Undersize Lee mold (.490)

[dikman]

A couple of months ago I bought a Lee 2-cavity .490 round ball mold. I've cast a couple of hundred balls and they came out fine. Today I decided, out of curiosity, to check them with a micrometer.

They vary in size from .478 to .484, and are out-of-round! I could not find one that was .490. I then checked balls cast from my other Lee molds - .440, .445, .451 and .457. All are within +/- .003 of the stated size.

Most peculiar. I've emailed Lee and am curious to see what they have to say (particularly as I'm in Australia, where it will cost more than the mold is worth to ship it back to them!).

This is the reply I received -
"I would recommend increasing temperature and smoking the mold. If that does not work, return to place of purchase for credit or replacement."

Not sure how that is going to help .

After replying to them, this is what came back -
"We treat foreign and domestic claims the same. The product either needs to be return to place of purchase or returned to the factory for repair or replacement."

This seems at odds with members who have had faulty items simply replaced ex-factory.

Guess I'm stuck with a dud mold, as the shipping costs, both ways, to Track of the Wolf would far outweigh the cost of the mold.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Have you changed anything with respect to your lead source? Did you cast any of your other round ball with this lead? Lee molds usually are right on dimensionally.

 

[paulab]

I'd try lapping the mould. It's not hard to do if you have basic "man skills."

 

[dikman]

Grenadier, I cast some with pure lead and some with (recycled) pistol range scrap. The only difference between the two types is a weight difference of a couple of grains.

In short, nothing that I haven't done with my other molds. Basically, the mold is a dud. Guess their quality control people must have been asleep when this one was made?

 

[djr315]

A couple of weeks ago I had to return my .490 double cavity mold to lee for the very same reason. Mine were mic at .479 to .488 and the only place at .490 was at the seam.
The sent me a new set of molds mounted to my handles in less than a week.
I have not had a chance to cast some with the new molds to check the size.
I have always had good service from them, and surely will buy more off them.

 

[mooman76]

After Lee cuts their RB moulds, they press a steel ball in the cavity to keep/make them uniform after the cut. Sounds like they let a few go threw missing this process. Someone with an extra tight bore my actually want one of these moulds.

 

[Patocazador]

But it's out of round too according to the OP. If it were just undersized, I'd be a candidate to buy it. I have a ".50" cal. CVA pistol that won't accept a .490 ball even with a .010 patch. I've been shooting .457 balls with thick ticking.

 

[cynthialee]

them being out of true round can be rectified after a fashion by tumbling them
I tumble all my home cast rounds to erase the sprue and they shoot pretty good. None of them look like a true sphere due to all the micro dimples in them from the tumble process.
I have never miced a ball or a mold and neither did they do so back when these guns were new technology.

 

[dikman]

Thanks djr, it's nice to know that I'm not alone, and the odds are that others probably have dud molds too (and may not know it). By the way, did you have to pay shipping both ways?
Lee would have to be aware of the issue, I reckon. I'm glad you got yours fixed. In my case, the shipping cost both ways means it's not a viable option to return it. Lee are obviously quite happy for me to have a mold that has a manufacturing defect and it's also obvious that the supposedly excellent customer service that many speak of is not quite what it appears to be, in that it is not unqualified.

Cynthia, tumbling is certainly a possible solution to the out-of-round issue. Only problem is, I don't have a tumbler.

 

[tecum-tha]

Get a .480 mold from Jeff Tanner for your pistol.

 

[Rifleman1776]

It is unfortunate Australia does not have more dealers for you to work with. I suggest you simply purchase a new mould. Expensive, yes, but a lot less hassle thant trying an exchange. My son lived in Oz for almost a year and I got on a large discussion forum while he was there. I learned that Aussie men are very interested in crafts, mechanics, etc. I'll betcha it would not be hard to find someone with milling burrs who could make that mould into an accurate worker. Might be a hair larger than you want but it would be good for your next rifle.

 

[cynthialee]

I don't have a tumbler either. I put them in a can and shake it around for awhile. After I tire out I set it aside. After awhile I pick up the can and go to shaking it again. I do this 3 or 4 times and they look good to go.

