Mould Alloy

[gwpercle]

I'm not sure of dates and mould alloy but I do find the newer 2 cavity moulds , the ones with pins not bars to have better machined cavities and the new design to be better to cast with .
Now that said ... the last new Lee double cavity had blocks that were almost too small ... I appreciate light weight but they loose heat very fast ... almost too fast !
Anyone else notice the small size of the two cavity blocks ... does it pose a problem ?
I do like the way the sprue plate screw is opposite hand threaded ... it doesn't come loose as easily .
Gary

[RBHarter]

Lee 1,2 cav moulds have always been about speed casting and the more that is cut out the faster you have to cast to keep getting good bullets . The new L shaped blocks are ok I guess for RB and up to about a 150 gr 35/38/9mm cal bullet and about a 200 gr 45 cal after that it gets more challenging . I don't have but a couple of the new 1,2 cav moulds . One is .380 RB which I will reserve further comments on past it cast great it was just dimensionally challenged . The other is a 50 cal Minie' and now that I think about it's in the old Vee groove blocks so that's of no value here ......
I guess all I have in the new blocks are the .380 RB and I bought 2 of those from different vendors 2 months apart and replaced them with a .378 RB and 95 gr RNFP mixed Lyman mould for the 36 cal 58 because they're ok for like 00000B but a chain fire waiting to happen .

Yeah , so this was next to no help .

[larryw]

I agree 100% RB!!! The Lee 1 & 2 bangers are all about "Speed casting" , way, way more so than any other aluminum mold I own.. Get up to temp, go like blazes, cool off for a second, go like crazy again, refill pot,
Take a power nap to recoup, repeat???

RB said his post was " Next to no help" Well, I beat ' ya RB.. Mine IS, No help!!!

[Green Frog]

So I get the impression (since I obviously haven’t used the “new, improved” mould) that these have less mass to hold in heat, so they heat up quickly but also cool off quickly. They don’t lend themselves to a leisurely casting session, right?

It looks like your choices are a larger, softer mould that is a little easier to work with when fresh and new but more susceptible to wear and damage, or a smaller mould of better quality aluminum alloy that while more durable is also more sensitive to casting rhythm and temperature changes. Does that just about sum it up?

Froggie

[RBHarter]

Kind of like . The T or L shaped blocks/mould are fine to cast with , just different after you're used to something else .
I struggle sometimes switching moulds I can go from an 200 gr 45 8 c iron mould to a single 284-130 to a 4 c 85 gr 25 cal and back to a 3 cav 45@535 gr per hole . I don't generally make those kind of swings but I have cast a 35 gr 22 and a .690 RB from different pots .