Lee Tumble lube bullet molds

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earplug

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Haven't cast any bullets in decades. Have used various Lyman single cavity molds for 38. 44. and 45 acp.
I'm interested in any information on Lee tumble lube molds for .45 ACP. I will be using them for fifty foot bulls-eye and steel plate competition using SWC 200 grain and for USPSA major power factor RN 230 grain.
I hope to cast and lube them without having to re-size them. I have a 1911 and several S&W 625's to shoot with.
Any information before I order some six cavity dies will be helpfull.
I'm currently shooting cast bullets in 180 and 230 grain.
 
i tried them a while back and they shoot just as good as the rcbs or lyman bullets do .but i did not like the mess the lub makes so i sold all the tumble lub bullet molds and use the sized and lube cast bullets now.
 
I had a couple of Lee 6 cavity 200 gr SWC molds. One TL design and one single groove. Both bullets were very accurate in my Springfield's: 5" SS Loaded and LW Loaded. But, they would not feed 100%. I'd get one FTF out of every 5-8 mags. (It seem liked the FTF's occurred more often when I was shooting plates at our local meets.)

I bought a Lyman 4 cavity 200 SWC mold to replace the Lee's. I use LLA on these bullets and it works great. The bullets dropped from the Lyman are all the same diameter and round, something the Lee bullets were not. However, like I said, the Lee bullets were very accurate.

I use the low cost Lee push through sizer to size all my cast bullets just for the sake of uniformity. I've found oversize bullets dropped from my Lee molds on occasion with both my former 45 molds and the two Lee 9mm 6 cavity molds I use now. This doesn't happen very often. I suppose I relax my grip on the handles and I know that, every once-in-awhile, a piece of crud gets between the mold halves. Interestingly, I've never noticed a "swollen" bullet dropped from my Lyman 45 mold (3-4 thousand cast so far.)

Coudpeak
 
Been using 6 cavity Lee TL molds in .358 158 grain RN and SWC about 8 months now, 6K plus bullets.

Easy to mold and lube; accurate enough for me. No reason to expect anything less in their 45 molds.
 
I have the #90463 two cavity TL bullet mold, which I believe is the same bullet you are talking about. I shoot them in both my Ruger Blackhawk 45LC and my Rock Island 1911 copy. It shoots very well in both, for me. I don't run them through a sizer, for what that's worth.

The Blackhawk keeps them to about 1 1/2" at 25 yards with open sights. The Rock Island to just under 3", two handed standing, but that is with the teeny tiny factory sights.

For the 1911, I seat the bullet front band very slightly proud of the case mouth and use a moderate taper crimp. No feed problems that way for me, but if I let the bullet go in just a little further, the case will catch on the feed ramp sometimes.

It's the only tumble lube mold I have, and the whole TL thing works great, in my experience. It is a little messy, but you can lube 50 bullets in a couple of minutes, so well worth it to me. The "mess" mainly consists of a little liquid Alox on the fingers. I put them in a Tupperware bowl, dribble on some lube, and roll them around for a short time, and that's it. Once they're all wet with lube, set them on wax paper and let them dry.

All bullets from my other molds, non-TL Lees, Saeco, and RCBS, work well with the liquid Alox too, with the exception of 45-70 bullets. Don't know why, but they don't really like it.
 
have yet to use a TL mold....

but from what I've read, standard lube groove molds work well with LLA. So when I bought my first Lee mold, I got the regular version, figuring I could go either way.

I've found that the LLA never really dries, and that it scrapes off on the feed ramps and makes a mess, though it did leave my bore shiny.
 
The tumble lube design is a sound concept, but I took it one step backward and tumble lube my bullets dropped from Lyman, Ideal, and Ohaus molds of conventional design and find that it works just fine for 38 Special, 44 Special, 45 Auto and 45 Colt at standard velocities. I intend to go with a harder alloy in the spring and try it at higher speeds. Currently I just use air cooled wheel weights. Works well and I just coat my tumble lubed bullets with Mica when I box them for storage, takes care of the messy handling qualities of tumble lubed bullets.
 
My personal experience, in no particular order:

Six cavity aluminum molds are very handy, but you have to do your part. Cast with the lead in the mid 600's (degrees Fahrenheit) and the aluminum mold in the mid to upper 500's. Hold the handles closed tightly - really tight! Use a bottom pour pot, not a ladle - this will help fill every cavity consistently without a divot in the base. Keep the aluminum clean, lube the pins but never lube the cavities, and smoke the cavities.

Lee liquid alox is a good lube, but a better liquid lube that's a LOT cleaner is Rooster Jacket. Hold the bullet by the nose with tweezers or something that won't scratch the lead, dip the base up to the shoulder, set on wire mesh hardware cloth (or even burlap or thick denim) blow dry with a fan overnight.

Every liquid lube stays a bit sticky, but Rooster is 10 times dryer than Lee. By drying on mesh instead of wax paper, you don't get the 'ring' of lube around the base that gets shaved off during bullet seating and messes up your seating die badly. And by lubricating the base only, you don't get lube on the nose that messes up your feed ramp, your magazine, your fingers, your ammo boxes, and your seater stem.

Lee tumble lube bullets are every bit as accurate as single-groove, and they generally drop at a consistent size. If yours do not drop round, use a sizing die. Cheap Lee sizing dies are good for the purpose.

