Whats A Good Way To Remove Lee Liquid Alox From Your Loaded Ammo

80viking · September 4, 2012, 02:43 PM

My guns work fine with the LLA all over my ammo, but it gets messy. It gets in your magazines and if you drop any mags or ammo on the ground they are unuseable untill they are thorougly cleaned.

It has its draw backs but tumble lube bullets and LLA is the easiest way to make large quantities of handgun ammo in the least ammount of time.

I was thinking of using a very large rotary tumbler that I have with some sort of treated media. Any Ideas?

Thanks, John

Super Sneaky Steve · September 4, 2012, 04:16 PM

I"m moving away from the LLA, but what I do now is after I load the bullet I just use a paper towell to wipe off the exposed tip.

It always comes off easy and they can be put in your pocket without any mess.

jmortimer · September 4, 2012, 04:27 PM

Are you cutting it with mineral spirits? That might help. Here is a link to Ranch Dog Outdoors on how he does it:
http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/Tips/Alox/

80viking · September 4, 2012, 05:31 PM

Thanks
Ranch Dog has a good system but that would add a lot more labor handling every bullet again. WD40 before sizing in the Lee sizer would save me several hours of work. I just cast about 3000 TL45's over the weekend, inspected every one in small hand fulls at a time, then very lightly lubed them with LLA and spread them out to dry, then sized them, then lubed them all again, and spread them out to dry on waxed paper again.

Would mineral spirits in the media work, or would it just contaminate the powder or primer?

I'm feeding two 45's and two 9mm's. My son and I are shooting steel every weekend, thats about 300rds per caliber, with some bigger matches (two this year) that use about 300 rounds per gun (1200rds). He's almost to ready start providing his own ammo (high school senior this year). The kid beats me almost every time we get paired up.

zxcvbob · September 4, 2012, 05:39 PM

I cut the Alox with melted paste wax; most people use Johnsons but I use Minwax because had a can of it already. It dries hard and not-sticky that way, and it's cheaper to use than straight LLA.

jmortimer · September 4, 2012, 05:43 PM

Here is more information - way more information
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=67654

Mike / Tx · September 4, 2012, 06:56 PM

I can HIGHLY suggest the Recluse lube method. Make up a small batch and compare it to the straight, and I would almost bet ya a pot of alloy you will throw rocks at your straight LLA from now on.

Goatwhiskers · September 4, 2012, 09:32 PM

After you have TL your bullets, let them dry. Take an old towel, t-shirt, etc. and sprinkle corn starch on it, then roll the bullets around on it. Presto, no sticky. GW

snuffy · September 4, 2012, 09:35 PM

The tumbler would result in some real funky looking ammo. The boolits would look like they have a fungus growing on them! Ask me how I know!

Mineral spirits on a paper towel, a wipe on each boolit nose, and no more lube.

Quote:

The kid beats me almost every time we get paired up.

A credit to who trained him! I assume it was you?

My proudest moment was when my son beat me at a 600 yard fun shoot. He was afraid I'd be mad, I hugged him and said I was very proud of him. And no, I didn't loose on purpose!

45-45-10 is what I use for tumble lube. It's 45 LLA, 45 JPW,(Johnsons Paste Wax), 105 mineral spirits. The solvent in the JPW has to be evaporated off, then the LLA,(Lee Liquid Alox), is stirred in, then the mineral spirits. It should be solid at room temp, a warming before lubing is required. It drys hard and non-sticky, and works great.

res45 · September 4, 2012, 09:36 PM

Quote:

I can HIGHLY suggest the Recluse lube method. Make up a small batch and compare it to the straight, and I would almost bet ya a pot of alloy you will throw rocks at your straight LLA from now on.

+1 I've been using that mix for over a year now,no more tacky bullets and the Carnauba wax leaves my bore nice and shiny,I ranch dip with it standard grease groove bullets now instead of pan lubing.

Beagle333 · September 4, 2012, 10:34 PM

Quote:

After you have TL your bullets, let them dry. Take an old towel, t-shirt, etc. and sprinkle corn starch on it, then roll the bullets around on it. Presto, no sticky. GW

I was using baby powder.

armoredman · September 4, 2012, 10:58 PM

What's the Recluse method again?
I use straight LLA quite a bit, might have to try the mineral spirits/paper towel method. I don't shoot steel or any other matches, (none out here.

