I just bought a S&W Shield, sale at Brownells. I have the 124g RN tl bullet from Lee. I tried Clays at 3.0G and they tumble at 7 yards. I am going to try 4.3G of Greendot next. I don't have any other "fast" pistol powders.
I just bought a S&W Shield, sale at Brownells. I have the 124g RN tl bullet from Lee. I tried Clays at 3.0G and they tumble at 7 yards. I am going to try 4.3G of Greendot next. I don't have any other "fast" pistol powders.
you might want to start with 3.8G of green dot and work up from there.
check http://castpics.net/dpl/index.php/re...et-data-lookup and see if you have another powder that might work.
some people recommend running 100+ fmj bullets through a new gun first, clean it then go with lead
Finding this thread was very timely - I was just given about 1000 Missouri Bullet Company 125gr TCFP bullets, and have an odd assortment of powders to try, including Unique, Bullseye, 700X, Win 231, Accurate Arms #2 and #7. Data involving those are greatly appreciated. I did load some testers already, and to not hit the rifling they had to be loaded about 1.035, about where that ogive would be if it was a ball round, not truncated cone. Testing tomorrow, using ideas found here, thank you!
Why do we constantly reinvent the wheel.
I realize there are new powders coming out all the time. More efficient & cleaner.
But I subscribe to the theory if it ain't broke;
Don't Fix It.
120gr-125gr Lead Bullet. 4.0+yrs of Bullseye
I HATE auto-correct
Happiness is a Warm GUN & more ammo to shoot in it.
My Experience and My Opinion, are just that, Mine.
SASS #375 Life
3.7-3.8g of Tight group for my 124 cast, very accuate.
Play with seating depth in .005 increments, you will find a length that will be amazing. Shocking how so little adjustment will change the accuracy...
Bullseye is accurate, but it is also filthy to deal with and clean up. 231 is not too far behind Bullseye.
Tightgroup with ligher loads for lead is clean. Then AA#7 for 1200 + fps on jacketed is so clean you will not believe it!
Flake shotgun powders bridge in my powder measure at times, one charge will be light, the next heavy. I have learned to avoid Large flake powders for "bridging" issues using a Redding Br 30 powder measure with the pistol insert.
My experiments with that weight bullet in 9mm showed 4.6 grains Unique and 3.6 grains Bullseye work great.
Last edited by Low Budget Shooter; 04-08-2020 at 05:43 PM.
vmthtr;
Dump the Tumble Lube mold.
Get the 120gr Truncated Conical with standard lube groove.
Get a pound of 95/5 Tin/antimony wire solder.
Add about 2oz of solder to your pot and flux well.
I’ve got a half dozen of 9mm and .40/10mm TL molds and they all tumble unless cast VERY hard and run just fast enough to cycle action. It doesn’t help that they run undersized, too.
I’ve won many matches with the Lee TC. 4.9gr of LongShot...
My S&W’s want .357” bullets, too. Though .356” shoot well too.
I have a bunch of TC’s in 40 on my bench that I’m planning to load soon. I also have 2-3k of the TL’s, PC’d and loaded and they tumble like crazy. I pulled a few and it would appear that the case is sizing them down slightly. I suppose the small surfaces of the TL’s yield much easier to the brass. I’m thinking change molds or get an “M” die.
My go to loads for one of my 1st molds is.
Lyman 358242 sized to .357 with 3.6 grains of Red Dot. Or 4.0 of WW231 Both at 1.160" OAL
My favorite is a 124 gr LRN over 5.4 gr of Accurate #5.
I’m loading 3.5gr tight group with the lee TL356-124-RN in one of my nines It’s ok but that gun is is only ok with every thing I try the other is great with it so ymmv
Anyone have luck with the Lee 124g TC TL bullet? I'm struggling with it. It wants to tumble and the accuracy is far from acceptable for me. I've tried mostly Unique so far and I've sized .357 and .358.
Fortune cookie 45 on you tube uses it over ? 5.3 ? gr longshot with good results. See his video.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EiBReP6I2OY
Last edited by Hogtamer; 03-30-2020 at 12:07 PM.
"My main ambition in life is to be on the devil's most wanted list."
Leonard Ravenhill
Ok. So, it can work. I'll keep trying. I have to. I've got a whole mess of them cast up.
Going to try 6 grains of Blue dot with the Lee 124 g tumble lube truncated cone.
Last edited by Charlie Horse; 03-31-2020 at 10:46 AM.
I tried that 6.0 grain load of Blue Dot with some unsized 124 grain Lee TC TL bullets. All I can say is Hot Dog! My groups tightened up nicely.
Its a good thing, too. A couple months ago I sat down on a rainy day and cast up a whole bunch of those boolits. I was afraid I was going to have to melt them down.
I did have one issue. Out of 20 shots, one case stayed in the chamber and jammed up the gun ( a Taurus PT 92). This gun never jams. The case flicked right out of the chamber with my fingernail. It wasn't stuck. Only thing I could think, maybe the low power of the load failed to fully expand the case, then it wobbled a bit in the chamber and the extractor was able to slip off. Think that might have happened?
I'll up the charge a couple 1/10's and see how it performs.
6 gr. Blue Dot shoots tight groups under the lee 124 TC ( lube groove not TL) in my EC9 , but it's pretty snappy in the little light pistol . 4.7 gr. of unique gets the nod for plinking and groups good also . I tried Tite Group , it did OK and I would use it in a pinch . I'm planning on buying a full size 9 and the Blue Dot load would be the first try in it .
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Jesus said ( Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest ) Matt. 11:28
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |