Lee 358-200-RF

[gman]

Thought I would show a few bullets that I cast this morning with this new mold. Not perfect as some show fins but over all not bad. Biggest shock was the cast diameter. Coating some now to try in my 35 Remington's.

 

[Ian]

I bet if you measure closer to the parting line you'll get .359" or so. Something is very wrong with your mould, one of those bullets has a huge base fin on it because for some reason you aren't getting it closed up all the way.

 

[gman]

The size is legit. I ran some in my 360 die. Just measured around to check. Mold was cleaned and heat cycled 3 times. Find get worse if I cycle to fast. Fixing to look at it closer. Looks to close together but some cavities are a little rough on the edges so it could be burs. Better mold than some Lee's I've purchased.

 

[gman]

Definitely not closing all the way.

 

[Chris]

Ben has complained that his bad Lee molds have all been quality inspected by Shirley. Maybe you bought a Shirley mold.

 

[gman]

You know I looked for that when I opened the box. I guess nobody inspected this one. I couldn't find anything on who inspected it. Ben had posted that right before it arrived.

 

[gman]

Looks to me like the alignment pins are what's keeping it from closing flush. I did remove burs on the corners of the blocks from when the bevel was cut. Now the gap seems to be even for the length of the block. What needs to be done to move the pins?

 

[freebullet]

Put a little socket over the bushings & usually in a few whacks it will close right. Also check the handle pivot bolt. If it ain't just right it will not line up the blocks well either.

 

[Ben]

View attachment 2507 View attachment 2506 Thought I would show a few bullets that I cast this morning with this new mold. Not perfect as some show fins but over all not bad. Biggest shock was the cast diameter. Coating some now to try in my 35 Remington's.

.3665 "

Good Old Lee's throwing undersided bullets.
Gee, that is becoming standard procedure now..............

 

[Brad]

Yeah, don't water drop those and wait a week to size.
Get the alignment fixed and it will be closer to right.

 

[freebullet]

The socket outside diameter needs to be smaller than the bushing and, don't expect it to really move much. Just enough.

 

[Ian]

I don't get it. Every Lee mould I've ever had opened and shut just fine and cast round bullets, including my copy of this one which I just got a couple of months ago from Midway (also inspected by Shirley, just checked the sticker that I had pulled off the mould and stuck on the box lid). The new pin system is the berries, better than ever. Even the misused and abused freebie that Erik Ohlen threw in on a deal years ago lines up perfectly with some care and guidance that the first owner didn't give it at all.

Some pictures of the mould?

 

[gman]

 

[gman]

Ian, it open and closes fine. No trouble lining up. With it closed handles or no handles there is that gap on the bottom that you can see by shining a light into each cavity. I've polished with 0000 steel wool and removed 2 burs. Not much change. Maybe the halves are not square? Going to try it again some tomorrow. I thank everyone for their input.

 

[Brad]

Looks like the top of the mould isn't closing completely. That will give the fins on bullets like in the first post. Hard to tell for sure but is there a build up or burr on the face of the mould near the top? That would be enough to give problems.

 

[Dusty Bannister]

Gman look closely at the vent line at the nose of the third cavity from the left. Remove that spec of lead and see if that improves things a bit.

Others, my other 6 cav molds have a socket on one end and a pin on the other end. This mold has either sockets or pins on only one side. Maybe that is why the block "teeters" instead of closing flush. I have not purchased any new Lee molds of this type for a year or more, so maybe this is something new, and unimproved?
Dusty

 

[gman]

Removed that spec of lead after I reviewed the pictures I posted. No change. Getting a late start today but I'm going to see what I can do with this

 

[gman]

Decided it's going back to LEE. Maybe the next one will be better.

 

[gman]

Finally got someone with LEE on the phone today. Explained what was going on and said I would simply like a replacement of same that would fully close so it would cast usable bullets. Really like this design and would like to make it work in my 336 and I told them that. Not a problem they said. So, I'll be sending it back to them when I get back in from offshore next week. I really hated to send it in without speaking to someone. I'll report back when the replacement mold comes in. Do appreciate everyone's input!