Lube-ing: do you? How?

[PolarFBear]

I have cast several hundred Lee tumble lube pistol bullets. I use Lee Alox for lube. But I have several non-tumble molds that I would like to use. What does the board use for lubrication? I find very little in my manuals, magazines or other sources. I have explored a little research on powder coating that seems interesting but have yet to try it. Suggestions?

[dahermit]

Some of us die-hard old timers grew up lubing our cast bullets with NRA 50-50 formula Alox beeswax lube and never changed. For those types of lubes, one needs lubing equipment... Lyman or RCBS lube sizer, dies and hollow lube sticks. If one wishes to use a hard lube instead of soft, one will also need a lube/sizer heater. In short, to apply those lubes one needs to spend money on equipment. There are however, cheaper hand tools like Lee push-through dies that are cheaper but they do not apply lube. If I was young and starting all over again, I would be tempted to investigate powder coating...just because it makes such pretty bullets. But, it seems a toaster oven and a Lee push-through die is still required for that. Also, be advised that non-tumble lube bullets (the ones with grease grooves meant for lube/sizers) may still be tumble lubed.

[jwrowland77]

I just started casting. Using the 120gr TC regular non-tumble lube mold. I used the liquid Alox and have had excellent results in both my 9mm and .380.

I recently started coating them and have like results. Plus it was a lot cheaper than a Lyman or RCBS lube/size machine.

[Hunter Customs]

I'm new to bullet casting so I do not have a vast knowledge of the art.

When I decided to start casting bullets I contacted a friend of mine that had been casting for a very long time to hear what his thoughts was on the equipment I should purchase.

He shows up at my place the next morning with all types of casting equipment and gives it all to me.

There was a Lyman Lube/Sizer with heater plate attached and some Orange Magic bullet lube in the equipment.

So yes, I lube and size my bullets with the Lyman Lube/Sizer and I'm very pleased with the results.

[riverratt]

You don't have to have a lubesizer to apply lube, You can pan lube. I make my own lube out of 60%paraffin wax and 40% Vaseline with a tablespoon of STP oil treatment. You simply set the bullets base down in a shallow pan. You then pore the melted lube in the pan filling the grease groves and place in your freezer for a bit. I use a pencil and push the bullets out by there base.

You can also tumble lube bullets with the standard grease groves on them.

[bluetopper]

^^^^That lubing process should work, but how do you size them?

[snuffy]

As others have said, non-tumble lube boolits can be lubed using lee's liquid allox,(LLA), but MAY have to be sized. The actual diameter they will drop from the mold at can be too big to seat in a case, and still chamber freely. This has to do with how big the mold cavity is and also which alloy you're using.

Then you have to size. Back when I still used an oil based lube on boolits, I bought the lee sizers, which are simple push through sizers that screw into a reloading press like a reloading die. They work!!! The round container they come in serves as a receptacle for the sized boolits allowing them to accumulate after they are pushed through the die.

Powder coating is another whole 'nuther subject. There's a couple of different coatings, and several methods of applying the coating. Some just call it paint so the listener sort-of understands. Hi-tech has a lot of users, but the chemicals are harsh and you usually need two coats .

Powder coatings come in many colors, and can even be mixed to give spectacular effects. It usually results in a mottled combination of the 2 colors, not a true mix like liquid paint. Application has 2 different processes. 1, Tumbling the boolits in a plastic bowl generates static electricity to make the powdered paint stick to the boolits . Then they are baked in an oven to make the powder turn into a liquid, coating the boolits.

2, A spray gun that comes as an electrostatic unit. It requires a compressor or other source of pressurized air. There are units available that do NOT require a compressor, but results are poor. ES,(electrostatic spray), results in a much more uniform coating and a smooth shiny surface. Powder coating,(PC), results in a bigger boolit, IE outside diameter is bigger. This means 2 things. 1. If the boolit was already at the desired size/diameter, then the additional 2-3 thousandths will have to be sized back down. 2. However if the boolit was undersized, you will add diameter so It won't have to be sized.

