Lee tumble lube with micro bands wave of the future?

[wallenba]

Thanks guys; Like others I did the tumble lube thing for a while, all the good reasons to NOT do it have been hit on.

Its a good way to lube bullets for sure but its not the only good way, obviously its not for everyone.

I still recommend it (tumble lubing) for someone wanting to see if they like casting but most seem to migrate towards a proper lube sizer if they get real serious

+1. I went the TL route too for economy, quickly got tired of waiting the drying period before loading. Bought a 4500, never looked back, not that tumble lubing is bad, just did'nt work for me.

[selmerfan]

I have both, my TL bullet is Ranch Dog's 359-190-RF. I size mine with the sizing kit he sells with it for .359". TL, size, TL again. I don't mind the drying period, and I LOVE the results out of my .357 Max. Just under 1900 fps with RL7, just over MOA groups at 100 yds out of my 15" braked barrel. I'm in for the group buy on this mold in 6 cavity when it opens up.
Selmerfan

[zardoz]

First boolit I ever cast was the TL452-230-2R. Lubed it with straight JPW, and had a great experience. Now days, I still use that mould, but mix LLA with JPW. I dry them in a toaster oven set at low.

It has worked great with no leading, in both a Taurus PT145 and a Springfield 1911A1.

I have not had so much luck with high pressure, high velocity rounds for 9mm and 40S&W using the TL design. But if I back down on the power, they seem to work fine. I don't size any of those TL boolits ever.

[Cowboy T]

Most of the boolits I cast are the traditional lube groove type. I still use LLA on them, even for Magnum loads. They all shoot great, with no leading. The boolits are Lee's 358-158-RF, 358-105-SWC, and 452-200-RF.

The 158-grainers, I don't resize at all, because they drop right between 0.3575" and 0.3585". Same for the 452-200's. The 358-105-SWC's, they could use a *little* sizing, depending on the cavity, so I do size those. One light coat of LLA for sizing, followed by a light-to-medium coat after sizing.

I'm also casting up some TL430-200-SWC's this weekend or the next. I tried out a short run when I first bought the mould, and I'm getting fine boolit fill-out. The mould is dropping them right at .4295" to 0.4305, which is near perfect. The key is to run that pot hot, at least 750 deg. F.

[pls1911]

Liquid alox /Xlox has it's place.
Used alone or in concert with traditional lube it's the real thing when no leading is the objective, and as stated above less is normally better.
For pistols, a diluted wash alone works fine on unsized bullets under 850-900 fps.
For rifles I use a 20-30% thinned wash over the bearing portion of the boolit, AFTER normal gas check/ size/lube is finished. Un plain base 45-70 bullets there's a little ring of extra lube dried around the base.
I get great accuracy... and never any leading to 2500 fps, though my loading is normally only 1800-1900 fps for accuracy, and pressures are moderate.

AND it's great to use diluted as a rust preventive storage coat (think cosmoline) and threadlocker for non critical applications (retards unthreading without locking a nut or bolt permanently), and yes, it's even a great gasket sealer for some applications... it's very similar to the permatex, but less viscous.

[Char-Gar]

Hand-loading with all of it's component parts which includes casting has always been a quest for quality and accuracy in my mind. I am not looking for the fastest way, but the best way.

I believe in that one carefully aimed shot. Top drawer ammo, sight picture, breath control, trigger control and proper mounting of the weapon is the name of the game for me.

I am at the Range every Saturday and it seems the vast number of folks there just want to send as many rounds down range as they can, as fast as they can. It would seem that riflecraft and pistolcraft are no longer valued much, by the newer generation of shooters. In fact, they don't seem to know the basics of marksmanship.

Ergo... I don't tumble lube or use those bullets designed designed for that practice, and don't think it will ever take over. Maybe it will, but not in my shop.

[fatelk]

I must be doing something wrong, because a thin coat of alox/jpw simply does not work for me, at least in my .45. I'm using the Lee 45-230-TC-TL bullet sized for the bore. A light coat of tumble lube leaves leading. Two coats leaves less leading. When I go back to old-fashioned lube in the grooves, all leading goes away.

Yes, I've tried about everything; hard lead, soft lead, faster or slower, etc.
I know that you guys who say a thin coat works can't all be wrong, but I sure can't get it to work for me.

[Cowboy5780]

See our member (Lar45's LsStuff) i use his version of the xlox never had a bit of leading in any of my guns i use it in!!!!!!! I know some of its my good luck but theres a big difference in the consistency of his and the lee alox.

[Cowboy T]

Hand-loading with all of it's component parts which includes casting has always been a quest for quality and accuracy in my mind. I am not looking for the fastest way, but the best way.

I believe in that one carefully aimed shot. Top drawer ammo, sight picture, breath control, trigger control and proper mounting of the weapon is the name of the game for me.

I am at the Range every Saturday and it seems the vast number of folks there just want to send as many rounds down range as they can, as fast as they can. It would seem that riflecraft and pistolcraft are no longer valued much, by the newer generation of shooters. In fact, they don't seem to know the basics of marksmanship.

Ergo... I don't tumble lube or use those bullets designed designed for that practice, and don't think it will ever take over. Maybe it will, but not in my shop.

