My first little babies :D

Super Sneaky Steve · March 7, 2012, 07:51 PM

GP100man · March 7, 2012, 08:51 PM

Purty good run dar tripleS

45 colt ???

Rangefinder · March 7, 2012, 10:29 PM

First pic looks like a 105mm... Emplacement or tow-behind?

Looking good! Now you have to back this up with a range report.

hornetguy · March 8, 2012, 12:47 AM

Those bullets look pretty darn good...
I can see the rough base, caused by the strange Lee mold.
I believe if I had received a brand new mold that had that kind of damage, I'd have sent it back. The base of the bullet is pretty critical for good accuracy.
However, you never know how a bullet will work, until you fling a few downrange.
If you don't want to send it back, you might see if you could find someone with access to a lathe and a 4 jaw chuck to see if he could dress the roughness out of each cavity. I'm assuming this mold was supposed to be a bevel base type? If that's the case, it should be fairly easy to turn it into a plain flat base bullet. I had a single cavity Lee mold for the .375 Winchester that I turned the bevel out of the base. It made a really nice plain based bullet.

Super Sneaky Steve · March 8, 2012, 09:46 PM

Yes it's .45 Colt and yes my Lee molds have some crappy burs near the bottom. I'm hoping they will straiten out after sizing.

My first attempt at pan lubing was total fail. I used two parts beeswax and one part vasiline. I think I need to make it more of a 50/50 mix to get it to stick.

It was too hard and didn't stick in the little lube rings.

I ended up tumbling this first batch out of frustration but I'll try pan lubing again soon.

Range report to come!

hornetguy · March 9, 2012, 12:32 AM

I understand your wanting to "do it all".. but I've never had the urge to make my own lube. I just buy the sticks of Alox, either Lee's or Javelina. It melts down real easy over LOW heat, and solidifies pretty quickly.
If you are set on making your own lube, there are LOTS of recipes out there, but probably the best (by consensus) is called Felix Lube. Felix spent a long time working out the correct ingredients, and the technique for blending it.
S'posed to be really good stuff...

hornetguy · March 9, 2012, 12:39 AM

I'm feeling generous... here's a link to the webpage that has the recipe for Felix Lube.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=543

Castboolits is probably the best forum for those interested in bullet casting. There are some seriously genius level folks over there, and they are willing to help, if you're willing to listen and learn.

Use it as an extra resource, but there are quite a few expert level folks on THIS forum as well...
Two of my favorite forums..

FrankenMauser · March 9, 2012, 01:28 AM

Skip the other brands and the Alox. Alox was never intended to be a lubricant. It was designed as a corrosion prevention coating (a sealant). It just happens to have qualities that make it acceptable (not suitable, just acceptable) as a bullet protectant. (I won't call it a lubricant, because it isn't.)

Try some White Label Lubes. http://www.lsstuff.com/lube/
You may find that you can buy White Label sticks/tubes for less than you can mix up your own lube.

(You're looking at $1.65 per stick/tube, rather than the $5-7 charged for the 'name brand' sticks/tubes.)

Last week, I spent a little over $20, and got enough White Label Lube for about 7,500 .44 Mag bullets (you can nearly triple that for .30 and .32 caliber bullets). At that price, I have absolutely no plans to start mixing my own.

salvadore · March 9, 2012, 07:46 AM

Triple S, DAR lube is 50/50 vaseline/parafin with just a smidge of STP. I skip the STP but throw in a crayon to make it purty. I'm told this is what Steve Garbe sells as SPG Lube. I've pan lube with it and it works fine for me, and you don't have to go looking for any eye of newt type ingrediants. If its too tacky for your use, drop a little of that beeswax in to tighten it up

Edward429451 · March 10, 2012, 10:02 AM

I believe your trouble with pan lubing and not sticking would be due to trying to lube cold boolits. I experienced this also and found that if I warmed up the boolits then the lube stuck real good.

The easiest way I found to do it was to pan lube over a candle to get everything the same temp, and then let them cool there in place. Sticks good then.

