Are any new casters traditional lubing

Nuttin'. I do both PCing and "traditional" lubing. PCed/coated bullets do what they say they are supposed to do; clean handling and clean shooting, but my plain old cast and lubed bullets do the same (but I gotta admit I sometimes get lube on my fingers and I have to clean the seating dies after 200-300 rounds). I can shake and bake some bullets to PC them and I can tumble lube with 45-45-10 or pan lube. Both methods very easy. Initial outlay for either can be table top cheap or very expensive with spray guns or lubersizers. PCed bullets are easier for new lead bullet users and those that don't get their cast bullets to shoot cleanly. Accuracy ins't any different, and I've never needed to drive a cast/lubed or PCed bullets as fast as any jacketed, while I have run both pretty fast (I've shot traditional cast and PCed in my Garand @ 2700 fps). It is a matter of personal choice and perhaps experience and successes...

I only lube my black powder stuff anymore.

If I could get 9mm to run consistent with traditional lube I'd probably stop PC altogether. I haven't been casting for long but sitting down at the lubamatic to size and lube each bullet is part of the fun. For me, its a specific job perfect for rainy or humid days and it gives more satisfaction that PC ever did.

If "traditional" means no PC,and that's a nice enough way to distinguish,then;

No PC here. I've taken traditional up through 3k fps regularly with durn near bughole results in some varmint rigs. Handguns haven't been a problem in the least with traditional either.

Not opposed to PC from a scientific standpoint..... it's personal. I've sprayed enough cabinets,furniture,autos,and equipment to float a battleship. Casting,shooting,and handloading are relaxing for me. "Painting" bullets?.... oh HECK no. Got other stuff to paint

I'm pretty new to casting, started this year. I've tried both PC and pan lubing. No contest in my opinion. I may not be so opposed to traditional lube if I had access to a lubesizer, but I spent more time cleaning lube off my bullets, dies and clothes than I did casting or loading. Certainly, all told more time than powder coating. I found with the 38's I compared that the pc ran about 100fps faster than traditional lube with no loss of accuracy. The only downside to powder coating in my opinion is the stank....smells God-awful when those things are cooking. I have a few pounds of lube left, I'll set it aside for a rainy day, but I have about 3 lbs of powder coat to work through first.

I still use traditional lube.
I don't shoot in enough volume for the time and effort to be a deal breaker.
And nothing annoys me more than seeing green or red bullets being fed into a revolver. Like a tube of alien lipstick or something. It drives me crazy, and I'll never do it.

Do they make a clear powder coat that just looks like a lead bullet when you're done? Maybe I'd try that some day.

Arkansas Paul said:

I still use traditional lube.
I don't shoot in enough volume for the time and effort to be a deal breaker.
And nothing annoys me more than seeing green or red bullets being fed into a revolver. Like a tube of alien lipstick or something. It drives me crazy, and I'll never do it.

Do they make a clear powder coat that just looks like a lead bullet when you're done? Maybe I'd try that some day.

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Yep. Clear is good!! I've got around four pounds of clear powder coat.

I've bee casting about 4-5 years. I haven't done any traditional lube. It's all been powder coat or Hi-Tek. Lately it's all been Hi-Tek.

I've been powder coating since 2015 but I bought a Lyman 450 last year and use it quite a bit. Running the bullets through the lubesizer it quite a bit faster than my process of shaking, standing up to bake, bake, and then size. I got a good deal on the lubesizer and it came with stuff for 9mm, 38 Special, .40 S&W, .45 ACP and .308. For low pressure rounds like 45 ACP lubing works great, for rounds like 9mm powder coating is still my preferred choice. PC does have numerous advantages when it comes to bullet handling, reloading, and shooting, but it's a more time consuming process up front.

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bersaguy said:

but I spent more time cleaning lube off my bullets, dies and clothes than I did casting or loading.

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No offense intended, but you can't blame that on the lube. My lubing (dip lubing and/or pan lubing) is just as messy as I am...

I do both. Hi-tek coating instead of pc. The pc or Hi-tek are better almost all the way around. The only thing I lube anymore is 45 colt with pan lube. Dunno why other than old school vibes.

I've been casting on and off for decades. I like the powder coated bullets but it takes extra time versus conventional lubricating of the bullets.

Since I do not drive my cast bullets very hard, either process works well for me. I go back and forth depending on how I feel at the time I'm finishing the bullets.

I recently finally bought a real lubrisizer and it makes sizing and lubricating bullets a breeze. It is amazing what having the correct equipment to do a job will do.

AJC1 said:

It has always been a big part of my upbringing that the right tool for the job is the best answer. Work is easier and results are better. Who would have thought.

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Right. After decades of collecting tools, when I encounter a new project that needs a new tool to properly do the job, I do not mind investing in the new tool. It is a relatively small expense that makes the project easier.

BWS said:

If "traditional" means no PC,and that's a nice enough way to distinguish,then;

No PC here. I've taken traditional up through 3k fps regularly with durn near bughole results in some varmint rigs. Handguns haven't been a problem in the least with traditional either.

Not opposed to PC from a scientific standpoint..... it's personal. I've sprayed enough cabinets,furniture,autos,and equipment to float a battleship. Casting,shooting,and handloading are relaxing for me. "Painting" bullets?.... oh HECK no. Got other stuff to paint

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3k WOW!!!
Care to share what caliber, firearm and cast bullet you use?

mdi said:

No offense intended, but you can't blame that on the lube. My lubing (dip lubing and/or pan lubing) is just as messy as I am...

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None taken, I think @cfullgraf summed it up about right, if i had the proper tools, a lubesizer, or even a proper cookie cutter, I could have reduced the mess considerably. As is, I was just pushing my bullets out of the cake after the lube cooled.

I size my coated bullets in a Star using the NOE bushings and adaptor.

I'm not new, but atleast for me, I'm lubing with either alox or Rooster lube.
Its a liquid that dries hard

I'm a somewhat new caster, have a few K cast in the last year and a half or so. I actually had picked up a used lubramatic and some lube, but when the time came, I decided to powder coat. I'm sizing using the Lee Push through dies mostly, though I did pick up a NOE set for a couple of calibers that Lee doesn't make.

Startup equipment for powdercoat is cheaper, supplies are cheaper, last I checked, and powder coat can be pushed harder, and doesn't smoke as much. Once you add in the cost of electricity the benefit probably goes back to wax, but for commercial sales, not having to set limits on FPS, not having to offer 1/1000 increments on sizing and not confusing new customers with alloy/hardness, and for that matter having to actually alloy lead, and test it, will more than make up for the additional cost. I always just shot cast bullets without lube, and limited velocity to around 900 and did fine.

AJC1, a big cost would be the lubrisizer itself. The Lee "system" works pretty well.