lee tumble lube and other cast bullets

[mongo404]

Has anybody used the lee lube and sizer with anything other than a lee tumble lube bullet? I was going to try using it with a lee single lube ring bullet but didnt know if it would work or not. Any suggestions or other threads would be greatly appreciated

Daniel

[oldhickory]

I've used mine to size after pan lubing, but I understand the Alox lube will work with any boolit design. Some guys here double coat when using the Alox.

[superior]

I use LLA very lightly berfore the sizing/gas check crimp operation and then I lube again with LLA after. I do this with all boolit types and have never had leading issues. For non-gc pistol ammo, I just lube once with almost any lube regardless of boolit design.

[captaint]

Welcome and yeah, do it with any bullet style.

[sqlbullet]

As has been said, use with any bullet design. IIRC, LLA came first, then bullets were designed around the tumble lube concept.

[randyrat]

I ususally dip the larger boolits like 454 &44 mag 300 grainers and i thin the Alox out to about 70%LLA and 30% mineral spirits.
For 45 acp i use a very small amount of thinned LLA or LLA + JPW and just tumble them in a pan or stainless salid bowl/along with a little heat, let dry for two days or so. Any design boolit

[putteral]

I have sized .358 boolits down to .356. Works with any boolit I have tried in either .45 or 9mm
Some I tumble lube with LLA, others I hand lube with BAC. Always check with my caliper and they always come out fine and shoot great! You will have no problems!
:drinks:

[stubshaft]

I use it regularly to size boolits with regular style grease grooves. Then lube with xlox thinned with mineral spirits. Either with or without GC.

[buffalohtr]

I have found the Lee sizer to be much easier to use on all bullets. The one drawback is having to apply lube in a separate step. If this is not a problem for you then I would suggest that like so many Lee products, the sizer is an excellent value and an ingenious design. I almost hate to admit this, since so many Lee products are so cheaply made and "feel" as though they will fall apart in a matter of hours. I have seen a few clinkers, but I have to grudgingly admit that, by and large, Lee products work quite well---sometimes better than the nicer looking competition that cost 6 times as much!

[corvette8n]

I sized some .270 cal lead bullets to .268 and put on gas checks, since they were lubed commercial bullets, I sprayed them lightly with WD40 and sent them thru the sizer. These were the only things that didn't rattle around the bore of my 6.5 Carcano.

[snuffy]

I do what you're proposing all the time. Here's some 100 gr. 308's for my 7.62 X 25 loads;

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/P2220036.JPG

I move them once shortly after dipping.

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/P2220037.JPG

Here's some 45-70 405 group buy boolits dipped and waiting to dry;

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/P4260023.JPG

These were fired un-sized, so they're loaded as is. The lube on the driving bands gets pushed into the lube grooves upon seating, very little ends up on the nose of the boolit. These loads were starting loads for lever guns, (23.0 4759), and a little hotter load of RX-7, still a starting load of 40.0 grains. Load #1 pushed them at 1200 and #2 was supposed to be 1493 fps. NO leading in either one! Rifle is a H&R buffalo classic with a 32 inch BBL. Lead used was formerly 22 rimfire bullets.

[Nora]

I've only used Alox, and Lee push threw sizing dies regardless of boolit style. It takes extra time for them to dry but the results have given me no reason to spend the extra money to try anything else. A thin coat before sizing (with gc as applies), and a thinner coat after. Only one thin coat if being fired as PB as cast. Mine are tumble lubed in an ice cream bucket to apply a thin film only.

[JesterGrin_1]

You know guys I was going to ask the same question lol. Glad it is okay to do it this way. As I plan to use some Xlox from Lar45 LsStuff for my 210Gr BOOLITS for my 30-06 :)

On my other BOOLITS i have used Alox or Xlox same thing I dip lube them let them dry over night then place the Gas Check on and size and then re dip them and let them dry again a day or so and then load or store for use down the road. :) But at times I have dipped them 3 times to fill out the lube grooves.

