Lee tumble lube bullets

[JLK]

I've never owned a TL mold but I'm thinking about trying one.
Although I own 3 Lee molds I know nothing about the TL's.
:(
What happens if you size and lubricate one of these designs thru a conventional
sizer/lubricator such as a Lyman 450?
Is accuracy improved or harmed?
Thanks!

[mooman76]

It should be fine if you have the lube grooves left. One of the problems are the shallow groves and if you have to size much they are gone.

[res45]

I shoot several of the Lee TL mold designs. I use the 158 gr. TL version in SWC and RN in two different 357 revolvers as well as 38 loads and the Lee .312 TL 160 gr. GC bullet in my SKS rifles as well as my Mosin 54r and Sav. 99 in 300 Sav.


For the 38/357 loads I TL twice with two light coats of Alox/JPW mix shoot as cast,accuracy is excellent and I have no leading issues. On the .312 TL rifle mold for the SKS and Mosin I shoot as cast and apply the GC with the Lee .314 push through sizer so as not to size the bullet any. On the same .312 bullet for the 300 Sav. I use a .311 sizer to apply the GC,it only sizes the back driving band down about .001" and barely touches the TL grooves.

I generally ranch dip the 300 Sav. bullets up to the lube grooves after applying the GC and give it a second pass through the Lee sizer which tends to pack the TL into the grooves nice and thick.

I use the TL design bullets because there just easier for me to cast,lube and shoot and are the least expensive way for me to enjoy cast bullet shooting,the Lee sizer dies are more for applying GC's than they are sizing.

[arjacobson]

i use tl molds for my 45's and 38's. I have sizers for both but usually load as cast.. Jpw for Lube. As soon as the lube dries I load.. Very accurate and haven't had a problem with leading

[fecmech]

I have been pleasantly surprised by the Lee 158 TL swc. the mold (a 6 banger) was given to me by a friend and it turns out to be quite a gift. I haven't pushed it hard to date (900 fps pistol, 1150 Rifle) but it is accurate out to 200 yds. It's about a 4MOA bullet out of both the handguns and the lever guns and I lube it with "Recluse" lube (45-45-10). I cast and lube at the same time by keeping the boolits hot under a towel and every hundred or so I squirt some "Recluse" lube in a ziploc bag along with the boolits and drop on a screen to dry. That way I get about 700 finished boolits per hour, it's almost like stealing! I tried the 9MM tc Tl version in the past and did not have much luck with it, had this 158 swc not been given to me, I probably would not have tried it. I'm sure glad it was!

[jmsj]

JLK,
Like fecmec, I too have the Lee TL358-158-SWC 6 cavity mold. It is one of my best performers in 38 Spec. loads. I do not have any 38/ 357 rifles and have not tried it in .357 Mag. Recluse's 45/45/10 method works great for me too.
I even use Recluse's 45/45/10 method of tumble lubing on traditional lube groove bullets for some of my target/plinking loads in .45ACP and .38 Special and get no leading.
I am helping a young man learn to reload and cast. He came over this afternoon and he casted a whole Lee 4-20 pot of Lyman 452460's out of a 2 cavity mold. I then showed him how to use Recluse's 45/45/10 method of lubing boolits. We were able to cast the boolits, warm the boolits in an oven, lube the boolits, size the boolits, warm the boolits again and put the second coat of lube on in about 3 1/2 hours. For his first try, he was able to cast, size and lube about 500 boolits in an afternoon. We put a fan on the bullets to help them dry. My wife made us supper and when we were done eating the bullets were dry.
Good luck, jmsj

[chris in va]

No luck with the TL designs. All keyholed.

[HeavyMetal]

Once I got a Star all infatuation with TL went away!

I know guys here say they get faster drying times etc etc but I haven't had that experience.

If you have a 450 lube sizer and it's turning out the volume of boolits you want going to tumble lube is a step backwards in my opinion.

Over the years I've tried pretty much every new concoction that hit the streets including some dipping lubes made of Moly.

In the end they all had one problem or another, mostly drying time, and just didn't work for me.

Just so you understand my thoughts on TL boolits let me explain my position.

Tumble lube is supposed to save time because you don't have to run each individual boolit into a sizing die by hand.

It's supposed to allow you to put lube in a bowl slosh the boolits around in the lube until coated evenly and then let dry and load.

This idea is great until tolerance stacking bites you in the backside and your tumble lube boolits are either to big, the most often seen issue, or to small, tough to make little boolits bigger!

Undersized leads and tumbles over sized won't chamber and if you size them you will most likely wind up with a smooth lead cylinder.

TL is, for all intents and purposes, a great idea on paper that sometimes doesn't quite work out in the real world.

Now the one cool part of TL is you do not need a TL boolit to give TL a try!

Suggest you snag a bottle of Lee's liquid alox and set aside a handful of you next casting session and follow the directions on the bottle and see if you like the results.

Most get turned off the first time around but many have no issue with the process. Rather than listen to me tell you the idea stinks try it for yourself and see what you think.

[zuke]

I use TL452-230-TC 6 cavity mold and you get a pile of bullet's plenty quick!
I tumble lube 2-3 time's to get it plenty thick,and don't size.
I use these in my LeMag M1 carbine conversion that's a .45 Win Mag.
Never had a tumble,and their cheap ta boot.
That's the reason I got me a LEE Loadmaster, and I'm amazed at the speed ot it.
When I do my part I can crank'em out about as fast as I can cast'em.

[bigjake]

We cast the lee TL 240 gr. 44 mag. bullets using WW lead or babbit and coat them twice w/liquid alox and dust them with powdered mica. We then load those puppies to the hilt with a max charge of 296 or H110 and get zero leading. the accuracy is not all that great but when shooting with my teenage sons, to them, its all about the kick, the flames and the sound. :Fire:

[Rangefinder]

For kicks I tried out a TL 312-160-2R for my AK and mosin. It worked so well that I not only started getting a few more TL molds for other calibers, but started using LLA to lube my conventional lube boolits---with fantastic results. My poor lyman 450 hasn't seen much use since then.

[NuJudge]

My luck with the TL designs has been mixed. Recently, with a .40 mold, I've had excellent results.

I really prefer grooved and greased bullets. I very rarely have bad results with them.

CDD

[Hastings]

I use TL molds and also push them through the Lee resizing die. While the size is nearly bang on as cast, I find the resizer pushes the alox on the surface of the rings into the groves where it really belongs. I also give them a very light tumble lube after resizing. The base ring after the last grove can be a bit too big sometimes and resizing also helps ensure I can sit the bullet on the casing without having to use much flare.

I like them.

[Recluse]

Of my top five best shooting boolits in terms of accuracy and no leading, two of them are Lee TL design boolits--the TL158SWC (my number one best shooting boolit) and the TL230RN (number four best shooting boolit).

My worst shooting boolit, ever, is the Lee TL124RN for 9mm.

:coffee:

[Boolseye]

can't really see the point of running a TL boolit through a lubrisizer w/ conventional lube. A) they don't usually need sizing and B) the grooves are very small, designed for TL.

[crawfobj]

I like the Lee TL158SWC for high volume .38spl loads. I also had no luck with the TL124RN for 9mm - couldn't get consistent feeding with the goofy shoulder on the bullet. Switched to the TC version and I'm in process of working up loads now.

Also have the .40 TC version and a bunch of bullets poured, but no time yet to get to loading.

I think TL bullets have their place in high volume plinking/paper punching loads. As much fun as I have shooting my 9mms and 686, I don't think I could keep up with my 450. One of these days, I'll do some trading to free up some toy funds for a star.