Lubing Conicals

[MCgunner]

I've been casting conicals for my revolvers for years, about 30 years actually. I've always lubed 'em with alox in a Lee lube kit, a little tub you put on the stove and melt the alox in, then stick the bullets in and let it harden, then cut 'em out with a little .45 caliber cookie cutter.

I've done this all these years thinking the alox would sub for the crisco to keep chain firing at bay. However, I'm wondering if it's even necessary. Perhaps I could just use liquid alox on 'em and be one with it? These conicals have a LOT of lead touching the cylinders, not like a ball with a few thousanths touching. I always use crisco on the balls, don't like messing with wads.

Whadda you guys suggest? Would I be fine just tumbling 'em in liquid alox like I do my cartridge gun bullets? Stuff works great for lube in the cartridge runs. It's all I use anymore and it's infinitely less PITA than that old melt the alox method.

 

[Steve499]

I think modern lubricants aren't necessarily compatable with black powder. I base that opinion on only one experience. I'm not sure what alox is composed of and I don't know what the Lyman lube I tried was made of, either, so my opinion may be worth exactly what it is costing you.

I loaded up a bunch of 45/70s with black powder and cast bullets I had lubed with Lyman lube through a regular luber/sizer. That lube had worked well in all my other cast bullet loading, all of which had been for smokeless powder. When I fired the rifle, the fouling wasn't being kept soft by the lube. After 5 or 6 shots, accuracy fell off badly. When I would run a patch down the bore, it would be caked with very hard fouling which was kind of difficult to remove. It seemed to be harder fouling than regular black powder fouling, so I wondered if the Lyman lube wasn't actually making things worse. I didn't do a lot of experimentation with it since I didn't have that rifle too long after that.

I would try it out to see if it works, though. You can't have failure without having tried, is that how the saying goes?

Steve

 

[MCgunner]

Thanks, Steve. I'm gonna try it if the concensus is it won't be dangerous. I don't want a chain fire. I don't use crisco over these lubed conicals. Just thinking I really probably don't need ANY lube for safety considering the amount of lead touching the chamber with a conical. I wanna be safe, though.

 

[Manyirons]

I use tha GATOFEO #1 lube as described in stickey here with great satisfaction, mutton tallow, beeswax&paraffin.

 

[MCgunner]

Bees wax, I have bees wax!

 

[Manyirons]

AND, to me yer tha beesknees!

 

[Steve499]

I know it's not the same thing, but I lube the rings on minie balls just before I load them by rubbing a stick of lube (beeswax/olive oil) on the bullet. The rings shave enough lube off the stick to fill them up and the extra, if any, is scraped off on the muzzle. I have fired 50-60 rounds using that method without the loading becoming rough. The fouling is just black sludge.

I stopped pre-lubing minies with that mixture. I had a bunch done that I didn't get around to shooting and they sat around for a year or so. The minies became oxidized and white with the lube flaking off in chunks. It was like the oxidation formed scale under the lube which made it adhere poorly. Again, a very unscientific example. The oxidation may have attributable to some other factor than the lube, I didn't care enough to leave some set for another year just to find out. Also, I didn't actually shoot any of those oxidized ones, I re-cast them cause they were ugly. They maybe would have worked fine.

The controversy about whether chainfires are generated from the front or back seems to be alive, well and ongoing. I believe they mostly start from the nipple for various reasons, and would be totally comfortable with a tight fitting bullet as you describe yours are.

Steve