Skip to main content
Help Center Community Shop

Lee bullet mold???

taperloc
Does anyone have an opinion regarding the Lee Aluminum bullet molds?
I have always used the old Lyman molds. How well do these Aluminum molds work?
0

Comments

8 comments

Date Votes
  • eastbank
    i use both, the lee,s are lighter and cost less and with a little care are ok. but they heat up quicker and will guald and can warp if over heated. the lyman are heavier,heat up slower, cost more, but i think they produce better bullets. but if you are casting for a rifle you shoot little a lee may be better. eastbank.
    0
  • 11b6r
    Have used both, both are good. Aluminum DOES warm up faster, which is good- cold mold= bad bullets. If casting a LOT, pay attention, if getting too hot, let cool a bit. I use the Lee TLC molds for 45 and 38- no sizing needed, lube w/ liquid Alox.
    0
  • richbug
    The 2 cavity ones are OK.

    The 6 cavity molds are the best molds ever for my purposes. You can easily crank out thousands of bullets in an afternoon.
    0
  • heavyiron
    I have used Lee molds for approximately 25 years and they produce excellent bullets with accuracy better than I can obtain from a pistol.

    I think the two and six bullet molds tend to control the heat of the mold better than the single cavity molds.

    One other advantage to the aluminum mold is that they don't rust if you live in a humid climate. This may or may not be an advantage.

    Regards,

    Heavyiron
    0
  • taperloc
    Thanks everyone. You have given me the info. I was looking for. I was afraid that the low price of the Lee molds would equate to poor quality and other problems.
    Taperloc.
    0
  • dtknowles
    I have a couple Lee molds and I think they might be fine for light use. They do warm up faster and you don't have to worry about rust but the wear out faster. I have had problems with my 9mm mold due to heavy use. The biggest problem is with the alignment pins and the corrosponding slots. After 10s of 1000s of open/close cycles at high temperature the slots got distorted by contact with the steel pins so the molds would not close completely and halves did not line up properly. I removed the burrs and peened the edges of the slots to tighten them back up and that has been good for a few more 1000s of bullets but it needs attention again.

    Second problem, the screw that secures the sprue plate is just a selftapping screw and does not have a locking set screw to hold it in place so now I have to frequently retighten it. Like maybe every 20 or 30 pours.

    This is a two cavity mold, I have Lee Molds for round balls and conicals for my black powder stuff and have not had problems but I expect that is due the the big difference in the amount of use.

    I have also had the pins that hold the handles on work loose and the nut and bolt that hold the handles together loosen up. These are really minor problems and easily fixed not like the first two problems mentioned.

    I don't have problems like these with my Lyman molds. With care the steel molds will last forever. I have second hand used molds from the Ideal company that might be close to 70 or 80 years old that show no issues after who knows how many 10s of 1000s of bullets.

    I don't think I would buy another aluminum mold but I will still use the ones I have and keep repairing the 9mm one until I can't find a way to get it to cast good bullets.

    Just sharing my experience, your mileage may vary.
    0
  • bpost
    I too have many Lyman moulds and several Lee molds. I like the six cavity for pistol, the 2 cavity is fine for rifle. You can crank out 50 pounds of bullets real fast with a six cavity. The molds will be good for at least 50,000 bullets with minor care. They damage and wear a bit more than solid steel but cost a lot less. The benefits far outweigh the problems and you can buy three for the price of one Lyman.
    0
  • glabray
    The aluminum molds work great. No chance of soldering the halves together, no rusting, no conditioning. The only disadvantage I see to them compared to the steel molds is that the aluminum ones don't hold their temperature as well. A very consistant cadence is required to keep the mold temp constant.
    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Recent Activity