Anyone use the LEE 240gr. SWC TL for their .44 Mag loads?

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Ga.BuckBuster

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Hi guys,
Anyone on here that's a bullet caster use the LEE 240gr. SWC 44mag. tumble lube bullet with LEE Liquid Alox.

Picking up a NIB Classic 29 soon. My old friend, I had one back in the early 80s, shouldn't have ever sold it.

Looking to use this LEE bullet for light or target loads, around 1000 fps (-+) bullets will be water quenched ww.

How fast are you pushing this bullet with no leading, if you're using Lee Liquid Alox?

Thanks!
 
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Not a TL bullet fan, but should work. No need to water drop for 1000fps, could even cause leading if the size isn't right. Slug the bore & each cyl throat. S&W usually have oversize throats, but undersized is a sure leading problem.
 
I was talking with someone from Castboolits.com and he said he would recommend using regular lube on this tumble lube bullet, says it works better.
I would go with another LEE design, but most of the the rest if not all of the other LEE 44 bullets calls for gas checks and which I didn't want to get into unless there was no other way to avoid the leading.

Thanks for the reply!
 
My first mold was Lee's .44 SWC T/L. I still have it 18 years later and still use the bullet in 4 of my .44 Magnums, and it works fine using it as designed; tumble lube (careful of what "they" tell you on a forum. Perhaps the exact combo worked for that feller, but could be a major fail for you). I have used both standard wax based lube, alox (thinned), and 45-45-10 on that bullet and had success with all, and got leading free, accurate ammo for my 629. Some never size any Lee's T/L design bullets with success but I prefer to size the bullets to the same diameter of the cylinder throats of the guns that the bullets will be used in. I use a "mystery mix" alloy for this bullet, about 11-14 BHN (no need to water quench) and run about 900-1200 fps with "normal" .44 Magnum powders (Unique, 2400, Blue Dot, True Blue) and some "faster" powders for lighter loads (Bullseye, Titegroup, W231) of around 850-900 fps. Because the bullets fit each gun there is very little to no leading.

My favorite method of lubing a T/L bullet is dip lubing in 45-45-10. I've run 158 gr SWC in my .357 lubed w/45-45-10 to over 1200 fps with no leading...
 
I have that miserable piece.
don't you believe the claims of TL and alox. its a pooch.

The construction of this bullet gives it a compromised shoulder band which almost assures leading at the forcing cone.
the shank is delightful for the volume of lube it can hold, but none of it will save you.
the only thing it did with consistency was lead up the bore.
It sat for nearly 15 years until I discovered the joys of powder coating bullets.
The results of powder coating were so phenomenal out of the gate I went on a quest to break its back.
it was the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object conundrum in cast lead.
the infallible full plastic jacket meets the irredeemable bullet.

that blasted forward band brainfart still rears its ugly head from time to time, but its only been through coatings that this turduckin ever proved useful beyond balance weights in model airplanes.

unless you want to dive into one of the coating disciplines, either powder coating or Hy Tek, avoid TL molds entirely.
 
I have looked at Oregon Laser cast 240gr. 44 bullets on Midway's site. Have got some great reviews about not leading doing magnum fps. I haven't bought any commercial cast bullets in a long time, but I may give these a try sometime later on.
 
If you are looking to cast your own, don't be afraid to try it.
With a little thought towards design, you can start out with a bullet that can dance from zero to hero without much undue drama.
Look at the shoulder. If it has some decent meat up front, your ahead of the game.
Then look at the base. This too should have a significant enough of a band to hold up to a swift magnum kick in the pants.

Read up on powder coating methods as well as hy tek coating methods.
With these in place of traditional lubes and Bob's your uncle.
 
venomballistics said:
I have that miserable piece.
don't you believe the claims of TL and alox. its a pooch.

The construction of this bullet gives it a compromised shoulder band which almost assures leading at the forcing cone.
the shank is delightful for the volume of lube it can hold, but none of it will save you.
the only thing it did with consistency was lead up the bore.
It sat for nearly 15 years until I discovered the joys of powder coating bullets.
that blasted forward band brainfart still rears its ugly head from time to time, but its only been through coatings that this turduckin ever proved useful beyond balance weights in model airplanes.
QUOTE]
Click to expand...
Dunno how you arrived at all your problems with that bullet, but I have cast and shot it in 5, .44 Magnums since 1988. I have used alloys running from 9 to 20 BHN and the only leading I got in any of my 4 revolvers' forcing cones was from too hard, too small bullets. I have loaded it with Bullseye to H110, super light and magnum levels. I cast this design in .44, .45 ACP, and .38/357. along with 10 other "standard" bullet designs. I guess I'm just "lucky"? I find that normally when this many problems are "apparent" in a bullet, 90% is operator error...
Click to expand...
 
mikld said:
Dunno how you arrived at all your problems with that bullet, but I have cast and shot it in 5, .44 Magnums since 1988. I have used alloys running from 9 to 20 BHN and the only leading I got in any of my 4 revolvers' forcing cones was from too hard, too small bullets. I have loaded it with Bullseye to H110, super light and magnum levels. I cast this design in .44, .45 ACP, and .38/357. along with 10 other "standard" bullet designs. I guess I'm just "lucky"? I find that normally when this many problems are "apparent" in a bullet, 90% is operator error...
Click to expand...
Mine is of a more current vintage, 98ish
For me, it failed in 4 guns and countless loads, and I even gave batches away to 5 others to attempt to get it to behave in something.
Most of them were returned by these five to be recycled.
User error ..... no son. It's just a pooch.
Click to expand...
 