 

[Aran]

Track's overseas shipping is always way over priced compared to any of the other shops I've dealt with like Dixie Gun Works. I'd suggest, if you plan to replace your mould (as well as any future purchases), you purchase a new mould from say Dixie or Jedediah Starr or any others that you can find that stock the mould. I've found that those two companies, as well as Stonewallcreekoutfitters offer a fairer international shipping price. You may find that buying a new mould (at a different shop) + shipping would be less than sending your mould back to Track and then have them send it back again, even if the mould costs more than what Track offers.

...Unless of course you find someone in the US who you can ship stuff you buy from Track to and have them ship it to you. That will come to a lower price than having Track send it to you directly.
:idunno:

Best of luck,
Aran.

 

[Patocazador]

Get a .480 mold from Jeff Tanner for your pistol.

Would you give me contact info for Jeff Tanner?

EDIT: Never mind, I see he's in England.

 

[ZUG]

See if you can locate two ball bearings of .490 dia. and put them into the mold. Go to a machine shop and have them use their arbor press and press the mold together - do this more than once. It MAY solve your problem. The hard part is to find the .490 ball bearings. Another method you could try is to use some .490 lead balls and coat the mold cavity with very fine abrasive grit paste - take the lead ball and run a dry wall screw into it and chuck the screw into a drill then place the lead ball into one of the cavities turn the drill on and use the ball to open up the cavity. Repeat this enough times to get the dia. you want - you will have to change balls. Then do the other cavity. This has been done with Lee molds for modern cast bullets - have a look here -- good luck.

 

[dikman]

Zug, I'm aware of the process you refer to from another forum. I've been thinking about it, but while it's fine for cylindrical castings, I see a problem with round balls - the ball is capable of moving off-centre, unlike a cylindrical one which will rotate around its vertical axis. Moving off-centre, particularly if using a screw of some sort, is likely to elongate/open up the sprue hole on the mold blocks. I'm still considering it, though.

Aran, I've actually found Track's shipping not too bad compared to others, particularly if I order more items to get the best value out of the shipping cost.

Cynthia, that sounds like hard work! . I'd thought of building a small tumbler, but then I have to find somewhere to store it!!!

Rifleman, that's why most BP shooters buy their stuff from the US - we have little choice, because very few here carry much at all to do with BP (it's fortunate that shooting BP lends itself so well to making all sorts of things yourself).

The annoying thing is that I don't need the handles/sprue plate, all I need to replace are the mold blocks - and I suspect that the handles cost more than the mold blocks! I'm also thinking that perhaps Lee need to take the word "precision" from their name :haha: .

 

[djr315]

No I had to only pay for shipping to them, was only like $4.00.
Will try this weekend to see how the new mold works out.

 

[dikman]

Only $4??? I'd do it too at that price! Hope this one is ok.

I've managed to fit a mandrel from my Dremel bits into one of the balls, and had a go at (carefully) rotating it by hand using some water-based cutting compound. I can really feel the out-of-round part - as it rotates it actually forces the mold halves apart at one point! It looks like I'm going to need something with a more aggressive cutting action, though, as all this did was polish it somewhat.

 

[Sean Gadhar]

It looks like I'm going to need something with a more aggressive cutting action, though, as all this did was polish it somewhat.

Sounds like something I'd say just before I grind off to much

I think you just keep at what your doing. :idunno: lapping compound maybe, but sure as shooting "more aggressive" has broken more stuff then earthquakes.

 

[mooman76]

You need to clamp the mould shut so it holds it tight. Other wise it causes more distortion. Another good way is to place a nut over the mould sprue hole and pour the lead through the nut hole. You may have to remove the sprue plate to do this. Then you just use a wrench to turn by hand. This does it slower but you don't take off too fast and end up taking off too much. If you have much to take down you may have to do several castings as you remove metal from the mould. Use a fine lapping compound. This works better and quicker than you think. Some people do this just to polish the cavities so the bullets drop easily. I have done this with steel molds and it works well for them too but I have never done RBs before because I never had a need.