Luber-size or Tumble lube

[Dust in the wind]

I will be making some cast bullets in .44 for revolver shooting. I have chosen to cast a 240gr swc using a Lee TL 6 cavity mold. I seen on U-tube a 45-45-10 lube that sounds real good, so I'll make some of that which is 45% Lee liquid alox ,45% Johnsons paste wax and 10% mineral spirits. They say it dries good so as to not leave any sticky or tacky surface.
1. Has anyone ever used this formula, and if so what are your thoughts about it ?

Or
Would I be better off in the long run to just use a luber sizer? I would also have to get a different mold with a lube groove , like a Keith wc.

Thanks for your help

 

[jgt]

I have only used one Lee TL mold. It did happen to be a 240 gn swc. I used a lube sizer on them and it did square off the rounded edges between the lube grooves. It worked fine though and they were accurate when shot. You want to make sure you have the right size die in the lube sizer though, because they will lead your bore if they are undersize for the barrel.

 

[mikld]

FWIW; controlling mold temperature s often difficult for a new caster with a 6 hole mold. Be aware that temperatures can be fairly different along that long mold.

I started casting and used tumble lube for a couple of years, not being able to afford a lubersizer with dies and nose punches. Now 18 years later I still don't have a lubersizer as I pan lube and "dip lube". I only process a couple hundred bullets at a time at most, no quota, so I don't need a huge production. I've used 45-45-10 for a few years and I dip my bullets ala Ranch Dog, and it has worked quite well for my .44 Magnums, handguns and rifle...

 

[Mobuck]

I don't consider TL as a long term solution to the need for a lubri-sizer. I've used pan lubing with a push through sizer but it lacks the uniformity of an actual lubri-sizer.

 

[contender]

I know this isn't the answer you are looking for,,,, but consider this.
How about doing a powder coating instead of lubing them.

Look into it over on the CB forum,,, or in many threads here.

 

[Jim Puke]

POWDER COAT

 

[Skoopski]

+1000 on the powder coat

 

[Chief 101]

I tried powder coating but still need to run thru the sizer anyhow, so lube and sizer for me without the extra step of powdercoating...tumble lube, never tried it but for short range pistols bullets should be fine...

 

[jsh]

I have tried and used all three.
Tumble lube, never got the accuracy from any caliber I tried.
Powder coat, I would use it over the tumble lube method. Have ran this though about every caliber I cast for, .22-.458. Some it worked well in, some were ok and then others were terrible.
Lube sized. It's what I started with so I am partial to it. I have a lot of time invested in a lot of likes and dislikes of my guns as far as loads and bullets. I shoot 95% cast. I don't really feel the need to start over from scratch and go to the powder coating, it does show promise if I were to over forward with it.

If you cast in order to save money you will have to shoot a lot in order to come out ahead. If you shoot a lot a 6-8 cavity quality mold is the way to go. How you size, coat or lube will be determined by what you seek on the target.

 

[Jim Puke]

POWDER COAT

I have tried them all, too.

 

[keyston44]

I use the 45-45-10 lube exclusively. I use it for TL bullets and regular lube grooved bullets. I tumble lube my handgun bullets and dip my rifle bullets. I push my 30-30 bullets over 2200 fps without any leading and great accuracy.
It's what I started with just to get going and haven't had a need to do anything else. I might try powder coating some time but this is working great for my needs.

Key

 

[contender]

Since the OP has mentioned 44 cal handgun bullets,,, and a specific lube & method,, I think he'll be ok to a point.
Cast bullets should fit the barrel, first & foremost. An as cast slug might,,,, or might NOT fit properly. So a sizer is often required. The lube is there to help get a proper seal. But since jacketed bullets do not use a lube,,, they usually upset enough & seal enough to get good accuracy. But back to cast. The lube mentioned,,, is a good one,,, for many applications.
But mixing lubes, applying them, etc can be time consuming, and messy.
I have tried several different lubes, and gone as far as building my own lube molds for my own mix of lube stuff.
Then, I tried powder coating. Since I only PC handgun bullets,,, I can only attest to how they perform in my handguns. So far, easy to do, less messy, & I have as yet, had any to suffer in accuracy, and in general, equal or exceed former accuracy. Big plus,,, no leading in the barrels, and less smoke. I do size mine,,, to match my guns. Easier to do as well.

 

[keyston44]

I didn't mention sizing in my previous post but I do size my cast bullet also. I use the Lee Push Thru Sizers. Specifically for the 44 mag I had to customize one because I needed .433 to use in my Marlin. With SAMMI specs for 44 mag being different for handguns (.429) and rifles (.431) the standard Lee sizer didn't work for me.

Key

 

[mikld]

Well, I've never had any problems with consistent diameter (normally measured right outta the die, +/- .0005" at most, and all much less than .001" concentric). I have 6 Lee sizer dies with 2 of them customized; one for my .44 Magnum rifle (.433") and one for my .303 British (.318"). Very easy to use after pan lubing. I just cut the bullets out of the lube cake and run them through the die. No mess and consistent bullets...

As for mess, dip or tumble lubing is only as messy as you are. I don't normally care for lube on the bullet noses so I dip lube. I pick up a bullet by the nose (tweezers or long nose pliers) and dip the base, up to the crimp groove, in warmed 45-45-10. I have a favorite bullet for my Puma that I shoot to magnum velocities, that's a Ranch Dog 265 gr. RNFP sized .433".

I started casting for my .44s using a Lee 240 gr. TL mold and had no leading or accuracy problems once I fit the bullets to the gun...

 

[Dust in the wind]

Thanks everyone for your help and ideas. I made up some of the 240gr swc bullets and used 45-45-10. They shot nice and accurate, the bullets weren't sticky and leading was very minimal in the forcing cone. I opted not to size them because its only 0.001" difference. I heard that undersized is a bad thing too, possible more leading.

So how do you fit the bullet to the gun? I measured the cylinder throats and an unsized bullet will drop right through the cylinder. ?

 

[mikld]

Well, I like to know, for sure, what I'm working with, so I measure (to .001"). For me, at least, "drop through", "hard push through" or "almost" aren't measurements and tell me next to nuttin'. For good shooting bullets the bullet must be larger than the groove diameter of the barrel, and, the cylinder throats must, also, be larger than the groove diameter. So, measure the cylinder throats (calipers won't give an accurate reading, you can slug the throats just like a barrel or better yet use pin/plug gauges) and size the bullets the same diameter as the throats. My .44 Magnum revolvers (3) have .431"-.432" cylinder throats so I size all my bullets to .432". That way the bullets leave the cylinder larger than the groove diameter and seal the gasses, eliminating leading (basically). Larger bullets will be swaged down by the throats and deposit a bit of leading on the forcing cone, frame and cylinder face. Smaller bullets may bump up, but may not, leading to bullets not large enough to seal the barrel. So, fitting the bullet to the gun is just a matter of finding the proper diameter for your particular gun

 

[Dust in the wind]

Thanks for that info Mikld, I'll measure the throats again using a pin gauge and go from there. Again thanks for the info.