Lee 2 cavity screw for the handle.

[Black Chrome]

I was casting a few bullets today after work. Probably the 5th or 6th time that I've used this mold. All of a sudden I saw something fall out that wasn't sprue or a bullet. I started looking around and realized that it was the screw that held the handle to the half of the mold block that also holds the sprue. I started it back in but it would not seat all of the way. The handle seemed secure enough so I started casting again. Then I noticed that I was getting misaligned out of round bullets. I stopped and tried to back the screw back out and like usual the allen wrench stripped the super soft bolt. I tried a few various things before finally resorting to needle nose vice grips. Long story short I got this sorry excuse for a bolt/screw/pin out and now I need a replacement. Anyone run into this before? I thought about contacting LEE to try to get a replacement. I also thought about drilling and tapping it for a regular socket cap bolt. What do you guys think?

[swamp]

I would contact Lee and see what they will do. I have had very good customer service from them. I would guess that they will have you send them the mold and they will repair or replace.
swamp

[MT Gianni]

The lee 2 cavity mold is like a bic lighter. Yours ran out of fuel early. They may replace it or may not.

[Black Chrome]

I contacted lee and provided the pic of the pin. Ill wait and see what they say. Worst case scenario if I can fix it ill go buy another $22 mold. It was producing very good bullets before this issue.

[17nut]

Give it 2-3 whacks with a center punch when its seated fully.

[Black Chrome]

This was LEE's response:

The handle pin can be reseated with a punch. The handle pin would have no effect on the alignment of the cavities. If it is dropping out of round boolits, make sure the mold face is clean of lead splashes or a nic that maybe causing it to stand open/misalign.

If you have continued issues, I would recommend returning it for evaluation.


Thanks,

Lee Precision, Inc.
4275 Highway U
Hartford, WI 53027
phone: 262-673-3075


So that's what I did. I reseated it with a center punch and then I cleaned it really good. There were a few pieces of really thin lead stuck to the face but that could have been left over from when this happened. I lubed the pins and the sprue plate pivot point and started casting with it this afternoon. It is aligning correctly for the most part but every once in a while it still looks a little out of round. I don't think it will be enough to matter at this point as its way better than it was. Thanks everyone.

[Donor8x56r]

I do what 17Nut did on the picture to every new mold I get.Never had a problem.
btw-I have seen few lee molds used by guys in my gun club and I can't believe how beaten those molds are.No wonder half of them don't work after 2-3 castings.
I have single cav molds from years back that still work perfectly, have thousands of boolits on them and look better than that.
Take it easy with them.They are aluminium and it doesn't take much to bang it out of alignment.