Lube-sizing tumble lube boolits

[fatelk]

I've been having a bit of trouble lubing some bullets. Actually they seem to work OK but I'm just wondering if this is normal.

I don't shoot a lot. I might shoot a couple hundred rounds and then nothing for a month or two. I have some Lee 230 TL TC molds that I finally got around to milling the top off of to get rid of the bevel and take the weight down to 230gr. instead of 240. I didn't have any luck with tumble lube on this bullet, so I went with lube-sizing them in my Lyman 45 instead.

I'm using some old black Lyman lube, but even on these real hot days it won't go into the micro tumble lube grooves all the way around for all the grooves. They seem to work fine like this, and I guess I don't see a drawback as long as I'm not getting any leading.

Is this fairly normal? I know there are a billion lubes out there, but what is a good one for this application, when I run out?

[geargnasher]

Most of Lee's tumble-lube boolits are either made or designed with undersized microbands, and, if you're not very careful when casting, the front band won't be quite as large as you'd think it should be. The boolits work fairly well because at least the base band is ususally oversize just a bit. The result when run through a conventional lube/sizer is a huge lube leak above the base band that lets the lube stripe straight up the sides and over the ogive without developing the pressure required to squeeze it around the bands.

Gear

[Rickk]

Speed green works good for me.
I was working up a load with Unique and a 250 grain NOE design that has the Lee style micro grooves.
My first try was somewhere around 6 grains of Unique, bullets sized .451 and lubed with the Lee Alox mixed with Johnsons Paste Wax.
12 rounds from my Vaquero went into 4.24"
I ran 12 boolits into my RCBS sizer (.452, so it only lubed, didn't size) with the Speed Green and 12 rounds went into 2.75"
I have had similar results with other loads, LTL vs Speed Green. I really like the LTL process and it works great in my 30-30, 45-70 and 375H&H. I cannot explain the difference, no leading from either lube.

[geargnasher]

Sometimes LLA isn't the best choice.

I've recently started to wrap my brain around the concept that lead-free doesn't always = most accurate.

I want lead-free barrels after shooting, and make that a first priority in load development, but often groups can be tightened by tweaking things once the desired velocity and functionality of the load is doped out.

The only use I have for the LLA/JPW/MS is for pistol calibers at less than 25 yards, where often in an informal plinking situation, the 1-2" loss in group accuracy is lots better than my offhand shooting!

Gear