My $16.74 Lee Mould

[Ben]

MidWay had these on sale for $16.74
( I just checked their WebSite, over night they went back to $29.00 )

I have the conventional lube groove version.
For $16.74, I figured it was time to order the tumble lube version.

Ben

The sprue plate is a stamped piece of metal.
The edges of the plate look like teeth on a saw blade.
Nothing to do but take a flat file and remove that.
Then I take a sanding block with some 220 paper and clean up
and smooth the edges of the sprue plate.

The mould cavities look very nice.

As is usual, the sprue plate was so tight that it wouldn't move without cutting deep grooves in the top of the mould. Time to give it my " standard treatment " for all new Lee Moulds.
I'll install a 10-32 set screw. This will allow me to put whatever tension on the sprue plate that I want.

The hole is drilled and tapped now.
I like to drop in a small piece of copper down into the threaded hole to protect the threads on the sprue plate bolt.

The job is finished

Lee aluminum moulds are VERY soft.
You're guaranteed to gall the tops of the mould if the sprue plate is too tight.

 

[shuz]

Nice pictures and write up, Ben!

 

[Ben]

Thanks,
Ben

 

[Dimner]

Ben, that trick with the pice of copper is slick. I have been looking for a way to avoid marring threads with a set screw.

As for sourcing set screws, are they something usually found at the local hardware store? Ace, type stores, not the big box ones.

 

[Ben]

10-32 set screws at Ace Hardware

 

[Jeff H]

Thanks again, Ben. I now keep set screws and a dedicated drill and tap in my mould repair/spare parts box.

I've even used this trick on a couple 6C alignment pins.

 

[Ben]

I wouldn't be without that trick.
Very useful.

Ben

 

[CZ93X62]

16 bones and change might be why the sprue plate looked like a hacksaw blade. The mould came in a semi-finished state, which is fine if the discounted price applies.

I don't own a tumble-lube mould. The only thing I've used LLA for is as a coating for my paper-patched bullets. It excels in that role. With the onset of powder-coating, bullet lube may go the way of 8-track tape decks, but I'll endeavor to persevere with the Greasy Kid Stuff.

 

[Ben]

I've not headed in that direction as of yet.
I still hold on to the old conventional ways.

As of late, I've found that if you are not
interested in buying a " Lee mould kit " that
will require some work ( on your behalf ) prior to casting,
you best not buy one of them.

Ben

 

[KeithB]

I look at Lee molds from a little different perspective. Could I make a mold as good as a Lee mold for the price? If I did make a mold that was in that condition how much finishing work would it require and am I willing to put in that much work? Almost always, I decide it's worth it to buy a Lee and put in 30 minutes of work. Others may not agree, that's perfectly fine.

I can make a four cavity iron mold at a cost competitive with Lyman or some others, but I can't make six cavity aluminum for $39. Fact is, unless you have made a substantial investement in CNC equipment and some specialized tooling you're not going to be competitive making bullet molds commercially.

 

[oscarflytyer]

in lieu of a piece of copper, I always use a shotgun pellet. Has worked great so far.

 

[Ben]

Yes, that will also work.

 

[Trapperscott]

That's cheap enough!!! I always give my lee moulds the set screw treatment just as you have. Keeps things where you leave them.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

Nice work Ben!

I have been doing same for molds I liked and use regularly. Most prep goes a LONG way on lee molds. I have done videos on what ya need do to the spure plate!

That mold is one I bought some time back and reciently donated to another caster... Its ojive is just too fat with any powdercoat to fit into my 300bo chambers. (Only place Ill use)

CW

 

[Bret4207]

I will be interested in seeing your results with the Tumble Lube Design Ben. I've shot a lot of TL bullets, but they weren't TL designs. Most were in the Low Node-ish fps area, but they worked pretty good. This does bring me back to the infamous "30 Plinker" TL GB design, a plain based TL FN that SHOULD work fine, but so far is a disaster. Maybe you'll figure something out that will help me in this area.

 

[Ben]

My nearly the same bullet , the Lee 155 gr. gas check with a single lube groove works fine in several of my .30 cal. rifles. What does that have to do with this T/L design, maybe nothing ? ?

Ben

 

[Ben]

Outside casting today.

Using the $16.74 Lee mould you see above.
The drive bands are a nice round .3120
Might not be good numbers for a Mosin or an SKS but I plan to
shoot these in a 308 Win. and several different 30-06 rifles.
I've installed a .015" thick aluminum g/c
Sized the bullet to .311, lubed with alox & beeswax.
Rolled in BLL sitting on wax paper to dry overnight.