Lee tumble lubing

[Pistolero]

Hello guys,:castmine:

I have not been casting very long and am just about exclusively using Lee products (molds, lube, pot etc) I am tumble lubling the boolits before i load em and first noticed alot of leading in the barrel of my 686 .357, and even more in my Glock 34.

Am I not using enough lube?

Does anyone else have this problem?

But accuracy is very good with these boolits (.358-158-RF and .356-125-RN) I know that lead boolits are a no-no in Glocks but that is crap. I have used them for years with very good results (they shoot better than jacked boolits.

Any ideas/
Good sootin:Fire:

[454PB]

I doubt it's the lube, since it works well for so many people. Are the boolits the correct size for each gun? What alloy? What velocity?

Generally, leading causes increasingly bad grouping (accuracy)

[wallenba]

I tumble lube with Alox my 158 swc that I shoot in my 686+ with no leading. You did not say how hard your bullets are. Mine are 92% lead 2% tin 6% antimony, so pretty hard which helps prevent leading, as well as loading light for target shooting. How hot is your load? I assume you did allow it to dry overnight before seating? It does not take very much to cover the bullets well. Are they micro-band Lee bullets? Add a little more info so we might better get an idea of what is happening here. Later.

[shotman]

Is it a factory glock barrel? get a good barrel. The 357 you may be driving to hard for the alloy

[Pistolero]

I have no idea how hard they are - I haven't progressed that far in this business yet. I use once fired cast projectiles from a pistol club and re-cast em, so maybe I need to add something to the pot? I let em dry overnight on baking paper (I guess thats wax paper in the US?)

Factory glock barrel - aftermarket ones are hard to get here in Australia - and very costly.

It is all a learning process and I greatly appreciate any advice.

I only wish we here in Aus could own some of the great gun stuff you guys can have!!!!

Cheers!!

[Shiloh]

I doubt it's the lube, since it works well for so many people. Are the boolits the correct size for each gun? What alloy? What velocity?

Generally, leading causes increasingly bad grouping (accuracy)

+1

I shoot some pretty soft alloy at around 850 with LLA. No leading at all.
Some has been shot at just under 1100 with no leading. From what info you gave us, I think the first place to start would be boolit size. The accuracy thing is what is strange. As stated previously if you have leading, accuracy normally falls of very fast.

I had a Glock 9mm that would put boolits on the target sideways on a 50 foot bullseye target with commercial cast bullets. I never miked the bullets, but would think that they were undersized.

Shiloh

Shiloh

[Leftoverdj]

Pistolero, try your bullets as cast with a coat of LLA. Undersized bullets are the most common cause of leading. Your range scrap should be hard enough for target loads, but maybe not for full house. Try what you have down around 1000 fps; if you still have problems, come back and we'll talk about hardening alloys.

[Pistolero]

thanks for the advice.:-D

I think the loads are around 950 - 1000fps. I am using 3.4 grains of AP-50N (australian defence industries make it - I think it is marketed in the USA as something else?) I use the same load in both .38 Spl and 9mm (158gr and 125gr) and it seems to work well.

I'm off to the range soon - will report back.

Cheers.:Fire:

[superior]

I've shot a couple of thousand cb's through my stock Glock23 bbl with no leading, using lla.
The first 500 were Hornady 180gr 10mm boolits (now discontinued). The instructions with the Hornady's said " Due to the fast twist of the 40. cal barrels, keep velocities under 900fps. I now load all of my 40's @ 900fps and use LLA or my own homemade lube. I'm not familiar with the twist rate in other barrels but It definitely can affect the leading situation. I load the Lee 401-175-swc. I've also pushed my 303Brit boolits past 2000fps with just LLA and no leading occured.

[Bret4207]

IF the leading doesn't build up, that is the amount remains about the same throughout your shooting session and accuracy stays the same then shoot and be happy. If not, if the accuracy degrades and amount of leading increases then I'd look at my alloy and fit. The boolit might cast a bit larger with a bit on antimony added and that might cut the leading. Another possibility is to try water quenching the boolits, waiting 2-3 weeks for them to harden and try them then. They not only harden over that time (assuming you have enough antinomy/arsenic/etc to harden) they also increase in diameter slightly. That may help the leading too. Also make sure your seating die isn't swaging the boolits smaller as your load.

That's where I'd start.