what can you tell me about the lee 90239 mould

[scout80]

Hello. I'm new to the forum and new the reloading. I've done much reading on reloading.
I'm wondering what you guys have to say about this mold for 9mm.

[MtGun44]

It is much more useful to most of us to use the 356-120-TC type of Lee information
rather than the Lee part number, which contains zero information in itself, and is therefore
essentially never used here. The 356-120-TC is a nominal .356" diameter boolit with
a nominal wt of 120 grains and is a Truncated Cone shape. Everybody knows this one.

Frankly nobody will have any idea which boolit you are talking about.

Bill

[scout80]

Ok. Thanks for the info.
So with this number being the only one on the mould how am I to know what I have. I got this mould used with no papers or package.

[MT Gianni]

The reason we call them a 356 120 gr tc is because Lee changes their numbers occasionally once they drop a mold from production. 15 years from now those numbers may mean something else. None of the other mfg's do this AFAIK.

[scout80]

Ok. So this is the mould that I have...356 120gr tc...or should I do more digging for info.
Thanks guys.

[billyb]

Ok. So this is the mould that I have...356 120gr tc...or should I do more digging for info.
Thanks guys.

Scout look up Lee Precision and look at thier bullet mould list. It will give you an idea of what has been said here. Bill

[fecmech]

Welcome to the board. That bullet design is an excellent one designed for use in the 9MM. However it is an extremely accurate bullet in the .38 spl/.357 mag both pistol and rifle. I have used it for target work in leverguns to 200 yds where it will maintain an accuracy level of about 3 moa. Obviously not something you would want to hunt with but a great plinker and target bullet.

[scout80]

How about in 35.rem. plan on loading some for my marlin 336c.

[fecmech]

Give it a try about 1200-1400 fps.

[MtGun44]

Guys - I DID NOT LOOK UP THE BOOLIT - I was just giving an example.

If it turns out that the number he gave is actually the 356-120-TC then I am way more
lucky than good, but if nobody has looked it up, and just thinks I did - we may be
talking apples vs turnips here.

Bill

[Buckshot]

..............The 90239 IS the 356 - 120 - TC, and is a BB design. That's the 2C number. A 6 banger is 90387 in case anyone is interested :-) I have the 6 cav version. The 1st batch I cast up was with 20 bhn alloy and my notes show it ran .360"/.359" across the parting line. I tried them in a 38 S&W (which actually likes'em @ .361"+), and they did okay, but I doubt I'll load'em for that application again. In my Witness 38 Super they did as well as a couple others of similar weight (I size to .358" for it). They weighed right at 120grs and at 1300 fps they'd all be headshots at 25 yards. Not target boolits but I didn't experiment a lot at that speed. One lube, and only a couple powders. No leading.

The current batch is 15 bhn, weighs 123.5grs and mic's .358+/.357+ across the line. The Super did better with these at 1100 fps using the same lube. The Witness seems to like'em a bit heavier. I did try some of this batch in my K-38, but again I have others that do better. Not saying this boolit isn't a good one as it sure is a nice simple design. Just that I don't have the range close at hand any longer to do the testing that I used to. Besides, other handguns would probably shoot'em like a house afire right off. Get the lube & charge right and they should scortch out. Unless you try'em like I did in the 38 S&W. It doesn't scortch much of anything:-)

.................Buckshot

[DLCTEX]

Guys - I DID NOT LOOK UP THE BOOLIT - I was just giving an example.

If it turns out that the number he gave is actually the 356-120-TC then I am way more
lucky than good, but if nobody has looked it up, and just thinks I did - we may be
talking apples vs turnips here.

Bill

Hey everybody, Bill is psychic.

[leadman]

that boolit design is an easy one to cast with as it has no sharp bends except for the shallow lube groove. Much easier to cast than the Thompson 158gr SWC with 2 crimp grooves.

