Anyone have good luck with Lee Molds

[gmww]

I was wondering if anyone has a barrel that shoots well with .54 Minie, .45 Minie, and .45 REAL Lee bullets? My guns just don't like them. If you got a barrel let me know. I'm curious about the twist, make, length, etc.

:hmm:

 

[springer]

I have experiences only .45 REAL. This bullet can do one hole accuracy with Pedersoli barrels.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Ive been using a Lee 45 cal RB mould for two days now. Making next years projectiles.

Up until now I used a single cavity steel mould.

The only thing I dont like about this aluminum mould is that it gets to hot, to fast.

After about 50-60 balls I have to set it outside to cool before I can continue.

 

[Birddog6]

I was wondering if anyone has a barrel that shoots well with .54 Minie, .45 Minie, and .45 REAL Lee bullets? My guns just don't like them. If you got a barrel let me know. I'm curious about the twist, make, length, etc.

:hmm:

OK.... :hmm: and what does that have to do with Lee molds ?

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I have several Lee molds. I cast conicals to shoot in my revolvers and the .45 REAL for my ROA. also a .50 REAL, so far results have been promising dialing it in. still experimenting somewhat.

 

[E Poffinbarger]

gmww:

I got a friend back in Missouri that wouldn't have a Lee Mould if you gave it to him. He only likes and uses Rapine, Ideal and Lyman.

I on the other hand have had very good results with dual cavity Lee round ball moulds, specifically the .535. It produces high quality round balls of consistent weight with minimal effort and I am sorta picky.

The only problem that I have had with Lee "bullet" style moulds is finding one of the correct diameter. As you know a Minie needs to fit the bore snugly, not too loose and not to tight in order to produce consistent accuracy.

Point in fact I never found one that produced good results for a .50 caliber. The best Lee bullet mould that I ever had was a dual cavity Lee R.E.A.L. in .54 caliber.

As you probably know, "lead and mould temperature" are far more crucial in casting a high quality hollow base Minie style projectile than a round ball or Maxi.

Although I prefer dual cavity moulds, this year I changed to the Lyman 542622 single cavity Minie mold for my Lyman GPR-H .54, 1:32 twist. The mould produces a nicely pointed, thick skirted 425gr deep hollow based projectile, which is showing the best groups I've found.

Hope this helps,

Osage

 

[Birddog6]

I have several Lee molds. I cast conicals to shoot in my revolvers and the .45 REAL for my ROA. also a .50 REAL, so far results have been promising dialing it in. still experimenting somewhat.

Well, OK. I have a mold for every caliver RB from 32 to 62 & allot of them are Lee & have not had any problems with them other than ya can't let them get too hot.

But back to the Beginning:

The original post was about Barrels , but the thread title is about molds ? :hmm: Or did I miss something ? I know I am not the brightest bulb in the pack so please enlighten me .... :rotf:

 

[twotoescharlie]

I have a good many Lee moulds, great buy for the money. I usually cast with with 2 or 3 molds. by alternateing molds you can keep on casting while a mould cools down.


TTC

 

[Frank/Pa]

I have been using Lee molds for years. Never a problem.

 

[gmww]

I posted this before I went to bed. Anyway, I've got about four Lee's that I've used over the years in hopes that they would produce some good accuracy in my ML's. I've tried the Minies and REALs in a 1:48, 1:twenty something, and have had poor results. I wanted to see who here has had some good luck with them. If so what twist rate, length, cal. barrel they were using.

I have a .54 cal. minie, .45 minie in 298 gr., a .45 minie in 294 grn. and a .45 REAL. Did I mention I'm giving them away! :grin: If several folks are interested, I'll figure out some sort of fair way to pick who gets them.

PS. It is Moulds not Molds too, to, two. :rotf:

 

[jtmattison]

I have several Lee molds. I cast conicals to shoot in my revolvers and the .45 REAL for my ROA. also a .50 REAL, so far results have been promising dialing it in. still experimenting somewhat.

