Lee 38 spl wadcutter TL

[Jal5]

So this is my first time casting a 6 cav TL mold. But have been casting for 7 yrs.

Do these boolits look ok? The grooves aren’t sharp. I threw any wrinkled ones back in the pot. COWW and range scrap plus a little solder. Temp was variable from 600-700.

Still learning how the mold works, cadence, temp, etc. But I love the production.

[tazman]

That's as good as the tumble lube boolits ever look. The grooves never have sharp edges on them.
Those should shoot fine.

[Jal5]

That's as good as the tumble lube boolits ever look. The grooves never have sharp edges on them.
Those should shoot fine.

Thanks. I have to reconsider my 2 cav molds now for other calibers like 9mm and 45 acp!

[JBinMN]

I cast the same type Lee 148gr. TL boolit. They are just fine, IMO.

Load them & shoot em up.

[myg30]

Toss them in a baggy with some Ben’s liquid lube, shake, dry n load em. Or alox or what ever you have.
Good job Jal
Be safe and enjoy them nice round holds they punch.

Mike

[Jal5]

Toss them in a baggy with some Ben’s liquid lube, shake, dry n load em. Or alox or what ever you have.
Good job Jal
Be safe and enjoy them nice round holds they punch.

Mike

Just what I was going to do!
Joe

[azrednek]

They look fine to me. I've been shooting that bullet since the early 80's and simply love the shot to shot accuracy loaded with a mild charge of Bullseye. About the only suggestion I can make. The castings you put aside for storage. If you lube them with Lee goo or something similar. Dust them with Motor Mica, Talcum powder or I've even used corn starch. If not dusted they are a king sized pain in the donkey to separate.

I've always shot them as dropped. Never sized any except one batch of a hundred or so to see if there was an improvement. I didn't see any difference either good or bad. Of coarse your mileage may vary.

[Jal5]

I haven’t mic’d any. Hoping to use them as sized. Thx for the powder idea. I haven’t had any real issues with storage using BLL though on other cast boolits

[Budzilla 19]

Jal5, when you go to 6 cavity molds, you’ll never go back to 2 again, ......................it’s hopeless, all is in a swirl now, must have more boolits!! Hahaha! Just kidding, but when you start with those .45’s in a six cavity mold, pretty soon, it’s like,”oh darn, that pot is empty again!” And a mountain of 9mm boolits in no time! Just my opinion. Those wc boolits look good, by the way.

[mdi]

Look inside the mold cavities. Are the grooves/ridges sharp or rounded? Your bullets should look the same...

[higgins]

I have the same mold. It casts sort of rounded grooves like yours. They've been accurate for me; my mold drops them at .357-.358 with ACWW metal.

[Bigslug]

Those should work GREAT. I'm tumble-lubing wadcutters from an H&G #50 mold with B.L.L. That bullet was not intended to be a tumble-lube proposition, and they work fine. Given the low pressures such things are subjected to, and the sheer amount of bullet surface making contact with the bore, you're going to be carrying a ton of sealant for the job required.

That said, you might try running them hotter. I've never used Lee's 6-holers, but under 700F is frigidly, Antarctic cold for just about anything in my experience.

P.S. Can you print some really tiny Campbell's label to put on those?

[GooseGestapo]

Those are fine. I've tied national records in PPC with bullets just like those (matches 1,2).
However, I do run them through a .358" Lee sizer. This uniforms the bullets. If I don't, they won't chamber with "some" guns when loaded in "some" brass.
I shoot them exclusively in PPC except for 50yd line in regional, state, or national championships. Then, I shoot staged HBWC.

re: lubing; I've had no luck with Bens red. I just cut the Lee Liquid Alox to 50/50 LLA to mineral spirits. Provides a smoother, lighter, less sticky coating. Dries quicker. No need for dusting.

I load over either 2.7gr Bullseye or 2.9gr HP38/231. Remington wadcutter brass, Federal #100 SP primers.

Since 1989, I've worn out 2 6-cav wadcutter molds. 1-158gr SWC mold. Molds are good for 300,000-400,000 bullets. They start warping in the middle and have to be peened back flat. After several workings, they start to crack. But hey!, they're cheap!!!

P.S. I'd toss that one on far left. It has a small void in sprue. Needed to pour a tad more lead on it. Luck will have it that you'll shoot it at the "long line" and it'll shoot a high nine... that's my luck!!!