Lee 9mm 125 grain designs: which is more accurate?

[Charlie Horse]

Lee makes two round nose 125 grain 9mm bullets. One has a single lube groove, the other is tumble lube design.
The 90457 has a single lube groove.
The 90465 is a tumble lube design.

Is either of these inherently more accurate than the other? I will mainly be powder coating these. Thanks.

[gwpercle]

I have cast and shot the Lee #356-125-2R (90457) one lube groove in 3 different 9mm's and accuracy was Okay , my buddy believed in the RN for feeding .

I have read , but never tried , about some lack of accuracy with the Lee #TL356-124-2R (90465) Tumble Lube Design . some reports of tumbling ...this may have more to do with a particulars gun rifling twist and/or size ... I have not tried the TL design .

The Design I tried and gave the best accuracy in three different pistols was Lee #356-120-TC , this is a truncated cone with one single lube groove...it gave best accuracy . Because of my testing I had NOE make me a 124 grain Truncated Cone , single lube groove , gas checked mould .
With the gas check I can shoot at over 1000 fps velocities with no leading .

I bought Lee double cavity moulds to do my testing , after finding out I liked the TC and 120 - 124 grain weight I bout a NOE 4 cavity mould NOE 358-124-TC GC .
The Lee 2 cavity let me try different designs , find out what worked then I ordered the bigger multi-cavity . No loss as I keep the 2 cavity for back up or to loan out ...Never loan out your good moulds ... ther's a good chance you wont see them again !
Gary

[imashooter2]

Others report success, but I have never had any real luck with the Lee microband designs. I prefer standard lube grooves even when film lubing.

[Kosh75287]

SOMEONE out there makes a mold for a 125 gr. SWC in .355" or .356" diameter. I'm not sure if the lube grooves are optimized for conventional lube or tumble lube. But I'd bet on best accuracy from that bullet configuration.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I would go with their truncated cone design. The round nose lube groove one needs to be seated deep in many guns because the nose profile is rather chubby and hits the lands. It does feed and shoot ok though.

[Mal Paso]

I had to go with 1.95 COL with the Lee RN to feed well. Would not go TL with a 1 in 10 twist barrel.

[Charlie Horse]

I have cast and shot the Lee #356-125-2R (90457) one lube groove in 3 different 9mm's and accuracy was Okay , my buddy believed in the RN for feeding .

I have read , but never tried , about some lack of accuracy with the Lee #TL356-124-2R (90465) Tumble Lube Design . some reports of tumbling ...this may have more to do with a particulars gun rifling twist and/or size ... I have not tried the TL design .

The Design I tried and gave the best accuracy in three different pistols was Lee #356-120-TC , this is a truncated cone with one single lube groove...it gave best accuracy . Because of my testing I had NOE make me a 124 grain Truncated Cone , single lube groove , gas checked mould .
With the gas check I can shoot at over 1000 fps velocities with no leading .

I bought Lee double cavity moulds to do my testing , after finding out I liked the TC and 120 - 124 grain weight I bout a NOE 4 cavity mould NOE 358-124-TC GC .
The Lee 2 cavity let me try different designs , find out what worked then I ordered the bigger multi-cavity . No loss as I keep the 2 cavity for back up or to loan out ...Never loan out your good moulds ... ther's a good chance you wont see them again !
Gary

I have good luck with the Lee 124 grain TLTC. I've got a 2 cavity mold of that one. Maybe I should just get the 6 cavity of that design. Actually, it shoots really well out of my Rossi 357 but it's not the most accurate out of my pistols. It is reliable, though.

I will also look into the Lee #356-120-TC in a 6 cavity. I agree with the suggestion to stay away from the RN because they might have to be seated deeply. Both my 9mm's have short throats.

[gwpercle]

I have good luck with the Lee 124 grain TLTC. I've got a 2 cavity mold of that one. Maybe I should just get the 6 cavity of that design. Actually, it shoots really well out of my Rossi 357 but it's not the most accurate out of my pistols. It is reliable, though.

I will also look into the Lee #356-120-TC in a 6 cavity. I agree with the suggestion to stay away from the RN because they might have to be seated deeply. Both my 9mm's have short throats.

