolver. The volume I was shooting was about to put me in the poor house. I love the six cavity Lee molds. I’m not dismissing that some of their molds I own benefited from lapping and or polishing. When you buy a Lee mold you are not getting a premium mold or paying the price for one. You may need to de-bur, or polish, or lap a cavity(s). Before you clean up the imperfections you will fight some of their molds. Once done though, they rain perfect bullets. If saving a few bucks isn’t worth the elbow grease involved in squaring away an inexpensive mold, or if you are not handy enough, then pony up the money for a premium mold that has all the details tended to out of the box. It is the same way with buying brass. You can pay for Nosler with all the prep work already done or you can buy less expensive brass and go all the way through it before you load it. As for durability I have some Lee molds that I have cast 20-35 pounds per session with, several times per year for decades that are still going strong. I don’t beat on them either.
“Inexpensive” and their sprue handle is where Lee’s shine.
Willie

[Hannibal]

I have bought and used many Lee products since I started reloading. Some have met my needs as received, some required a bit of 'tuning', and some I found that I needed to change my way of doing things in order to get them to work the way I wanted.
Having said that, I would be VERY disappointed to receive a mold that arrived new looking like the one the OP received. I find it particularly disturbing that Lee claimed that the mold met their QC standards. I've not bought any Lee moulds in quite a while as I've not needed any more to fit my needs, but I will definitely keep this experience in mind if I do decide to buy again. No way is this acceptable and I don't understand why Lee would claim otherwise. Failing to admit to a problem and correct it is a sure-fire way to lose my business.

[Iowa Fox]

I have bought and used many Lee products since I started reloading. Some have met my needs as received, some required a bit of 'tuning', and some I found that I needed to change my way of doing things in order to get them to work the way I wanted.
Having said that, I would be VERY disappointed to receive a mold that arrived new looking like the one the OP received. I find it particularly disturbing that Lee claimed that the mold met their QC standards. I've not bought any Lee moulds in quite a while as I've not needed any more to fit my needs, but I will definitely keep this experience in mind if I do decide to buy again. No way is this acceptable and I don't understand why Lee would claim otherwise. Failing to admit to a problem and correct it is a sure-fire way to lose my business.

Failing to admit to a problem makes a statement about ones character.

MP molds stuck a half dozen of us guys with dud molds and does not/will not make it right. That's 120 bucks in the garbage can.

I've gotten 2 - 6 cavity lee molds in the last six months. Both excellent molds regardless of cost. Since our group buy days here that brings me up to about 15- 6 cav lee molds, no duds in the bunch.

[Outer Rondacker]

I hope your experience is better then my recent one. I grabbed a double cav 457-405 from midway and the cherry they used to cut the mold dug out one side of the blocks. Called Lee and that same old guy got on the phone and said well mail it back and Ill look at it and tell you its ok and just send it back to you on your dime. So its like this. Buy cheap get garbage customer service.

I emailed pictures of the mold and got back an email saying yup looks defective. Called them back and lady told me to mail it to them and they would take care of it. I said send me a RMA label she said sorry NO.

But I do love inexpensive things so I will continue to get boned I am sure.

Yes that mold looks like crap and if you call them they are going to tell you how to fix it.

[deces]

I hope your experience is better then my recent one. I grabbed a double cav 457-405 from midway and the cherry they used to cut the mold dug out one side of the blocks. Called Lee and that same old guy got on the phone and said well mail it back and Ill look at it and tell you its ok and just send it back to you on your dime. So its like this. Buy cheap get garbage customer service.

I emailed pictures of the mold and got back an email saying yup looks defective. Called them back and lady told me to mail it to them and they would take care of it. I said send me a RMA label she said sorry NO.

But I do love inexpensive things so I will continue to get boned I am sure.

Yes that mold looks like crap and if you call them they are going to tell you how to fix it.

Why didn't you just return it to widway? They cover everything that is a blem.

[Outer Rondacker]

Why didn't you just return it to widway? They cover everything that is a blem.

That part is my fault. I ordered it and set it aside until I had time to use it. Three months later. Past return period. My fault so I called the maker. Midway did not make the mould wrong Lee did.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

My Lee molds used to come with a sticker, “Inspected by (name) ”. My last mold didn’t have a sticker, so maybe they no longer inspect? Mold casts fine, by the way.

[john.k]

Just maybe the ally is the problem.........we ran a part for years ,mirror finish ,couldnt go wrong........then the customers MD is in the office with a carton full of our parts with a torn finish ,like a piece of stone had turned them...........the parts had come off the machine perfect for so long ,no one bothered checking anymore...........anyhoo,fault was eventually found......supplier of ally ran short of stock,and included one "Chinese" bar in each customer delivery,just to see if it was noticed ......yep,it was.

[Outer Rondacker]

As I look to order another lee mold lol

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I'm wondering - how'd they do that? Weird.

Boy, I guess! I just got a 6 cav 356-120 and it looks fine.