Lee Molds

[468]

I’m trying to increase my production rate...switching to a 6 cavity mold for .45’s and .40’s. It looks like most of the Lee molds make tumble lube bullets. Can I assume the single groove boolits are not tumble lube? Are the tumble lube boolits only the multi grooved/ridged...?

I want the pressure lubed boolits.

Sorry, that’s the only way I know how to explain it.

Also, Al vs. steel molds. School me.(i’ve Only used steel)

[Mitch]

you can lube any bullets anyway you like.You are right the lee 6 hole make a lot of bullets quick

[John McCorkle]

You can still tumble lube lube groove bullets...I always have works great

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[468]

I also posted this under Molds section

[Ginnedup]

There are a few 40/45 boolit molds from lee that are not TL. I tumble lube the TL type or the others with the crimp grooves / wider bands both the same. I use the 45/45/10 lube with excellent results. Others with knowledge of pressure lubing are sure to chime in.

[Cherokee]

Lee marks their mold numbers with TL for the tumble lube bullets, and there are many bands; you can not successfully lube then any other way, I tried, but you can powder coat. Conventional lube groove (pressure lube) bullet molds are not marked TL in the mold number. They can be tumble lubed, powder coated or sized/lubed in the RCBS/Lyman/Star machines designed for that. Lee makes conventional lube groove 6 cavity bullet molds in 40 and 45. I really like the 6 cavity molds and use a Star size/lube machine.

[Rug480]

The 6 cavity molds are awesome. Piles em up quick. The 452-200-RF is my fav

[John Van Gelder]

There are a lot of negative comments to be found about Lee molds. I have several and one in particular has been in use for over 30 years, still makes great bullets. I have mostly the pressure lube variation, but have used them pressure lubed and tumble lubed, good results either way.

[gwpercle]

If you want a "pressure lube" bullet ..you want one with lube groove(s)...some boolit designs have two.
The 40 and 45 do have one.
TL = tumble lube , I haven't had great success running a TL design boolit through my lube sizer and pressure lubing them.... just not quite enough lube put in those little grooves.
TL boolits are designed to be shot as cast after rolling around in lube , some even do this twice to get enough lube.
I have had great success with the standard , single (or double) lube groove designs run through a lube/sizer. Go that route.....yes you can tumble lube these boolits but I much prefer the lube/sizer method.
Gary

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Tumble lube is ugly, but it works well. I prefer bullets with lube in the groove, but that's personal preference. The six cavity molds work well, but you may fatigue easier. You've got to hold it longer to fill it up, cool, and dump the bullets than one with less capacity. Put another way, it takes longer to fill six cavities than two, so you're holding it longer. It depends a bit on if you fill your molds from a pot's bottom pour spout or with a dipper. The aluminum molds tend to get too hot and start making frosty bullets after a while, so I alternate among several molds and find that for me two cavity molds work well. But--try it. 6 cavity molds may work well for you.

[Dusty Bannister]

Perhaps you could advise what size casting pot and type of casting you intend to do. If you have a 10 pound bottom pour pot and are casting 200 grains of lead projectiles or more, with a 6 cavity mold and a generous sprue, you are out of lead in the pot by the time temps are working for you.

[KCcactus]

Perhaps you could advise what size casting pot and type of casting you intend to do. If you have a 10 pound bottom pour pot and are casting 200 grains of lead projectiles or more, with a 6 cavity mold and a generous sprue, you are out of lead in the pot by the time temps are working for you.

That's good advice. Even a 20 lb will drain fast. For long sessions, I use two bottom pour pots, a 10 and a 20. If I was starting over, it would be 2 of the 20s. Drain one and refill, use the other while the first one gets back up to temp. You get a bigger pile of boolits faster if you can keep casting longer .

[Larry Gibson]

468

Of the numerous Lee 6 cavity moulds I use 4 of them are TLs and another 2 cavity is a TL also. While I do occasionally TL them in LLA (apply a thin coat as per Lee's instructions and let thoroughly dry) I most often "pressure" lube them in a Lyman 450 lubrasizer. I have not encountered any problems doing so.

I use BAC lube pretty much on my pistol bullets living in Arizona now but up north in Washington I found a heater for the lubrasizer worked well. I also used NRA 50/50 formula lubes up north which did not need the heater if the lubrasizer was kept above 60 - 65 degrees. Also I do not size them down more than .001 - .002" over their "as cast" diameter. If a smaller diameter is needed then after the initial size/lube I run them through a Lee sizer or an H&I die in the Lyman 450 of the size wanted. That way the lube already in the grooves keeps the lube grooves from being swaged away from the smaller sizing. I have taken the TL314-90-SWCs from .314 to .415 down to .309 with very good results.

