Blue lube

[kestak]

Greetings,

I have 2 topic questions about that blue lube on the lead bullets:
- What exactly is it usefull for, what is the advantage to have it and not have it?
- I have some bullets where part of the blue lube is gone in the cannelure. Will it have any impact? If yes, how much

Thank you

[Marlin.357]

It reduces leading. Missing chunks probably won't have any effect.

[GP100man]

kestak
first hello & i hope you enjoy the forums!!!!!!
the blue lube is probably blue angel brand ,its very hard & as you`ve stated not very sticky, esecially if applied when its not warm enuff !!!!
i use a comembers lube from castboolits.com lube he sells i use on in all my sizers!!!

the ? you have about the missing pieces, if its small ,say up to 25% no it won`t matter ,but i would suggest some lees liquid alox lube ,you need no tools to apply it & it`ll add to your satisfaction with lead projectiles, its messy & it smokes when shot but itll keep the barrel from leadin up on ya !
size of the boolit is more important than lube ,boolit should be a .001 or 2 over throat size on a revolver & .001 over barrel on a slide gun.
most store bought stuff stays with saami sizes .357 for 38spec& 357mag& .429 for 44mag & so on .
if your boolits are saami sized i`d liquid lube em then keep em under a 1,000 fps . good luck & safe loadin & shootin

GP100man##

[Sevens]

You definitely want that lube in those lube grooves. It's purpose is to allow your bullet to slide down the barrel without the lead breaking down, keeping the barrel from getting full of lead. If the barrel leads up, a few things result: First is that accuracy goes in to the toilet until the lead is removed. Second is that the lead builds up and makes it more difficult for bullets to zip down the barrel, and pressure can shoot up to dangerous levels. Lastly, if you shoot jacketed rounds down after a lot of lead or a leaded up bore, it can damn near make that lead a part of your bore.

Then the real hassle comes from trying to remove that lead. It's a lot of very hard work or a combo of hard work and nasty chemicals.

Whether or not your bullets which are missing the lube will lead your barrel can't easily be determined. If it's .45 acp moving slowly there's much less chance. If it's .44 mag moving at 1400 fps, you are asking for big trouble. Everywhere in between is a case-by-case basis.

If you are really cheap or frugal (I am!), you won't mind one or two bullets out of 50 that are missing lube in a slower moving load. If you are smarter and more cautious than you are cheap (am I also that on many occasions) then you simply toss those bullets in to the scrap lead pile and graba handful of bullets that are lubed properly.

Lube isn't always blue. Comes in other colors, too. I've seen a dark red, a dirty yellow, a green, etc. But the short answer is YES, you want and need that lube in there!

[GP100man]

shoot em & dont worry about the barrel leading a little but a build up can spike pressures up like Sevens said &+1 on not deleading with a jacketed bullet it just makes it that much harder !!
if you shoot lead ,when developing loads it a good idea to look down the barrel every few shots to see whats happening .
when you lead the barrel & it will happen no sweat!!
take an old brush wrap it a couple of layers of copper choreboy pot scrubbers ,wet the barrel & brush with your favorite cleaner & make a few passes lead will be gone ,i promise!! oh yeah don`t forget to delead the cyl on revolvers.

GP100man##