Somewhere around 10-12 years ago Lee changed their two cavity block design and I did not have any luck with them. I have several of the old style 2 cavity molds that I've had for the best part of twenty years and continue to use and have never had issues with them. I always liked these molds as they were inexpensive enough to buy a mold to give a firearm a tryout with cast and not break the bank. Treated with care they last very well. I've not found this to be the case with the new style.
When they made the change I bought two, one was the 311155 for 7.62x39. I didn't get one run out of it before the mold halves were misaligning and making bullets that were not just out of round but the two halves were offset by as much as .010". Completely unusable. I had the same issue with a 452200 SWC mold. I simply quit buying them and went to buying NOE molds and I've never looked back.
All that said, I love the Lee 6 cavity molds. They flat out work. I have several of them I've been running for the last twenty years and they just keep on casting great bullets.
My issue is this, I recently bought a 223 barrel for my Encore and want to give it a spin with cast, but I don't want to invest in either a 6 cavity, a more expensive aluminum 4 or 5 cavity or a two cavity iron/steel mold. I would like to hear about others experiences with the new style Lee 2 cavity, the good and the bad and particularly how to ensure that the dang thing don't fail inside the first run. I don't mind Lee products, I run a couple Load Master's, cast with Lee molds and casting pots, and use their dies, but these 2 cavity molds have left me feeling less than confident I will get my moneys worth if I lay out the cash for one.
What say ye?
Edit: Found Midway running the 6 cavity for 50 bucks and free shipping this evening, problem solved. Thanks for your help guys.