I also use tumble lube bullets in the Lyman lube-sizer with conventional wax lube (Thompson's) and it works well, even though folks say you can't do it. No extra barrel leading compared to single groove bullets with the same lube in my ParaOrdnance barrel.

For taking temperature of lead and mold during casting, consider using an infrared pyrometer. It doesn't even touch the hot material because there is no probe. I got one at Harbor Freight for 15 bucks. Extremely fast readings, extremely handy, and you can measure mold temperature on top, bottom and each end if you want. I also have a digital probe-type pyrometer and the two give exactly the same readings, so I know the infrared is accurate.

I use wheel weights, dropped on a cloth. Others drop in water to try to get extra hardness, but I don't find that I need it for standard pistol loads.

This is my experience, everyone else's experience may vary.
 
In my extremely limited experience, tumble lubing exists as a money saver with limitations -- those limitations being that it's messy, and that you can't push the bullets very hard or they will lead.

I personally think the couple of hundred dollars extra for "traditional" lubing gear is well worth the cost. YMMV.
 
i put alox in a small pan thinned with mineral spirits the depth of the grooves, then take the boolit by the nose dunk the bands then stand it on waxed paper.
size em then dip again.
i use this only on lee`s tl designs .
the rest go thru the 450 & get lars45`s carnaube red lube!!!

GP100man
 
I use Lee TL in 9mm, 38, 357, & 45. Towel dropped wheel weights then allowed to sit at least 24 hours, usually 48. Skip the first lube, size, then lube and no leading in the dies or the pistols. Seems to work for me, I have cast and lubed 7500 this month but only fired maybe 650 this month for testing. May have to step up to a 6-hole soon though, these 2-holers are whipping my butt.

ETA while lubing these little darlings, try using latex gloves instead of bare hands. Makes clean up so much easier. :)
 
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I've never cast with a tumble lube mould, but I have lubed standard bullets using the tumble lube method. Messy. I can almost deal with the mess, but am 100% against bullet lube on the base of my bullets. There's always the possibility of lube contaminating the powder. I use an RCBS lubrisizer.
If I may suggest, for the volume you'll be casting, I would shell out a few extra $$$$ and find a good used H&G 4 cavity mould. I have one that casts a .358" 158 gr. SWC and the quality is unparalleled. I can turn out extremely high quality bullets wholesale. I have used Lee's 6 cavity moulds and the quality isn't even close to the ole H&G's. I've also cast some with Lyman 4 cavity and they too are good.
35W
 
Watch your seating depth with LLA

As the stuff builds up inside the Seating die, the bullet will be seated deeper. This necessitates disassembly to remove the lubricant, which means you will loose adjustment with most dies. With the Dillon seating die, you won't.

CDD
 
I've used Lee molds for many years, and have a couple TL molds. I shoot as cast after the liquid Alox dries. If the lead mix is good, they will shoot good. I recommend them.

NCsmitty
 
i havent cast any yet, but that is the mold i have been looking at also. as for tumble lubing, i have a jar that i use (i bought some cast bullets that were real old and the "grease" was dried up and falling out) i put them in the jar, squeezed some lee lube onto them and gently worked them around for a few minutes. worked great. dries to a tacky substance that clings like there is no tomorrow. i do wonder though if it will kill any powder that sticks to the lube?
 
I live in an extremely dry climate and I found that if I let them dry for 48 hrs, then turn them over and let them dry for several more days they lost almost all of the sticky, then I tumble them in mica and there is no sticky and no problem with them in contact with propellant. I've also read of the LLA being cut with alcohol to thin it and it dries faster and harder.
 
In my extremely limited experience, tumble lubing exists as a money saver with limitations -- those limitations being that it's messy, and that you can't push the bullets very hard or they will lead.
Click to expand...

I don't quite agree with that. I have pushed TL 7mm bullets to 2000 fps without any leading issues. I TL some 45/70 loaded to the 1500 fps range with no leading either. I do agree it is a bit on the messy side though.
 
Rooster Lube and Lee bullets

I have deceided to use the Rooster brand lube and the Tumble Lube molds that Lee produces.
No i'm waiting for a company to have the six cavity mold handles in stock.
 
Well, if you're going to start shooting Bullseye, from experience, tumble lube bullets not sized are not as accurate as good SWC's designed after a Hensly & Gibbs single or double lube groove bullet that has been sized and lubed with a lube that's better than Alox through a match grade barrel.

I'm sure there are some that have been happy with the accuracy of tumble lube bullets, (just as there are some people that are happy with the performance of cheap Rainier and Montana Gold plated and jacketed fodder), but there's a reason the Lyman and H&G bullet designs with full lube grooves dominate the Bullseye world.

Because they're more accurate. Getting by cheap with aluminum molds, (don't get me wrong, I do have some), without sizing your bullets and lubing with a proven mix, will not bring out the potential in any bullseye shooter.

-Steve
 
And I'll bet they grouped into a quarter of an inch at 400 yards offhand, too.
Click to expand...

No, about 3 inches at 50 yards out of a 7-30 Contender. I just use cast bullets for case forming. They tighten up after I form the cases and shoot some 120 gr jacketed.
 
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