[Rodfac]

I've used the tumble lube method on Lyman's #429215GC to allow its use in the 'as cast' diameter for my Marlin 336 .44 Magnum with an oversize groove diameter of .432". I tried the Lee tumble lube method as an alternative to hand dipping each boolit. I've cast and lubed for 50 years now and have always used a Lyman 450 with the appropriate sizing die but Lyman did not have a .432" or .433" die to allow me to lube normally.

The Lee method worked perfectly, both with straight Lee Liquid Alox from the bottle, and also with it thinned slightly to allow easier squirting. After drying overnight, I seat the Hornady GC using my Lyman 450's GC seater device, then shoot 'em. Velocities in the rifle with my plinking, practice load run to 1250 fps; more than enough for my purposes. I haven't pushed 'em faster than that, and I have verified the velocity with a PACT chronograph. I swirl lube them only once with no leading whatsoever at 1250 fps in the Marlin's Micro-Groove rifling...over 150 rounds now without cleaning the bore.

Ranch Dog has since sold me a .432" Lee push through sizer which also works to perfection for sizing, but will not seat the GC without screwing up about 1 in 5. They get off center somehow and get creased. The batch of Hornady GC's I'm using are a bit undersize for the 429215's base groove, ie, you can't seat them with thumb pressure. The Lyman does a much better job at this, so it's a two step procedure for me, three if you count the lube swirling operation. ie: Swirl the lube on, dry overnight, seat the GC on the Lyman, then use the push through Lee sizer.

You may wonder at why use the Lee sizer if the as cast boolit shoots well in the Marlin...well...the resultant completed round is too large for my S&W 29, and M24-3 as well as my Ruger .44 Mag and .44 Special. If I size to .432", they drop right into the cylinders and accuracy is very good... so far less than 1.5" in both makes of revolvers at 25 yds, and right at an inch at 50 for the Marlin. Can't ask for more in my opinion.

I'd been skeptical over the years about claims that Lee's tumble lube would work on their proprietary boolits, let alone a standard groove boolit, but this effort with the Lyman 429215GC has made a believer of me. I'm planning on trying the system on other Lyman boolits. Over all it's faster than seating and sizing on the Lyman 450 alone and the results speak for themselves.

Regards, Rodfac

[timkelley]

Lee stuff works with most any boolit. I tumblelube with LLA or JPW, let set overnite. Size in the morning, tumblelube again and let set overnite. Shoot!
Lazy is good.:grin:

[Shiloh]

I've only used Alox, and Lee push threw sizing dies regardless of boolit style. It takes extra time for them to dry but the results have given me no reason to spend the extra money to try anything else. A thin coat before sizing (with gc as applies), and a thinner coat after. Only one thin coat if being fired as PB as cast. Mine are tumble lubed in an ice cream bucket to apply a thin film only.

You have figured it out.

A thin film only is all that is needed. Problems with this stuff arise when it is put on too thick. Thin coats dry very well and aren't affected by humid weather nearly as bad. Put it on thick, and it is gummy and messy.

SHiloh

[4296]

Instead of thinning my alox, I warm the bottle in a double boiler. This allows easier pouring and better coverage without cutting down on the product's efficiency- which I feel thinning does.

[Grapeshot]

I size my .458 405 gr Lee FN bullets for my Winchester 1876 then I give them a coating of LLA, let dry, load and shoot. No leading as of yet.

[spur0701]

Lee stuff works with most any boolit. I tumblelube with LLA or JPW, let set overnite. Size in the morning, tumblelube again and let set overnite. Shoot!
Lazy is good.:grin:

Me too, but I switched from lubing twice to just spraying the boolits with some Pam, then sizing immediately. I'll then drop them in a colander and dunk them in a sink full of dish water to get the pam off, then heat and tumble lube with JPW.....