9mm - TL missing from Bands - does it matter?

[YogiSC]

New guy. Casting 358-125-RF COWW WD unsized Tumble Lubed LLA (2x light coats) for 9mm for Glocks..

May be a dumb question so pls forgive me: after pulling a boolit, noticed no lube on driving band or base band.. Does this matter? Seemed to collect in lube groove and crimp groove. Using Lee 9mm expander - my 38 S&W expander is inbound as well as WLL 45/45/10.. Thank you to everyone posting here - huge help to a new guy

[Petrol & Powder]

WELCOME !

I don't tumble lube but I think I can answer your question anyway. The bullet lube is carried in the lube grooves. When a TL design is used, the grooves are shallow but there are more of them. Because the lube is carried in the grooves, it doesn't matter if the lube is absent from the driving bands and in fact, that's exactly the way it works on a non tumble lube design that has fewer grooves.

When you seat that tumble lubed bullet in the case you may be displacing the lube from the high spots (driving bands) but that's OK.

As long as there's adequate lube carried in the grooves you will be fine.

[Larry Gibson]

No, it doesn't matter. The lube is off the drive bands after I size the bullets lubed with LLA (dried thoroughly) or when using a Lyman 450 to size and lube. The lube is in the grooves as you've found. When seating the bullet in in a case he case is doing the same as the sizer as far as moving the lube off the sides into the lube grooves.

[YogiSC]

Thank you guys! Kinda explains the Lee TL designs - less lube, but more surface area / grooves to hold it as it gets sheared into grooves by seating / firing..

[bedbugbilly]

I tumble lube both TL designers and regular design with lube grooves - it doesn't take much and with the mixture I use - on a conventional boolit it ends up in the lube groove for the most part and not so much on the drive band - they all work just fine and have never had a leading issue - .380,9mm, 38 spl., 357 and 45 Colt.

And welcome to the forum - good folks here . . . .

[Conditor22]

YogiSC welcome to CB. If you decided to start casting to save money, forget it. You won't, you'll just shoot more.

Larry G is right (as always) that why they are called "lube groves", grooves for the lube to be stored in until the boolit is fired then the rifling will distribute the lube where needed.

Now if you decided to coat your boolits with PD (powder coating) or HiTek coating the outside of the drive bands need to be covered PC and HiTek coating does not come off when properly baked/sized and loaded.

.
Casting boolits (lead bullets) properly is a science, once you know the basics, not a hard science.
The search box on the top right of each forum page is your friend, it connects you to all the posts (knowledge) on CB. If you can't find what you're looking for there just ask, I'd be very surprised if a member didn't have the answer to your question.
There is a lot of good information on CB. The Google search (top right of every forum page) is a gateway to all the knowledge on this forum. IF you can’t find your answer there ask the question (Please be as detailed as possible, pictures help. I would be very surprised if there wasn’t someone on this forum that could answer ANY (firearm related) question you might have)
http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm
1. Boolits need to be cast .0005 to .003 (normally .002) over the slugged diameter of your barrel for accuracy and to avoid leading. If the fit is wrong nothing else will work right.
a. slugging a barrel (it is safer to use a brass rod or a steel rod with a couple of coats of tape to avoid damaging your barrel http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinSlug.htm
b. chamber casting https://www.brownells.com/guntech/cerrosafe/detail.htm?lid=10614
or pound casting http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?356251-Pound-Cast-instructions-(for-rifle-chamber)
2. the right alloy needs to be used for the velocity and purpose of the boolit (don’t fall into the trap of going with too hard an alloy

Some alloys harden over time
http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Chapter_3_alloySelectionMetallurgy.ht m

Lead alloy calculator
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=45784&d=1341560870
3. velocity the bullet needs to be pushed hard/fast enough to get the proper spin, have the proper velocity to accurately reach the target but not so hard as to be dangerous or strip the lead off in the grooves instead of spinning the boolit..
The boolit needs to be the right weight for the riffling/twist rate of your barrel
Powders range from fast to slow, you need to choose the right powder for your barrel length & application.
Loading manuals list the best powders for certain calibers and boolit weights.
NEVER use any posted noncommercial load data without first checking commercial load data to see if falls in the safe parameter for your firearm!! There are several firearms out there that can handle much higher pressures than others!!
Testing lead hardness with art pencils
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?378866-Lead-hardness-pencil-testing-trick

Link to free online load data
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?337910-CB-load-data-online-sources

Optimum seating depth (still feeds and seats with the best accuracy) will vary with every gun
I read somewhere that you can hold the boolit in the chamber so it's touching the rifling. slide the biggest rod down the barrel and mark where the end of the barrel is. If there is a big gap between the barrel and the rod, you can use a washer the fits snug around the rod to help with marking.
remove the boolit then chamber an empty piece of brass, use the same rod and measure it again. Do the math, this is your max depth. Back it off a couple thou.
now you have to worry about feeding.

[YogiSC]

Thanks again gentlemen!

[JBinMN]

Just stopping in to say,

"Welcome to CB.GL forum!"
:)