I should have known better!

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Pigslayer posted this 23 February 2016

Over the years I have bought a number of LEE molds. Up until they changed their mold block design, I never had an issue. The first of the new mold block design I had the pin that holds one of the mold blocks to the handle fall out, the second one had the alignment pins fall out. After that I had been vocal about not buying their molds again. I guess the passing of time makes me forgetful.      After deciding to buy a .380 Auto (which I will pick up on Saturday) I thought I'd get a jumpstart & buy LEEs 356-95-RF. What the heck, the molds are cheap & if they drop a little small, I'll add a little tin to the mix. I've done it before. Well, I ordered the mold from Midway and have since received it. At first glance I said “Oh-Oh"! The mold halves were slightly misaligned. I tried casting with it anyway.      The bullets are dropping .354” x .310". Yep, consistently!! I mean . . . what???!!! There isn't all the beagling or sizing in the world to fix that!! I have a number of pieces of LEE reloading equipment & swear by them but their molds suck! But . . . it's my fault . . . I knew better. Pat

If someone else had of done to me what I did to myself . . . I'd have killed him. Humility is an asset. Heh - heh.

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RicinYakima posted this 24 February 2016

Ya buy cheap, you get cheap.

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norm posted this 24 February 2016

.354x.310? thats horrible

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Pigslayer posted this 24 February 2016

norm wrote: .354x.310? thats horrible
Yep, Starrett dosen't lie. You believe that crap? I even double checked with my dial calipers! Pat

If someone else had of done to me what I did to myself . . . I'd have killed him. Humility is an asset. Heh - heh.

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Pigslayer posted this 24 February 2016

RicinYakima wrote: Ya buy cheap, you get cheap.
Guess I have to re-learn that lesson every once in a while. Pat

If someone else had of done to me what I did to myself . . . I'd have killed him. Humility is an asset. Heh - heh.

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Ed Harris posted this 24 February 2016

I got an email from Tom at Accurate that my new 35-122T has been shipped. I will send you some from the first heat.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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Pigslayer posted this 24 February 2016

Ed Harris wrote: I got an email from Tom at Accurate that my new 35-122T has been shipped. I will send you some from the first heat.Thank you Ed. Pat

If someone else had of done to me what I did to myself . . . I'd have killed him. Humility is an asset. Heh - heh.

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 24 February 2016

hey pat ... it is a statistical thing ... getting an adequate product for an adequate price ... kinda like marriage ... a statistical thing ... i have about 12 lee molds ... statistically ( g ) they are adequate . oh, my lbt and old west and original nei molds are 100 per cent ok .... heh ...

edit ::i'll send you 10 bucks for your double-bubble mold .. i'll use it for a mold blank for a 45 cal or so ... pm if ok .

ken

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Pigslayer posted this 25 February 2016

Ken Campbell Iowa wrote: hey pat ... it is a statistical thing ... getting an adequate product for an adequate price ... kinda like marriage ... a statistical thing ... i have about 12 lee molds ... statistically ( g ) they are adequate . oh, my lbt and old west and original nei molds are 100 per cent ok .... heh ...

edit ::i'll send you 10 bucks for your double-bubble mold .. i'll use it for a mold blank for a 45 cal or so ... pm if ok .

kenAlready went out in the trash. Pat

If someone else had of done to me what I did to myself . . . I'd have killed him. Humility is an asset. Heh - heh.

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Pigslayer posted this 25 February 2016

I noticed that the “Inspected by Shirley” sticker is no longer attached to their molds. Haven't seen that sticker on the last three (defective) molds that I bought from them. Hmmmmmmm. Must have let Shirley go. Probably outsourcing to China. LOL

If someone else had of done to me what I did to myself . . . I'd have killed him. Humility is an asset. Heh - heh.

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tturner53 posted this 26 February 2016

I must just be lucky. None of my dozens of Lee molds (old and new) are truly junk. Some are really good. Especially the special order ones from Ranch Dog Outdoors and Midsouth Shooter's Supply. Not in the same class as my SAECO, LBT, NOE,RCBS, even most Lymans. But a lot of good useful bullets, cheap fun too.

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2coldhere posted this 27 February 2016

I just bought a Lee C309-200-R to add to my eight or so other Lee molds. I like the new alignment method and also noticed the ferrals have been lengthened, even though I've never had a problem with the earlier design. When I went to measure the diameter, had to look closely just to see the match lines they were so well aligned. And the nose measured .2995 Guess I've just been lucky in never having had a bad one.

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PredFan posted this 27 February 2016

Maybe that is the problem I've been having with my 44 mold. It's a Lee 240 grain 44 ca and it's making bullets that end up being anywhere from 248 grains up to 260 or so.

Where is the best place to get bullet molds? The bullets so far have been firing fine but I don't like the lack of consistency in weight. It's difficult to figure out how much powder to use. I have to do math!:shock:

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Pigslayer posted this 27 February 2016

PredFan wrote: Maybe that is the problem I've been having with my 44 mold. It's a Lee 240 grain 44 ca and it's making bullets that end up being anywhere from 248 grains up to 260 or so.

