The new Lee two cavity bullet molds

[Maximumbob54]

This is almost a rant. Or maybe it's a little bit of a rant.

Lee has completely redesigned their two cavity molds. The blocks are smaller and they have a smaller bottom that I find sometimes rolls on the bench if I bump it. That's not often and it's not a huge deal but the old larger blocks didn't have this issue.





The new design includes conical shaped alignment pins instead of the small rods on the side and bottom of the old model.



This leads me to my real complaint that I hope a trick will correct similar to how the old mold has. With the old mold in order to quickly and easily close it all you have to do is point the mold straight up in the air and close it. The majority of the time if you do that then the blocks will line right up and close perfect. So far no matter how I try to close these molds (I have four of them so far) they end up like this:





The top pic is if I try to close it with the plate closed and the bottom is with it open. All I have figured out is to have them still at least slightly open, set them on the edge of the bench, and then gently close them. This almost always gets the blocks opposite each other so the pins line up right. I think the issue starts with the blocks have about twice as much wiggle in them as the older design. The older ones wiggle but these downright jiggle. If anyone figures this out I would greatly appreciate the tip!!!

[Ranch Dog]

Lordy! I see what you have been describing now. That is quite a change from the old style!

[akuser47]

Can the lever be realigned in any way to give better interface of the mold blocks? Rerivited or as bolt with washers to make it so? I am shocked that LEE is producing this product.

[Maximumbob54]

The only serious idea I've come up with is maybe to try some shim material to decrease the wiggle and see if that would help the blocks line up better. The rivet pins could be redone but at that point I would be taking on some serious work that I don't feel like doing. I would need to find new pins or tap the hole for a screw. I'm hoping maybe this is just a growing pain that they will overcome with these. But I'm worried that I now have four molds I will hardly ever use.

[mikld]

I have some molds with mis-matched handles. The groove on the side of the mold blocks are wider than the handle "tongs", and they flop around a bit. When I have a problem closing, which isn't very often, I lightly set the mold on the bench top as I close it, and the mold halves line up quickly. I don't even think about it anymore, I just do it out of habit and it works quite well for me. I also have a new Lee design mold and have not encountered the "problem" you describe...

[Maximumbob54]

Well poop. All four of mine are floppers. Perhaps mine are early new models and they have improved them. That would be just my luck.

[Ranch Dog]

Bob, have you thought about returning the molds to Lee? I received my C309-113-R today for my 30 Carbine and it is as slick as it gets. Quite an improvement from the original two cavity molds.

[Maximumbob54]

I may shoot them an email and include my pictures and see what they have to say.

[Ranch Dog]

I may shoot them an email and include my pictures and see what they have to say.

Yeah, I sure would do something about it. I removed the blocks late last night to polish the upper surfaces of the blocks along with the underside of the sprue plate. I'm really impressed with this mold. I had quit sell the double cavity as I thought the quality was awful but if mine is a representing what is they are supposed to be, I wish I will still in the business . Still I would rather have this mold in a six cavity and I've already Micro Banded the design for TLC309-113-RF and a future special order (if that ever takes place again).

For those that haven't seen the details of the way the new blocks attach to the double cavity handles, I've included a couple of pictures.

Lee_dc_new_01.jpg

I wish I would have taken another shot that better showed the block slot width for you Maxbob, it is a fairly close tolerance fit.

Lee_dc_new_02.jpg

The "auger" nosed pin comes out relatively easily with an allen wrench.

Lee_dc_new_03.jpg

A bit blurry but you can seen the self taping auger on the nose of the pin. With the holes in the block and handle aligned it does take quite a bit of force to seat this self tapping auger, the lower block is not threaded, the pint augers itself into the block.

[Maximumbob54]

I still think I may be able to fix my issue with some shims if I remove the pins. I may even try to drill a hole clear through and then replace the pins with bolts and that might hold the blocks a little tighter.