Would you buy....

[Jim]

....A Lee mold of any given caliber instead of any other mfgr. if Lee made the mold of your choice? I've written to The Honorable Sir Richard and asked him if he would consider enlarging his line of molds and have received no response.

If Lee made the caliber and style or even close on the style, would you buy theirs instead of somebody else's? I'm going to let this thread run untill it dies and look at the responses. If it leans toward being Lee friendly, I'm considering copying and forwarding the entirety of the thread to Mr. Lee. No need to bash here, that's not what this is about. Just curious to see how much influence we can stir up .

Thanks, fellas.

[StrawHat]

I am guessing a lot of folks would consider it (just look at the number of group buys that used to go to Lee) IF:

1 The time between ordering and delivery was reasonable.

and

2 The dimensions of the castins were acceptable.

Those are the two criteria I use to evaluate molds. To me it matters not one whit if the mold is iron, brass, aluminum or ? as long as I get it fairly soon after I order it and it casts a bullet I can use. Undersized bullets that arrive late are no good to me.

Hope this helps.

I always wondered why some of the "classic" bullets were not included in the Lee lineup.

I agree about the bashing but he needs to understand that a bullet needs to be a certain size, being close doesn't make it.

[Jim]

I failed to make myself clear. I'm talking about if Lee made molds as stock items that are available like the rest of their line.

[big dale]

I'm betting that the guys that cast for the 41 mag just wish he would still make the 240 grain SWC and the 238 grain round nose that he discontinued....

Oh, never mind he no longer makes any molds for the 41.

Big Dale

[Bret4207]

Yes. In a heartbeat. That is as long as they were made correctly and of proper dimensions. I have Lee moulds that have cast thousands of fine boolits for 20 years and they're still good. I wish they'd use a little tougher alloy, especially in the 2 bangers.

I wonder if they'd consider a "Premium" line. I'd pay a few more dollars for a better material.

[pdawg_shooter]

I prefer Lee moulds. Bust bang for the buck, but like you there are many I cant get from them.

[stubshaft]

I xast 5X as many bullets out of my Lee moulds as I do from my other custom moulds. That doesn't mean that they are the best but they can produce serviceable bullets for most of my plinking needs.

[Heavy lead]

First let me say I'm not a Lee hater, in fact most of my reloading equipement (probably about half I would say) is Lee, I love their pistol dies and the turret press is awesome, and always will use the 20lb. casting pot. However I do not like their boolit moulds, especially the 2 hole moulds, yes I have them and particuliarly like the C430-310RF and the C452-300RF, mine both cast proper size (.432 and .454) and are an awesome heavy for the 44 and 45, but as a whole I'll gladly pay 3 to 4 times more for an iron or steel mould, rate of casting is much faster and I can sustain a higher quality cast for longer. As far as the 6 cavity moulds for smaller boolits they are ok, but they need to get rid of the sprue plate, it's over engineered and I simply bend them all the time. Swede Nelson with the plain Jane plate he uses should be adopted by Lee, it would cut their cost tons and work much better, the hinge end (45 degree end) is simply too week and needs to be squared off and lengthened and the handle and cam weilding out into space is simply ungainly in the way.
What I really wish is Swede Nelson and Mihec would have a full line. I don't mind paying for moulds, but I want quality and so far these two are simply awesome.

[dragonrider]

Nor am I a Lee hater but I hate their delivery time. One year from order to delivery is rediculous. I think 3 months would be too long but acceptable. It's doubtful that I will be getting into any more group buys if they go through Lee. I wish that Lee would use the same locating pins in the two cavities that they use in the 6 cavities.

[HeavyMetal]

Back on line with the intent of the thread:

Yes I would buy more Lee molds IF they were more quality consistant, just plain common QC, and he over hauled the designs.

The round flats are actually a neat idea but some one at Lee is infatuated with a lot of small lube grooves on the boolits! Tumble lube's I can see but a standard 44with two or three mni grooves and a gas check?

Some one finally talked him into copying the H&G 68 but he has failed to copy the 429421?

I don't get it.

Good luck getting anyone in management to give you the time of day! I will suggest you ask 45nut how he managed the deal with Lee he may have an idea or two.

[timkelley]

Yes, I'd buy more molds from Lee if they were correctly made and available from stock. I believe six banger Lees are the best deal going.

[docone31]

I like Lee Molds and dies. I found them really easy to work with.
With the molds, they are really inexpensive so a little QC work on my part is not unreasonable. I lap my molds, sometimes sharpen the sprue plates, no biggee.
With my dies, they have always modified the way I have recquested and turn around time was at light speed!
I broke the toggle on my Classic Cast Press. I had one in 5 days! I was more than impressed.
With lapping my molds, I try to enlarge them equally, then I size the castings. I get great results.
A Lee Mold costs what a box of 100 bullets would, so if I have to do some work, what the heck?
I can understand their small choice inventory. I have my own business and if I chase every idea a customer has, I will have a full, no business shop. They make what works day in, and day out. I do the same thing.
When I talk to folks at Lee, I speak with Pat. He has always done me right.

[DLCTEX]

I would like to see smaller caliber molds in the lineup. I have the 22 Bator mold made by Lee and it casts great boolits, so I don't understand their aversion to smaller calibers. I also don't understand ignoring the 257 Weatherby, dropping the 410 Lee Loader, hollowpoint molds, the 311-170 F molds, and a number of other things. Is it just that they want to concentrate on what sells best and ignore the rest? Obviously people are willing to pay a higher price for some of these things, look at what they sell for on Ebay.

[docone31]

Most people who get Lee stuff are first timers.
I know the difficulty I had when I first started. I waited 20yrs untill I tried it again.
I can just imagine a newbie trying to cast .22 castings in an aluminum mold for the first time!
That might be a large reason why Lee has only standard choices.
Less freaking out newbie customers!
I would do the same thing.

[462]

Jim,

Yep.

[alamogunr]

Given recent experience with GB's, I would have to say NO. They would have to demonstrate that quality and consistency were obtainable from them. If I ordered a mold based on reports from other buyers, I would want it to be exactly the same. I realize that most participants in GB's are very critical and expect molds to be per specifications. This doesn't seem to be too much to expect from a stock mold. I haven't seen any specifications(dimensions) for their stock molds. Do they exist?

John
W.TN

[Riverrat]

Yes!! I have always wondered why they did not have a better selection. I would love to see some molds in .270 and other smaller calibers.

Ed

[sundog]

Dale, same thing here. The 22 Bator in the Lee is outstanding. Lee is missing the boat on the small calibers. Maybe if they did more of them, they would learn to hold tolerance better on the stuff they do cut. Yeah, that was a slam.

[TAWILDCATT]

hi Paul:the company is making as fast as they can.I too have talked to them.they are up to their maximum.one press they make is 150 a day and they have 2000 on order.if you know how a factory works you would realize they cant go any faster.just like the ammo companies.from what I understand they make more molds than all companies combined. those molds are made using extrusions from the alum foundries.and the two cavities work great if you keep the guides lubed.
and I dont see how you can break the molds the way some of you do.you want them to last treat them right or get another brand to beat on.

[Marvin S]

Yes, would like to see better 32-20, 32-40 and a good 43 Spanish all of these casting a nice FAT boolit.