OT: Lee 6 Cavity molds.

[win38-55]

I think I am going to finally try my hand at bullet casting. I have decided to load for my
44 Mag. I was just wondering what everyones thoughts are on the Lee 6 Cavity molds?
The main reason I thought this would be good is because the amount of bullets it
can make. Or should a new caster start out with a smaller mold?

[TedH]

I love them. I have a couple off the shelf molds and a couple from group buys and one from Ranch Dog. They all do well if you take proper care of them. You can drop a pile of bullets in a hurry once you get going.

[Tycer]

You'll need to do a little deburring or "leementing"

[Old Time Hunter]

The Lee works fine, but personally I am more partial to Mike's (Ranch Dog) 265 grain tumble lube gas checked model. It is manufactured be Lee, but it belongs to Mike...works great in my .44 Mag and my .444's.

[perry owens]

I have four of the Big Lube 6 cavity moulds that are made by Lee. They cast good bullets but I find that it's hard to get enough leverage with the wooden sprue plate cam handle so I usually replace it with a length of steel tube. The latest mould I got had an adjustment screw for the cam and seems to work better.
Perry Owens

[6pt-sika]

When I first started casting I didn't care for the Lee 6 cavity molds and kinda put them off even though I owned several .

Later I took them out and "learned" how to use them . After that I was okay with them !

Now I've kinda reverted back to single and double cavity molds !

I only cast for 45-70 and 444 rifles . So a session of 50-75 bullets per mold is all I need . With counts no higher then that the 6 cavity doesn't really justify itself anylonger !

[Thunder50]

My six bangers work fairly well (have about 15 of them). The quality of the 6's seems better than the 2's. If you want a GC, then RD has good moulds. Degrease them well and get them to casting temp. I let them warm up on the pot, then dunk the corner in the molten lead for about a min. and have my alloy at about 715 degrees. Gets the mould up to "casting temp for me). The 6 bangers seem to cast a bit better this way. I cut the sprue just as it has solidified and got that "grainy" look. Cuts easily.

If you are a beginner, then start out with a 2 cav. Going straight to a 6 cav might get you frustrated and you will quit. If there is anyone near you that casts, get a few "lessons/pointers" from them. Don't forget to use eye protection

[Griff]

Whenever I've been able to pick them up, I like the 4-Cavity Lyman molds best. They have a good production rate, and aren't quite as finicky as 6-cavity molds. Being steel, they also retain heat better, but are slower to get to casting temp... like the man said, life is full of compromise!

[Gary Norsk]

Use the 6 Lee for quite some time, steel pins and inserts, I can drain a 10 lb pot in 20 min. casting 200 grain 44s. Gary

[BenT]

Ranch dog has tips on preping them over at marlinowners under casting. Once you figure them out they work fine.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

All I have ever used are the Lee six cavity molds. They are great for pumping out lots of pistol bullets in a hurry. I have never had to deburr any of mine.

A couple of tips with the Lee molds:

I heat the molds by starting to pour lead into them. That is the fastest way to heat them up. However........it will be tough to cut the sprues on six bullets if the mold is not fully up to temperature yet. So I always start out just filling the two cavities nearest pivot screw of the sprue cutter handle first. It is easier to just cut two sprues and the leverage is better. I slowly start filling more cavities as the mold heats up. Most of the bullets go back in the pot, but the mold is heating up nicely. By about the time that all six sprues are easy to cut, the mold is hot and the bullets are looking good. Only takes about five minutes to heat up the molds this way.

As soon as the overflow from the cavities stops shimmering I cut the sprues.

You have to be a little bit careful the way you hold the handles with the Lee six cavity molds. There are three handles, one for each mold block and one for the sprue cutter. When you are pouring lead, keep your hand off the sprue cutter mold. Only squeeze the mold block handles together. The geometry of the handles is not great, and if you also are squeezing the sprue cutter handle it tends to wedge the mold halves apart ever so slightly, creating fins and oversized bullets.

[txpete]

The Lee works fine, but personally I am more partial to Mike's (Ranch Dog) 265 grain tumble lube gas checked model. It is manufactured be Lee, but it belongs to Mike...works great in my .44 Mag and my .444's.

+1 mike did his homework on this mold.