My white whale...

R

richhodg66

Well-Known Member
Grooves are generayy deeper on a Loverin, but yeah, that thought has crossed my mind looking at a TL design too.
 
L Ross

L Ross

Well-Known Member
Bret4207 said:
I was thinking cutting the RD in about half and seeing what the gun says. I know RD has quite a spike but it worked so good. 2400 is another option and then there's Unique and the other Dots and a mess of other stuff in the powder locker. I appreciate all the observations and thoughts guys. This one just didn't want to play nice and I don't think it's just the PB. I think it's the bands too. Anyone who has messed with the Lee TL designs knows they can be a hit or miss affair, I think this design has some of that in play.

On reflection, the cast shooting I've done in rifles, which runs from 800-2200+, has generally been a pretty easy ride to meet my requirements, which aren't 1/4" groups at 100! A nice round inch-ish group at 50-75 yards is pretty decent shooting for my eyes with open sights these days. 5, 6, 8 inch groups though?!! I've not had too many issues where that cropped up. I think I was fortunate to work with good designs in cast friendly guns for the most part. IOW, I got spoiled! My intention is to see this one work in the FR-8 Mauser 308. I'd like to see it take the place of the RCBS 30-180FN for close in work, stuff under 50-75 yards. The 30-180FN is a very good and reliable shooter in that rifle, which sees a lot of duty in winter as a tractor gun. But GC's aren't exactly falling from the sky here. Anyhoo, that's the general idea.
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Funny how upset I can get over 4¢ a piece gas checks compared to paying a $1.39 for a cup of coffee at the gas station and literally pissing that away an hour later.
 
Bret4207

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Missionary said:
I have always thought the TL design is just a modified Louvern from the popular BP Shutzen days.
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Not so much I think, although maybe he took some ideas from those old multiband BP types. I think the early Loverins were designed for the '06, Krag, stuff like that. My understanding is Lee did the TL microbands with the idea that tiny lube grooves were enough and would be supported by the body. They work sometimes, sometimes they just don't. I'd like to recover a few of these and see what they look like.
 
Spindrift

Spindrift

Well-Known Member
I don't think the grooves is the problem. That bullet should have ample bearing surface.
My guess is, lack of support during engraving could be a key issue. The nose is very short, and if the base of the nose is of insufficient diameter for the throat, it will be prone to riveting.

Lower load can reduce consequences of the fit problem, adding PC can potentially fix the fit problem.
 
Bret4207

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Spindrift said:
I don't think the grooves is the problem. That bullet should have ample bearing surface.
My guess is, lack of support during engraving could be a key issue. The nose is very short, and if the base of the nose is of insufficient diameter for the throat, it will be prone to riveting.

Lower load can reduce consequences of the fit problem, adding PC can potentially fix the fit problem.
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Well, something is certainly screwed up the stew on this. I just need to find some time and see if any of the advice pans out.
 
Tomme boy

Tomme boy

Well-Known Member
Grooves the plain base and speed is why it won't shoot. If you look at the 9mm tumble lube bullet, it was the#1 bullet for questions about the bullet tumbling and accuracy issues. Then along came powder coat and it almost completely solved the issues with that design.
 
Bret4207

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
But I have other PB traditional designs that shoot decent in the same rifles/charge. It's a matter of dynamic fit I think. They fall .311 OD, which means the body under the grooves is smaller and not supporting the bullet as well as it might. PCing would increase the OD, and fatter is usually mo' better. Less powder will likely help.

I just need an industrial sized drum of TIME!
 
D

Dusty Bannister

Well-Known Member
I suppose that if the mold had some spacer material (Beagle) it would cast a larger bullet. Passing through a lube size die would bring the diameter back down to targeted size. This would close up the lube grooves most likely unless lubed first. Even then, a tumble lube of your choice might provide a wide strong driving band from the present casting.
 
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