Well, OK. I have a mold for every caliver RB from 32 to 62 & allot of them are Lee & have not had any problems with them other than ya can't let them get too hot.

But back to the Beginning:

The original post was about Barrels , but the thread title is about molds ? :hmm: Or did I miss something ? I know I am not the brightest bulb in the pack so please enlighten me .... :rotf:

I think the real question was if anybody get's any accuracy out of Lee Bullets. I cast a lot of Lee MZ projectiles. The REAL is very accurate in my .54's in both 300 and 380 grain. The 320 grain REAL in .50 won't hit water if you shoot from a boat in the middle of the ocean.

HD

 

[nw_hunter]

WHEW! Here goes! I Took the 50 cal. Renegade out to shoot for the first time the other day. Rebel was with me, to make sure I loaded the powder first. :grin:The Weather was nasty, and I couldn't quit shakin, so I just barely hit the paper at 50 yds, with round balls.(My story and I'm stickin to it).

Rebel wanted to try some of his Real bullets in it, and ended up with about a 1/2" group.I think the reason for him shooting so good, was the bullet lube I made,(Geezer Grease)and not the real bullets, but "What do I know"? :wink:

 

[TANSTAAFL]

What are the twists of the rifle barrels? Projectile and rifling twists need to be reasonably matched.

 

[arquebus]

I've tried the Minies and REALs in a 1:48, 1:twenty something, and have had poor results. I wanted to see who here has had some good luck with them. If so what twist rate, length, cal. barrel they were using.:rotf:

In my experience Minies (hollow-based bullets) do better in slower twists 1:60" to 1:72", etc. The REAL bullets, especially the longer heavier ones, would need a slower twist eg. 1:24" to 1:48"

 

[gmww]

I've tried the Minies and REALs in a 1:48, 1:twenty something, and have had poor results. I wanted to see who here has had some good luck with them. If so what twist rate, length, cal. barrel they were using.:rotf:

In my experience Minies (hollow-based bullets) do better in slower twists 1:60" to 1:72", etc. The REAL bullets, especially the longer heavier ones, would need a slower twist eg. 1:24" to 1:48"

I didn't try using them in the slow twist 1:66 because I was under the impression they were needed in a faster twist barrels being a conical.

 

[cptleo1]

great buy for the money

 

[arquebus]

You're not alone there, alot of people have that same misconception. If you consider that the CW-era rifle-muskets (ie. Enfield, Springfield, Zouave, etc) were designed for use with a Minie & they all have 1:66" to 1:72" twists. The only consideration when using a Minie in a rifle designed for roundball is that the rifling is normally deeper than in the rifles designed for Minies & it is harder to get a good gas seal. A loose filler under the Minie might be a good thing to try in that case, something like Cream of Wheat, Corn Meal, etc.
I could never understand why the Rifle-Muskets had such slow twists but were designed for the 'conical' Minies. It was explained to me that even though they are basically a conical bullet in profile, being a hollow-base they are a weight-forward design with the majority of weight being forward of the center & therefore they behave more like a RB as far as stabilizing is concerned.
As far as Lee moulds go, I don't mind their larger caliber (.40 & up) RB moulds, but haven't had much success with their conical & minie moulds, for that type of bullet my favorite mould-block material is brass. I have noticed with the smaller caliber (I have a .330" & a .380") Lee RB moulds that the sprue cutter leaves a disproportianately large flat on the ball. Don't know if the other makers' moulds have the same problem.

 

[reddog]

Speaking for the .54

 

[longcruise]

If you apply Greenhil to the .58 cal with 1/72 twist, the slug could run real close to .8 inch. Not sure how long those minnies are though?

Can't put too much faith in Greenhill either!

 

[wvbuckbuster]

While we are on this I hope it is ok to ask. I have a Lee REAL mould in .50 cal 250grs. Was trying to get more knockdown out of my .50 It didn't group very well something like 3-4 in. at 50yds. The twist is 1 in 70 in. GM. Is this about normal for that slow of twist?