The Accurate Reloading Forums
Lee 6 cavity moulds
22 April 2007, 06:55
Max503Lee 6 cavity moulds
Anyone use these, and if so, are they any good? I'm needing a 38/357 mould and was thinking of going with a 6 cavity if they are worth it.
Thanks in advance.
22 April 2007, 07:58
Idaho Sharpshooterbest place for several informed opinions is
www.castboolits.comThey are Lee fans and do twenty or thirty 6-cavity group buys a year there; rifle and pistol. They talked me into a couple...going thru the order box at Lee.
Rich
DRSS
22 April 2007, 23:26
Max503That link leads me to advertisements.
for every hour in front of the computer you should have 3 hours outside
23 April 2007, 07:33
Idaho Sharpshooterthanks Mark, I forget it's not what I clicked on the "bookmark" box and saved.
Rich
DRSS
24 April 2007, 03:27
Larry GibsonI post over on the Cast Boolit forum, I also have several 6 cavity Lee moulds and consider them a great mould for casting lots of bullets quickly. For the .38/.357 I have the Lee TL358-158-SWC which I cast bullets out of recovered range lead and size at .360 and lube in a Lyman 450. The TL process with LLA works as well. I only load them to 1050 fps in the .357 and 850 fps in .38s so I get good resuls with no leading. Some drive them faster when cast of WWs. I've other moulds for my top end .357 loads but one of the C358-158-SWC cast of WW and with GC should handle 1500 fps (7 1/2 - 8 3/8" barreled .357s with old real .357 loads) with no problems. It is available in the Lee 6 holer. I've got 7 or so 6 holers now with 4 more ordered in group buys on the Cast Boolit forum. I like them.
Larry Gibson
24 April 2007, 05:24
Max503Thanks guys, that looks like a good site. I am needing a 38/357 mould. I see they have the 175 gr Keith swc. It looks interesting.
24 April 2007, 21:42
Paul HThey are very good molds and reasonably priced. I have one of the 158 gr swc 357 molds and it's one of my favorites. If I were to do it over, I'd likely get the 158 rf, as I have it in a two cavity mold and really like it.
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The AR series of rounds, ridding the world of 7mm rem mags, one gun at a time.
25 April 2007, 06:15
arkypeteI've found Lee molds to be waste of aluminum, that could be better used as beer cans.
I tried one six cavity and it literaly fell apart in my hands the first time I used it.
Jim
"Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force." --Thomas Jefferson
27 April 2007, 07:25
LeftoverdjJim and I have talked about this before. The Lee six cavities are great value, but do have their quirks. You want to be sure the mould is nicely preheated and the arm that operates the sprue plate is fully closed before starting casting. If the mould is cold and the lever is not fully over, you are trying to cut six very hard sprues without the benefit of the built in camming power. You can break the lever like that. Lee will replace it, but it's a nuisance.
I have somewhere between a dozen and two dozen of the Lee six cavities. Never broke one, never wore one out, and have had the oldest since the year they came out. It's cast an easy 50,000 bullets.
If all else were equal, I'd be using iron gang moulds, but they ain't equal. A Lee 6 holer costs $35 from one of the mail discounters. I've picked up a few from Lee's closeout page for $25. Even the custom moulds from the group buys are running under $60. I'll compromise some for those prices.
Not much compromise is needed. They cast good bullets and hold up under reasonable handling. One thing to be careful of is that Lee moulds mostly cast very close to the nominal diameter. You cannot assume that they will cast oversize for sloppy bores.
Most of the group buys address this and spec the bullets large. Makes them worth the extra price for those of us who need fat bullets. Most Marlins and NEFs do. Milsurps can vary widely in groove diameter.
It is a good citizen's duty to love the country and hate the gubmint.
27 April 2007, 16:16
arkypetequote:
Originally posted by Leftoverdj:
Jim and I have talked about this before. The Lee six cavities are great value, but do have their quirks. You want to be sure the mould is nicely preheated and the arm that operates the sprue plate is fully closed before starting casting. If the mould is cold and the lever is not fully over, you are trying to cut six very hard sprues without the benefit of the built in camming power. You can break the lever like that. Lee will replace it, but it's a nuisance.
I have somewhere between a dozen and two dozen of the Lee six cavities. Never broke one, never wore one out, and have had the oldest since the year they came out. It's cast an easy 50,000 bullets.
If all else were equal, I'd be using iron gang moulds, but they ain't equal. A Lee 6 holer costs $35 from one of the mail discounters. I've picked up a few from Lee's closeout page for $25. Even the custom moulds from the group buys are running under $60. I'll compromise some for those prices.
Not much compromise is needed. They cast good bullets and hold up under reasonable handling. One thing to be careful of is that Lee moulds mostly cast very close to the nominal diameter. You cannot assume that they will cast oversize for sloppy bores.
Most of the group buys address this and spec the bullets large. Makes them worth the extra price for those of us who need fat bullets. Most Marlins and NEFs do. Milsurps can vary widely in groove diameter.
What I'd like to see is some one buy just the mold blocks from Lee and put better handles, sprue plate on them.
The machining of the important part of the molds is fine, the human interface is what really aggrevates me.
Jim
"Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force." --Thomas Jefferson
29 April 2007, 08:18
Max503I've had pretty good luck with my Lee 2 cavity molds. I used one the other night and it worked beautifully. I think I'm going to try one of the 6 holers in order to boost production.
Wish me luck.
30 April 2007, 17:33
NewtireI heard of a good way to prevent the breking handles although I have never broken one myself. A guy who is a local boolit caster told me this.
ON the first cast, just do one boolit, 2nd cast 2, third three and so on until you are casting all six. By then the mold will be heated up and you wn't break handles. He says he's never broken one and he has a pile of molds!