Fitting Lee Sprue Plates by Mustafa CurtessAustwell, TX,
Fitting the sprue plate on a Lee mould to fit niceand flat is simple and productive. I ordinarily cast with anew mould long enough to thoroughly test the bullets.After that, if the bullets are good enough to use routinely,the mould will be broken in and stable. There is sometimesa small amount of warpage brought on by severalheating and cooling cycles.
It is common to see a wedge of light showingunder the sprue plate; zero at the pivot screw to ? at thefree end. I remove the sprue plate and grab the cornerwith the screw hole in it in the vise jaws, half way throughthe hole and give the plate a whack on the top side witha leather mallet. This will bend a barely visible tab downtoward the blocks. This then will produce a wedge of lightthat is larger by the screw down to nothing at the outeredge.
Then lay a sheet of abrasive paper on a flat surfaceand set the sprue plate on it, allowing the stop flangeto overhang the edge. Polish the bottom of the sprueplate until the area over the cavities just begins to showcontact with the abrasive paper.
By far, most of the metal polished away will bewhere you bent the little tab down around the screw hole.With the screw adjusted so the sprue plate will almostpivot of its own weight, you will have a perfect fit of theplate to the blocks. Because of the wide contact area, itwill be perfect and permanent. I also lightly lap the top ofthe blocks on the abrasive paper to remove any burrs. •
Fitting the sprue plate on a Lee mould to fit niceand flat is simple and productive. I ordinarily cast with anew mould long enough to thoroughly test the bullets.After that, if the bullets are good enough to use routinely,the mould will be broken in and stable. There is sometimesa small amount of warpage brought on by severalheating and cooling cycles.
It is common to see a wedge of light showingunder the sprue plate; zero at the pivot screw to ? at thefree end. I remove the sprue plate and grab the cornerwith the screw hole in it in the vise jaws, half way throughthe hole and give the plate a whack on the top side witha leather mallet. This will bend a barely visible tab downtoward the blocks. This then will produce a wedge of lightthat is larger by the screw down to nothing at the outeredge.
Then lay a sheet of abrasive paper on a flat surfaceand set the sprue plate on it, allowing the stop flangeto overhang the edge. Polish the bottom of the sprueplate until the area over the cavities just begins to showcontact with the abrasive paper.
By far, most of the metal polished away will bewhere you bent the little tab down around the screw hole.With the screw adjusted so the sprue plate will almostpivot of its own weight, you will have a perfect fit of theplate to the blocks. Because of the wide contact area, itwill be perfect and permanent. I also lightly lap the top ofthe blocks on the abrasive paper to remove any burrs. •
An O.A.L. Gaugeby Jay C. DyeEstacada, OR
O.A.L. – or Over-All Length; in our case is the ideallength of the loaded cast bullet cartridge touching thebarrels’ throat.
This idea was shown to me by a fellow shooterwhen I was shooting jacketed bullets and has workedquite well for cast bullets.
The problem with this measuring tool is you’ll haveto buy enough material to assemble two. The 1/4” x 36”brazing rod is sold by the pound at welding supplies,with a minimum sale of one pound. The 1/4” collars areavailable at hobby shops in a package of four butinclude only one Allen wrench. The 1/4” fender washercomes from an auto parts or hardware store and is soldsingly.
When the O.A.L. gauge is assembled, the two collarsare on top of the fender washer, on the 36” brazingrod.First make sure the firearm is not loaded and thebarrel is free of any obstruction. Close the action andinsert the rod gauge into the barrel until it touches theface of the bolt. Slide the washer and two collars downto the muzzle of the barrel and tighten the two setscrews. Remove the gauge assembly and rotate thefirearm with the barrel pointing down.
Open the action and drop in the bullet of choice.Choose something to hold the bullet in place when theaction is partly closed. I use a short piece of woodendowel and a rubber band to hold the action partlyclosed. Rotate the firearm with the barrel pointing upand insert the rod gauge into the barrel until it just touchesthe bullet. Loosen the bottom collar set screw andslide the washer and bottom collar down to the barrels’muzzle. Tighten the bottom set screw, remove the rodgauge and measure the distance between the two collars.
