Why have a lube groove on a coated bullet?

[leam]

Just curious, since I don't think they need lube, do they? It would seem that "no lube groove" would mean a shorter bullet, and thus potentially more powder.

[TrackCage]

Before hi-tek coating, these same bullet moulds were lead, and thus needed a lube groove. Now that coating has become mainstream, there is no longer the need for the groove and thus, many manufacturers have gone to a no-groove mould.

[JayTac556]

There is no reason to lube coated bullets. I have loaded thousands and I mean thousands of blue bullets and have never lubed them at all. Like the previous guy commented the bullets were casted in lead and now they are coated. Just a better option instead of shooting lead through your barrels and cleaner too. Why change the bullet mold if this is what they have in stock. Brazzo bullets have a lube ring and I have never lubed them as the dont need them at all. They just coated the bullets they already had on hand.

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[MikeyScuba]

Am I the only one who has had a failure to feed due to a lube groove?  What happened was the Uplula put pressure on the case where the lube groove was when I was loading a mag.  This pressure dented the case and lifted the case mouth up enough so it didn’t feed.

 

at a L3!

 

thankfully I went hunting for the round after we finished the stage so I found this out.  I use non lube grooved coated now.  

[anachronism]

Coating bullets from moulds that have already been purchased allow the manufacturers to potentially save hundreds of dollars in overhead that can be passed on to their customers. Some casting machines use up to six or more specially designed moulds at a time, so the savings could even run up to $1000.00 or more. Many bullet manufacturers offer both designs, so if you don't want to see the grooves, you can get around them easily enough. As for the bent case, if you used enough force to dent a case with your Uplula, you would have done the same thing with the same bullet with conventional lube in place. Conventional lubes are primarily wax based, and even the hard microwax based lubes can deform under pressure easily.

[Yeti]

Yes the existing molds work just fine, but make for a longer bullet for given weight.  These molds will likely be replaced over time with no groove, based on customer preference.  I prefer no lube groove coated where available.  Lube groove isn't a deal breaker though.

[leam]

Thanks everyone! I picked up some lube grooved bullets in a private sale, but wasn't sure if there was an issue. Going forward, I think no-groove is the future. Of course, my current skill level doesn't really see the difference.   :)

[Joe4d]

I imagine some smaller startups could be getting surplus industrial molds from older companies upgrading.
Advantages of lube groove,,, may find cheaper, and some will cut a cleaner round hole in a target. Sorta like a semiwadcutter.

Disad, you are limited to OAL,,, may not matter but it is possible, X profile needs to be Y OAL to work in your gun and that lube groove is RIGHT in the way.

[TimHawkins]

Bayou bullets sold their 180 grain  40 cal. with a lube groove and I see they now have replaced them with a bullet with no groove,

 I have shot both bullets and see no difference in accuracy and without the groove you can load longer and not worry about the groove affecting feeding,

 Tim