Back in the game, questions on Lee Molds

[Slow Shooter]

Like a lot of you guys, I've been in and out of the casting game several times over the past 40 years and I've diving back in.

What's the thought on Lee's tumble lube bullets? I'm casting for 45 ACP and 45 Colt to start with. Accurate? Seems to be a fast way to lube bullets and for pistol boolits.

Slow Shooter

[supv26]

They're GREAT! LOL

I have one for the 45 right now and have used it quite a bit. I hae one coming next week for my 44 and I'll get to cast a few with it soon.

[Trader Vic]

I have had real good luck with the Lee tumble lube molds. Mine are all 6 cavity. You can really go to town after you get started. I don't size, they are fine as cast. I tumble mine in a 50/50 mix of LLA & mineral spirits. I stand them up on a sheet of waxed paper to dry, usually 24 hrs. After this they might be slightly tacky, I put them in a zip lock bag with a small amt of powdered mica, & I mean a small amt, shake them up & voila. They're easy to handle & load nice, have a nice sheen on them too. Every once in a while I swab out the boolit seating die with a Q tip with alcohol, that way you never get a build up that would affect seating depth. Hope this helps, it's what works for me. NRA PATRON LIFE MEMBER

[markinalpine]

I have had real good luck with the Lee tumble lube molds. Mine are all 6 cavity. You can really go to town after you get started. I don't size, they are fine as cast. I tumble mine in a 50/50 mix of LLA & mineral spirits. I stand them up on a sheet of waxed paper to dry, usually 24 hrs. After this they might be slightly tacky, I put them in a zip lock bag with a small amt of powdered mica, & I mean a small amt, shake them up & voila. They're easy to handle & load nice, have a nice sheen on them too. Every once in a while I swab out the boolit seating die with a Q tip with alcohol, that way you never get a build up that would affect seating depth. Hope this helps, it's what works for me. NRA PATRON LIFE MEMBER

...I "pan" lube by holding them up by their heads, dip them in the diluted LLA as Trader Vic related, then line them up on wax paper. that way they don't get sticky all over, and don't gunk up the seating die.

Mark :mrgreen:

[waco]

call me old school
i just run everything through my lyman 450
all that tumble lube stuff seems like it would be messy and time consuming (waiting for the lube to dry)
do all your boolits fall from your lee mold PERFECT all the time?
as far as size goes?
just askin...
WACO:drinks:

[Tom W.]

Sure they do... Didn't you read the paper that came with the mold?

[JW6108]

TL bullets work well, in my experience. I like to lube them slightly with Imperial wax, Tetra or something similar, size, then TL. If the tackiness is bothersome, a dusting of baby powder will solve that and give you the sweetest smelling bullets at the range.:mrgreen:

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

Tumble lubing works great. Very fast, not messy (if you are careful), and never had a problem with leading. I also have not found the need to size these boolits. Less time sizing and lubing and more time :drinks:!

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Hullo Slow Shooter and welcome, I use the Lee Tumble lube molds in 44 & 45 and they work fine for me, I like the boolits they drop and they shoot well for most of my blasting, I like to be able to make a lot of boolits when I start up my pots.[smilie=1:

The tumble lube process works just fine, if you follow Trader Vics's advice it is not that messy and it doesn't take that long for them to dry, unless you use to much alox, it doesn't take much. I don't have to size these boolits for my guns, they work fine as cast for my purposes:Fire:

:cbpour: :redneck:

[jonk]

Tumble lube works just fine even with non tumble lube designs for pistol velocities.

As for 'taking too long'- Well if I were to lube 500 bullets in my RCBS Lubra-matic, it would take me the better part of an afternoon. Tumble in lee liquid alox, spread on a cookie sheet with wax paper, put them in the hot sun (summer) or in front of a heater vent (winter) or even in front of a fan, they're dry in an hour. Much quicker. If you're doing lots. If you just leave them in a damp basement in cool weather, then yes they do take a day or two to dry.

Never had seater contamination- at least not in the seating cone. I've heard of it, believe you that you get it, just never an issue for me. I have had it so that it got up around the floating seating punch and gummed it up but it didn't affect the actual seating. And even then, so I tossed the die in some boiling soapy water for a minute. Flash dried and came out perfectly clean. Well worth it for the convenience of the tumble lube.

Now it isn't a magic goo. I find that above about 1400 fps it starts to drop off in performance but for pistols is just fine.