Sounds like mikld got a peach and venomballistics got a dud - or else Lee's QC really dropped off somewhere between 1988 and 1998. Though that is the opposite of what I've heard (that their quality used to be spotty but has improved a lot over the years)
 
I've shot thousands of them and always was happy. I bought them from a man at the gun club $ 28.00 a thousand. 8.5 to 10.0 grains of Unique was a fine shooting load. He lubed them with Alox he was casting and selling till he was 88 years old. Now I shoot H&G 250 Keith style SWC in both my .44s. Don't give up try that bullet you my be surprised.
 
I've shot the Lee TL 200 grain 44 bullet without problems. I've use home made lube, Alox, 45-45-10 without leading. I haven't shot magnum max loads because my M29 / M629 can take a hotter load than my wrists can.

Lube up 50 bullets, and try them. They either work or it's back to the bench for lead scrubbing.
 
BC38 said:
Sounds like mikld got a peach and venomballistics got a dud - or else Lee's QC really dropped off somewhere between 1988 and 1998. Though that is the opposite of what I've heard (that their quality used to be spotty but has improved a lot over the years)
Click to expand...

fairly recently, Lee revised the mold blocks, quite arguably for the better.
and I will not knock the concept of the TL design, but rather how they have implemented it.
I bored a mold with TL style grooves ... 276 grain TCHP leaving some solid meat up front and a tickle extra in the rear for good measure ... yes it can work if properly implemented.

now I bore without grooves at all in light of coatings.;)
 
Just a thought; each and every mold I have seems to have their own "personality". Most of my 13 molds of various manufactures and construction, will need a bit different process, mebbe a different temp., or different pour method, or how I hold my tongue, but I kept notes and managed to get good bullets outta each mold, Lee, Ideal, RCBS and one ???. If I stuck to a rigid process, using each mold exactly the same, I'm sure there would be two or three that wouldn't drop decent bullets...
 
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mikld said:
Just a thought; each and every mold I have seems to have their own "personality". Most of my 13 molds of various manufactures and construction, will need a bit different process, mebbe a different temp., or different pour method, or how I hold my tongue, but I kept notes and managed to get good bullets outta each mold, Lee, Ideal, RCBS and one ???. If I stuck to a rigid process, using each mold exactly the same, I'm sure there would be two or three that wouldn't drop decent bullets...
Click to expand...

probably more than two or three.
some need a hair of angle to fill out right, some need a pagan ritual under certain moon phase conditions, still others don't seem to care and magically produce good bullets even if you forgot to plug the pot in.
The Lee 240 TL is one of the least finicky molds to get a good fill out with ... which is part of why it torques me so.
it could easily out produce most other molds. its just that in my case, I could not enjoy the product until after I got into the coating technologies.
While I preach coatings like a rabid reverend, I understand that most entering into casting have yet to have received their baptizim in oven cured polymer, and know not of the faith.
Thus, I am mindful of this.
 
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Venomballistics: thanks for jarring my thought process concerning the Lee TL dies. I tried their .40 S&W and had terrible leading with both the stock Glock and Wolf barrels at various velocities. Slower was not better. Had picked up a cheap toaster oven at a garage sale to try powder coating other cast bullets but really had no need. Will try powder coating on the .40s and see what happens. Any suggestions as to temp and duration of the "cooking" cycle?
Thanks
 
Arub said:
Venomballistics: thanks for jarring my thought process concerning the Lee TL dies. I tried their .40 S&W and had terrible leading with both the stock Glock and Wolf barrels at various velocities. Slower was not better. Had picked up a cheap toaster oven at a garage sale to try powder coating other cast bullets but really had no need. Will try powder coating on the .40s and see what happens. Any suggestions as to temp and duration of the "cooking" cycle?
Thanks
Click to expand...

that's dependent upon the specific powder coat used.
Harbor Freight red is probably the least expensive that works with the entry level shake and bake method. Thus it is probably the definitive PC benchmark.
15 minutes @ 375F from a cold oven. 10 minutes for subsequent batches since the oven is preheated. Tweak as needed.

If you've opted for a spray gun, bake times range from 10 - 25 minutes depending on the coating, and you may use any that will set below 450F.
There is a teflon based powder in this range that I particularly like. However, check your laws as this is outright illegal in some states, and kinda weird in some circumstances in a few others.
it's advantages are not so great to make it a must have so don't feel bad if you can't use it on bullets. I find this stuff to be an astonishing slide and rail permanent lube if you have the patience and skill to refit the parts post treatment.
race gun tight, combat gun slick is the result. and it stays that way.;)
 
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