In terms of high production and low effort - I can see the attraction of tumble lube. However, I never went down the tumble lube path. IF your “as cast” bullet is the correct size for the gun it will be shot from, then tumble lube makes a lot of sense. You cast the bullets, tumble lube, load them, done. But if you must size the bullets after casting, then tumble lube loses most of its appeal in terms of production rate.
Tumble lube also has some limitations in terms applications. It works well at some velocities and bullets for handgun rounds, but it doesn’t work well for all applications. Conventional sizing and lubrication is a little more flexible, IMO. And if you need a gas check on a handgun bullet, (which I avoid like the plague) then you are in a whole new territory.
If I was starting from scratch, powder coating might be attractive to me but I’m not going to add a whole new process at this point.
Once you go down a path and select tools and related gear, there’s a level of commitment to that path. For instance, if you go down the RCBS/Lyman lubersizer route – you will have a collection of RCBS/Lyman sizer dies. If you go down the Star path you will have Star type dies and if you go down the SAECO path you will have SAECO dies. This doesn’t stop you from adding tumble lube or powder coating to your repertoire, but it does represent an additional capital outlay for yet more equipment if you add a process.
