Pan lubing

Plaz · May 18, 2010, 06:05 AM

Since there are different shaped bullets with different numbers of grooves and size of grooves is there any particular bullet that is best for pan lubing?

Would the LEE microgroove bullet used for Alox tumbling be good to use in Pan lubing?

Crosshair · May 18, 2010, 07:23 AM

I thought about pan lubing, but found that tumble lubing worked just as well at a fraction of the time and effort required for pan-lubing.

I use a mix of mostly Johnson's paste wax, a bit of Vaseline, and a touch of Alox.Tumble lube, then dump it on a pan outside and let it sit for a few days. I shuffle them around a bit to get them dry enough. Make sure it doesn't rain on them.

The Paste wax and alox are lube and the Vasaline is a lube/keeps the lube soft so when you put it through a Lee sizer the lube on the outside gets forced nicely into the grooves. I found that the non-soup can molds work best with this lube.

Sorry about going OT but I figured I'd encourage you to give tumble lubing a shot.

Jumping Frog · May 18, 2010, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plaz

Would the LEE microgroove bullet used for Alox tumbling be good to use in Pan lubing?

I've got 4 different TL molds and have fired thousands and thousands of rounds cast with them.

That said, I see no advantage to the microgroove molds. If I had it to do over again, I would have bought regular lube-groove molds because they are more flexible.

The microgroove design works well if you are tumble lubing, but does not work well if you want to use a traditional lubisizer and traditional lubes.

The regular lube-groove design also works well if you are tumble lubing, but it gives you the additional option of using a traditional lubisizer and traditional lubes if you choose to do so sometime down the road.

BTW, I also skip the pan lubing as too much work, and simply size and lube using the Lee sizing die and Lee Liquid Alox.

Lavid2002 · May 18, 2010, 10:02 AM

I am very new to casting, I bought this mold
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct...tnumber=313971

Ans have been casting up a storm these last few days. I made about 80 lb worth of .45 boolits!

I tried to pan lube, really....I tried it about 9 or 10 times. Different methods including
*Heating the boolits with a hairdryer and pouring the was around them
*Putting the boolits and wax in the oven together
*Doing the above then refrigerating the block
*Doing the above then freezing the block
*Pushing them out nose to tail
*Tail to nose
etc....etc.....
However, I did get about a 100 well lubed boolits from the process. My hands got VERY sticky from the whole thing, it was time consuming, and ultimately, I had a high failure rate.

The lube was not staying in the groves of the boolit as I pushed it out...

Here are the good ones out of like 10 trays of boolits

I could have potentially fixed the problem by (After doing some more research)
*Buying a mold with deeper lube grooves
*Using a different lube
*Using a cutter to cut the boolits out of the lube

Lesson learned:Pan lubing is a real PITA!

Since I am only using a .45 my loads will be lowe pressure-low velocity. I dont need any special lube certainly is Lee liquid Alox works for faster loads it will work for these loads.

Dump the boolits in a bucket
Squirt in some alox
Swish around
Dump on to a pan
Resize the boolits
Re lube
Shoot....very, very simple : D

totaldla · May 18, 2010, 11:14 AM

I've never "pan" lubed, but I have dipped bullets in lube - but they were for my 45-70 and there was plenty of bullet to hold on to. I found that a 50/50 mix of beeswax and parafin with a few shavings of Ivory bar soap to be the best. I would make it in an old tuna can. Heat it up, dip some bullets, set them on their base to cool.

But that was then.

Recently I tried tumbling regular bullets with Lee Alox and now I'm sorry I didn't discover this years earlier! Much easier and the lube works great. I'm shooting 240gr Oregon Trail, resized to .430" and lubed with Alox, @1250fps with zero leading.

briandg · May 18, 2010, 11:20 AM

I bought a lubrisizer. Problem solved. Moderate expense. No more aggravation.

relieving aggravation, to me, is a BIG deal.

IllinoisCoyoteHunter · May 18, 2010, 11:30 AM

+1 on what Jumping Frog said.
I would buy conventional-lube-groove molds...as they can be tumble lubed as well. Plus, if you find that the tumble lubing is not your thing, then you can still use that mold to make boolits to go thru a lubrisizer.

Quote:

I bought a lubrisizer. Problem solved. Moderate expense. No more aggravation.

relieving aggravation, to me, is a BIG deal.

I couldn't agree more. BUT, if you are on a tight budget, the Lee TL system is definately the way to go. If you have the money to spend, well, get a Star lubrisizer from Magma engineering and be prepared to never look back...

