Lee 6 cavity mold

[TreeTopFlier]

If you were buying a Lee 6 cavity 9mm mold .356
1. What weight would you get?
2. Tumble lube or grease groove?
3. Am I correct in assuming that these can be used in 9mm, .380, and 38 Special?

RC I look forward to your opinion, seriously
Bill

 

[TooManyToys]

Hi Bill,
This link/thread from last week may help some.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=746403

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Am I correct in assuming that these can be used in 9mm, .380, and 38 Special?

No, your not correct in assuming that. A .38 special will need .358" mold at the least. If you shoot .356"lead bullets in a .38spl you will get severe leading.

I would go as far as saying you need a .357" mold for 9mm, I've never had any luck with a .356" lead bullet in any 9mm. The bore vary to much and you may be lucky and have a barrel with a bore that will support .356" lead bullets and get no leading but I haven't seen one yet. But this is just my opinion.

You need to slug your barrel and buy the appropriate dia mold. As far as weight, I wouldn't buy anything lighter than 125gr but probably go with a 147gr.

 

[kerreckt]

Whether they can be used in with 9mm, .380, and .38spl. depends on the exact bore size of the particular gun. The alloy composition is also a factor that determines the exact size of the casting that will be dropped. So it is possible but not certain. I have one .38spl. that will use boolits dropped from a 9mm mold.

 

[USSR]

If you were buying a Lee 6 cavity 9mm mold .356
1. What weight would you get?
2. Tumble lube or grease groove?
3. Am I correct in assuming that these can be used in 9mm, .380, and 38 Special?

First, the .380 ACP uses a much lighter bullet than is typically used for 9mm an .38 SPL, so plan on a different mould for the .380 ACP. Second, while the 9mm is "officially" listed at .355" and is "supposed" to use .356" lead bullets, don't you believe it. Many, many 9mm's run quite a bit larger, and I use .358" lead bullets exclusively for 9mm loads. This also enables you to use the same mould for both 9mm and .38 SPL. Tumble lube? No thanks! Lightly coating an entire bullet (including areas of the bullet that have no bore contact) makes no sense to me. There's a reason why lube grooves were created. Personally, I would buy the Lee 6 Cavity 358-125-RF if I was restricting myself to Lee moulds.

Don

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I like the tumble lube design for low pressure, low velocity stuff like .38 Special and mild .45 Colt loads. It's easy and works for those applications, though it does lube parts of the bullet that don't need it, as mentioned above.

However for higher velocity stuff like 9mm, I prefer a good deep lube groove and some NRA 50-50 or something along those lines.

 

[rsrocket1]

Tumble lubing 9mm bullets in 45/45/10 works fine for me with traditional lube grooved bullets. Pistol rounds including 9mm don't put much demand on the lube compared to rifle bullets. The lube only needs to endure 4-5" and the bullet is only going 1000-1200 fps. You can tumble lube cast rifle bullets going down 22" barrels at 1700fps and still not have lube problems so long as the fit is good.

Be careful, many euro gun barrels may be .357, .358 or even bigger.

It's a good idea to slug the barrel of your gun. My M&P9 barrel slugged at 0.3545" so the Lee 356-120-TC was a good choice being that it wound up dropping at .358-.359". I bought a sizer to get them down to .355" but am no longer bothering with it. Just cast, tumble lube and load.


Offhand at 15 yds and sitting at 15 yds:

 

[GooseGestapo]

I've had very good luck with the Lee 120gr .356" TC. It will cast to ~.357". But won't be real good for the .38spl or .357mag. I've gotten superlative accuracy with SPG lube (also 50/50 alox/beeswax; or NRA formula). Sized to .356" in Lyman 450 sizer.

For an "all around" mold, I'd go with the 125gr RFN. Mine casts to ~.359" and I've used it in .38spl sized to .358" as well as 9mm sized to .356", .357", and .358".
My S&W PPC-9 pistols (and 5906PC) won't reliably feed the .358" bullets, but those that do feed shoot well. Best size for accuracy and reliablility is at .357" for the 9mm, and of course .358" for .38spl. These I size/lube in the 450, and if sized to .356" by running previously sized to .357/.358" through a Lee .356" push-through sizer die.

I've gotten "spotty" results from the tumble lube moulds. "IF" cast from a strong alloy, and sized to correct size, AND lubed with sufficient quantity of lube they can shoot well. In .38spl, I've gotten excellent results with TL moulds and lubes. I size all to .358" (148gr WC and 158gr SWC.). If un-sized, some brass will be too thick and loaded round won't chamber. A friends .38 S&W match revolver must have bullets sized to .358 for loaded rounds to chamber when loaded in Winchester brass (he uses these). In my revolver, with R-P headstamp brass, it dosen't matter, but accuracy is much better at 50yds with sized bullets. Also, with wadcutters, seat with sprue end up (out).

9mm and .40/10mm have been more problematic. You MUST use a strong alloy (w/w with added tin/antimony), or accuracy will be poor.
Also, a slower burning powder helps, as well as keeping velocities modest. With 9mm LongShot has given me the best results. In .40/10mm WSF. Although, I have't worked with them and LongShot.

 

[Vacek]

I really like TL356-124-TC cast with wheel weights, dropped in water, tumble lubed and sized.

 

[hartcreek]

Lee advertises there 105 grain mold for use in 9mm and .38s. I have used it for decades for .380, 9mm, .38 S&W and .38 Special and .357 Magnum with no leading problems.

 

[evan price]

The lee 105 grain swc can be sized to fit 9mm or 38 spl or 380. It saves lead and works tumble lubed.

 

[TreeTopFlier]

Thanks

Thank you for the detailed information. I will slug the barrels and make my choice based on results. I know that one size doesn't fit all. (after hearing from you! ) I saw the other discussion, last week, but needed more information to make a decision.
You guys are the best,
Bill

 

[jdgreen]

I've had good luck with TL356-126TC and 356-125-2R for 9mm. The first one is a tumble lube design and the second is a pan lube design. I tumble lube both types with 45/45/10. Both of these cast right at .358 or sometimes a touch larger. I size them .358.

I use TL358-158-2R for .38 special, also sized to .358. I've not found a bullet I can use in both 9mm and .38sp.

I use air cooled wheel-weight lead for all these.