TXGunNut · March 10, 2012, 12:09 PM

Castboolits is probably the best forum for those interested in bullet casting. There are some seriously genius level folks over there, and they are willing to help, if you're willing to listen and learn.

Use it as an extra resource, but there are quite a few expert level folks on THIS forum as well...
Two of my favorite forums.. hornetguy

Couldn't agree more, awesome resource in the stickies and members there. There's a dozen or better folks over there w/ PhD's in Boolitology. First few weeks over there I read stickies for a few hours most nights. Wide variety of backgrounds, difficult to imagine a serious CB question that couldn't get an accurate answer there.
I like it around here, too. I still dabble with J-bullets and hanging out in the reloading area.

floydster · April 11, 2012, 04:08 PM

Well, if Alox isn't a lube, it sure works for me in my 45 Colt and 44Mag Blackhawks.
I lube my bullets with Alox, run them thru my Lee push thru sizer, put two more light coats of Alox on them and ready to go, no leading what so ever.

My Star and Lyman sizers are on the shelf, all my cast bullets are from Lee molds.

March 7, 2012, 07:51 PM	#1
Super Sneaky Steve Senior Member Join Date: August 9, 2011 Posts: 1,250	My first little babies :D

March 7, 2012, 08:51 PM	#2
GP100man Senior Member Join Date: August 1, 2007 Location: Tabor City , NC. Posts: 1,969	Purty good run dar tripleS 45 colt ??? __________________ GP100man

March 7, 2012, 10:29 PM	#3
Rangefinder Senior Member Join Date: August 4, 2005 Posts: 2,017	First pic looks like a 105mm... Emplacement or tow-behind? Looking good! Now you have to back this up with a range report. __________________ "Why is is called Common Sense when it seems so few actually possess it?" Guns only have two enemies: Rust and Politicians.

March 8, 2012, 12:47 AM	#4
hornetguy Senior Member Join Date: January 14, 2011 Location: on the north side of DFW Posts: 970	Those bullets look pretty darn good... I can see the rough base, caused by the strange Lee mold. I believe if I had received a brand new mold that had that kind of damage, I'd have sent it back. The base of the bullet is pretty critical for good accuracy. However, you never know how a bullet will work, until you fling a few downrange. If you don't want to send it back, you might see if you could find someone with access to a lathe and a 4 jaw chuck to see if he could dress the roughness out of each cavity. I'm assuming this mold was supposed to be a bevel base type? If that's the case, it should be fairly easy to turn it into a plain flat base bullet. I had a single cavity Lee mold for the .375 Winchester that I turned the bevel out of the base. It made a really nice plain based bullet. __________________ I always felt that if I got to the point where I thought it was time to bury my firearms, it was actually time to pick them up..

March 9, 2012, 12:32 AM	#6
hornetguy Senior Member Join Date: January 14, 2011 Location: on the north side of DFW Posts: 970	I understand your wanting to "do it all".. but I've never had the urge to make my own lube. I just buy the sticks of Alox, either Lee's or Javelina. It melts down real easy over LOW heat, and solidifies pretty quickly. If you are set on making your own lube, there are LOTS of recipes out there, but probably the best (by consensus) is called Felix Lube. Felix spent a long time working out the correct ingredients, and the technique for blending it. S'posed to be really good stuff... __________________ I always felt that if I got to the point where I thought it was time to bury my firearms, it was actually time to pick them up..

March 8, 2012, 09:46 PM	#5
Super Sneaky Steve Senior Member Join Date: August 9, 2011 Posts: 1,250	Yes it's .45 Colt and yes my Lee molds have some crappy burs near the bottom. I'm hoping they will straiten out after sizing. My first attempt at pan lubing was total fail. I used two parts beeswax and one part vasiline. I think I need to make it more of a 50/50 mix to get it to stick. It was too hard and didn't stick in the little lube rings. I ended up tumbling this first batch out of frustration but I'll try pan lubing again soon. Range report to come!

