lubing a 3 groove wadcutter ..

[Digger]

Got a hold of a older Lee 150 gr wadcutter mold for my 38 and never cast one before ...
The Lee has 3 grooves and a slightly smaller crimp groove at the top , all spaced evenly the length of the bollit.
With that , have read some here think that lubing all three grooves can be a bit overboard and one groove being lubed is enough ..
What are the opinions here ? , would appreciate any input .
thank you gentlemen.

[beagle]

I load a number of styles of .38 wad. H & G, Lyman and even some old Cramers. For normal wad loads in .38 cases, one groove is a plenty. If I load hotter loads in .357 cases, I some times will do two grooves but it's probably unnecessary. Same with Louverin bullets in rifles. One to two groves is plenty. Any more is overkill./beagle

[Mk42gunner]

I think one groove filled will be more than sufficient for just about any sane .38 Special WC load. Myself, I have the six cavity version of that mold, I have been tumble lubing (okay it is more like swirl lubing) with BLL for light loads with Bullseye. No leading so far.

Robert

[Forrest r]

Shot countless 1000's of the H&G # 50's and always lubed the bottom 2 lube grooves with the old nra 50/50 lube.

[USSR]

Just lubing the bottom lube groove is plenty, it's all I do.

Don

[upnorthwis]

I tried doing just the bottom groove once. Problem was that to only do bottom groove that rest of bullet didn't get sized and wouldn't chamber. Had to redo them.

[JoeJames]

I have the same old Lee mold. Tumble lubed with a 50-50 mix of LLA and mineral spirits; no problems at all. Throws a .358 boolit. No need to resize. BTW very accurate in a S&W Model 67 and a TC Contender.

[ioon44]

My opinion for a 3 grove wadcutter would be to put on 2 coats of Hi-Tek, size and shoot.

[tazman]

The old time wisdom for wadcutters says, not only is one groove enough, but lubing only the bottom groove improves accuracy.
Not certain why this is, but it seems to work.
If my boolits are oversize, I run them through a push through sizer then lube the bottom groove with my lubrisizer. This takes the strain and wear off the lubrisizer.
For the ones that drop at the correct size, I just use the lubrisizer.

[waksupi]

Like rifle bullets, you can over lube, and get lube purging. This especially holds true for a .38 at lower velocity. When you lube purge, accuracy will fail.

[mdi]

Just for my info; what is the downside for lubing all three lube grooves? Loss of accuracy?

[gwpercle]

Just for my info; what is the downside for lubing all three lube grooves? Loss of accuracy?

Not much ... the exterior of the gun gets a little grungier and possibly a little more "Gunsmoke" fills the air . I use a Lithium - beeswax lube and fill em all just out of habit . I used old fashioned Black lubes that didn't work that well and needed all the lube they could get .
New modern lubes work better , I don't think filling 1 , 2 or 3 grooves makes an accuracy difference ...but I've never tested it in my revolvers either ... as long as my loads don't leave lead in the barrel ...I'm Happy !
Gary

[fecmech]

Forty years ago when I had my Ransom rest I proved that 1 groove lubed was more accurate than all grooves lubed. If you want to lube all three grooves have at it. Makes for a lot of smoke and a sticky messy gun. I no longer shoot wadcutters but if I did I would just lightly tumble lube and light coat of mica. I've used that on the Lee TL 158swc in both rifle and pistol and that's most accurate way I've shot that bullet.

[Digger]

Thank you much for all the info so far every one !

[ABJ]

The old time wisdom for wadcutters says, not only is one groove enough, but lubing only the bottom groove improves accuracy.
Not certain why this is, but it seems to work.
If my boolits are oversize, I run them through a push through sizer then lube the bottom groove with my lubrisizer. This takes the strain and wear off the lubrisizer.
For the ones that drop at the correct size, I just use the lubrisizer.

This, our testing in Bullseye shooting has proven this.
Tony

[LenH]

The way my Star is set up it fills the bottom 2 groves, but this is the only multi groove bullet I have other than rifle.

[MT Gianni]

In Cast Bullets, the NRA publication in the 60's Col. E. H. Harrison successfully proved groups shrink substantially when you go to just one groove lubed. With todays lubes, even one groove may be too much.

[Green Frog]

How about tumble lube designs that have a bunch of tiny grease grooves? I’ve always thought they looked good with all those little stripes I got when I filled them with Carnauba Red... the actual amount of lubricant probably doesn’t exceed what I would get in one big groove. I’m thinking specifically of the little Lee TL wadcutter in .314 for my 32 S&W.

Froggie