Lee sizing die removing lube grooves

[gofastman]

I'm using a Lee 6 hole mould, 240gr Tumble Lube SWC .44

my sizing die is .430

I lubed the bullets and tried running them through the sizer, a few of them were super hard to push through.

almost all of them have hat quite a bit trimmed off of them, so much so that I'm worried the lube grooves wont hold enough, some of them came out almost completely smooth.

what should I do? should I just relube and shoot them?

[williamwaco]

I'm using a Lee 6 hole mould, 240gr Tumble Lube SWC .44

my sizing die is .430

I lubed the bullets and tried running them through the sizer, a few of them were super hard to push through.

almost all of them have hat quite a bit trimmed off of them, so much so that I'm worried the lube grooves wont hold enough, some of them came out almost completely smooth.

what should I do? should I just shoot them?

I have seen that frequently with Lee Tumble Lube Bullets. The grooves are very shallow. Occasionally the mold does not close completely and you will drop bullets anywhere from .004 to .006 oversize. For example in .357, My Lee mold normall drops at .359 but I have seen them as large as .365. They are not possible to detect visually. They are very hard to push through the sizing die and when you do, the lube grooves are nearly wiped off. If you tumble lube them after sizing, they are ok to shoot ( in my experience ) but I do not shoot them, I toss them into the remelt box.

[tomf52]

I experience the same thing with their 90gr tlswc. I don't let it bother me,just relube and shoot them. Good accuracy and no leading so there is no real problem.

[geargnasher]

Williamwaco has the answer. Lead flashing or debris can get between the blocks and cause excessively large boolits due to the blocks not closing fully.

Binding block alignment pins can also cause this. The solution is a little tiny bit of high-temp oil/grease on the alignment pins. Back when you could get it, Bullplate sprue lube was the stuff to use.

One other common cause of oversized boolits with Lee six-cavity moulds is the user grasping all three handles together when holding the mould for a pour. Any extra "closing" pressure on the sprue plate cam handle will cause the blocks to cam apart slightly at the rear, and you won't notice it because the sprue plate is closed and you can't see the gap. Just grasp the two block handles and let the sprue cam handle float.

Gear

[ku4hx]

I'm using a Lee 6 hole mould, 240gr Tumble Lube SWC .44

my sizing die is .430

I lubed the bullets and tried running them through the sizer, a few of them were super hard to push through.

almost all of them have hat quite a bit trimmed off of them, so much so that I'm worried the lube grooves wont hold enough, some of them came out almost completely smooth.

what should I do? should I just relube and shoot them?


I had the exact same problem with a Lee six cavity 230 grain tumble lube truncated cone 45 mold. The as-cast diameter was something like .460 regardless of alloy. When I sized the boolits to .452 they came out with NO lube grooves and sizing was HARD. So hard I worried I would damage my old Lyman lubrisized.

The fix was to return the mold to Midway and get a different one. After actually fondling some of those slick pellets I sent them, Midway went out of their way to help me get a replacement mold in quick order. All Lee did was keep telling me it was my fault. With the replacement mold I've cast, oh, 10,000+ and they've been just what you'd expect them to be.

[fredj338]

I am not sure the LEE TL bullet was ever designed to be sized, but lubed w/ Alox type lube & shot as cast. There just isn't much grooove depth to work with in a sizer. One reason I avoid them.

[gofastman]

One other common cause of oversized boolits with Lee six-cavity moulds is the user grasping all three handles together when holding the mould for a pour. Any extra "closing" pressure on the sprue plate cam handle will cause the blocks to cam apart slightly at the rear, and you won't notice it because the sprue plate is closed and you can't see the gap. Just grasp the two block handles and let the sprue cam handle float.

Eureka! I would guess this is probably the cause, thanks!

[geargnasher]

Yer welcome! Found that one out the hard way myself just like you did, went to size about 15 lbs of boolits from my first 6-banger and about half of them were rejects. Live and learn I guess.

Gear