March 9, 2012, 12:39 AM	#7
hornetguy Senior Member Join Date: January 14, 2011 Location: on the north side of DFW Posts: 970	I'm feeling generous... here's a link to the webpage that has the recipe for Felix Lube. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=543 Castboolits is probably the best forum for those interested in bullet casting. There are some seriously genius level folks over there, and they are willing to help, if you're willing to listen and learn. Use it as an extra resource, but there are quite a few expert level folks on THIS forum as well... Two of my favorite forums.. __________________ I always felt that if I got to the point where I thought it was time to bury my firearms, it was actually time to pick them up..

March 9, 2012, 01:28 AM	#8
FrankenMauser Senior Member Join Date: August 25, 2008 Location: In the valley above the plain Posts: 13,426	Skip the other brands and the Alox. Alox was never intended to be a lubricant. It was designed as a corrosion prevention coating (a sealant). It just happens to have qualities that make it acceptable (not suitable, just acceptable) as a bullet protectant. (I won't call it a lubricant, because it isn't.) Try some White Label Lubes. http://www.lsstuff.com/lube/ You may find that you can buy White Label sticks/tubes for less than you can mix up your own lube. (You're looking at $1.65 per stick/tube, rather than the $5-7 charged for the 'name brand' sticks/tubes.) Last week, I spent a little over $20, and got enough White Label Lube for about 7,500 .44 Mag bullets (you can nearly triple that for .30 and .32 caliber bullets). At that price, I have absolutely no plans to start mixing my own. __________________ Don't even try it. It's even worse than the internet would lead you to believe. Last edited by FrankenMauser; March 9, 2012 at 01:38 AM.

March 9, 2012, 07:46 AM	#9
salvadore Junior member Join Date: January 1, 2007 Location: Idaho Posts: 2,282	Triple S, DAR lube is 50/50 vaseline/parafin with just a smidge of STP. I skip the STP but throw in a crayon to make it purty. I'm told this is what Steve Garbe sells as SPG Lube. I've pan lube with it and it works fine for me, and you don't have to go looking for any eye of newt type ingrediants. If its too tacky for your use, drop a little of that beeswax in to tighten it up

March 10, 2012, 10:02 AM	#10
Edward429451 Junior member Join Date: November 12, 2000 Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado Posts: 9,494	I believe your trouble with pan lubing and not sticking would be due to trying to lube cold boolits. I experienced this also and found that if I warmed up the boolits then the lube stuck real good. The easiest way I found to do it was to pan lube over a candle to get everything the same temp, and then let them cool there in place. Sticks good then.

March 10, 2012, 12:09 PM	#11
TXGunNut Senior Member Join Date: January 16, 2010 Location: If you have to ask... Posts: 2,860	Castboolits is probably the best forum for those interested in bullet casting. There are some seriously genius level folks over there, and they are willing to help, if you're willing to listen and learn. Use it as an extra resource, but there are quite a few expert level folks on THIS forum as well... Two of my favorite forums.. hornetguy Couldn't agree more, awesome resource in the stickies and members there. There's a dozen or better folks over there w/ PhD's in Boolitology. First few weeks over there I read stickies for a few hours most nights. Wide variety of backgrounds, difficult to imagine a serious CB question that couldn't get an accurate answer there. I like it around here, too. I still dabble with J-bullets and hanging out in the reloading area. __________________ Life Member NRA, TSRA Smokeless powder is a passing fad! -Steve Garbe I hate rude behavior in a man. I won't tolerate it. -Woodrow F. Call Lonesome Dove My favorite recipes start out with a handful of used wheelweights.

April 11, 2012, 04:08 PM	#12
floydster Senior Member Join Date: May 26, 2008 Posts: 472	Well, if Alox isn't a lube, it sure works for me in my 45 Colt and 44Mag Blackhawks. I lube my bullets with Alox, run them thru my Lee push thru sizer, put two more light coats of Alox on them and ready to go, no leading what so ever. My Star and Lyman sizers are on the shelf, all my cast bullets are from Lee molds.