If you have short throats , the Truncated Cone nose profile is easier to work with . The Lee design is good but when NOE designed their mould, NOE 358-124-TC , they improved the design by stepping back the TC nose at the top driving band , it has more of a SWC profile ... this is a big help in chambering in short throated pistols a whole lot .
The Lee design is OK you just have to pay attention to seating depth . I still use the Lee design when I want a plain base 9 mm boolit

Gary

[Charlie Horse]

The Design I tried and gave the best accuracy in three different pistols was Lee #356-120-TC , this is a truncated cone with one single lube groove...it gave best accuracy . Because of my testing I had NOE make me a 124 grain Truncated Cone , single lube groove , gas checked mould .
With the gas check I can shoot at over 1000 fps velocities with no leading .

I think I'll go with this one.
I've recently taken up powder coating. My best accuracy comes with boolits that don't require a lot of sizing. 9mm designs, powder coated and trued-up rather than sized down give the best accuracy out of my 38's and 357's.
The TC design feeds best in my 9mm's. I have a 2 cavity 124 grain TCTL mold, and it gives good boolits, but I'd like to up the production rate a bit with a 6 cavity mold.

This design seems to be the best compromise for my needs. Thanks, all, for your input.

[higgins]

Slug your 9mm bore before buying a mold. I was better off with the Lee 358-125-2R. My 9mm has a .358 groove diameter and it's not that uncommon to find them in that range. Mine does well with the 358-125-2R unsized and tumble lubed. I haven't tried it with grease lube in the groove.

[rintinglen]

If you have short throats , the Truncated Cone nose profile is easier to work with . The Lee design is good but when NOE designed their mould, NOE 358-124-TC , they improved the design by stepping back the TC nose at the top driving band , it has more of a SWC profile ... this is a big help in chambering in short throated pistols a whole lot .
The Lee design is OK you just have to pay attention to seating depth . I still use the Lee design when I want a plain base 9 mm boolit

Gary

This is my experience exactly. My preference is for the 358-124 TC as done by NOE. The LEE works, but I have fewer rejects with the 5 cavity NOE. The NOE version works very well and shoots accurately in every one of my 9 MM's that I have tried it in.

[trixter]

I need a little advice here, I have been using and enjoying the Lee 358-105 SWC, in my 9mm XDs, but sizing them can be a little tricky. I am just wondering if anyone has used the Lee 358-140 SWC in their 9mm and how did you like it?

[lesharris]

Tried the TL version had accuracy issues the other bullet worked fine, but beware of throat size. Do the plunk test.

[Forrest r]

The lee designs are ok but I never really got what consider any true accuracy with them. Over the decades I've tried their 2r rn design (2-c & 6-c), a 6-c tl swc, 2x 124 swc single lube groove & the 105gr swc designs.

With the cost of reloading components so high I'd recommend starting another thread asking what the most accurate mold is you've ever used for the 9mm. If it was me I'd be taking a hard look at neo molds or mihec's. They cost more but they're worth every $.

I've tried/used a lot of 9mm molds over the years and hands down this mihec bullet is by far the most accurate 9mm bullet I've ever cast.
https://i.imgur.com/KoEMJiX.jpg?1

[Mal Paso]

I bought the Lee 125 2R while I was waiting for the MP 125g HP to become available. It worked, within a month of buying the Lee I got an email from Miha saying the mold I wanted was in stock. If you find a MP mold you want and it's not in stock you can request an email when it runs.

One thing I noticed with the Lee, bullets get fatter/heavier toward one end of the 6 cavity mold. Not a huge difference between cavities but on the MP Mold the cavities are exactly the same.

[Green Frog]

Mr Paso,

Just read this thread as I hope to start casting 9mms this Spring as soon as my basement warms up enough to work comfortably. I took a leap of faith and bought a very lightly used 6 cavity Lee mould for a 125 gr TL SWC - almost a TC nose. I’ll know to watch out for the increasing diameter phenomenon you mention, as I’m hoping to load and shoot them as cast. I will finish up wit a taper crimp, so unless the variance is too great I hope to avoid having to size then re-tumble lube... too much work!
I’ve been a “lube press” or “pan lube and shoot as cast” guy for 40+ years now, so this is new territory for me, so threads like this bring out valuable info for me. Muchas gracias! :mrgreen:

Froggie

[trixter]

What is the Lee part # for that mold?