The Lee 356-125 2R Bullet Mould

[Keith 429421]

Im having trouble lube sizing these on my Magma Star sizer, I have the 90457 6 cavity mould. The lube Im using is the blue Magma lube. I don't have an air cylinder on the Star and my sizing die is .356. The issue is spots on the bullets lube groove not being filled with lube. I have the top punch at 33 1/2 mm from the casting which as I measured is in the middle of the grove when the handle is operated all the way down with the piston pushing lube and have tried some differ top punch depths , heat settings and have good pressure on the spring loaded lube reservoir . The lube groove on this 9mm bullet is very narrow and so I think its just a difficult one to lube because of that, sizing is not an issue they seat securely with a taper crimp. I also cast .38, 40 S&W , 44, 45 acp and 45 Colt bullets with out the troubles Im having with this 9mm. The grease grooves are well defined on my bullets no obstructions seen , as said just very small in size.

[Cherokee]

What lube are you using ? Some lubes flow easier than others; also you might try some heat to help the lube flow.

[Keith 429421]

Im using Blue Magma Lube and its a hard lube. I don't like the sticky soft lubes. There are 4 rows of holes in my Star die, I have the 3rd row from the top of the die flange open on my die and will try plugging those and opening the ones above at the 2nd row to get the bullet more to the center of the die as the lube hole in the sizer is in the upper part. I have a #45 drill bit and pin vice as Magma advises and just found that the Star dies have a larger outside hole in the die against the sizer body which a #45 drill bit fits and there's a smaller inner hole that the lube goes thru to the bullet groove. The inner hole is a bit smaller then 1/16 so Ill have to find a smaller bit to clear out the lead shot and give it a try in that position. Ill be trying some White Label lubes next the Magma lube is very hard , the heater will heat the Star until it begins to melt and run out

[Conditor22]

When's the last time you completely cleaned the Star? It could be cruded up the reservoir heats up but there are crusties blocking the flow higher up. If it was my lube-sizer I'd throw a heat gun on it to see if that helped before deep cleaning.

[Keith 429421]

Yes the lube sizer is clean its a Magma and only a couple months old. I unplugged the lower holes and opened the upper I spoke of no change even after adjusting heat , it just misses some of the lube in the groove off and on . I will have to try some different lubes. I got my cast bullets lubed finally many took two runs thur the machine. I ordered another 6 cavity Lee mould the 356-120 90387 truncated nose bullet or semi wadcutter. It looked like the lube groove was larger but it may be the same. Ill give it a try when it comes. Ive seen a lot of these on youtube and pictures

[Keith 429421]

I got the Lee 356-120 truncated cone mould and cast 30 bullets . The lube groove is .015 deep and .055 wide compared to the Lee 356-125 round nose bullets lube groove depth of .012 and width of .045. More volume for the lube with the 120 TC bullet. It did lube much better then the 125 RN on my Star sizer. The measurements were taken several times and the best I could do. The 125 round nose does have a small lube groove. I have some White Label red lube coming and its a bit softer then the Magma lube Im using . All the Magma lubes Blue Green and Red are all the same hardness they do have other lubes that are softer. Now to run these bullets thur the press and see how they function . Im sure they will run well. Im using the same powder charge of Unique so they will be a bit faster a mid range load and I am seating them to 1.035 as the newest Lee manual does not have any info on the 120 lead bullet I see 1.130 for the 125 jacketed . 1.035 has the bullet very close to the edge of the base of the cone . I like both of these bullets and wish Lee would increase the lube groove size on the 125 grain round nose. The 120 TC mould dropped slightly larger bullets then the 125 RN. The 125 are just about .356 out of the mould and the 120 about 358-359. I size them to .356 in the Star
244600244600 Don't know what happened there with the double pic Ill leave it as I may make it worse

[luvtn]

Why do you use that lube? I find boolits in the berms at various ranges, that after fired could be reloaded as is! No change noted in the lube deposit. That is why I tumble lube. I think powder coating is the way to go now.
luvtn

[Keith 429421]

The Lee 356-120 bullet loaded at 1.035 seats them deep and Im concerned about pressure rising, so Ill go with 1.085 instead. I could not get to the site yesterday and was looking for some OAL data on this bullet and it was all here . I am going to try the tumble lube on the 356-125 round nose bullets. Its a very easy way to go . I wonder if the Speer swaged soft lead 38's and 44's 45's are or were tumble lubed They have a slightly shiny look to them and are slick all over. They were the first handgun bullets I used other then cast 44s in the 70's. I have not used them in years as I went with all cast bullets. I remember I thought they were waxed

[cwlongshot]

I PC mine now, (Nice lil boolit I do like it) but I think I reas some guys complaining if a shallow lube groove on many Lee bullet designs. Could this be the or part of the issue?

CW

[Keith 429421]

Loaded 75 of the Lee 120TC bullets with mixed brass and tested them today at the range. I seated the bullets at 1.085 with a taper crimp and they all shot well no jams, smooth thur my G19 , they create a better hole in targets then the round nose because of the shoulder , They were mid range loads no Chrony with me today so Ill have to test the velocity later, No leading seen about 950-1000 fps I estimate from other loads Ive tested with my Chrony

[Keith 429421]

Lube sized some of the Lee 125 RN bullets today on my Star sizer , moved the top punch up 2 mm and lubed another 100 120 Lee TC bullets with White Label Red Carnauba lube and what a difference it is from the Blue Magma lube as its softer and needs less heat. All the bullets came out great . Ill be checking for a muzzle star next time Im at the range. Not much seen with the Blue Magma on the muzzle. I did look at the Lee Alox and Im just a old dog happy with his old tricks

Yes CW the lube groove is very shallow and not very wide on both the 125 GR lee RN and 120 GR TC . The 125 Gr RN is the more shallow and narrower of the two . There is a 2 mm difference where the lube groove is also . The Star sizer has a piston that forces the lube into the die and still I was having troubles . I don't know how hard it would be to lube these two bullets with my Lyman 4500 or a RCBS or SAECO sizer unless soft lube is used just like the Star from what I have seen due to the shallow narrow lube grooves

245899

My opinion for those searching the net later as so many cast bullet questions are answered here on Cast Boolits