), so I don't have any of the same difficulties.

jimkim · September 4, 2012, 11:04 PM

The 45/45/10 Recluse recipe and method can be found here.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=67654

chris in va · September 5, 2012, 01:11 AM

Skip the LLA, that stuff is nasty. Get a can of Johnson's Paste Wax and melt some in a small container with 10% mineral spirits. You'll have to melt it under hot water before pouring on your boolits, but after drying under a fan overnight they won't goop everything up like LLA.

Oh and spread the boolits on wax paper.

80viking · September 6, 2012, 12:01 AM

Thanks all.
Thats a ton of info.

For the bullets I have lubed and ready to load, I will try some corn starch or baby powder. Then I will try the 45/45/10 mix on the next batch.

The Johnsons Wax added to get rid of sticky reminds me of using laminating resin for fiberglass boat building or repairing. Laminating resin remains sticky long after it is cured so that it will accept another layer. On the last layer of resin you add some shavings from a block of paraffin and no more sticky, it cures hard and shiny.

John

Mike / Tx · September 7, 2012, 11:15 PM

One thing with the 45/45/10, well maybe more than one, anyway. If it comes out a bit thick after it cools, don't sweaty it, and don't worry about adding in more mineral spirits. It will be fine. Mine has ended up being about the consistency of old cake icing. I use a popsicle stick with about as mcu on the end as it is wide, for a couple hundred bullets. I use an old hair drier to warm up my bullets, toss them gently into a gallon sized vacuum seal bag I made up. Some use a bowl or tub, I like my bag personally. I can then roll them around gently and coat them really well before dumping them out onto a piece of wax paper. They take about 5-10 minutes before being completely dry and ready to size or load after a second coat. Nice thing with the bag is there is usually enough left on the sides to do plenty more bullets. I just add them in and use the hair drier to warm up both the bullets and the bag. When I can feel the bullets are warm I just hold the top closed and start rolling them. I usually only do 50 - 100 at a time this way and have never had any issues. I did however find out that the vacuum seal bags work MUCH better than the zip top type. I think the solvents work on them much harder than the vacuum ones. Plus the vacuum ones were also designed to be warmed up with food in them so they take the heat a bit better.

Just a couple more tips

80viking · September 10, 2012, 12:16 AM

Problem solved.

I loaded up 700 45's with my tumble lubed bullets this weekend. I tried the corn starch method, all it took was a light coating to make them not sticky any more. I didn't have to wipe my fingers off once and all the cases stay clean on the loaded ammo.

A tremendous thanks!
John

September 4, 2012, 02:43 PM	#1
80viking Senior Member Join Date: December 8, 2009 Location: The Peoples Republic of Massachusetts Posts: 274	Whats A Good Way To Remove Lee Liquid Alox From Your Loaded Ammo My guns work fine with the LLA all over my ammo, but it gets messy. It gets in your magazines and if you drop any mags or ammo on the ground they are unuseable untill they are thorougly cleaned. It has its draw backs but tumble lube bullets and LLA is the easiest way to make large quantities of handgun ammo in the least ammount of time. I was thinking of using a very large rotary tumbler that I have with some sort of treated media. Any Ideas? Thanks, John

September 4, 2012, 04:16 PM	#2
Super Sneaky Steve Senior Member Join Date: August 9, 2011 Posts: 533	I"m moving away from the LLA, but what I do now is after I load the bullet I just use a paper towell to wipe off the exposed tip. It always comes off easy and they can be put in your pocket without any mess. __________________ anti-state, anti-war, pro-market

September 4, 2012, 05:39 PM	#5
zxcvbob Senior Member Join Date: December 20, 2007 Location: S.E. Minnesota Posts: 3,660	I cut the Alox with melted paste wax; most people use Johnsons but I use Minwax because had a can of it already. It dries hard and not-sticky that way, and it's cheaper to use than straight LLA. __________________ "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun"

September 4, 2012, 06:56 PM	#7
Mike / Tx Senior Member Join Date: April 9, 2000 Posts: 552	I can HIGHLY suggest the Recluse lube method. Make up a small batch and compare it to the straight, and I would almost bet ya a pot of alloy you will throw rocks at your straight LLA from now on. __________________ LAter, Mike / TX

September 4, 2012, 10:58 PM	#12
armoredman Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2007 Location: Arizona Posts: 3,399	What's the Recluse method again? I use straight LLA quite a bit, might have to try the mineral spirits/paper towel method. I don't shoot steel or any other matches, (none out here. ), so I don't have any of the same difficulties. __________________ http://czfirearms.us/ same original CZForum, new location.