1. The powder coating is quite hard. 2. It is also very slippery, IE it slides easily down the barrel. 3. It also has no oil in it, so much less smoke. 4. Clean-up of the barrel is quick and easy as there's no leading. 5. It's tough stuff and sticks to the boolit like glue. One test is called a smash test, literately pounding with a hammer on a steel plate to see the powder coat still sticking to the boolit. 6. recovered boolits show the PC still sticking and the rifling simply pressed/engraved into the boolit.





I have quit lubing ALL my boolits with grease. I may even sell my 2 Lyman 450 sizers and all the lube I have for them. Powder coating is the future of lead boolit casting

My equipment consists of the Harbor Freight,(HF), ES PC gun, An inexpensiveHF vibrator compressor,(3 gallon), and a goodwill toaster oven that cost me 10 bucks. Paint I first tried was the HF red, it works fine but is of a coarse consistency. I since went with a company called powder-by-the-pound. A pound of powder coat from them is about 15-20 bucks. A # will coat many thousands of boolits.

Take a long look over at cast boolits . com here;
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/foru...d-Alternatives It's all there IF you really want to know that is-------------.

[oley55]

everything you ever wanted to know about bullet lubes may be found here: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/foru...Boolit-Lube-!&

for tumble lubing I am pretty happy with Ben's Liquid Lube. I mix of LEE ALOX bullet lube and Johnson's Liquid floor wax. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-L-Liquid-Lube

[mikld]

Go ahead and tumble lube the standard lube groove bullets just like you lubed your micro-groove bullets. I have cast my own bullets for 17 years and don't own a lubersizer, I just got by without one for so long I don't need one now (I didn't like the fact that I had to buy a die and nose punch for each bullet I cast/sized, $$$). I have pan lubed and dip lubed, and a bit of tumble lubing for several years now. I use Lee push through sizers and they have worked great for 9 diameters I shoot.

[Metal god]

This may be off topic but I've been wondering for a while now . I've been loading for a while now and just started loading 9mm & 45acp . I've considered cast lead bullets but have been reluctant because of the lubing that's needed .

OK, why & when do you lube lead bullets ? What happens if you don't ?

[Shootest]

When you buy cast bullets they are already lubed and you don’t have to do anything except load them. If you cast your own bullets you will need some sort of lube be it wax or powder coat or alox or something else. Without lube on the bullet the inside of the barrel will become caked with lead.

[Metal god]

Shootest:

Thanks , That's what I thought or at least why they are lubed . I kinda remember reading something about that in the ABC's of reloading but It"s been awhile since I read that . It was news to me that If I buy lead bullets from Midway or the like . They should already be lubed , good to know . Yea I started reading this thread and ya'll are talking tumbling , powder coating , even toaster ovens and I thought holy cow I'm clueless about cast bullets .

Thanks again , now it doesn't sound so scary

[Mike / Tx]

As mentioned you can tumble lube any profile cast bullet, the sizing can be done with one of the Lee push through sizers. The usual technique is to tumble lube, then size and lube again. Just makes it easier to push them through the sizing die.

The size is the importent thing here, it should be around .001-.002 over bore diameter. This gives you a good seal, and helps to avoid gas cutting. For nominal calibers, I usually size .358", .410", .430" and .452" for mine. All of those can be had in the Lee sizing kits.

On the lube, it takes suprisingly little to do a lot of bullets. There are several good videos on youtube which show the details. Me personally, I use a seal a meal bag, drop in 50 - 100 bullets, heat them up with a blow drier and then drizzle in about 10-20 drops depending on the bullet sizes and then just roll them around till they are all coated. Then just pour them out on some wax paper and let them dry. I don't worry about them laying on their sides as there will be plenty enough lube still on them to work just fine.

I use this lube on several different loads ranging from 38 SPL up through my 454 full tilt loads and have no issues other than a little smoke. I usually get a bit carried away with the lube. If you can see it on the bullets your probably using too much is what I am told. I can usually see it pretty well.

[stubbicatt]

I have had and tried several different lubes/boolits. I never really had good luck with the tumble lube designs, and abandoned that approach. I've used different brands of lube sizers, and have settled on an old Star lube sizer which I have found to be superior to the others I have used.