Where is the best place to get bullet molds? The bullets so far have been firing fine but I don't like the lack of consistency in weight. It's difficult to figure out how much powder to use. I have to do math!:shock:
Accurate molds is where I go! Got a great catalog!  

If someone else had of done to me what I did to myself . . . I'd have killed him. Humility is an asset. Heh - heh.

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cbshtr posted this 12 March 2016

I bought several Lee molds a few years back. I tried the CTL 312-160 2R and the bullets were all but perfect except the gas check shank is too large to slip the gas checks on. I have a way of fitting them on square but that adds another step to prepping the bullets. I finally got around today to trying the C312-185R I bought at the same time since it's so much easier to size then bump. I have a couple Eagan taper dies so an oversize nose would be no problem. Well to my surprise, who would have guessed,  they cast almost perfectly round at .3125 on the body but only .2985 on the nose. This is way undersized for the 303 British let alone normal 30 calibers. I bought 2 of the molds at the same time so I'm not expecting anything better with the other one but I'll try it anyway. I really don't like lapping drive bands but I will if I have to. But, there is no way I'm going to try to lap the nose on 2 cavities and expect them to end up the same. I have several more molds I bought at that time that I havent used yet. I guess I'm going to have to try them all so I can send all the rejects back to Lee for replacement. I guess the most frustrating thing is I take the time to prep the molds properly, which has been posted multiple times, and it was all for nothing.

Robert Homan

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gpidaho posted this 13 March 2016

As I posted a while back, my Lee 6 hole 35cal 200gr. RF is so out of round that when sized .358 the sizing extends half way up the nose on one side. My new NOE 360-200 mould arrived in todays mail. It's a RG2 with flat point, hollow point and cup point pins. I'm hoping this will be the one for my 35cal. rifles. Also took delivery of the NOE push through sizing die. The NOE sizing bushings are exact as to the size ordered. Very nice set up. Gp

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Pigslayer posted this 13 March 2016

RicinYakima wrote: Ya buy cheap, you get cheap.
Well, that's just it Ric, I have been more than satisfied with every other LEE product that I own without a hitch. I have two presses, one of which being a 4-hole turret press which is a heck of a lot of bang for the buck, die sets, bullet sizing dies, shell holders, 2 LEE auto primes, taper crimp dies, pro auto disk powder measures etc.. All good stuff.      I know that their molds are made on modern automated equipment. So . . . . how hard would it be to find employees that can read a set of calipers or run their equipment. I don't get it! Pat

If someone else had of done to me what I did to myself . . . I'd have killed him. Humility is an asset. Heh - heh.

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John Alexander posted this 13 March 2016

My experience with Lee products has been similar to Pat's except that I have never had a problem with a Lee bullet mold even though I have a bunch of them. I have a lot of other Lee equipment and it has been first rate often better designed than the high priced competition. 

If I had the terrible experience that others have cited I would send them back.  Lee needs to know that bad molds are getting out. I hope that they would make good on them.

If you believe the old saw “you get what you pay for.” you should talk to a Jaguar, Mercedes, or Land Rover owner.

John

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frnkeore posted this 13 March 2016

I've also had good quality products in Lee. Of my 3, 10 lb pots, one burned out. I've had one since 1985 and the other two since about 1990. Not sure which one burn out. I now have two 20 lb pots (all pots are bottom pour) and still use one 10 lb. After trouble shooting the 20 lb's I don't have any problems.

Of my molds, I've had two that had mismatch halfs and cast out of round. I don't shoot them much, because I shoot mostly spitzers. The picture is one, shot at 100 yd, I modified the nose on.

When I need a ready made loading tool, I choose Lee first if they make it. I have 3 presses, 4 station classic and two 3  station regular. one of those one up graded to 4 station.

Frank

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Pigslayer posted this 13 March 2016

John Alexander wrote: My experience with Lee products has been similar to Pat's except that I have never had a problem with a Lee bullet mold even though I have a bunch of them. I have a lot of other Lee equipment and it has been first rate often better designed than the high priced competition. 

If I had the terrible experience that others have cited I would send them back.  Lee needs to know that bad molds are getting out. I hope that they would make good on them.

If you believe the old saw “you get what you pay for.” you should talk to a Jaguar, Mercedes, or Land Rover owner.

John
John,      The reason I haven't send the defective molds back is this; $6.95 flat rate shipping, packing materials costs at about $2.00 & 1-1/2 hrs. of my time to go to the PO to ship. Sometimes I wonder if they are counting on that. This last incident has though prompted me to write a letter to them. I hope that they listen. Pat

If someone else had of done to me what I did to myself . . . I'd have killed him. Humility is an asset. Heh - heh.

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cbshtr posted this 07 April 2016

I finally got around to trying the other C312-185-1R mold the other day. Same dimensions as the first. I emailed Lee and the response was it is dimensionally correct. Someone please chime in because I'm pretty sure the nose is suppose to be .303” instead of .298". They said I could return them for evaluation. I also got a 457-405F mold at the same time that only one of the blocks was cut for venting. They said to try it first to see if it works before returning it. I like their products but these molds are starting to waste my time trying to get them to work.

Robert Homan

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