Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting Are Lee tumble lube molds ok for powder coating?

I'm just getting back into casting after many years of not doing it. I always hated lubing and sizing but this powder coating thing has renewed my interest in casting. I used to like the tumble lube with the liquid alox. Do they work well with powder coat?

I'm about to place an order for a 158g 357, a 175 40 cal, a 240 g 44, and a 230 g 45 for acp, not sure which of the lee molds would be best in those? Tumble lube or regular TC, or swc or round flat nose? What ones do you like and why?

For my 45 colt I know want the 252 g swc if I can find it. For my 45/70 guide gun I'm deciding between the 340g or 405g but can't find either in stock right now.

I've got lots of wheel weight lead but I worry it may have some zinc melted in. We melted them in a big Dutch oven and used a thermometer to try to keep the temp below zinc melt but I'm not sure how well it worked.

I also have several hundred pounds of linotype I bought from an old print shop and it xray gunned only about 72% lead and the rest was tin and antimony. It is pure of just those 3 but the guy who tested it said it was more like monotype. I plan to mix a little of it with my lead.

Bb

I've found that the standard lube-grooved designs are more accurate overall than the tumble-lube versions, using both powder coating and not using it. But if you already have the tumble lube versions, they powder-coat just fine too. I prefer RNFP for how they feed in semi-autos, but some guns feed truncated cones better. Mine don't. The Lee 158 .358" FN with the single lube groove and bevel base is an excellent bullet, and I load it in various guns from 9mm and 357 Mag to 357 Herrett and 35 Whelen. The Lee 175 40 cal single lube groove design shoots very well but sometimes hiccups in feeding. I don't like any of the Lee 44 cal 240 gr designs.

If you melt clip-on wheel weight while paying attention and monitoring, the lead alloy ones will dissolve completely before the zinc ones begin to melt. I sort them well beforehand, but inevitably, I miss one or two zinc weights, and they just scoop right out whole. The alloy takes on entirely different casting characteristics with just a tiny bit of zinc added. You'll know if you screwed it up, particularly with tumble-lube designs, as the groove won't fill out.

Yes, 70-72% lead alloy is monotype, with about 9-10% tin and 18-20% antimony. You won't need to add much to your wheel weight alloy to harden it significantly. I have experimented a lot with alloy composition and I recommend doing that.

Short answer - Yes. yeas they are.

As for ordering your 45acp molds, I have all those in Lee molds and they work equally well. Choose your favorite design. Mine are the truncated cone and the round nose flat point but that is because they cast easier fr me than the others do. Note Well: I am still a novice caster so that is probably my fault.

Please read most of the threads on this site regarding powder coating and 45-70. I have learned soooo much from the guys here who share their knowledge and experience. It is great.


AS for the 45 Colt mold, please pm me as I might have an extra. My 45-70 405 Lee mold is 457 and slightly narrow for my guide gun but great for my bud's Henry, which slugs at .4565.

If you don't want to wait for molds, there is always NOE molds or Accurate molds.