I have used this boolit with excellent results in a 9X19 Ruger pistol and ok results in an OMC 380. The latter being a fixed sight gun there is no way to raise the POI to the POA, and it was 8 inches or so low at 10 yards.

[MtGun44]

Cool, he said 9mm and I just grabbed my favorite Lee 9mm boolit number as an example.

Psychic? I've been called a lot worse! ;-)

That is a really good design, I use it in many different 9mms at .357 and .358, accurate and
reliable feeder, no leading, the only issue - a small one, is that with a Lyman or RCBS lubrisizer
you will get a bit of a ring of lube at the BB feature. I size these on a Star to solve that minor
problem neatly.

Great choice!

Bill

[scout80]

Thanks guys. MTGUN44 congrats on your knew phychic powers.
I plan on using the lee sizer ya just keep pushing the boolits through.
Will the use of this resizer have any bad efects on the tip of the boolit.

[Boolseye]

Will the use of this resizer have any bad efects on the tip of the boolit.
no sir, it will not.

[MtGun44]

If you pan lube (use the search feature, there are some good threads with great pix on the
site covering pan lubing) you can push size or you may be able to shoot as cast depending
on the size your mold and alloy put out.

If you plan on tumble lubing with Lee Liquid Alox (LLA, also known as Mule Snot) be advised
that this is a somewhat marginal lube system and 9mm is a fairly demanding application. You
can luck out and succeed but we have had a lot of threads here on folks that were failing with TL
system with 9mm. It tends to be more successful on the less demanding cartridges like moderate
.38 Spl loads or .45 ACP loads. Not that it is certain to fail, but just a good bit more iffy with
that particular cartridge. I'd have to say that 9mm has been one of our most common "Help,
my boolits are hitting sideways and leading like mad" calibers here over the last few years.

Biggest issue seems to be very large variation of groove diam for 9mms - anything from .355 to
.358 seems pretty common. For comparison, .38 Spl revolvers are usually right at .357 with some
Colts slugging at .356. .45 ACPs are usually right at .4515, which amazes me but we get this time
and time again, from different manufacturers, too.

Slug the barrel, size to groove or groove +.001 to start. Use straight wheelweights alloy, do not water
drop. Too small and too hard an alloy are the typical problems. Many folks insist that you need ultra
hard (linotype alloy or water dropped or heat treated) boolits to work in a 9mm. This is plain old wrong.
Not that it is impossible for hard to work, but it is a least unnecessary, and at worst, can make the problems
worse. A few folks have found that with certain barrels the rifling is so shallow that they get better
accuracy with harder boolits, but I have used straight AC wwts in Beretta 92, P38, PF9, Browning HP, and
multiple Sigs with very good results, no leading.

Check this out, too. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=121607


Bill

[BossHoss]

I have this mold, and would love to use it in my Colt 38 Super...gotta go slug it, but having said that...

I have been using a .355 sized boolit from Bob's Reloading in Woodstock ,il for years....recently ran out...and thought he was gone. I found him at a gunshow, and he IS bailing from the business after 30+ years....he had a small supply of the boolit I preferred.

a weird one, for sure....a truncated cone SWC ...single groove lube. Never seen it anywhere else, ever. He might sell me the molds, they are for a bullet master.

I would like to try this 9mm boolit in my favorite Super......gotta go slug it.

[MtGun44]

Supers run all over the map, too. I have one that slugs .3575 made by Bill Wilson
and marked "Super .38" I asked him about it a long time ago, why he called it a "Super .38"
rather than a ".38 Super", and he said, "Oh, just thought it sounded good"

This is the first gun that taught me about undersized boolits. I got a batch for it one time
that were .356 and they went sideways about 2 out of 3 shots. I wound up melting them
down.

Bill

[BossHoss]

My Super is an original 70 Series Colt Gov Model, Bomar sights.

Never slugged it, I will when I pull it out again.

One of my favorite bullseye shooters with 38 acp loads and a lite spring.