Still have leading - looking for next step

[ghh3rd]

I'm still getting leading from my 100% WW .38 and .40 boolits. They are tumble lube boolits, lubing with Lee Alox. I tried two coats this time, but with the same result (except for more smoke).

I don't like the extra work on the barrels after each shooting session, but mostly I guess I'm a purist and worry about even a little leading affecting accuracy.

Any suggestions on my next logical attempt at lubing TL boolits to elimiate leading?

Thanks,

Randy

[docone31]

I pan lube, and I have not gotten leading yet with my pistol castings.
Might give it a try.

[ghh3rd]

Is pan lubing is suitable for tumble lube boolits? (I wouldn't mind getting another mold if necessary to get rid of my leading). Tumble lubing is certainly quick - I can lube hundreds of boolits quickly. What is it like to pan lube? Is it a fairly slow process? What lube have you found sucessful for pan lubing?

Thanks,

Randy

[largom]

Try water dropping your boolits. Drop your boolits from the mold into a 5 Gal. bucket of cold water. Makes them harder.
Larry

[ghh3rd]

I will try water dropping them and see if that helps. I have a 358 sizer for my .38s so I may give that a try too, although tumble lube boolits usually don't really need to be sized.

[arcticbreeze]

Have you slugged your barrel yet, that should be your first step. Your mold may be dropping boolits to small for your gun. If that is the case nothing will help but a bigger boolit.

[NuJudge]

How smooth are your barrels? Some barrels are just cussed, sometimes in multiple ways.

If your bullets are smaller than groove diameter, you will get barrel Leading regardless of how hard your bullets are. If you are shooting a revolver with cylinder throats smaller than barrel groove diameter, your bullets will probably always Lead the barrel. Gas blow-by would be the culprit.

I have several Ruger revolvers, one of which seems to have a point on the barrel just beyond the forcing cone that is the tightest point on the barrel, and it always Leads just beyond that point, except when I use Gas Check bullets. The barrel is not that smooth, but I believe it is just gas cutting Lead off the sides of the bullets.

Use as fat a bullet as you can get to chamber. For me, that is .359" in .38/.357 revolvers. Any fatter a bullet and a cartridge won't chamber. I don't have any .40's.

If you can, lube but don't size and see what your results are, as Lead is a peculiar metal, and sizing will actually soften the skin on the bullet.

[Bret4207]

How long are the boolits sitting between the time they are cast and you shooting them? It can take a couple weeks for a boolit, even ACWW, to reach full hardness. If you cast and shoot before that time, that could account for some of it.

A couple other things to check-

Is you barrel free from ALL copper and other fouling?

Are you shooing a hot load? Some guns just need milder loads with cast no matter what you do.

Have you tried a different lube? Hand lube a few with good old 50/50 Alox/beeswax and see what happens.

Any chance you're sizing the boolit when you seat or crimp it? Pull a couple asee if the diameter is reduced.

[44man]

Tumble lubing is a shortcut to leading. Tumble lube boolits take very well to a good lube, applied by hand, in a lube sizer or Pan lubed.
To save a few minutes and get poor results is wrong thinking.
I would rather spend 10 minutes on one boolit that hits where I aim then 10 minutes on 100 crap boolits that go all over the place and lead my barrel.
Where does this need for speed come from? :confused:
Tumble lubing is easy but the boolits need to dry and then a second coat takes more time. I can lube and load all of my rounds before Alox coated boolits are even ready to load.

[David R]

I don't know the history, but Slug your bore and measure your cylinders. Until you do that, time is wasted guessing. It will be much easier if you know what you are working with.

Tumble Lube Does work. I prefer regular lubed boolits from my Star or Lyman lube/sizer.

Once you get things right, you will not have a leading problem.

David :)

edit: Take a look here and see what I went through with a K38. This was only the last part of it. I did find a cure with a lot of help from here.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=45594

[Gohon]

Tumble lubing is a shortcut to leading. Tumble lube boolits take very well to a good lube, applied by hand, in a lube sizer or Pan lubed.
To save a few minutes and get poor results is wrong thinking.
I would rather spend 10 minutes on one boolit that hits where I aim then 10 minutes on 100 crap boolits that go all over the place and lead my barrel.
Where does this need for speed come from? :confused:
Tumble lubing is easy but the boolits need to dry and then a second coat takes more time. I can lube and load all of my rounds before Alox coated boolits are even ready to load.

I tumble lube with LLA and get no leading. I don't apply a second coat and still get no leading. My tumble lube bullets, which can be several hundred at a time are dry in 3-4 hours and ready to load and my bullets hit exactly where I aim. Guess I missed that turn at the short cut.........

[gon2shoot]

I tried a little experiment sometime back with no lube boolits.

Being VERY anal about boolit size and being sure the barrel was clean, I ran a JPW patch through, then proceeded to shoot.

The 357 ran 17/19 rds before appreciable leading showed.
44 mag ran 12/15 rds
40 S&W ran 6 rds

I have tried some strange stuff for lube (we wont talk about the peanut butter) and found that if you have a good boolit fit on a mid-range load it doesn't take much of a lube to be sufficent.

That being said, there is the whole world of alloy, accuracy, fps, pressure, BHN, what kind of car you drive , and what your dogs name is that will have a bearing on what works for you.

I know this doesn't answer your question but each gun is a world unto itself. Double check your basics (boolit dia. etc) (boolit hardness checked against fps/press)
Good luck.

[leadman]

Try one of your unsized boolits in the throats if you are shooting a revolver. It should be a snug fit in all the throats. If you have a wood dowel or soft metal rod long enough to knock a boolit thru the barrel you can check for loose and tight spots, as well as size. Make sure you oil the boolit and barrel. If you have a tight spot where the barrel threads into the frame this will cause you problems.
If everything seems pretty decent, water drop some boolits and lube them with SPG lube. This is soft enough to do my hand and does work very well for smokeless loads as well as black powder.
If this doesn't reduce the smoke and leading other areas will have to be looked at.