I guess I don't get it .
Posted: 04 Mar 2017 17:41
I don't understand . Every now and then someone posts " I have a shoe box full of Lee moulds that ____________ , I'm going to toss " , so I send a PM " hey I've a club foot kid that wants to cast but has all the grace and smooth of a 16 yo asking the cute girl out and I'd hate to have him start with my NOE moulds " or something equally as clever . Looks like about 1/5 has paid off . Eager to see how terrible the moulds are I rubbed the rust of the really bad 1s and did a little prep on them all got them warmed up and poured a few . I don't think a couple of the moulds were even used . As a last bit they are all the old style moulds .
In the mix , an original Bator 22 , 285-130, 309-130, 312362 (? A Lyman 30 cal 100 gr RN plain base ) , 401-145 , 430-214 and 456-220 RN .
Outside of some lube wandering and mould temps being low there didn't seem to be any difficulties .
The Bator .
It has a weird step on the nose , I'm thinking it was a second maybe . It also has almost no step for the gas check . Not necessarily a bad thing for squirrel wreckers and general practice. They seem to weigh the correct 50 gr and are .226 with a .218 GC shank.
The 100 gr Lyman
I paid good money for this 1 . It is fussy about how it pours but as iron moulds go once it gets up to temperature it runs well and makes a nice PB 97 gr RN of .312 . Probably a little bit small for its intended 32 pistols but fine for the 30-30 and 308 plinking and squirrel duty.
The 309-130 RN
This is a single , GC mould I never did get it up to temperature with the pre heat or casting but that isn't a mould fault . The weight is on and the last 2 pretty bullets cast were about .312 bands , .287 GC shank , .301 nose and 127 gr . I think if the pot is a little hotter these will run better , but the pot is down at 710 in deference to the 5-6 cavity 45s I've been running .
The 285-130 RN.
Is a single also I thought I had this in a 2C also it turns out it is a different bullet . This one has a longer nose than the 2C mould . These show 133 gr , .260 GC , .287 bands and .275 nose . This guy was on the hot plate quite a while and the 3rd pour gave me keepers . No issues here either except being a single cavity mould .
The 401-145 .
These came up pretty quickly also inspite of being pestered about coming up for lunch . .4037 bands at 153gr . I'll have to run a hundred or so and see how the 40 likes these . No issues casting these either . Only 3-4 pours and keepers fell free easily .
The 429-214
Just a few pours and keepers fell free easily and tip in at 212 and 213 gr @ .433 . By this time I had dumped the sprues and rejects back in the pot and should have fluxed but I got lazy and sense there isn't any use for 44s this was just to check out the mould and see just how bad it really is .......Kind of a let down , it worked just like it was supposed to ...
The 456-220
I think this is the conical for the Ruger old army .
In just a few pours it was hot and poured frosty bullests with a .452 base , .456 middle and .462 on the front band / bottom of the ogive at 232 . Giving me the option of course to feed them to the assorted 45s so no problem with not having an ROA .
I can't see what the deal is . Is it that I have enough time in with casting aluminum moulds that I just find the hidden tweeks and run them ? Maybe there's enough wrong with me that I make the poor grade moulds look good ? Maybe I'm not picky enough to know there's some obvious problem ....
I wouldn't say that these are better or easier to work with than the iron moulds or the more expensive NOE , RCBS ,Lyman , LBT or Cramers that I have and use . There is a difference and it is worth the money particularly in smaller calibers . For the larger calibers outside of particular designs I don't see the difference being as big.
No way I'd trade my 454424 NOE for a 452-252 but the 452-255 RF is no contest and the 6C Lee wins . For 225s my NOE gets the nod . 35s are a toss by choice .
These 6 free Lee moulds are are the best money I've spent on moulds bar none . They are in spec and easy to get running with a little care .
In the mix , an original Bator 22 , 285-130, 309-130, 312362 (? A Lyman 30 cal 100 gr RN plain base ) , 401-145 , 430-214 and 456-220 RN .
Outside of some lube wandering and mould temps being low there didn't seem to be any difficulties .
The Bator .
It has a weird step on the nose , I'm thinking it was a second maybe . It also has almost no step for the gas check . Not necessarily a bad thing for squirrel wreckers and general practice. They seem to weigh the correct 50 gr and are .226 with a .218 GC shank.
The 100 gr Lyman
I paid good money for this 1 . It is fussy about how it pours but as iron moulds go once it gets up to temperature it runs well and makes a nice PB 97 gr RN of .312 . Probably a little bit small for its intended 32 pistols but fine for the 30-30 and 308 plinking and squirrel duty.
The 309-130 RN
This is a single , GC mould I never did get it up to temperature with the pre heat or casting but that isn't a mould fault . The weight is on and the last 2 pretty bullets cast were about .312 bands , .287 GC shank , .301 nose and 127 gr . I think if the pot is a little hotter these will run better , but the pot is down at 710 in deference to the 5-6 cavity 45s I've been running .
The 285-130 RN.
Is a single also I thought I had this in a 2C also it turns out it is a different bullet . This one has a longer nose than the 2C mould . These show 133 gr , .260 GC , .287 bands and .275 nose . This guy was on the hot plate quite a while and the 3rd pour gave me keepers . No issues here either except being a single cavity mould .
The 401-145 .
These came up pretty quickly also inspite of being pestered about coming up for lunch . .4037 bands at 153gr . I'll have to run a hundred or so and see how the 40 likes these . No issues casting these either . Only 3-4 pours and keepers fell free easily .
The 429-214
Just a few pours and keepers fell free easily and tip in at 212 and 213 gr @ .433 . By this time I had dumped the sprues and rejects back in the pot and should have fluxed but I got lazy and sense there isn't any use for 44s this was just to check out the mould and see just how bad it really is .......Kind of a let down , it worked just like it was supposed to ...
The 456-220
I think this is the conical for the Ruger old army .
In just a few pours it was hot and poured frosty bullests with a .452 base , .456 middle and .462 on the front band / bottom of the ogive at 232 . Giving me the option of course to feed them to the assorted 45s so no problem with not having an ROA .
I can't see what the deal is . Is it that I have enough time in with casting aluminum moulds that I just find the hidden tweeks and run them ? Maybe there's enough wrong with me that I make the poor grade moulds look good ? Maybe I'm not picky enough to know there's some obvious problem ....
I wouldn't say that these are better or easier to work with than the iron moulds or the more expensive NOE , RCBS ,Lyman , LBT or Cramers that I have and use . There is a difference and it is worth the money particularly in smaller calibers . For the larger calibers outside of particular designs I don't see the difference being as big.
No way I'd trade my 454424 NOE for a 452-252 but the 452-255 RF is no contest and the 6C Lee wins . For 225s my NOE gets the nod . 35s are a toss by choice .
These 6 free Lee moulds are are the best money I've spent on moulds bar none . They are in spec and easy to get running with a little care .