Edward429451 · May 18, 2010, 11:44 AM

I was bored enough to keep at the pan lubing long enough to streamline it. It's not that bad. A pc of brass and a glass pan really speeded it up fo me. The glass baking dish to melt lube in the microwave is quick, and a brass case expanded as if to seat lead bullet used as a cutter. If the case is the right size it works perfectly. No refrigeration, slow cool to room temp. They come out looking much like they just stepped out of a lubri sizer.

That said, I have two lubrisizers with heaters that see a lot more use. Like I said...I was bored.

May 18, 2010, 06:05 AM	#1
Plaz Senior Member Join Date: December 23, 2007 Posts: 131	Pan lubing Since there are different shaped bullets with different numbers of grooves and size of grooves is there any particular bullet that is best for pan lubing? Would the LEE microgroove bullet used for Alox tumbling be good to use in Pan lubing?

May 18, 2010, 07:23 AM	#2
Crosshair Senior Member Join Date: December 16, 2004 Location: Grand Forks, ND Posts: 5,333	I thought about pan lubing, but found that tumble lubing worked just as well at a fraction of the time and effort required for pan-lubing. I use a mix of mostly Johnson's paste wax, a bit of Vaseline, and a touch of Alox.Tumble lube, then dump it on a pan outside and let it sit for a few days. I shuffle them around a bit to get them dry enough. Make sure it doesn't rain on them. The Paste wax and alox are lube and the Vasaline is a lube/keeps the lube soft so when you put it through a Lee sizer the lube on the outside gets forced nicely into the grooves. I found that the non-soup can molds work best with this lube. Sorry about going OT but I figured I'd encourage you to give tumble lubing a shot. __________________ I don't carry a gun to go looking for trouble, I carry a gun in case trouble finds me.

May 18, 2010, 11:14 AM	#5
totaldla Senior Member Join Date: August 10, 2009 Location: SW Idaho Posts: 1,332	I've never "pan" lubed, but I have dipped bullets in lube - but they were for my 45-70 and there was plenty of bullet to hold on to. I found that a 50/50 mix of beeswax and parafin with a few shavings of Ivory bar soap to be the best. I would make it in an old tuna can. Heat it up, dip some bullets, set them on their base to cool. But that was then. Recently I tried tumbling regular bullets with Lee Alox and now I'm sorry I didn't discover this years earlier! Much easier and the lube works great. I'm shooting 240gr Oregon Trail, resized to .430" and lubed with Alox, @1250fps with zero leading. __________________ Lee Auto Bench Prime Castor Oil Case Lube

May 18, 2010, 10:02 AM	#4
Lavid2002 Senior Member Join Date: April 6, 2007 Posts: 2,568	I am very new to casting, I bought this mold http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct...tnumber=313971 Ans have been casting up a storm these last few days. I made about 80 lb worth of .45 boolits! I tried to pan lube, really....I tried it about 9 or 10 times. Different methods including Heating the boolits with a hairdryer and pouring the was around them Putting the boolits and wax in the oven together Doing the above then refrigerating the block Doing the above then freezing the block Pushing them out nose to tail Tail to nose etc....etc..... However, I did get about a 100 well lubed boolits from the process. My hands got VERY sticky from the whole thing, it was time consuming, and ultimately, I had a high failure rate. The lube was not staying in the groves of the boolit as I pushed it out... Here are the good ones out of like 10 trays of boolits I could have potentially fixed the problem by (After doing some more research) Buying a mold with deeper lube grooves Using a different lube *Using a cutter to cut the boolits out of the lube Lesson learned:Pan lubing is a real PITA! Since I am only using a .45 my loads will be lowe pressure-low velocity. I dont need any special lube certainly is Lee liquid Alox works for faster loads it will work for these loads. Dump the boolits in a bucket Squirt in some alox Swish around Dump on to a pan Resize the boolits Re lube Shoot....very, very simple : D

May 18, 2010, 11:20 AM	#6
briandg Senior Member Join Date: May 4, 2010 Posts: 5,468	I bought a lubrisizer. Problem solved. Moderate expense. No more aggravation. relieving aggravation, to me, is a BIG deal.

May 18, 2010, 11:44 AM	#8
Edward429451 Junior member Join Date: November 12, 2000 Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado Posts: 9,494	I was bored enough to keep at the pan lubing long enough to streamline it. It's not that bad. A pc of brass and a glass pan really speeded it up fo me. The glass baking dish to melt lube in the microwave is quick, and a brass case expanded as if to seat lead bullet used as a cutter. If the case is the right size it works perfectly. No refrigeration, slow cool to room temp. They come out looking much like they just stepped out of a lubri sizer. That said, I have two lubrisizers with heaters that see a lot more use. Like I said...I was bored.