do tumble lube boolits shoot better without sizing ?

[watkibe]

I have been trying this out. Richard Lee says his TL boolits often shoot better without sizing. (probably won't apply to any GC boolit)
Today I seated some TL-358-158 SWCs over a prudent amount of Unique and fired them through my Blackhawk, and also through my 357 Maximum H&R 1871. In the Blackhawk, they seemed about the same, but in the rifle, 5 shots went into 2 holes, a half inch apart; one hole was 2 boolits, the other hole was 3 !
I have heard rumors that shooting the shorter magnum case in the longer maximum chamber will degrade performance, but I think that's not the case here !

[41mag]

Well, that's encouragement for me, I have one of the six bangers in that design, and 7 different barrels to try them out in. Hopefully they will do as good, in at least couple of them.

Nice shootin.

[Shiloh]

I have that mold. No rifle though. That boolit shoots okay, but not outstanding. My TL 148 gr wadcutter is quite accurate. I have no complaints at all as accuracy is superb.

Beats me why there is a difference. I may try a harder alloy for the 158 gr.

Shiloh

[harvester]

I have some TL molds that shoot fine without sizing but in my 357 Colt revolvers I have to size all bullets .358 to chamber properly. My RN 230 grain TL 45acp shoots fine either way but I tend to size anyway seeking consistency and since I use 45-45-10 LLA it is really quite easy.

[williamwaco]

I have several Lee molds. I have tried the shoot as cast method and have not had good luck with it. The problem is not the shooting, it is the chambering. If you can get them in there, they will shoot fine. I have used them in various .357 and .45s. I find that at least one in 10 will not chamber.

I do not use this method any more.

[Boolseye]

I don't think that boolit (TL.358-158SWC) could shoot a whole lot better than it does for me sized at .358. I actually found that not sizing that boolit caused frequent chambering issues in my S&W m66. Whoops, just noticed a theme here...

[Bret4207]

It all comes down to fit. Each gun/boolit/powder combo is a law unto itself.

[btroj]

Bret nailed it. Absolutes in shooting are few and far between. Each gun likes what it likes, it is our job to find what that is.

[noylj]

I am out on the edge of experience.
In my guns, I have never had BETTER accuracy after sizing a bullet. All of my sizing was done on an old Lyman lubrisizer, nad I retired it about 25+ years ago when I decided to start pan lubing.
YMMV

[1Shirt]

Agree with Bret! In my personal experiance with tumble lube blts for rifle sized and lubed with White Lable Canuba, that a minimum of sizing allows for a max of lube (as long as they fit). And accuracy is quite good. Do not really like the smell of LLA when fired and the smoke either.
1Shirt!

[watkibe]

The relatively new Lee Carbide Factory Crimp die is great. I think the idea was actually from Dillon or someone, don't remember, but they called it a post-sizing die. Lee's die has a carbide sizing ring at the bottom so that the last operation on every round is sizing. I believe it sizes even boolits inside the case, as well as the case. And at the other end of the round it applies a darn fine crinp !
So if a bullet does actually need to be sized, the Lee Carbide Factory Crimp die will catch it before you dind out because the round won't chamber. BTW, this isonly about revolver boolits.

[Sonnypie]

I'm in the other pasture...
I size everything. Here's why:
My experience has been there is an obvious difference in some of my cast boolits even though cast in the very same session. Based on that occasionally one slides through the sizing die easy, and occasionally there will be one that requires a bit more effort.
Inspection really does not show any marked differences or measurements, just the effort differences. Although logically, there must be some discrepancies.
So, if I do size the boolits (and I do), at least they all have the same diameter when I load them. (Theoretically)
I cast two different styles, one TL, the other 2-groove. The TL are HP, and the other solids. Both PB (meaning Plain Based)
So I size mine so my 1911A1 doesn't have to.
My idea is it makes things more consistent.
YMMV

[EDK]

I prefer to size all my boolits. Lathesmith makes a nice sizing die for STARS in the size you want, so I have him make dies close to the AS CAST diameter to do a minimum of sizing...as long as the loaded ammo will go chamber reliably. The .433 seems to be working well in the assorted VAQUEROS and MARLIN Cowboy rifles. Next step .434 with the MIHEC 429640 clone?

[Recluse]

It all comes down to fit. Each gun/boolit/powder combo is a law unto itself.

Exactly.

My tumble-lube boolits all come, not surprisingly, from Lee two-cavity molds. I Lee-ment each mold vigorously and also lap them out which means the boolits always drop a skoche larger than advertised.

My reasoning is that I can always take lead off via sizing, but no way to add lead to an already cast boolit.

Likewise, I always, without fail, size my tumble-lube boolits and as I've written on previous occasions, it is for consistency. I know the diameter of my various bores for the few tumble-lube boolits I cast, and when I lube/size/lube appropriately, I always end up with a very good, stable, reliable, non-leading boolit.

If something goes wrong or accuracy goes awry, I can automatically eliminate the sizing as a factor and look at other areas.

When you find the proper combination of boolit, alloy, lube, size, powder, brass and primer that works for your gun, consistency becomes key to having consistent performance, accuracy and results.

[noylj]

Recluse: have you tried as-cast? To me, I let the barrel do the sizing and it has worked for about 25 years for me.