It isn't cheap, to be sure. But I found a really old pre Magma Star lube sizer on one of the online auction sites for $200 and it has been performing yeoman's service since.

I make my own bp type lube consisting of about 55% beeswax and 45% crisco, by weight, with a little Murphy's Oil Soap and olive oil. I have never experienced leading, and cleanup is really easy, just a couple wet patches and dry patch until clean. --Much easier than jacketed bullets as I don't have to deal with metal fouling issues.

[snuffy]

Lets get down to the basics; What does lube do? Whether it's an oil or wax from petroleum, or beeswax,(which is plant based wax), it forms a barrier/film between the boolit and the steel barrel. A properly sized boolit fills the bore and lands completely, then the lube creates a film that allows the boolit to slide easily.

The lube also does something else that is of more importance, it creates a hydraulic seal between the boolit and barrel. This keeps the powder gases behind the boolit, preventing the gasses from bypassing the boolit which would "gas-cut" it. Gas cutting deposits lead on the barrel steel IE, leading. If a boolit is not sized big enough, .001-.002 OVER bore size, then any and all lube will make no difference, you will still have leading.

Slugging your barrel/bore will tell you exactly what the internal dimensions are. Driving a soft lead slug down the bore is how that's done. Even count rifling is easy, 2, 4, and 6 lands are simply measured with a micrometer. 3, and 5 have to have a special "V" anvil mic or a hole gauge to measure.

Or you could just depend on the manufacture of the gun to have made the barrel to the nominal dimension. IE, a 9mm barrel is supposed to be .355. Then you should size to at least .357 to be .002 above bore diameter. Worn tooling used too long may result in oversize bores.

[totaldla]

I use LLA exclusively for handgun bullets. I don't bother with anything else. I do like the 45/45/10 recipe the best, but straight Alox works fine.

[mikld]

If one were to do some research, they would find a lot of easy ways to lube cast lead bullets. There are more ways to lube other than a lubersizer, pan lubing, or tumble lubing. I have used spray graphite on a bunch of .38 Special wadcutters successfully (also Caterpillar spray on Dry Boom lube). Also used Amsoil (sp?) which is a metal protectant coating kinda like undercoating that also works. I have finger lubed with Chapstick a few bullets and that's slow and messy but it worked. I have dip lubed in 45-45-10 and some regular wax based lubes and "splash lubed" some as an experiment (placed bullets on a coarse wire screen, base down and lowered the bullets/screen down into lube, either a liquid like 45-45-10 or melted wax lube).

And of coarse there's powder coating or Hi-Tec coating which is easy to get started doing and relatively inexpensive...

[Gster]

I cast tl bullets and also bullets with the traditional lube grooves. I tumble lube them all twice with a 60/40 mixture of Alox and Johnsons paste wax liquid. I have no leading and I load them as dropped from the mold without sizing.

[FrankenMauser]

I have some Hi-Tek coating on hand, that I really need to try on some handgun bullets before it expires. I'ld like to try powder coating, but there's no point in getting set up for it, until I'm cranking out enough bullets to justify the time and expense.


Otherwise, I have primarily stuck with low volume casting for revolvers and rifles. - Typically specialty bullets, custom designs, or big, heavy mutha's that just aren't commonly available commercially.
As such, I pan lube or "dip lube" (heat the lube, dip the bullet, let cool, and scrape the excess off as in pan lubing).

I have used primarily Carnuba Red (White Label Lubes) and cheese wax. I know cheese wax sounds strange, but it is actually typically a combination of paraffin and waxes resulting in a similar make up to medium to high heat bullet lubes (my blend is roughly equal to White Label's BAC lube). Since I eat a lot of waxed cheeses... it's free bullet lube.

[A pause for the COZ]

Man I tell ya, I lube just about every way you can.

I tumble lube:



I powder coat:



I use a lube sizer:



Or I may even pan lube:



It all depends on what my Gun likes, What I like and how ambitious I feel compared to the bullets I need.