Tumble lube question

[usmc0811]

I want to start casting 40cal bullets just for target shooting, these are the two bullet types I was looking at and had some questions.
Lee 6-Cavity Bullet Mold 401-175-TC 40 S&W (401 Diameter) 175 Grain Truncated Cone with the single wax groove
or
Lee 6 Cavity Mold TL401-175-SWC with multiple small lube groves.
My question is what would work best in my S&W MP for just target shooting? And could I use the tumble lubing on both or just the one with the small lube groves? I would like to just tumble lube due to ease of use.

[petroid]

Get the TC mold. I have both and the TC mold seems to feed in anything. It casts great and can be tumble lubed even though its not a tumble lube design. There are lots of stickies on cast in the 40/10mm/9mm. Make sure you expand adequately and your boolits are not getting swaged down by the brass when seating. The TC 40 cal mold is a bit shorter than the SWC boolit so depth of expansion is not as much a factor. I really like the flat nose of the TC mold too. The SWC has a flat nose but not as big as the TC. And the SWC shoulder can catch when feeding. And definitely get the 6cav mold. Much better quality than the 2cavs

[Seeker]

I'm not a veteran caster by any means but from all the research I've done...you can tumble lube bullets with a lube groove with good results. I plan on doing just that with Lees 452-200-rf for plinking loads out of my Blackhawk.

[tazman]

I have the Lee 401-175-tc single lube groove and find it to be a great boolit. It feeds flawlessly for me and is very accurate.
I had the 145 grain semi-wadcutter and found it to be problematic. It would only feed about 70% for me no matter what I tried. I gave up on it. The 175 looks better but the single lube groove I know works.
I tumble lube everything now with White Label X-Lox or 45-45-10

[TXGunNut]

I agree with the TC choice unless you know the SWC will feed in your pistol. My old 45's will feed most anything so I feed them SWC's, tumble lubed with LLA, of course! I bought a 2-cav mould to see if my pistols liked it, them bought the 6-cav.

[usmc0811]

great advice guys, now I know what im going to buy. I love this site lots of great info from some really knowledgeable people.

[TXGunNut]

Welcome to the forum! Looks like you've been lurking awhile.

[Big Steve]

I tumble lube everything, both TL bullets and conventional lube groove bullets. I swear the conventional lube groove bullets work better with tumble lubing gush the TL bullets do.

[bangerjim]

B4 I started powder coating everything, I TL's all my boolits....both standard AND microgroove designs. All shot well. No problems. Many TL standard slugs with no problem.

I would suggest 45/45/10 for your lube. Or check into powder coating!


Have fun shooting!

banger

[10x]

I tumble lube all my plain base bullets
I use a heavy duty ziplock bag, put about 100 bullets in it, a pea sized dollop of tumble lube and 1/2 teaspoon of Brake Kleen®.
Close the bag, and then work the lube onto the bullets.
Lay the bullets out on wax paper on an old cookie sheet in a well ventilated area and let set for 2 - 3 hours. Use a fan to hasten the evaporation of solvents.
Give the sheet a shake to roll the bullets over after an hour or so.

With the Liquid Alox loads at velocities of under 1500 fps a very light coating of lube is all that is needed. Sometimes a little less works better than a little more.
I have yet to have leading in any gun with this method.
Over 1500 fps or if your bullet is under bore diameter - all bets are off

[prs]

The TC design is very easy to cast and flawless to feed. In Glock barrel I get no leading from it with either TL or NRA Alox and next batch gets powder coated. For very mild plinker loads, try NON-compressed full load of Trailboss.

Vern

[jmort]

I like TL bullets. Many do not, but I have TL molds from Lee, Accurate, and NOE including some Ranch Dog Designs. Check out Ben's Liquid Lube thread. It is very easy to make and use for TL.

[rsrocket1]

I like the 6 cavity 401-175-TC mold for my M&P40 and SP2022. For the M&P, be sure you size the bullets if any part of the vertical section of the bullet will be exposed. Otherwise you will probably not pass the plunk test with your barrel. Make sure you do this test with your loaded cartridges in the M&P barrel because it has a really snug chamber ant tight throat. I got mild leading with traditional lube and TL with 45/45/10. Powder coating them eliminated all leading. TL worked fine with traditional lube grooved 357 and 45 boolits but PC was required with my M&P 40 and 9 barrels. Sizing was also required, but the results were worth it.