I thought I'd share my exchange with Lee Precision about the quality ("roundness") they've been guaranteeing for their bullet molds.
I'm sure you can read through the bulsh.
Mr. Terbltim,
Thank you for choosing Lee Precision, and for your letter. In the recent past we used to make our bullet molds by lathe boring, and at that time we could hold the mold cavity to within .001 inch roundness, because the mold cavities were bored with the mold halves clamped together.
We have since changed our manufacturing process to CNC milling. The mold cavities are still machined with the mold halves clamped together, but now rather than the mold block spinning, the cutting tool is spinning.
This process is not as accurate with regard to roundness as lathe boring.
If you are resizing after casting the resizing process will "true up" the bullet diameter, at least in our sizing dies, which swage the bullet to size rather than shaving it off.
Thanks for bringing the error on our website to our attention, it should have been changed when we changed the mold making process.
If you are not satisfied with one of our bullet molds, please return it to the factory with a note describing the problem. If the mold can't be repaired it will be replaced. Our address is:
Lee Precision, Inc.
4275 Highway "U"
Hartford, WI 53027
At 02:46 PM 8/17/2010, you wrote:
Dear Lee Precision,
I've been a customer of yours for decades.
Most of your products are suitable to my needs and some are quite good.
I have been casting bullets for about 30 years and Lee bullet molds have figured prominently in that experience. In recent times I've noted that Lee is making the following claim about their bullet molds:
Only Lee guarantees roundness of .001 or less.
(copied from your web site today.)
I think that is a very bold claim to make based on my experience with the bullets cast from Lee molds. I have many Lee molds but each and every one casts an oval-shaped bullet regardless of caliber, alloy or applied "techniques". Some are a more pronounced oval than the others.
As a rule I have grown accustomed to seeing bullets that fall from the mold with a 0.003" difference between the "small side" and the "large side" of the oval-shaped bullet.
(I have a 6-cavity mold, one cavity of which casts bullets that measure .451" to .455" depending on where on the circumference you hold the caliper. This for the Lee C452-300-RF bullet. This mold makes 6 different-sized bullets with each cast. No two are alike.)
Another rule I've grown accustomed to is that bullets from Lee molds measure "smaller" near the seam (where the mold halves come together) than between the seams.
In truth, these levels of out-of-roundness are tolerable for "plinking" types of shooting but once the shooter seeks higher performance he'll eventually start buying molds from other manufacturers.
If Lee "guarantees" roundness of 0.001" (or less,) what is the remedy for these molds that cast bullets that are so obviously out-of-round?
Respectfully,
Terbltim
