Accuracy of Lee Tumble Lube Boolits?

[MikeSSS]

I've shot around 1,000 200gr tumble lube boolits in my 44-40 Win 73 and two Uberti Colt 1873 .45's.

But that was shooting wiley cactus varmints, cute furry critters, mud, rocks, sticks, twigs, water and stuff like that. In other words I've never shot them seriously. I did shoot some paper at 50 yards with the 44-40, offhand, and thought there might be something wrong though.

On the other hand that 44-40 with the real light loads is a big part of my 'Frogs in Space' program. Shoot the mud under them when they are on the beach and they do indeed head for space. Reentry is uneventful but splashdown makes quite a splat. Sometimes a frog will be completely unharmed...except for being very dead. Hmmm. I calculated the takeoff acceleration and they pull lots of "G's". Pull too many G's with too rapid an onset and you get Fatal Error #41.

I shoot very light loads using 3.3 gr of Clays (the one with the rising clay pidgeons). Also shoot some with 4.5 gr. The 3.3 gr loads are pretty quiet. Interestingly, I did take a shot at the hog trap, 270 yards away with the shorter of the .45 Colts. Hit it on the first shot...with the 3.3gr load. Needless to say, quite a bit of elevation was used. But, I sure wouldn't want somebody shooting at me even with 3.3gr loads.

We also used a lot less powder with round balls.

The 3.3 grainers from the 24" bbl 73 Winchester sound like a pump up pellet rifle, using 4 pumps. The round ball loads sound like a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun. They hit a lot harder than a BB gun though.

But, I digress. So, what kind of accuracy have you gotten from Lee "Tumble Lube" boolits?

Thanks.

Mike S

[Guido4198]

Mike,
Don't know if this will help much, but I'll share what I know...
The only tumble lube bullets I use are the Lee 410210 SWC , mild loaded((1000 fps) for my 41 mag handguns. I use them for offhand practice @ 25 yds. where I need to shoot a lot, and am not looking for pin-point precision. In that application, using a crude rest to evaluate their suitability...they shoot the same as the commercial cast/lubed boolits I've had. I get about 2" grps. @ 25...which is good enough for this purpose. They would probably do better if I worked on it...but once again...for this application it's not necessary. For more critical shooting in that caliber...I have a traditionally lubed, mild cast load that shoots 10 shots into a single ragged hole @50 yds. out of my 10" Contender from sandbags, using a Leupold Red dot sight. Hope this helps...

[KCSO]

I use a tumble lube bullets in 40 S and W and in 38-40 and have been welll satisfied. My best 25 yard groups with the 38-40 and iron sights run 1 1/2" for 5 shots. Basicly this is one big hole. From an unmodified SAA that is better than I can shoot. The same bullet in S and W groups into 2" at 25.

[ace1001]

When loading hot, I got gas cutting before the commercial lead bullets. It they made a gas check mold that would go away. They are good enough for pistols but for rifles, they should be sized and loaded lighter. Ace

[45r]

Someday Im going to try tumble lube on my lyman 148 WC bullets loaded backwards.The beveled end would be forward and the square end with the small trun cone at back to help stabilize it.I have read that they shoot better that way.my 357 shoots these bullets good at 30 but groups open up to 3 inch at 50 yards.They drop perfect at 360 diameter and sized to 358 shoot OK with 4.0 Titegroup at 30 but want to see 1 and half inch groups at 50 if possible.This old 27 will do so with lyman 358156 GC bullets when I can do my part with 14 grains 2400.The only way to lube the WC bullets and seat backwards would have to be tumble lubed.I tried it in my RCBS luber and lube got under the bottom.Guess I should have known that.Want to try the seated backward thing somehow.

[jeff223]

the tumble lube RANCH DOG boolits shoot very good out of my 445 supermag Contender.i fell they are the best shooting 44cal boolits out there.i wish there were more good tumble lube designs out there for us to have

[Jack Stanley]

I haven't done much of any lubing of pistol bullets as yet . I have been fooling with tumble lube on the Lyman 311466 , 311334 and the 311440 a little . The 311466 in a thirty-thirty will cut ragged holes at twenty-five yards with mild loads that are gas-checked , they aren't too bad without the checks either . The 311440 does pretty well considering the Russian "zip gun" I have to work with .
The sample of the 311334 I have isn't real large because they are the leftovers of a mold I once had . They are working pretty well in the Krag though with light loads .

Done a little bit with .22 bulets in the .223 and the results are promising .

Jack

[Four Fingers of Death]

MIKESSS, we have bigggggggggggggg frog here in the state north of here (Queensland). They are all over the road and we wre having fun running over them. One of the Queenslanders asked if we 'popped' them. He went on to explain, if you sounded your horn as you approached them, they turned towards the noise to check it out and as you run over them, you sealed off their mouth and created a large audible pop! Works a treat, a lot more fun as well. Heck, we drive huge distances here in Australia, boys gotta have a bit of fun. Mick.

[Ranch Dog]

Mick...

I have been hunting exclusively with Micro-Band (tumble lube) boolits for five years now and as of last evening, have taken 65-big game animals with them. I have found their accuracy and performance unbeatable. I expect sub-MOA performance from my boolits at jacketed velocities or I wouldn't be shooting lead. The boolits I'm shooting are all dropped from Lee special order molds, the more popular calibers have been available through group buys