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I picked up one of the new-ish Lee 95gr molds (in six cavity of course!) a while back, seemed like it was worth a try for what Lee molds cost. I didn't have real high expectations, being such a light bullet for 9mm, but I already have a 105gr hollow point that shoots really well so I was interested in a solid version.

The mold comes from Lee with tumble lube grooves; I don't like TL grooves much but went ahead and cast some and loaded them over 3.3gr of Bullseye. To my surprise, this is one of the most accurate 9mm loads I've tried. It is a very light load though, and only cycles my Glocks with a firm grip, so I've bumped the charge up to 3.7gr, for 1070 fps.

I still don't like TL grooves though, so I bored them out to straight walls. This added a whole 2 grains to the bullet weight; they drop at 102gr now, and cast so well that I'm only rejecting one every few hundred casts. Accuracy is just as good, or possibly better, with the straight sides.

[Linked Image]

I'm also using these in a +P 9mm load that shoots very well. These pics show an unfired bullet next to one that penetrated 5 water-filled plastic milk jugs, fired at 1,500 fps from a Glock 19. Alloy is clip-on wheel weights, heat treated by water quenching after powder coating. (FYI that is one coat of powder on the fired bullet.)

Notice the nose riveted a little on impact, but otherwise the bullet is undamaged. It burst the first jug in two, and just punched clean holes in the rest. For comparison, every expanding JHP 9mm bullet I've tested does about the same damage to the first jug, and only penetrate 2 or 3 jugs total.

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

Last edited by Yondering; 08/23/16.
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Never been a big 9mm fan but it looks like that one will do the job.


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Any chance you can elaborate on your aversion to TL grooves? I was thinking of picking up a Lee DEWC mold and planned to go TL grooves. Plan was to go PC with it and if for any reason it didn't work I would go back to LLA.

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On such a short bullet, having more material for the lands to engrave on is a good thing. I've tried that bullet from a 38 and accuracy was mediocre. I'm thinking betting rid of the tl grooves and powder coating might do the trick.

I wouldn't have any problem with the tl wadcutter, plenty of material for the lands to engrave on.

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Originally Posted by War_Eagle
Any chance you can elaborate on your aversion to TL grooves? I was thinking of picking up a Lee DEWC mold and planned to go TL grooves. Plan was to go PC with it and if for any reason it didn't work I would go back to LLA.


pretty much what 458 said. Other than this bullet, I've never had as good accuracy with Lee's TL designs compared to their equivalent traditional lube grooves. Grip on the rifling and sealing of the bore are the reasons, and often they cast slightly undersize in the TL bands, which makes things worse.

At very low pressure for plinking loads they are sometimes OK, but I've never seen a TL example that is as good at full pressure loads.

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Originally Posted by Scott F
Never been a big 9mm fan but it looks like that one will do the job.


Scott, I wasn't either for a long time, but started changing my thinking a few years ago, and have learned that the 9mm is capable of a lot more than most realize. I never liked Glocks, 9mm, AR15s, and the .223, give me a .45 1911 or big bore revolver and a Garand any day; but after working with these 9mm Glocks and 223 ARs the last few years, they are pretty much all I shoot any more. The dang things seem to multiply in the safe like rabbits, too, I can't figure out how but there's more in the safe all the time. whistle

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How did you remove the tumble lube grooves?


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The ideal would be centering in a mill or lathe and using a boring bar. Less than ideal but serviceable is using a .358" reamer and very, very carefully centering on a drill press. The less than ideal method may not yield national match accuracy, but is more than good enough for plinking and likely more accurate than most handguns or handgun shooters.

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Originally Posted by Snake River Marksman
How did you remove the tumble lube grooves?


I used a boring head on my mill, adjusted for a .359" hole. I bored each one in a single pass, since the tumble lube grooves aren't much to remove. With traditional lube grooves sometimes I make multiple passes.

I have done them with a reamer before too; it works but the finish isn't quite as good. If I didn't have a mill though, I'd still continue to do them with a reamer; it's worth the improvement on some bullets.

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Thanks to both of you


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