This is the overall length of this bullet, in this cartridgefor that particular firearm. I call this a Snug fit.
O.A.L. – or Over-All Length; in our case is the ideallength of the loaded cast bullet cartridge touching thebarrels’ throat.
This idea was shown to me by a fellow shooterwhen I was shooting jacketed bullets and has workedquite well for cast bullets.
The problem with this measuring tool is you’ll haveto buy enough material to assemble two. The 1/4” x 36”brazing rod is sold by the pound at welding supplies,with a minimum sale of one pound. The 1/4” collars areavailable at hobby shops in a package of four butinclude only one Allen wrench. The 1/4” fender washercomes from an auto parts or hardware store and is soldsingly.
When the O.A.L. gauge is assembled, the two collarsare on top of the fender washer, on the 36” brazingrod.First make sure the firearm is not loaded and thebarrel is free of any obstruction. Close the action andinsert the rod gauge into the barrel until it touches theface of the bolt. Slide the washer and two collars downto the muzzle of the barrel and tighten the two setscrews. Remove the gauge assembly and rotate thefirearm with the barrel pointing down.
Open the action and drop in the bullet of choice.Choose something to hold the bullet in place when theaction is partly closed. I use a short piece of woodendowel and a rubber band to hold the action partlyclosed. Rotate the firearm with the barrel pointing upand insert the rod gauge into the barrel until it just touchesthe bullet. Loosen the bottom collar set screw andslide the washer and bottom collar down to the barrels’muzzle. Tighten the bottom set screw, remove the rodgauge and measure the distance between the two collars.
This is the overall length of this bullet, in this cartridgefor that particular firearm. I call this a Snug fit.
An ideal overall length is when the base of the bullet is at the intersection of the case neck and case shoulder. The length of a finished cast bullet plus the length of the case base to the base of the case neck equals what I refer to as the ideal overall length. Now that I’ve got us both confused, try working with it, I’m sure you’ll figure out my directions. Be sure to keep a journal for each firearm and the overall length of the cast bullets you are using. Recheck these measurements every thousand or so rounds fired and update as needed. •
A Gas Check Expanderby Jay C. DyeEstacada, OR
One of the very first problems I ran into when I gotinto our discipline of making cast bullets accurate wasthat gas checks didn’t always fit my cast bullet basesproperly. It didn’t give me much confidence to see leadbeing scraped of the base of my bullets by the gaschecks.
To eliminate this scraping I decided that the gaschecks needed to be expanded just a little.
One of the very first problems I ran into when I gotinto our discipline of making cast bullets accurate wasthat gas checks didn’t always fit my cast bullet basesproperly. It didn’t give me much confidence to see leadbeing scraped of the base of my bullets by the gaschecks.
To eliminate this scraping I decided that the gaschecks needed to be expanded just a little.
I made my expander with a Lathe. I use mostly 30 caliber gas checks, so I used 5/16” [.3125”] cold rolled round stock. The smaller top part is 1/8” drill rod. The taper is six degrees and was cut until a gas check would just start onto the expander. The small center dot is a great identifier of which gas checks have been already done. The key to easy operation is having the tip of the expander polished with 600 wet-or-dry sandpaper. It must be very smooth!
The expanding is done with a drill press and a plastic cover from a one or three pound coffee can. This cover acts as a tray and a cushion for the gas checks. The drawing angles are exaggerated and dimensions omitted because of the many sizes of gas checks used by cast bullet shooters.
If you’ve done a great job of polishing, the gaschecks will drop off the expander or just need a lighttouch to release.
I have found that some of the older gas checks actuallypopped off of the expander. I believe this is due to theharder material they were made from. The newest gaschecks coming in appear to be made of pure copper. •
The expanding is done with a drill press and a plastic cover from a one or three pound coffee can. This cover acts as a tray and a cushion for the gas checks. The drawing angles are exaggerated and dimensions omitted because of the many sizes of gas checks used by cast bullet shooters.
If you’ve done a great job of polishing, the gaschecks will drop off the expander or just need a lighttouch to release.
I have found that some of the older gas checks actuallypopped off of the expander. I believe this is due to theharder material they were made from. The newest gaschecks coming in appear to be made of pure copper. •