What does Bullet Lube really do on a Hardcast bullet?

[Master Blaster]

Last night while pondering the mysteries of the universe and reloading some .45 ACP I began to wonder what the bullet lube really does.

The lube on the hardcast bullets I purchase is blue and it appears to be mostly wax. The lube groove is in the middle of the area that engages the rifling so half of the .452 diameter area engages the rifling ahead of the "lube".

Leading seems to be related to the speed of the bullet it does not seem to me that the lube does anything to prevent leading.

When I recover the bullets almost all of the lube appears to still be in the lube groove. So how does the lube work does it some how vaporize ahead of the bullet? or does the first bullet lube the barrel for the second one.

Please help me understand the purpose of the lube and how it does the job.

Thanks

[sundog]

MB, that hard wax lube is better for the manufacturer than it is for the shooter. It stays on the bullet long enough for you to get it loaded. Now, I'm not saying that some of them may not be good lubes, BUT a really good lube should deposit enough lube in the bore for the next shot. I don't clean my lead shooter bores anymore. Leading really doesn't have as much to with speed as it does with bullet design, fit and alloy (not just hardness but toughness). Poor design and fit can result in gas cutting which can lead to leading and poor overall performance. Just a few thoughts. sundog

[Keith J]

Residue from the preceeding bullet is enough for the one following it. The real benefit to the bullet is in the base where heat and pressure are the greatest and any damage will affect accuracy.

Lead bullets seal better than jacketed but there still is some leakage. Lube here will reduce this effect and help seal.

[Master Blaster]

Quote:


The real benefit to the bullet is in the base where heat and pressure are the greatest and any damage will affect accuracy.


How does the lube help with the base of the bullet?
When I recover a fired bullet and I look at the base I see oxidation and some granularity to the surface as though the bullet lead has vaporized by the intense heat of propellant ignition. I think that this damage happens while the bullet is still in the case under high temperature and pressure.

I'm not sure how much the gasseous lead contributes to the leading I see in my barrels, I do know that it contributes to the pollution of the range air I am breathing.

Do any of you folks buy unlubed commercial bullets and lube your own?

Thanks

[ernest2]

I pick or dig up other people's fired bullet heads from the piles of dirt behind the targets and melt them down and keep skinning off the dross (impurities) until the lead is as pure as I can practically get it.

Then I cast the molten lead into 1 or 2 pound ignots for my next casting session.

I cast my bullet heads and then wash them in a course 1/4 inch sieve under the garden hose and let em air dry.

Now I must lube the bullet heads before I can resize them to the proper diameter for the caliber that the bullet heads are.

I use bee's wax type commercial bullet head lube which I melt
in a steel tray similar to the steel cover on the christmas fruit
cake tin, which I also use when I need an extra bullet lube tray.

The cast bullets are placed in the tray and the lube is allowed to cool and harden somewhat, but not too hard, and the bullets
are cut out of the wax with a round tool that works like a cookie
cutter.

Now all the grooves have bullet lube in them to protect the bullet head drive bands and the barrel lands which dig into the bullet head drive bands.

Next, the bullet heads are resized through a bullet head resizing die. A 38 special drops from the mould at .358 and is resized down to.357 while a 9 mm or 380 auto drops from the mould at
.357 and is resized to.356

Bullets made this way cost $0.oo per 1000 except for my time.

Bullet lube keeps the bore from wearing out prematurely and helps prevent leading ,providing that the bullet base driving band is capable of making a good seal.

I inspect every bullet head for flaws in the bullet driving bands
that could allow gas jetting and the ones with flaws I seperate out and use to reload light target loads below 800 f/s where gas jetting is weak because of extra light powder loads.

Using range lead as I do, I get whatever alloys the original bullet caster used when he cast his bullets; usually some variation of hard cast.

Dont melt down jacketed bullet heads because the lead inside them is soft lead with no alloy.

SOFT SWAGGED BULLET HEADS = a great amount of barrel leading with only 25 or 35 shots, so I stay away from them.

I just remembered that I never saw any bullet lube grooves or bullet lube
on
any soft swaged bullet head
AND that my be why soft swaged bullet heads lead up the barrel so horribilly.


So far, I have not gotten much leading from the bullets I have cast over the past 16 years, but then , I usually reload lite target
because I my autheritis is alergic to recoil.

Use a stainless steel tornado brush
(the brush is wound like a tornado,and cleans out lead like a tornado ,also;hence the name)
to remove leading from your bore.

[Pampers]

I molycoat my cast bullets, and then lube them with NRA Formula beeswax and Alox. It's sticky gooy, but it WORKS! The lube found on most commercial bullets is not much of a lube, but it stays in the grooves until you get them home from the dealer.

I use wheel weight lead for my standard velocity pistol bullets, and lin-o-type for my magnums and rifles. I get NO leading, and do get a nice "grease star" on the muzle of my barrels.

Leading comes from multiple sources. Abbrasion from rough barrels. Stripping when the alloy is to soft to take the rifling. Gas cutting when the bullet is to small to seal the bore and gas jets past the bullet taking molton lead with it. And from melting the base of the bullet.

Lapping can improve the abbration problem. Slick barrels don't lead. The correct alloy can eliminate stripping and gas cutting. The base of the bullet can be protected with a lube wad (Mucho smoke!), or a base wad. My experience shows me that the NECO P(olypropolene) Wad does a good job of protecting the base, and prevent gas cutting.


Yr. Obt. Svnt.

[Mike Irwin]

Master,

The bullet lube also helps prevent "friction" leading, which is caused by the bullet both grinding and melting off bits of lead into the rifling.

Fire some hardcast unlubed bullets through your gun, and you'll see what I mean.

I made that mistake once. ONCE.