September 4, 2012, 04:27 PM	#3
jmortimer Junior member Join Date: January 24, 2010 Location: South West Riverside County California Posts: 2,765	Are you cutting it with mineral spirits? That might help. Here is a link to Ranch Dog Outdoors on how he does it: http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/Tips/Alox/

September 4, 2012, 05:31 PM	#4
80viking Senior Member Join Date: December 8, 2009 Location: The Peoples Republic of Massachusetts Posts: 274	Thanks Ranch Dog has a good system but that would add a lot more labor handling every bullet again. WD40 before sizing in the Lee sizer would save me several hours of work. I just cast about 3000 TL45's over the weekend, inspected every one in small hand fulls at a time, then very lightly lubed them with LLA and spread them out to dry, then sized them, then lubed them all again, and spread them out to dry on waxed paper again. Would mineral spirits in the media work, or would it just contaminate the powder or primer? I'm feeding two 45's and two 9mm's. My son and I are shooting steel every weekend, thats about 300rds per caliber, with some bigger matches (two this year) that use about 300 rounds per gun (1200rds). He's almost to ready start providing his own ammo (high school senior this year). The kid beats me almost every time we get paired up.

September 4, 2012, 05:43 PM	#6
jmortimer Junior member Join Date: January 24, 2010 Location: South West Riverside County California Posts: 2,765	Here is more information - way more information http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=67654

September 4, 2012, 09:32 PM	#8
Goatwhiskers Senior Member Join Date: April 8, 2009 Location: Batchelor, La. Posts: 381	After you have TL your bullets, let them dry. Take an old towel, t-shirt, etc. and sprinkle corn starch on it, then roll the bullets around on it. Presto, no sticky. GW

September 4, 2012, 11:04 PM	#13
jimkim Senior Member Join Date: July 3, 2008 Location: middle GA Posts: 319	The 45/45/10 Recluse recipe and method can be found here. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=67654 __________________ Jan. 4, 2007 gasoline $2.10 gal....HMMM?

September 5, 2012, 01:11 AM	#14
chris in va Senior Member Join Date: December 26, 2004 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 11,718	Skip the LLA, that stuff is nasty. Get a can of Johnson's Paste Wax and melt some in a small container with 10% mineral spirits. You'll have to melt it under hot water before pouring on your boolits, but after drying under a fan overnight they won't goop everything up like LLA. Oh and spread the boolits on wax paper.

September 6, 2012, 12:01 AM	#15
80viking Senior Member Join Date: December 8, 2009 Location: The Peoples Republic of Massachusetts Posts: 274	Thanks all. Thats a ton of info. For the bullets I have lubed and ready to load, I will try some corn starch or baby powder. Then I will try the 45/45/10 mix on the next batch. The Johnsons Wax added to get rid of sticky reminds me of using laminating resin for fiberglass boat building or repairing. Laminating resin remains sticky long after it is cured so that it will accept another layer. On the last layer of resin you add some shavings from a block of paraffin and no more sticky, it cures hard and shiny. John

September 7, 2012, 11:15 PM	#16
Mike / Tx Senior Member Join Date: April 9, 2000 Posts: 552	One thing with the 45/45/10, well maybe more than one, anyway. If it comes out a bit thick after it cools, don't sweaty it, and don't worry about adding in more mineral spirits. It will be fine. Mine has ended up being about the consistency of old cake icing. I use a popsicle stick with about as mcu on the end as it is wide, for a couple hundred bullets. I use an old hair drier to warm up my bullets, toss them gently into a gallon sized vacuum seal bag I made up. Some use a bowl or tub, I like my bag personally. I can then roll them around gently and coat them really well before dumping them out onto a piece of wax paper. They take about 5-10 minutes before being completely dry and ready to size or load after a second coat. Nice thing with the bag is there is usually enough left on the sides to do plenty more bullets. I just add them in and use the hair drier to warm up both the bullets and the bag. When I can feel the bullets are warm I just hold the top closed and start rolling them. I usually only do 50 - 100 at a time this way and have never had any issues. I did however find out that the vacuum seal bags work MUCH better than the zip top type. I think the solvents work on them much harder than the vacuum ones. Plus the vacuum ones were also designed to be warmed up with food in them so they take the heat a bit better. Just a couple more tips __________________ LAter, Mike / TX

September 10, 2012, 12:16 AM	#17
80viking Senior Member Join Date: December 8, 2009 Location: The Peoples Republic of Massachusetts Posts: 274	Problem solved. I loaded up 700 45's with my tumble lubed bullets this weekend. I tried the corn starch method, all it took was a light coating to make them not sticky any more. I didn't have to wipe my fingers off once and all the cases stay clean on the loaded ammo. A tremendous thanks! John