... You ask me if you should go harder or softer, when your question should have been to ask what I thought the problem is?
Your problem is Lee mold and Lee lube and in general Lee poor craftmanship of Lee and Lee trashy attitude of Lee as to whether their products give performance. ...
Hey Veral...and everyone else,
I couldn't resist adding a remark or two on this subject.
I've had only 2 "poly" rifled guns. A Steyer GB (in the mid '80s) and a H&K-91.
Both were very accurate.
I sold the H&K when I could get a grand more than I paid for it.
The Steyer was/is an excellent hi-cap (18 rds in the Mag!) 9mm handgun that was perhaps the most accurate semi-auto handgun I've ever seen. It came from the factory with a 10-meter test target...a ragged hole.
That gun gave me a reliable platform from which to develop my harsh opinions of the 9mm cartridge, (only suitable for keeping the bad-guys off you while you reload your real weapon!)
I eventually came to the same conclusions that Veral's reply has made here (and elsewhere) about the Lee products with focus [here] on their molds.
What makes my mind spin is that Lee declares, in their ads and literature, that their molds are "guaranteed to be within 0.001" round."
As with many guys, I have used Lee molds for many years.
I don't spend any more of my money on Lee molds.
I've never seen any bullet come from ANY Lee mold that could be called "round". They are all oval shaped. Usually about 0.003" and 0.004" is not all that uncommon.
I have one of their 6-cavity molds, (C452-300-RF.) Each cavity is different from the others and all are very out-of-round. One cavity casts bullets that measure from .451" to .455" (as cast) on the same bullet! The rest range from .452" to .455" (as cast.) This mold sat new & unused on my shelf because I'd gotten a LBT mold before it got delivered. After using the LBT mold I have trouble rationalizing the use of Lee molds, (or any others for that matter.)
Aside: If you want to find how out-of-round a LBT-mold cast bullet is your
calipers won't tell you much. You'll need a good micrometer that will read accurately to 4 decimal places and 5 places is better. Heck, the rifling isn't that deep!
Recently in a local discussion with fellow casters/shooters I cast a lot of doubt on Lee (very popular with this crowd) by saying I'd never seen a Lee cast bullet that wasn't at least 0.003" out of round, as cast.
If you just shoot at "things" that are no farther than 100 feet, your guns will probably give "adequate" performance to keep the
average shooter from thinking anything is wrong.
Also, if you don't shoot it at high power or longer distance you'll never see the inherent inferiority demonstrated. Just try to wring out the power and/or stretch the distance and things will change fast. (That's how it went for me.)
At least that has been my observation with many Lee molds for over 30 years.
I'm thinking of asking Lee what they'll do about all these molds that throw bullets that are 0.003" (or more) out-of-round ??
That should be interesting.
