So I got this mold new from Midway, handed it to a buddy at work who runs a mill, and asked him to remove the gas check shank. Upon returning it to me (I never even looked at the mold), he let me know about extreme chatter in one of the cavities. Here’s a pic, and the response from Lee. I’m kind of disappointed, but then got to thinking, “Am I being too picky??”
Here is my email to Lee:
“ Hi there! I purchased a 2 cavity mold, the 501-440 from Midway (if my memory serves me correctly) and the finish on one cavity has quite a bit of chatter. The finish in one cavity is excellent, but the other cavity is very rough. This roughness, of course, is very visible in the cast bullet. I will attach pictures so you can see the problem. I am a machinist and as soon as I got the mold Ihanded it to one of our mill operators and had them remove the gas check shank. I never even took it out of the box to look at it initially. When he brought it back he notified me of the finish in the one cavity. I tried casting with it and unfortunately the bullets are slightly out of round and don’t size all the way around. If I’ve voided the warranty by removing the gas check shank, I understand. I’ve made worse mistakes in life lol. Thank you for taking the time and advising!”
Here is the response I got from Lee:
“ Anthony,
You could return the mold, and we can mic the cavity, if it is under size we would replace it. Chatter on big bore tooling like that is typical, especially when the tooling is brand new. We have no guarantee on finish, but from photos it looks more than useable.
I am attaching a return form on this email. It has all the info you need to return it.
Thank You,
Kyle
Customer Service”
Needless to say, its going back because it is out of round and only about 2/3 of it sizes even after powder coating. But just curious what you guys (and gals) would do?