I agree with you, except for the inference about tumble lube boolits being designed for just sending a hail of lead downrange. I go for that one carefully aimed shot, too. Tumble lube boolits shoot in my guns just as well as the ones w/ traditional lube grooves. If someone can't shoot decently with a handgun at 25 paces, it's the operator, not the boolit.

I don't know about riflecraft, but pistolcraft has definitely suffered. Not too long ago, the g/f and I did an "Intro to IPSC" course. We had our .357M revolvers, and there were three others (two guys and a girl) that had all this trick-holster gear, semiautos accessorized out the wazoo, you name it. I tell ya, they were *tactical*, man! They obviously spent some money. We could tell they were kinda turning up their noses at our "outdated" revolvers with our "non-tactical" holster kit.

Now we go up to shoot some metal targets.

My g/f and I:
POW-Ping!
POW-Ping!
POW-Ping!
POW--(oops)
POW-Ping!
POW-Ping!
(reload and continue)

These three tactical folks:
POW...POW...POWPOW...POW...POW-Ping!
POW-POW-POW...POW...POW-Ping!
POW...POW...POW...POW...POW...POW-Ping!
(reload and continue)

and so on. Couldn't hit the broadside of a barn, but doggone it, they were TACTICAL, BABY!!!

[Bkid]

Owning a handgun doesn't make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician - Col Jeff Cooper
Newbie here and I am learning about casting bullets.Thanks CowboyT for the videos on You tube. I found them to be very helpful. I shoot about 500 rounds every other day and would like to say hello to all here. I hope to gain a lot of info ,and it looks like I am at the right place.

[Cowboy T]

You're quite welcome, and I'm glad they were helpful. Actually, I've only been casting for the last 6 months (soon to be 7), so I'm a newbie too. That's why I did the videos, so folks could see it from a newbie's perspective.

If you're looking at moulds for handgun calibers, I'd strongly suggest a Lee six-cavity model. They just plain work well, better in my experience than the 2-cavity models. And I'd also go for a mould that uses traditional lube grooves. Such boolits work great with either the traditional 50/50 beeswax/Alox lube or the Liquid Alox, so you have that flexibility. The "tumble lube groove" moulds are for Liquid Alox only. As I mentioned, I do have one, and I like it, but it wasn't my first mould.

[Bkid]

You're quite welcome, and I'm glad they were helpful. Actually, I've only been casting for the last 6 months (soon to be 7), so I'm a newbie too. That's why I did the videos, so folks could see it from a newbie's perspective.

If you're looking at moulds for handgun calibers, I'd strongly suggest a Lee six-cavity model. They just plain work well, better in my experience than the 2-cavity models. And I'd also go for a mould that uses traditional lube grooves. Such boolits work great with either the traditional 50/50 beeswax/Alox lube or the Liquid Alox, so you have that flexibility. The "tumble lube groove" moulds are for Liquid Alox only. As I mentioned, I do have one, and I like it, but it wasn't my first mould.

Great info thanks again. I am going to start making some 45 ACP 230 grain ball boolits. I just need to figure out if I need to size them and how to lube them so I do not get a lot of lead fouling.

[dragonrider]

"Originally Posted by anachronism
I embraced the concept when it first came out. Then reality set in."

+1 to the above. I have tumble lubed, I have pan lubed, I have lubed with a Lyman 450 and a Star. the Star is all I will ever use.

[Bkid]

"Originally Posted by anachronism
I embraced the concept when it first came out. Then reality set in."

+1 to the above. I have tumble lubed, I have pan lubed, I have lubed with a Lyman 450 and a Star. the Star is all I will ever use.

To bad it is so expensive . Bullets look good that come out of one though.

[Rock021710]

Well I've only been casting my own lead for a couple months,I didn't have any preconceived notions about which bullet design was good or bad. My decision was all based on economics.

Both the Lee TL 358 and 312 designs I have throw great bullets and I couldn't be more happy with how they have turned out and are preforming in my SKS,M44 and Ruger BH. I just wish they made a few more TL designs for other calibers in there standard line of molds.

I have wondered about reloading for the SKS rifle. I shoot mine a good bit but may be more economical in buying the cheap stuff (berdan primed steel case). I still get pretty good accuracy, averages about 1.5 moa. Did handloading tighten your groups up or just less expensive in your area.

Thomas

[tackstrp]

resisted the tumble lube. and the lee sizer . Will be listing my Lyman and sizing dies in due time . wish to keep a bit longer, just in case, some reason comes up to buy a regular mold with grease grooves. I cast, 9mm 124 grains, 10 mm 175 grain, 357/38 158 grain. No plans for new molds. I also cast 105 grain .356 for my 380 with a single grease groove. but I do the tumble lube.

[deerslayer]

I get good results from the tumble lube but I will say that i take a beautiful lead boolit and when I get done it looks like someone blew a snotrocket on it.

[azrednek]

I am at the Range every Saturday and it seems the vast number of folks there just want to send as many rounds down range as they can, as fast as they can.

I love those kind of shooters, most of them leave their brass.

[bohokii]

Owning a handgun doesn't make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician - Col Jeff Cooper

yea well either way you're gonna make lots of noise

[dukenukum]

I use a tumble lube for the .45 auto but size and lube it in a Lyman 450 sizer with good results. and like cowboy T I don't do tacticool shooting.