Opinions on the Lee TL .38 wadcutter?

Ian

Ian

Notorious member
I need a whole bunch of .38 full-wadcutter bullets to load up and prefer to use liquid lube for these (BLL) due to high volume and my preference for Titegroup and potentially long-term storage, which in a way precludes powder coating. The only wadcutter mould I have is a Lee two-cavity with conventional grooves, and having tried all sorts of lube with it, it always does better with conventional lube in the bottom groove. BLL works great for me in other calibers with micro-groove style bullets, but I've never run it in the .38s with TL wadcutters.

I want to upgrade to a six-cavity mould and am leaning heavily toward the Lee TL bullet but wanted to hear what y'all say first.
 
KeithB

KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
Might sound like a stupid question, but have you tried to use liquid lube on your conventional groove wadcutter? Or maybe that's what you meant when you say you've "tried all sorts lube with it".
 
Ian

Ian

Notorious member
Yep, I did a lot of experimenting with liquid lube formulas using the conventional Lee wadcutter (nu-finish, beeswax, LLA, JPW, BLL, lots of combinations of those) and usually got a little bit of barrel throat leading unless using waxy lube in the groove. I have no interest in HB wadcutters, just regular ones.

Another reason I ask about the TL version is it is double-ended, without the button nose, and I was curious if anyone had good/bad things to say about that. I like the idea of loading them sprue-forward to have bubble-free, clean bases, but don't like not having the button nose.
 
Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Ian said:
Yep, I did a lot of experimenting with liquid lube formulas using the conventional Lee wadcutter (nu-finish, beeswax, LLA, JPW, BLL, lots of combinations of those) and usually got a little bit of barrel throat leading unless using waxy lube in the groove. I have no interest in HB wadcutters, just regular ones.

Another reason I ask about the TL version is it is double-ended, without the button nose, and I was curious if anyone had good/bad things to say about that. I like the idea of loading them sprue-forward to have bubble-free, clean bases, but don't like not having the button nose.
Click to expand...

I currently have ( and have had for 20 yrs. ) a 6 cav., Lee Tumble Lube , 148 W/C. I size to .358" and lube with a single coat of BLL. It will definitely outshoot the other ( 10 + ) conventional lube groove wadcutter's that I have. My standard load in a 38 Spec. case is 3.0 grs. of B'Eye.

Ben
 
358156 hp

358156 hp

At large, whereabouts unknown.
Ian said:
I want to upgrade to a six-cavity mould and am leaning heavily toward the Lee TL bullet but wanted to hear what y'all say first.
Click to expand...

SAECOs 348 DEWC is probably the most popular of this design. It doesn't fit your criteria of being available as a 6 cavity though. The price is certainly an issue from my point of view at least. These are very, very scarce in the used market, as is the Ideal/Lyman 358063, or the H&G 280. I've been looking for one for ages.
 
JonB

JonB

Halcyon member
The Lee TL 38 WC was the second mold I bought. It did shoot accurately, but I always got lead fouling just after the forcing cone (I was using the usual two coats of 45-45-10, never tried anything else). My mold dropped 'em at .360 and I sized them to .358 I did like having the sprue out, and a more perfect base against the powder. After that I bought the Lee traditional Lube groove (6 cav) and now lube with SL68B, which I am very happy with all around. I also have a real old 4 cav H&G mold (long nose) that I've posted photos of many times, I like that one a lot also, but the nose sticks out of the case as far as a SWC.
 
JonB

JonB

Halcyon member
I should also add, that I found out about WC brass about the same time as I bought the Lee Tradtional lube groove mold...and also started using the 38S&W expander at that time as well. So my lead fouling could have been due to swaging of the base in the case.
 
Ian

Ian

Notorious member
Thanks guys, that's the info I was after. Jon, that leading you describe is exactly what happens to all four .38s I have when using the traditional Lee wadcutter and any kind of liquid "tumble lube", but it disappears when using SL-68.whatever. The smoke disappears, too. The problem here is I don't know if it's the lube or the groove style affecting things.

Getting a 4-cavity aluminum Accurate mould would be my next choice if the Lee TL wadcutter got poor reviews here. I have a couple other things in mind for my AM budget right now, though.

BLL works great with my SWCs and RN bullets that have traditional grooves in .38, so I wonder if it's just that traditional groove and TL don't go together very well with a solid wadcutter seated all the way into the case. The TL design should preserve much of the liquid lube coating and also make it more available to the surface of the bullet when firing, so it should be OK. BLL is so easy and works so well for .38 target loads that I'm really wanting to perfect a system to make use of the big pile of WC brass I have and expedite the refills. My wife and MIL are enjoying shooting their small .38 revolvers and I'm looking for ways to help keep them all happy.
 
F

freebullet

Guest
I use swc & rf designs mostly. The lee 140swc is nice. Been meaning to get the 105swc. Sorry, I'm no help on full bore wad cutters.
 
Gary

Gary

SE Kansas
Have you tried them PC'd yet? Everything I've PC'd has stopped any Leading issues I've encountered. However, I'm not shooting many WC's.
 
Elkins45

Elkins45

Active Member
I have the six cavity version. I find that it shoots as well for me as the conventional button end version. I coat them twice and shoot them unsized. My mold drops a mix of .360 and .361.
 
Ian

Ian

Notorious member
As per my original post, I'm trying not to PC these. Just one good coat of BLL after sizing dry and done.
 
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