I'm having problems with a Lee 2 cavity .530 round ball aluminum mold ...the actual fill hole in the aluminum block has elongated. This leaves a spru on the ball , and it's getting worse ..
I just had to send it back to Lee , so we will see what they say ...
The mold is 1 month old , and has only made about 200-300 balls .

If this is normal , I'll have to go back to steel molds , and pay the higher price .

what do you want for 20$

Are you casting pure lead or alloy? If alloy it could be too hard.

Turns out Lee replaced the mold ...
Yes Lamar - I know their cheap , but I've got other aluminum molds and they didn't do that ..

Bobster, my lead tests 11-12 BHN on the hardness scale so I don't think that's to hard .

I had a 6 cavity .38 158gr SWC
mold I'd run about 20 gallons of
bullets thru. Pins got loose.

Decided to take them up on their
"half current price repair".
Sent the mold and a check.

They sent brand new set of mold
blocks.

When I cast, I don't quit until I
fill a two gallon bucket full of
each size and shape bullet.
Back when I was shooting every night
I'd run out in a couple months. Once
I filled to over flowing a 5 gallon
bucket with them. Hell of a deal, I
ran out of bullets in about 8 months.

George

I've personally had crap luck with lee moulds. Their 6 cavity jobs are not much better than the doubles. You get what you pay for.

I have cast 10's of thousand of bullets with lee molds.

If one pays 20 dollars for the mold and cast many thousands of bullets with it.

One has more then paid for the mold.

Kind of like buying a 500.00 dollar pistol then shooting it till it no longer useable.

One has spent many times more on the ammo then the cost of the pistol.

If one can afford that one can afford a new pistol.

Every item has a useful life span if you exceed that one is money ahead

I can certainly understand thrift, however, I have always stayed away from Lee products by the old business theory, that you can't get something for nothing. Quality costs more. If one has had good luck with Lee then more power to them, I just have always been leery on purchasing cheap tools.

quote:

Originally posted by NormanConquest:
I can certainly understand thrift, however, I have always stayed away from Lee products by the old business theory, that you can't get something for nothing. Quality costs more. If one has had good luck with Lee then more power to them, I just have always been leery on purchasing cheap tools.

Id like to think I've given them a fair shake. Only thing I like or find useful by Lee is the push through sizers for powder coated slugs. The dies may be ok. I find them chincy feeling. The 4-20 pot......Ive been using this pot for about 12 years. Its a leaky piece of dung. I have founds ways to make it work. I've put up with it more than I normally would as far as junk goes.

I casted up a couple thousand more 9mm slugs out of my now lee 4 cavity mould. The more I use it, the worse it gets. Never any trouble from other aluminum manufactured moulds.

Lee has some damn fine ideas, but they are poorly executed in my opinion.

I have been loading + casting since the early 70s + my Lman + RCBS moulds are as good now as they were then. About 20+ years ago I bought the RCBS bottom pour crucible + have never looked back. I would rather pay more + buy something just once, but that's just me.

I've had minor problems with LEE molds over the years, but never had the cavity change shape. I've always said their aluminum is so soft you can carve it with a knife. For their cheap price I feel they are a real bargain. I like the change they made to the new mold that are more conventional. That old style was really a bad design. Major problems I have the old style is that bottom horizontal roller alignment pin falling out of the mold. I'll continue to bu LEE molds.

On the other side of the coin, I bought several moulds from an AR member a few years ago before he passed from cancer. They were Hensley-Gibbs + quite quality (+ pricey too) that will last longer than I will.

quote:

Originally posted by NormanConquest:
I have been loading + casting since the early 70s + my Lman + RCBS moulds are as good now as they were then. About 20+ years ago I bought the RCBS bottom pour crucible + have never looked back. I would rather pay more + buy something just once, but that's just me.

I have the same brands a dozen or so they are in great shape also.

Maybe because I grab my lee molds instead the rest sit in their storage box.

Elpat:

When the Lee pot starts leaking
just turn the stem and working
it up n down to flush out the shit.

I've used the same pot since the '70's.
Don't recall what failed on it about ten
years ago. I sent it in for rebuild half
price. and bought a new one at the same time.

Ten days or so later the old one came back
with a new pot and pins etc. Used both a
couple times. other than that the new one
hasn't been used.

No way I haven't melted 3-4 ton of hard cast
in it. I have over a dozen 6 cavity molds
and other than that one .38 with so much use
I've never had a problem with any of them so
far. Might be the operator on your end. Or
being a newbie at casting.

George

I have and use several Lee molds. I dont understand how a fill hole gets its shape altered by pouring molten lead into it??

I've owned three Lee bullet molds in the past forty years. I have gotten one casting session out of each mold, never got an acceptable bullet after that initial casting session. I have used NEi aluminum molds for decades with near perfect results. I have friends who use Lee molds with excellent results.

In the '70s I began my reloading with Lee products as I could afford them. They worked fine for nearly two decades. I only moved on when I began my love affair with double rifles and Lee didn't make the products and the turret press was too small. I later used the Lee Classic Cast press until I bought some 4-bore double rifles and needed a press to accommodate 1 1/2" diameter dies.

My first Lee mould was a 9MM RN mould and only lasted for about 500 bullets. I didn't know you need to lube them. Back then, 50 years ago, Lee said to use Alox.
Custom Aluminum moulds makers sell special lube. I am told it is actually chainsaw oil.
Hensley & Gibbs moulds sure are sweet to cast with. Saeco moulds are really nice, too! I mostly use Lyman moulds which work quite well.
I now lube every mould and heat every bullet sizer/luber at least a little. Less work to pull the handle.
Using a cheap Wally hotplate with a circular saw blade to evenly distribute the heat to preheat your moulds makes life real easy. Perfect bullets on the first cast, no mould cooling off if you take a break, and a real problem if you heat a mould with metal already in it!
I always drop my bullets on several towels to protect them when they are still soft.

Brass magnet… I like your idea of the skill saw blade on the hot plate. I too preheat my moulds on a hot plate but will now add the saw blade to it.