LEE bullet molds
bpost
Member Posts: 32,664 ✭✭✭✭
I have been casting bullets for about 50 years. I ran into a new one for me. A brand new six cavity LEE mold supposed to be a 125 grain 2R round nose bullet. I use straight wheel weights mixed with 20% linotype for a hard easy to cast bullet.
I casted a three pound coffee can full of them. Wow, what an exercise in frustration. They seemed to size hard, that should have clued me in, it did not register at the time. I loaded about a thousand of them and tried them in my Glock 34. Most would not chamber and fire. Even though my load was proven and safe it showed pressure signs that worried me. One pulled the bullet out of the case when it would not fire. It was stuck HARD in the bore. I had to drive it out with a brass rod.
As usual the junk digital caliper had a dead battery. This thing ate batteries like crazy. Even not using it the battery went dead after a month or so. I got a Mitotoya (SP?) industrial one and it is well worth the money. Anyway, I checked the as dropped bullets that were supposed to be .355. None of them were. They ran from .3565 to .3602. out of curiosity I weighed them. All of them were over 130 grains. One was 132 grains!
I sent it back to LEE and was just told they were sending me a new one. This is the second LEE mold that caused me headaches. I had a 2 cavity 340 grain .458 bullet mold for the 45-70. It casted oval bullets. It was obvious the cavities were off center in the mold block. It was cheaper to throw it away and buy a new one than send it back.
I just ordered Lyman #356242 mold. I have dozens of Lyman molds and have never had a single issue with one. Lesson learned. Cast bullets tend to shoot better if they are .001 over normal jacketed bullet diameter. They seal the bore better reducing leading from gas cutting. A cast bullet of .356 is proper for most 9MM applications.
Getting to be a old fart I am not as stout as I once was. The aluminum molds are much lighter so that is why I was using the LEE molds. No more. I am retired and can spend the extra time using Lyman molds casting two at a time and know I am getting a good bullet. YMMV.
Comments
Last 10 years the batteries come half dead or get leaky with in a couple months in wall clocks. Not having to be in the bathroom. I typically pull the batteries out of electronics after usage. Less likely to blow my fuse if the battery gets salt crusty in the electronics.
I did wonder about aluminum molds cooling too fast or heated up too fast for casting.
Now I wonder could you have pushed the bullets to resize and did the Russian "hollow points" with a drill to lighten the bullet? Then again melting is easier.
Next time you might cast a handful and do your measurements before loading a thousand rounds. Then again you're retired. It's not like you got anything better to do.
The sent me a new mold. I should get some time this week to test it out for diameter and weight.
Watch it be the same as the one you already had.
actually your numbers for a 6 cavity mold aren't that bad + .004" and 2.0 gns. the lead alloy has much to do with weight also. If you size them to .356" and load properly they will work fine.
They were supposed to weigh 125 grains, most were over 130 grains. The bad mold was factory marked 355 125. The new mold is marked 356 125. I will get some cast weighed and see what the un-sized diameter runs.
The problem was the noses were way to fat to fit the chamber leade. THe bullets were HARD jammed into the rifling making getting them out a tough chore with some bullets being pulled and left int he chamber. The OAL was correct. I can see a visible difference in the nose shape with this new mold. I believe they has a different bullet of .358 cherry used and the mold mismarked from the factory.
A few test bullets will tell the tale for sure.
I must be lucky because I have several Lee molds and have never had a problem with any of them.