I am an ardent adherent to Lee Molds.
I know there are other molds out there and I know there are good reasons to choose those other molds.
But for reasons of economy and ease of use, I have used Lee molds for about 35 years and even though I do own molds from other manufacturers, I consistently gravitate to the Lee molds I own when I have a choice.
I also acknowledge the annoying habit inherent in Lee molds where the retaining screw for the sprue cutter backs out and allows the sprue cutter to loosen up. On some of my Lees, I just keep a Phillips screwdriver handy. On others I have drilled and tapped the mold to accept a set screw to hold the retaining screw in place.
BUT....
I just received my first Lee mold with which I have a real complaint. In this mold the sockets that the locating studs engage to align the mold halves were not properly installed. The studs did not engage the sockets at all. The result was bullets which were terribly formed. One of the sockets fell out of the mold while I was investigating the problem. I used a vise to force the sockets into the mold and the alignment appears to be correct. Today I will use the mold and hopefully the sockets will remain in place even when the mold is up to temperature.
More later.
I know there are other molds out there and I know there are good reasons to choose those other molds.
But for reasons of economy and ease of use, I have used Lee molds for about 35 years and even though I do own molds from other manufacturers, I consistently gravitate to the Lee molds I own when I have a choice.
I also acknowledge the annoying habit inherent in Lee molds where the retaining screw for the sprue cutter backs out and allows the sprue cutter to loosen up. On some of my Lees, I just keep a Phillips screwdriver handy. On others I have drilled and tapped the mold to accept a set screw to hold the retaining screw in place.
BUT....
I just received my first Lee mold with which I have a real complaint. In this mold the sockets that the locating studs engage to align the mold halves were not properly installed. The studs did not engage the sockets at all. The result was bullets which were terribly formed. One of the sockets fell out of the mold while I was investigating the problem. I used a vise to force the sockets into the mold and the alignment appears to be correct. Today I will use the mold and hopefully the sockets will remain in place even when the mold is up to temperature.
More later.