What is your opinion of the lee six cavity molds? I will hopefully get a 357 with my tax return and was thinking of getting the six cavity 358-158-RF. Any opinions of this bullet?

Despite the answers you will surely get from the Lee haters, their six cavity moulds are actually quite good and a tremendous bargain. They are an even better bargain if you can find what you want on the Lee Surplus Page where they go for $25. I'm using a 356-153-25 I got there as my all purpose bullet. Mine turned out to cast at 358 from my alloy which makes it usable as cast in the whole 9mm-.38-.357 range.

Most of the Lee bashing comes from the Lee one and two cavity moulds. The six cavities are much better made and hold up far better because they have steel locating points. The camming sprue cutter is a joy to use.

Leftoverdj nailed it!

The Lee 6 cavity molds are way ahead of the 1's and 2's. In particular, the lever-action sprue cutter is sooooooo nice to use!

jpb

Very good molds for the money, and that is also a good bullet. I just wish the 158 rf mold I'd bought was the 6 cavity over the 2 cavity. I don't recall any lee design I've had that hasn't shot well, and the 158 rf is as good as any.

The one shortcoming of the mold is the aluminum sprue plate. I was given a 158 scw gc mold free, because the previous owner had broken the arm on the sprue plate. From what I could tell, he let the sprue get too cold and hence hard, and broke the lever trying to cut it. Lee molds should always be cast hot, and you'll have no problems. The beauty of the six shooter is you make a mountain of bullets in a hurry.

Lee sells replacement parts. I wish they would make the 1 and 2 cavity molds with the same alignment pins as the 6 cavity. It would make them much better.

I think the Lee sixbangers are great. I have two of them and would certainly buy more. Run'em hot and they make great bullets very fast. The only drawback I can see is that they empty a 20 pound pot in no time so you spend more time fillin it up than you do casting. My only regret is that when I bought my BD 45 mold I only got one. You can easily run two of them at the same time and really crank out some bullets.

I have 8 6 cavity Lee molds and a bunch of there 1 and two molds. For the price they are an excellent buy. I cast a lot of bullets in two days then shoot for a few months. with the Lee molds you never have to worry about rust in the cavities or getting the oil out when you want to use them. as far a standing the "test of time" I have a .38 wad cutter and a .30 caliber that are over twenty years old and they still cast excellent bullets, I don't use the .38 much anymore because I have two 6 hole .38 molds. As you can tell I like Lee molds.

I don't know of any reloading stuff that Lee sells that isn't a bargain compared to
other major makers. Some of their stuff, like the cheap-o presses, isn't as stout
as it could be, but for the price and for the average user, it is good enough. Their
turret press, for example, costs less than half what other makers' turret presses sell
for. For pistol and straight-cased ammo, it is so quick and easy that I use it more
frequently than my Dillon when I'm working up a load. My RCBS press mostly just gets
used to hold the Lee sizing dies. I like their reloading dies better than any other
brand that I've tried. I broke a couple of their hand-primer gizmos, and when I called,
I was told they'd been redesigned with better material, and they sent me two of the new
ones for free.

Same thing with molds. If you follow the instructions (!!!), there isn't anything about
them that takes a back seat to other major production mold makers, except price. I've
read a lot more complaints about Lyman's molds than Lee's, and they are a heck of a lot
harder to fix than the Lee molds.

Those who are rabid anti-Lee critics probably either (A) haven't actually used their stuff,
(B) just figure that since they cost less, they can't be as good, based on principle, or, (C)
prefer to use a sledge hammer to get things to work.

Those folks would like Lee stuff if it only cost more, like buying a hamburger in an
expensive restaurant instead of at Burger King.

Lee 6 cavity molds are very good! 1 and 2 cavity..... hmmmmm... But 6 cavity molds are good! I have one I have run on a machine and made over 25,000 bullets & it looks and runs just fine.Those are tough molds! I like them. If Lee would make the others designs in that 6 cavity....... hmmmm... if they would make their own rifle designs in 6 cavity! Dale..in the center of the known universe.

Thanks for the info, I will have to give them a try.