Lee molds

[Ohioan]

I bought a .490 double cavity lee mold at friendship.
Last night I decided to make some balls or pure lead. I made up about 100 and had about 25 poor balls until the mold started getting warm enough.

When they were cool, I took the micrometer to them and they came out to be bout .492-.493
I weighed them and they were supposed to be I think 178gr and they were weighting around 175.2-175.4

I made some .440 for my father and they were Mic'ing at around .442. They were also weight slightly less than they were supposed to.

anyone else have issues with Lee lead molding large balls?

I'm 99% sure it's pure lead.

 

[Chiefs50]

I have a Lee .490 mold and have had similar results with lead of unknown hardness (fingernail test only). Since the balls cast larger but weigh less, I would guess that your lead is alloyed with something, and is not pure lead.

 

[bwhoffman]

mine throws a .491 with soft lead...
I did learn however, that LEE has a -0.000/+.003 tolerance in their production methods, which they consider allowable. I found this from digging into their website by the way.
it is possible that you are casting with an un known allow, which at times will harden a tad large. Wheel weights are notorious for this, but I cast those at times and patch accordingly.

 

[jtmattison]

Sounds like you're casting an alloy if they are larger than .490 and lighter than supposed to be. My Lee molds throw .490 and .495, .530 and .535 balls perfectly. I use telephone cable sheath to cast with. They weigh in within a grain or so of perfect.

HD

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I have several of the Lee aluminum molds. one I have for slugs to fit a '58 Rem I have cast estimate 1000+ slugs with using as pure lead as I have on hand. it's getting a little wear in the sprue plate area but still has another 1K at least in it. I just bought a .50 cal REAL slug mold that has some potential judging by last range trip and the .45 REAL mold for slugs to fit my ROA which also has potential. when I have time for more experimentation I post resuls. good luck and always use as pure lead as possible for BP projectiles.

 

[fw707]

I've got 3 Lee molds-a .395, a DC .490, and a .530 and they all cast balls very close to perfect diameter.The balls that are out are within 2-3 thousandths max.
I smoke the cavities real well before I start and don't usually get over 6-8 bad balls starting out, sometimes less.
I've cast well over 5000 balls with those 3 molds in the last few months.

 

[E Poffinbarger]

Ohioan:

I've had Lee molds in the past, I've always liked the dual cavity molds best, but I must admit I had return a few until I got one that produced two projectiles that were the same size.

Now-a-days, I stay with Rapine, Ideal or Lyman molds, I guess I've gotten old and picky.

As I always say, when in doubt make sure its pure lead and run it hot.

Osage

 

[arquebus]

had about 25 poor balls until the mold started getting warm enough

Sounds like you need to pre-heat your mold. With the Lee molds I do that by dipping a corner of the mold into the molten lead for a minute or so, until the lead no longer sticks. That way you get a minimal amount of rejects. With iron or brass molds I sit the mold resting against the pot while the lead is melting.....by the time the lead's molten the blocks should be hot enough to starting good bullets/balls right off.

 

[bart_anastasi]

I have been using lee molds for since 1980 at least.

If you are one or two grains from one ball to the next that is really no matter.

If the ball is lighter or heavier than what it says on the box that does not matter.

The real thing that is important is that the diamater of the ball is always the same in the batches you make.

Next that the variation in grains of lead does not change to much from ball to ball.

Big variations of grain weight indicate that you have a bubble in the ball and that is a problem.

You will need to find a patch/lube/load combination that your gun likes. Using the bullet your mold throws.

As you get different sources of lead you may find the ball casts large with increased amounts of tin. This used to bother me but since I make large amounts of rB in a single run I work it out and adjust.

Putting a different color of nail polish on the sprew helps keep different batches of RD from each other.

This used to worry me but since I patch tighter that a Whatever it no longer does.

As some one else will say you should pre heat your mold by resting it in the molten lead but make sure the mold is closed when you do this.

 

[fw707]

As some one else will say you should pre heat your mold by resting it in the molten lead but make sure the mold is closed when you do this.

And don't leave it there too long or the first few bullets will be a splash instead of a bullet. :haha: