How is it to lube bullets in a pan instead of a machine?

mikenbarb · September 6, 2008, 10:24 PM

I have been reading about it and wondering if lubricating bullets in a pan is any good? What are the positives and negatives of doing bullets this way and is there a best lube to use for the process. Im thinking of giving it a try but unsure of what to use and how well it works. Im using a Lyman 45 now with good results but a pan seems easier for small runs with just a few bullets.

freakshow10mm · September 6, 2008, 11:21 PM

It's very slow. I size on a Star sizer and can't imagine pan lubing.

darkgael · September 7, 2008, 05:49 AM

Yes, very slow. If you want to go that route, Lee liquid alox is a lot faster and it works.
Pete

mikenbarb · September 7, 2008, 10:29 AM

Thats what I thought and im currently using a Lyman 45 sizer and just picked up a Lyman 450 and gotta see how the new style works versus the old style. Does anyone know what the advantage is with the #450 over the older #45 sizer? I guess I will just leave them both set up and designate one for handgun and one for rifle so I dont have to keep changing things out on them getting all sticky

.

Scott · September 15, 2008, 07:28 PM

If you're lubing tapered bullets, pan lubing is the only way to go, otherwise, any straight walled cast bullet goes thru a lubri-sizer.

454PB · September 15, 2008, 11:34 PM

As long as you use the newer sizing dies, the 45 is basically the same machine as the 450 and the 4500. The operating linkage has changed on all three models, but the basic operation is the same. Stay away from the old, non-tapered sizing dies that were used with the 45, they shave lead off the bullet base.

Ohio Rusty · September 17, 2008, 04:36 PM

I don't own a sizer/luber for bullets. So I have to pan lube. I use an aluminum pie plate (Actually several stacked together because one is too flimsy) to lube in. I warm my lubing pan just enough to melt the lube over a coleman stove. The bullets are dumped in, mixed around well so they are all coated. They are then picked out one by one (using foreceps) and set base down on wax paper so they don't stick when dry. I let them harden overnight. The next day I can push off any extra 'lube ring' that has accumulated along the bottom of the bullet. I use a 50/50 mix of Johnsons paste wax and beeswax. Both are easily available and cheap to purchase. I don't shoot millions ofd bullets at one session, so high speed lubing and high quantity aren't factors.
This lube has shown no leading problems so far, produces very little smoke when shooting because it is a low petrolium mix, and leaves the barrel nice and shiney inside !! Some of these commercial lubes produce enough smoke that it is annoying and smells bad. JPW and B'swax works well enough for me ...
Ohio Rusty ><>

kraigwy · September 19, 2008, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Yes, very slow. If you want to go that route, Lee liquid alox is a lot faster and it works.
Pete

I side with Pete on this one. I use the lee liquid and it works great. No mess no fuss. Not all cast bullets need to be sized. In fact many are more accurate if they arent run though a sizer.

The lee stuff works either way, but may require bullets to be re-waxed after sizing.

The lee also is some of the best I've found to cut down on leading.

**Unclenick** · September 19, 2008, 11:42 AM

Lee used to sell cookie cutter pan lube kits before they came out with their Lee Liquid Alox. I probably still have one or two somewhere. They consisted of a small tin the size of an air pellet can. You melted the lube and set the bullets in base down. The lube only had to come up to the upper lube grooves of the bullets. It was then allowed to cool and harden. A small cutter that resembled one of those tubular aluminum cigar cutters was slipped over each bullet to cut it out of the lube. This is how the lube grooves came out filled like they do from your Lymans.

It is slow, mainly because of the heating and cooling time. It always leaves a ring of lube around the bottom of any bevel base bullet. You need a separate cookie cutter tube for each bullet diameter. Given the time and effort involved, you are way better off with the Lee Liquid Alox. Put it and the bullets in one of those small plastic paint brush buckets that Lowe's sells and roll them around. Set them on wax paper to dry a day. Lube grooves, it seems, don't really need to be filled.

BTW, if you don't want to shoot the bullets as-cast and get one of the Lee sizer dies, they are quick and easy to set up on a single stage press. They are one of the many reasons I still keep a little Lee Challenger press set up despite owning two Dillon presses, an F/B Co-ax press, and a Lee Classic Cast press.

Also, the Lee Liquid Alox is thinned with mineral spirits. You can thin it to put a very light coat on for sizing, then add a second coat without dissolving much of the first coat if you are prompt about it. I usually let it dry until it remains just a bit tacky, then use a salt shaker full of motor mica to dust them, then roll them in the bucket a little more. That gives you a lube coating that doesn't stick to your fingers and bullets that don't stick to each other so badly in storage.

mikenbarb · September 19, 2008, 01:25 PM

Great idea, Thanks!

zippy13 · September 19, 2008, 02:07 PM

I use a Lyman with a heater. Many moons ago, I tried pan lubing with a crud cutter* and it was slow and messy. Then I tried Lee liquid in a zip lock bag, it was a little better, but still slow and messy. Now, everything gets the hot wax treatment in the sizer, except the shoot as cast percussion revolver bullets. They get lubed at loading time.
*bullets neatly standing, lube heated and let cool to solidify, the crud cutter stacks the lubed bullets in its tube leaving neat holes for the next batch to be positioned and heated.

Crosshair · September 21, 2008, 03:32 PM

Tumble lubing works just as good as pan lubing and is much faster. Put the boolits into a container, add lube, tumble, pour out, and stand straight up and let dry.

Hawg · September 21, 2008, 03:47 PM

I pan lube. I shoot a lot of bp so I use the same homemade lube for smokeless that I do for bp. Set the bullets base down in a pan over heat. Add lube till it covers the grooves. Take it off the heat and let it harden. You can remove the cake from the pan and punch them out or pull them out from the top while still in the pan. No cutters involved.

crowbeaner · September 21, 2008, 09:49 PM

The only thing I pan lube are shotgun foster slugs. I put them in an old cake pan and pour the melted beeswax around them. Let sit overnight and break them out the next day. Messy, smelly, effective.

jsflagstad · September 23, 2008, 07:46 AM

I use the Lee Alox on Lee tumble lube bullets. I all Alox to and old peanut butter container and cut it down with some mineral spirits to a consistency of heavy cream, add the bullets and roll them around for a minute or so. Pour them through a small collander and set them upright on wax paper to dry. Works well.

JSF

September 6, 2008, 10:24 PM	#1
mikenbarb Senior Member Join Date: October 10, 2007 Location: N.J. Posts: 1,111	How is it to lube bullets in a pan instead of a machine? I have been reading about it and wondering if lubricating bullets in a pan is any good? What are the positives and negatives of doing bullets this way and is there a best lube to use for the process. Im thinking of giving it a try but unsure of what to use and how well it works. Im using a Lyman 45 now with good results but a pan seems easier for small runs with just a few bullets. __________________ Mike B. Gun control= Being able to hit your target. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pifinnercircle

September 7, 2008, 05:49 AM	#3
darkgael Senior Member Join Date: February 9, 2006 Location: Homes in Brooklyn, NY and in Pennsylvania. Posts: 5,473	pan Yes, very slow. If you want to go that route, Lee liquid alox is a lot faster and it works. Pete

September 15, 2008, 07:28 PM	#5
Scott Member Join Date: March 24, 1999 Location: SE Mao-ssachusetts Posts: 38	If you're lubing tapered bullets, pan lubing is the only way to go, otherwise, any straight walled cast bullet goes thru a lubri-sizer. __________________ "Truth, by manner of Force, may be crushed to the earth, but crushed or not, Truth is still Truth.

September 19, 2008, 11:42 AM	#9
Unclenick Staff Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 21,063	Lee used to sell cookie cutter pan lube kits before they came out with their Lee Liquid Alox. I probably still have one or two somewhere. They consisted of a small tin the size of an air pellet can. You melted the lube and set the bullets in base down. The lube only had to come up to the upper lube grooves of the bullets. It was then allowed to cool and harden. A small cutter that resembled one of those tubular aluminum cigar cutters was slipped over each bullet to cut it out of the lube. This is how the lube grooves came out filled like they do from your Lymans. It is slow, mainly because of the heating and cooling time. It always leaves a ring of lube around the bottom of any bevel base bullet. You need a separate cookie cutter tube for each bullet diameter. Given the time and effort involved, you are way better off with the Lee Liquid Alox. Put it and the bullets in one of those small plastic paint brush buckets that Lowe's sells and roll them around. Set them on wax paper to dry a day. Lube grooves, it seems, don't really need to be filled. BTW, if you don't want to shoot the bullets as-cast and get one of the Lee sizer dies, they are quick and easy to set up on a single stage press. They are one of the many reasons I still keep a little Lee Challenger press set up despite owning two Dillon presses, an F/B Co-ax press, and a Lee Classic Cast press. Also, the Lee Liquid Alox is thinned with mineral spirits. You can thin it to put a very light coat on for sizing, then add a second coat without dissolving much of the first coat if you are prompt about it. I usually let it dry until it remains just a bit tacky, then use a salt shaker full of motor mica to dust them, then roll them in the bucket a little more. That gives you a lube coating that doesn't stick to your fingers and bullets that don't stick to each other so badly in storage. __________________ Gunsite Orange Hat Family Member CMP Certified GSM Master Instructor NRA Certified Rifle Instructor NRA Benefactor Member and Golden Eagle

September 19, 2008, 01:25 PM	#10
mikenbarb Senior Member Join Date: October 10, 2007 Location: N.J. Posts: 1,111	Great idea, Thanks! __________________ Mike B. Gun control= Being able to hit your target. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pifinnercircle

September 6, 2008, 11:21 PM	#2
freakshow10mm Junior member Join Date: January 23, 2008 Location: MI Posts: 1,398	It's very slow. I size on a Star sizer and can't imagine pan lubing.

September 7, 2008, 10:29 AM	#4
mikenbarb Senior Member Join Date: October 10, 2007 Location: N.J. Posts: 1,111	Thats what I thought and im currently using a Lyman 45 sizer and just picked up a Lyman 450 and gotta see how the new style works versus the old style. Does anyone know what the advantage is with the #450 over the older #45 sizer? I guess I will just leave them both set up and designate one for handgun and one for rifle so I dont have to keep changing things out on them getting all sticky. __________________ Mike B. Gun control= Being able to hit your target. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pifinnercircle

September 15, 2008, 11:34 PM	#6
454PB Senior Member Join Date: February 23, 2005 Location: Helena, Mt. Posts: 122	As long as you use the newer sizing dies, the 45 is basically the same machine as the 450 and the 4500. The operating linkage has changed on all three models, but the basic operation is the same. Stay away from the old, non-tapered sizing dies that were used with the 45, they shave lead off the bullet base.

September 17, 2008, 04:36 PM	#7
Ohio Rusty Member Join Date: December 28, 2006 Location: Southeast Ohio Posts: 94	I don't own a sizer/luber for bullets. So I have to pan lube. I use an aluminum pie plate (Actually several stacked together because one is too flimsy) to lube in. I warm my lubing pan just enough to melt the lube over a coleman stove. The bullets are dumped in, mixed around well so they are all coated. They are then picked out one by one (using foreceps) and set base down on wax paper so they don't stick when dry. I let them harden overnight. The next day I can push off any extra 'lube ring' that has accumulated along the bottom of the bullet. I use a 50/50 mix of Johnsons paste wax and beeswax. Both are easily available and cheap to purchase. I don't shoot millions ofd bullets at one session, so high speed lubing and high quantity aren't factors. This lube has shown no leading problems so far, produces very little smoke when shooting because it is a low petrolium mix, and leaves the barrel nice and shiney inside !! Some of these commercial lubes produce enough smoke that it is annoying and smells bad. JPW and B'swax works well enough for me ... Ohio Rusty ><>

September 19, 2008, 02:07 PM	#11
zippy13 Senior Member Join Date: August 23, 2008 Location: SoCal Posts: 6,442	I use a Lyman with a heater. Many moons ago, I tried pan lubing with a crud cutter* and it was slow and messy. Then I tried Lee liquid in a zip lock bag, it was a little better, but still slow and messy. Now, everything gets the hot wax treatment in the sizer, except the shoot as cast percussion revolver bullets. They get lubed at loading time. *bullets neatly standing, lube heated and let cool to solidify, the crud cutter stacks the lubed bullets in its tube leaving neat holes for the next batch to be positioned and heated.

September 21, 2008, 03:32 PM	#12
Crosshair Senior Member Join Date: December 16, 2004 Location: Grand Forks, ND Posts: 5,333	Tumble lubing works just as good as pan lubing and is much faster. Put the boolits into a container, add lube, tumble, pour out, and stand straight up and let dry. __________________ I don't carry a gun to go looking for trouble, I carry a gun in case trouble finds me.

September 21, 2008, 03:47 PM	#13
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,189	I pan lube. I shoot a lot of bp so I use the same homemade lube for smokeless that I do for bp. Set the bullets base down in a pan over heat. Add lube till it covers the grooves. Take it off the heat and let it harden. You can remove the cake from the pan and punch them out or pull them out from the top while still in the pan. No cutters involved.

September 21, 2008, 09:49 PM	#14
crowbeaner Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2007 Location: Upstate SC Posts: 1,943	The only thing I pan lube are shotgun foster slugs. I put them in an old cake pan and pour the melted beeswax around them. Let sit overnight and break them out the next day. Messy, smelly, effective. __________________ If you want your children to follow in your footsteps, be careful where you walk. Beware the man that only owns one gun; he probably knows how to use it. I just hope my ship comes in before my dock rots.

September 23, 2008, 07:46 AM	#15
jsflagstad Senior Member Join Date: January 29, 2005 Location: Up Nort Posts: 419	I use the Lee Alox on Lee tumble lube bullets. I all Alox to and old peanut butter container and cut it down with some mineral spirits to a consistency of heavy cream, add the bullets and roll them around for a minute or so. Pour them through a small collander and set them upright on wax paper to dry. Works well. JSF