Here are the TL bullets I use and what I initially size/lube them at;
TL314-90-SWC/.314
TL358-158-SWC/.360
TL41-175-SWC/.410
TL41-240-SWC/.410
TL44-240-SWC/.430

While I have used the Lee TL452-200-SWC and the TL452-230-TC pressure lubed and sized at .452 I mostly use an older Lee 452-190-SWC or 452-230-TC.

TLing regular lubed grooved cast bullets also works well with LLA if the instructions are followed and only thin coats used letting them dry thoroughly before use. I regularly TL in LLA commercial cast bullets that come with the hard wax lube to prevent or minimize leading as the hard wax lube sucks..

[Echo]

Perhaps you could advise what size casting pot and type of casting you intend to do. If you have a 10 pound bottom pour pot and are casting 200 grains of lead projectiles or more, with a 6 cavity mold and a generous sprue, you are out of lead in the pot by the time temps are working for you.

Yeah, DB, that's why I built a stage out of a couple 1x3's to put the 6-banger up to the right position to fill the cavities. Just slide the old boy either in or out, and no problems.

[Buckshot]

..............After quite a bit of use, you learn what works and what doesn't. The currant Lee moulds are quite a bit better then they were to begin with. Due to the size of the Lee 6 cavity, and especially with 45 cal boolits you CAN get the blocks overheated if you cast too fast. And this is why the 6 banger is so fine:

http://www.fototime.com/FC7FB74B506D8FB/standard.jpg

It's called PRODUCTION! :-) This was from an old style 6 banger from a Group Buy design done some years ago for a 135gr 6.5mm.

http://www.fototime.com/7783D81859213D4/standard.jpg

I still use the same basic setup as in this photo. The melting pot (Lee 20 lb) sits atop an inverted metal milk crate (out of the photo to the left). That way you're not bending over to watch the alloy flow, and the mould is at a very nice height. Once all 6 cavities are filled, the blocks are set atop that damp folded rag sitting in the saucer. Once you see the sprue frost over, you open the sprue plate and dump the spreu into the bottom box. After that you move the blocks forward over the 2nd box (with the rag in it) and open the blocks. Most the slugs should fall out, however after opening the SP (with my right hand, being right handed and not sinister :-) I'll immediately my right hand picks up the wooden knocker (Hammer handle) to give the blocks a tap or two if some slugs don't drop out.

Then the blocks go back immediately under the pour spout for another load. and repeat. You'll know when you have the cadence sight as the slugs will fall bright and shiny, but more important they'll be sharply and well filled out. The larger the slugs get, the longer time they'll have to spend atop the damp rag. You have a lot more heat being eliminated into the blocks that has to be eliminated.

....................Buckshot

[robg]

tumble lube all my boolits now,if non gas checked just shoot as cast.

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

You are right the tumble lube molds are the ones that look like soup-cans. You can tumble lube any bullet design, but I've never tried conventional lubing one of Lee's TL designs. I've since switched to powder coating so I have no desire to even experiment with it.

When you get the mold, clean it up, degrease it, and rub a little steel wool on the edges of the cavities, then smoke 'em as per the instructions. This will greatly help the bullets drop out.
Aluminum is soft. And it gets softer when it gets hot. Keep it clean, if a bullet sticks in the mold, do not hit the aluminum block to shake it out, rather hit the hinge of the handles. Keep it lubed. These things are not hard to do, but the better you follow 'em the longer your mold will last. I'll admit that I have ruined a Lee mold or two, but not before I got my money's worth from them.

If you want to "try" a bullet from a Lee mold it still makes sense to buy the mold. A box of 100 j-words is $20, a Lee 2-cavity mold is $20. Get the mold, cast up a 100 bullets, try 'em, if you don't like 'em toss the mold in the recycling bin - basically the same as if you bought a box of bullets.

[fredj338]

You can tumble lube anything, even smooth bearing surface bullets. Why I like the std lube groove, works with any sort of lube or coating & no issues sizing them.

[crashdummy]

I am old fashioned, and have had good luck with the Lee conventional bullets, pressure lubed. Never tried powder coating or tumble lube..
Perhaps I am missing out, but am happy.