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kjohn posted this 26 June 2016

I must say that it is very nice to be able to participate in a forum discussing various moulds and not have to wade through umpteen rants about how evil Lee moulds are! :)

I have used Lee moulds exclusively for 30+ years and have always found them to work nicely. 

Thanks for providing a good place for us to share ideas and experience. :lovecast:

Two things you never want to run low on.....

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onondaga posted this 26 June 2016

http://www.castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=10258>kjohn

I enjoy Lee molds too and have dozens of them that are fine. Cleaning, maintenance of fit and lubrication methods go all over the place for people that have a hard time with anybody's molds. The Lee molds are easy for me. The only thing in Lee instructions I really disagree with is “smoking” the molds. They work better clean. The bullet lube Lee recommends for their molds works but so many overdo that and make a problem for themselves that they can't be helped out of their own bad habit. I use Silicone dielectric grease for plate and hinge pin lube but explaining the sparsity and application is fruitless to people that discount Lee. So, I don't bother.

My favorite Lee molds are the 1 OZ 12 ga slug, the R.E.A.L. muzzle-loading bullets and the TL314-90-SWC. Some Lee molds really surprise you, the  440 gr GC for .500 S&W shoots great but any reasonable load level has just too much recoil to enjoy with my Handi-rifle in 500 S&W. However, both weights of the 50 cal R.E.A.L. are lighter and easily size  for the 500 S&W.

Gary

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Ed Harris posted this 26 June 2016

Suffice to say that some people you find on the Internet are too stupid to own firearms, let alone cast bullets or load ammunition. Their ravings have entertainment value, but not here.

All are welcome if they act like an adult and play nicely.

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

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res45 posted this 27 June 2016

I now have 14 Lee moulds in both the old and new style none of which I can say anything bad about as they all cast nice bullets that shoot great in my old rifles.  I really miss the old 38 cal. 150 something gr. HP single cavity Lee mould I had many years ago when they used to make those,pretty cool design for its time.  I'm not sure what really happened to that mould.  I have a couple old Lyman/Ideal moulds as well as a few NOE mould but I like my Lee's just as well.

I really like the new design of the Lee moulds especially the new alignment pin system.  My most recent purchase from Lee was the .312” 185 gr. RNGC bullet which I will be testing out in my Mosin rifles over the 4th.  I was pleasantly surprised to find it dropping bullets close to .314” but most all my Lee mould drop over sized bullets anyways.

Some of my favorites are the Lee 32 cal. TL314 SWC,Lee .TL.312” 160 gr.,Lee  452” 200 gr. SWC & TLRN 230 gr. as well as the Lee .309 170 gr. RNFP.

Here is a photo of half of the mould block of the 185 gr. Lee I just picked up recently and it cast really nice bullets.  For less than $25 delivered it's just hard to beat.

'Artisan' in Lead, Brass & Powder.

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delmarskid1 posted this 27 June 2016

I just went to Lee's page and found out that they offer 6-cavity rifle molds for the 22 and 7.62x39.

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Scearcy posted this 27 June 2016

res45 How large is the nose on your Lee 312 185 RN mold?ThanksJim

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onondaga posted this 27 June 2016

JHS wrote: res45 How large is the nose on your Lee 312 185 RN mold?ThanksJim  My Lee C312-185-1R bullets cast in certified #2 alloy drop with a .301-.302” Nose diameter. This is a nose bore riding bullet design. My as cast driving bands are .313” on this bullet and weight in #2 alloy is a consistent 179 gr. all up sized/checked/tumble lubed. I size/check these at .311” for my 30-06 Springfield 1903A3. These bullets are my best shooters for that rifle. I HP them with the 1/8” Forster HP tool in a drill press on loaded ammo for Deer hunting at 2170 fps with H4895.

Gary

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cbshtr posted this 27 June 2016

I have two of the 312-185 rn molds of the original new style. I get .312” on bands and about .298” on the nose. I've complained twice to Lee and they said they were in specs. Can't send them back since they're in specs. They were designed for .303 British. That's .303” on nose. I still don't get how Lee thinks that .298” is in specs. I've seen others have had the same problem. Other than most of my molds being under size they are light and do a reasonable job of casting good bullets.

Robert Homan

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res45 posted this 28 June 2016

JHS wrote: res45 How large is the nose on your Lee 312 185 RN mold?ThanksJim Sorry for the late reply Jim,long day at work and I had to wait for the storm to pass before I could get out to my building.

As to the bullet the nose dia. after I did several random checks came out to be .301 to .302” The front two driving bands measured .313.5” with the back driving band next to the gas check was .314” which is what I sized the bullets to.

My bullets were cast from old wheel weights with a little Tin and water quenched straight from the mold,sized,Gator checked and lubed with White Label Lube 2500+ the same night.  Don't remember the final weight but it was somewhere around 185 grs. +/- a few tenths.

'Artisan' in Lead, Brass & Powder.

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cove posted this 05 July 2016

Res45 in his comments above shows a Lee 185 grain mold.  The vent grooves are spiral cut.  Is this a new feature for Lee molds?  For the record, bullets from a modified (lapped and a Lyman sprue plate over one cavity) 200 grain mold shoot much better in my rifle than bullets from a $200 custom mold. Cove  

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res45 posted this 12 July 2016

cove wrote: Res45 in his comments above shows a Lee 185 grain mold.  The vent grooves are spiral cut.  Is this a new feature for Lee molds?  For the record, bullets from a modified (lapped and a Lyman sprue plate over one cavity) 200 grain mold shoot much better in my rifle than bullets from a $200 custom mold. Cove   No sure exactly when Lee started mfg. there new moulds but the last three I have purchased in the past couple of years are all like the one posted above.

'Artisan' in Lead, Brass & Powder.

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onondaga posted this 12 July 2016

I believe when Lee announced the availability of their 230 gr 300 AAC  mold, that it was the first one with the re-designed blocks.

Gary

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oscarflytyer posted this 15 July 2016

Prob 1/2 (or more?) of my 20 odd molds are Lees. What I cut my teeth on mostly. Only Lee complaint I have is a 44 mold that drops @ 215 grns instead of the listed 200 grns. Lee offered to replace, I decided to keep it for the 44 SPC. Now have a 44-40 and wish it really would drop 200-205, but it works fine at 215 so really no complaints at the end of the day. If it weren't for the Lee molds - and especially the Lee cast bullet sizers, I would not be casting as much and certainly not shooting all my old rifles perfect for cast bullets.

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Myflatline posted this 21 July 2016

Ed Harris wrote: Suffice to say that some people you find on the Internet are too stupid to own firearms, let alone cast bullets or load ammunition. Their ravings have entertainment value, but not here.

All are welcome if they act like an adult and play nicely.I could not have said it better myself.  Very concise and to the point Ed.

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