Opinions on the Lee TL .38 wadcutter?

[Joshua]

It’s been a wild cutter couple of days! Yahoo!!!

Lee 148 grain, two coats of Recluse recipe 45/45/10(a coat before sizing and one after), 3.0 grains of AA No. 2, Winchester and R.P. Brass, seated to the first lube groove.

If I’m serious about shooting a target I will sort out a handful of matching headstamp brass. But most of these will be for informal plinking with the boy.

Josh

P.s. “wild cutter” was a happy accident. The dictation software liked it better than wadcutter.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I can't speak to tumble lube because I don't play in that sandbox. I will say that I have a Lee 6 cavity WC mold for 38 Special with conventional lube groves and I'm favorably impressed by the quality to cost ratio of that mold.

An early post on this thread mentioned the SAECO 348 double ended WC. That bullet, with tumble lube would certainly fit the OP's requirement for high production rates. However, as stated previously, it's not available as a 6 cavity mold (4 is the max) AND they are not cheap!. An aluminum copy of that mold in 6 cavity would be an alternative but I suspect the price would be a limiting factor.

The advantage of a double ended WC is the speed at which cartridges can be assembled. You don't need to spend time orienting the bullet nose up before seating. Some people like to orient the end of a double ended wadcutter with the spure cut end up; which negates the assembly speed advantage. I understand the reasoning for doing that in terms of accuracy/consistency. However, if you're going to spend the time to orient the double ended WC in a specific manner, you might as well use a conventional WC that has a distinct base and nose.

 

[Jeff H]

Aw, shoot! I did just tell someone that the mould I ordered Christmas Eve should be the last mould I needed to buy.

I forgot that I need/want to mess with the LEE TL WC. I credit Ed Harris for that nagging little question - how would they work for me in what I shoot? He certainly whets one's focus on 35 caliber things in general and THAT in particular.

Glad you started this thread, @Ian . This is exactly what I wanted to do with this bullet, with the additional possible subtraction of a step in sizing.

You did say "one coat," correct? I've never shot bullets lubed with ONE COAT on purpose. I always try to get the first coat on as soon as I have a chance after casting. Keeps them from oxidizing, keeps 'em pretty. I HAVE shot some I had not re-coated after sizing, but by mistake.

Those bullets did not seem to present any leading issues beyond what I see with TWO coats, which is normally NONE. I'd kind of like to cast, lube. load, shoot these.

I'm watching....

 

[Ian]

Actually, this is an old thread and I ended up changing gears. All my .38s shoot abiut 4" high at 15 yards with 150-160 grain bullets so I had Tom Ellis draw up a DEWC with crimp grooves on the ends, weighing about 130 grains, and ordered a four-cavity mould to cast a nominal .357". I powder coat and run through a .358" sizer just to clean them up and load with Bullseye or Titegroup in either standard or wadcutter brass (they don't seat deeply enough to require wadcutter wall thickness).

Yes, ONE very light coat of the BLL or straight LLA is plenty if you aren't sizing afterward.

 

[Jeff H]

Actually, this is an old thread................

Yeah, I fell for that one.

Thanks, Ian. Not the path I'm thinking of pursuing, but still very helpful. I'm still half a pint of "tumble-lube" (45-45-10 and BLL) away from PC, which could be several years yet.