Lee tumblelube wadcutters

[tomf52]

Hi everyone. Am brand new to this forum. Do have a question though. Has anyone used the Lee 148 grain tumble lube wadcutter (meant to be used with their Lee Liquid Alox) and sized them and lubed them with the more conventional lube sizer machines. This bullet is supposed to be usable right out of the mold without sizing, but I got to playing with some that I just cast and sized them and lubed them with my 450. Haven't loaded or fired them yet, but hope to soon. Just wondering if others went this route with this particular bullet.Thanks for any input you may offer.

[Cayoot]

My only concern would be the lack of a lube grove on that tumble lube bullet.

If you could get enough lube to stick to it, I'm sure it would work, but I have to ask why?

The Lee Liquid Alox is so easy and fast to use with that style of bullet that you will save loads of time by using alox.

Although, I do know what it is like to have a new sizer and nothing that needs sizing....especially now that I have a Star. Even when I got my first 450 though, I was just aching to size some bullets, even if it ment sizing and lubing something that didn't really need it!

[tomf52]

Cayoot - It's not that I don't have anything to size, my 450 has been with me for 40 years, it's that when I lubed one of these bullets it looked so much better than the liquid alox treatment and I'm looking for anything in my quest to reduce or eliminate leading.The micro groove bands around the bullet held the lube well and seemed to provide a better overall application of the lube than bullets with the conventional deeper bands. We''l find out when we get them loaded and to the range.

[krag35]

I used to use my 450 to lube Lee 429-240-swc tumble lube bullets all the time untill that 2 cavity Lee finally gave up the ghost. You shouldn't have any problem lubing and using it on WC. I don't like the tumble lube on the exposed part of a loaded round, so I took to "dipping" the bullets into a shallow pan of liquid "earwax". I'd set them on a steel plate, and put in the oven on it's lowest setting untill they dried tack free. All the slobber left on the plate was Alox that ran off of the bullet. I'd scrape it off, put back in the bottle, and reconstiute with paint thinner.

the only thing I use Lee lube for now, is that 30 cal TL 6 banger, and that's only because I can't find my .312 lubrisizer die. Great bullet in the 30-30 , but haven't tried it in a Krag yet.

krag35

[35remington]

If you load the wadcutters as wadcutters-that is, with most of the bullet in the case-I doubt the sticky Lee lube will cause a problem, as there just isn't much bullet exposed above the case mouth. Mess should be minimal.

I wouldn't necessarily think that any other lube would do a better job than the liquid alox at low wadcutter velocities. Lubricant demands aren't that high at low speeds, and freedom from leading at wadcutter velocities may have more to do with the hardness of the lead alloy used than the lubricant.
Sometimes overlubrication causes accuracy problems at low speeds, so be sure to try some moderately lubricated bullets as well. You shouldn't need much lube to prevent leading unless you're shooting these past normal wadcutter speeds by quite a bit.

I would just use the alox and avoid the extra lubrisizer hassle, but hey, whatever floats your boat.

[Buckshot]

............tomf52, First of all, welcome to the board. I've not run them through the lube-sizer. Main reason is is that lube-sizing is the real bottleneck in using cast lead boolits, so if ya don't have'ta, then why do it?

In my K38 I run the 148gr TL design, and also the Lee 358-148WC and both are TL'd. Both cast from pure, or very soft lead. If I had to pick, I think the non TL design has a slight accuracy edge. However, the TL design casts so easily (have it in 6 cav) and quick to get ready (TL) that it's nice to cast up absolute mountains of boolits just to have on hand.

Right now I bet I have 3-400 rounds of 38 Spec loaded over 3.0grs of Red Dot sitting on the shelf.

...............Buckshot

[Patrick L]

I have to agree with the guy that said Why ?

I've shot 1000's of these TLWC's but always with Lee's liquid lube. If you don't put it on too heavy it doesn't stay sticky. And I get no leading to speak of.

[Bandit46]

I've used the Lee tumble lube wadcutters for years, both in practice and a few times in PPC competitive events. I seat them flush and load with 3.1 of Win. 231 and win.
primers. Brass is all Federal once fired. They print as tight as factory wadcutters from my Bull barrelled model 15 S&W. What I use for lube is the Lee Lube and put the bulletts in a Thumblers tumbler and turn it on for a minute or 2. It really spreads the lube out nice over the bulletts. No big mess on the ends. Then I take a 1/4 spoon of Motor mica and turn on the Tumbler again. The bullets are no longer sticky and feel smooth, like baby powder, to the touch. You could take a 3# coffee can and line the inside with an old inner tube to help the bulletts roll inside the can when you add the lube, and of course the lid on. A second can would be the best for doing the motor mica treatment. That way, you don't have to clean the Lube out of the can to use the Mica, just dump the bulletts in the Mica can and have at it. The Tumble lube Wadcutters do work very well, and lubing them this way, is a lot faster and less sticky.
The Motor Mica is a whitish form of graphite and makes the bullett slicker too. Try a few, see how they shoot. Note: check the dia. of the bulletts from time to time. After a while the mold seems to cast oversize. Then you send it back to Lee for a rebuild. This is after many, many thousands of bulletts and use. But you sure can crank out some big numbers with this mold. Have fun.