Casting, your thoughts on Lee microband/tumble lube bullets?

[SuperSwede]

I´m thinking about getting into casting my own..

I´ve been looking into the Lee mircoband/tumble lubed bullets, but I have no hands-on experience of them.
Noone in my area thet I´ve spoken to uses them.

Anyone here that uses them? pros and cons?
Any issues on precision compared to traditional lube grooved bullets ?
Lee states "More accurate than ordinary cast bullets".. sales pitch or truth?? :?

And since I´m on a budget it would be nice to cut out a lube/sizer press from the total..
Lee claims that the TL moulds require no sizing, and if so that would be great !
Even if sizeing are required, the lee pushtrough sizer at 20$ sounds better than a lubesizer press at 200$..

I´m considering the TL358-158 SWC for 38spl loads in my GP 100 and S&W 686 snubby.
Also TL356-124-2R for use in my 9mm and perhaps a TL452-200SWC for my 45acp

I´m a precision shooter at 25 meters, not a 7 feet plinker.. :wink: so sub 2 inch groups are required to keep me happy with a bullet at that distance.
My Gp100 put 148gr HBWC into a nice 1 inch cluster, but that bullet are no longer available to me and i´m runnig out..

Kindly..

 

[bnewberry]

They do work ok if you do your part. The Lee sizer works as well and you may need it depending on the lead mix you use and your gun. The tumble lube works great but is messy.

 

[Clovishound]

A lot of people report severe leading with the tumble lube bullets. My buddy and I tried them and had that experience, as well as very poor accuracy.

I use standard lube groove Lee molds, and pan lube then size with a Lee sizer. I have had good luck with this. It requires time to produce a couple hundred bullets ready for loading, but it kept me shooting last year when components were non existent.

By the way, I really like the new style of Lee molds. The new alignment pins work much better than the old ones. My old style mold requires that I set it on a flat surface when closing to get it lined up. The newer style, I just close up, and it is lined up.

The other thing is that you can use alox with standard lube groove bullets.

 

[Chief 101]

get a sizer/luber and then standard cast bullets can be sized and lubed to your particular application...just a thought

 

[DGW1949]

Ya don't need a special-designed bullet to "tumble lube". It can be done to any lead bullet, whether it was bought "pre lubed" or not.
All in all, it's hard to beat a plain-jane SWC. Heck, I've even loaded 'em for a 1911.

That's all I know about that.

DGW

 

[Rick Courtright]

Also TL356-124-2R for use in my 9mm

Hi,

This is the only one I've used.

Lee's Liquid Alox is a good lube whether used with tumble lube or conventional designs. A buddy and I have both had good luck using it on commercial bullets which come lubed w/ some kind of hard lube not suitable for lighter loads. It can be a bit messy, though: I've found a wipe down of the loaded round w/ some mineral spirits to clean the exposed bullet so it doesn't attract crud is good practice. It also keeps the feed ramp much cleaner.

Suggest getting the sizer, too. My mold turns out bullets at close to .357"-.358" using straight wheelweights, and I experienced some leading in the 9mm. After sizing to .356", I was a happier camper. Loaded some of them, unsized, in .38 Spl for giggles and they shot quite well. You MAY have to work w/ several powders to find a "best for your uses" recipe.

As for accuracy, I'm NOT a precision shooter so all I can say is these bullets can shoot better in my CZ-75B than I do.

Rick C

 

[LaneP]

I had bad luck with the .458" mold for a Marlin .45-70. It's been decades ago (late 80's) but the microgroove rifling of the Marlin wouldn't let those bullets grab and you could hear them cutting the air as they went tumbling down range unstabilized.

I shot them as-cast with the Lee lube available at the time, and I don't recall the alloy but it would most likely have been straight wheel weight. I'm guessing if I had cast them out of linotype they would have grabbed rifling.

 

[mikld]

I'd say give the TL bullet a try. I have been shooting TL bullets, mostly tumble lubed, for 18 years. I started casting a .44 cal. 240 gr. TL bullet and lubing with alox and had good results. To know if your bullets need to be sized or not, you'll have to know the diameter of the bullet as cast, and the throat diameter and/or the barrel groove diameter of your gun (you won't know what fits if you don't know how big they are). Undersize bullets will lead the barrel of your guns no matter how bullet is lubed, TL or wax based lube.

I don't tumble lube anymore, I dip lube. I thin alox with mineral spirits and hold the bullet by the nose and dip it into the alox mixture. Keeps the nose and seating die clean. I like 45-45-10 a bit more and use it more often than alox. Both have worked for me...

 

[RSIno1]

Shot a bunch of tumble lubed 9mm through my Glock 19 & 17L with no problems or leading.

 

[SuperSwede]

Thanks .. scored a huge amount of wheelweights today..
Just have to get me a pot and some molds now!
And slug my barrels to be determine what size I´ll go with..

 

[gramps]

Thanks .. scored a huge amount of wheelweights today..
Just have to get me a pot and some molds now!
And slug my barrels to be determine what size I´ll go with..

Nice score! WW are getting hard to find! Slug your cylinder throats also.
gramps

 

[SuperSwede]

yep.. we no longer have leadweights on cars, but big trucks uses them still.. so i scored about 30 kg from my friendly tireguy!

 

[gramps]

Thanks for the tip SS.
gramps

 

[SuperSwede]

well, I dont know if thats a usefull tip for you in the US, since I´m in Sweden.. 8)

 

[gramps]

well, I dont know if thats a usefull tip for you in the US, since I´m in Sweden.. 8)

Ha ha I didn't notice! Hey you are still one of us!
gramps