Removing Pan Lubed Bullets

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Mr. Farknocker

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Anybody have a simple method of removing pan lubed bullets? What method do you use to extract the bullets from the lube without breaking the lube apart and causing the lube in the grooves to fall out? The lube stays in the grooves of the bullets that I am able to push out with my fingers as long as the wax remains in one piece but as soon as the lube crumbles, breaks or cracks, the lube refuses to stay in the groove of the bullets closest to the edge of the break. After successfully pushing a whole bunch of bullets through the lube, its awfully hard not break the wax which by this time, is full of holes from the bullets pushed through. I hate to spring for a $25+ kake kutter just to push bullets through the lube if there's a simple diy technique that's available.

TIA
 
Cut the head off a fired case before resizing it and use it like a cookie cutter.

Then cut them out before the lube fully cools and gets hard & brittle.

rc
 
rcmodel said:
Cut the head off a fired case before resizing it and use it like a cookie cutter.

Then cut them out before the lube fully cools and gets hard & brittle.

rc
Click to expand...
This seems better suited for rifle rounds. What about pistol rounds?
 
The Cookie Cutter works for both rifle and pistol bullets.
I made "Armoredman" a couple of cake cutters out of old cases and soldered a washer to the rim area, as well as made a wood plunger out of a dowel to push the bullets back out.
It looks like a Fred Flinstone Hypodermic Syrenge but it works great and is better than pushing the bullets all the way thru the casing one after the other.
My favorite case to use is a 7.62x54 brass case that I resize the neck to te bullet I want to cut out, and then Drill thru the primer hole and case web the size I will need for the plunger, like 3/8".
Then the plunger is shaped with a step in it so the plunger stops on the case shoulder and doesn't fall thru when you push the bullets out.
The Rimmed case is perfect for butting up against a washer to use as finger holders, and your thumb pushes the plunger.
 
...or use a deprimed fired case and drill a hole through the primer pocket. Put a nail through the case with the nail head in the case and the point going through the primer pocket and into a short piece of wooden dowel (or just a small wooden block). Now you can push the bullet back out the case with your thumb.

If you are lubing .308 bullets, you can use a cheap 7.62x39 steel case rather than an expensive .308 case that you would rather reload.
 
mrf,

I use the same setup as "rsrocket" - drilling a hole through the primer pocket of an unsized case, driving a nail through the pocket into an inch-long wooden dowel and pushing each lubed boolit out with the head of the nail. I use a fired, unsized 38 special case for 9mm and the same method for .45, 44sp, .223/556, 30/30. 30-06 using unsized cases.

The key to eliminating the messy extraction of the boolits is cooling the wax-boolit mixture in my freezer for 15 minutes. Thus the wax is hard and the boolits pop out of the cookie-cutter nice and clean. Good luck.

best wishes- oldandslow
 
That one is for 38 Special, IIRC, and is copper tubing sized to .358. Same one I used in the pictures for the 125 grain bullets sized to .358 - my Smith Model 10 likes lighter bullets for some reason.

rsrocket1, if you'd met LAGS, you'd know he can't resist making things better and more workable. :) These things work like a charm. ;)
 
armoredman said:
That one is for 38 Special, IIRC, and is copper tubing sized to .358. Same one I used in the pictures for the 125 grain bullets sized to .358 - my Smith Model 10 likes lighter bullets for some reason.

rsrocket1, if you'd met LAGS, you'd know he can't resist making things better and more workable. :) These things work like a charm. ;)
Click to expand...
Did you size the copper tubing to .358 with a sizing die? In other words, you used a copper tubing that was larger than .358 and sized it down to .358 using a sizing die? I'd like to make a kutter for Lee's 356-120-TC (9mm). I think the .358 (.002 over) would be perfect for this bullet.
 
I don't know what reloading dies or shell holders you have, but I take a case like a 7.62x54 or 30-06 and put it in the press with the correct shell holder.
Then I use an expander die from my 35 Whelen to expand out the neck to .357 for the 9mm and .38/.358.
You cant use a pistol die expander because it only Partially expands the neck and starts Flairing the neck.
You can also make expanding mandrals out of 3/8 steel or brass rod.
If you don't have a lathe, then spin the rod in a drill motor and use a file to turn it down to the desired diameter. ( Poor Mans Lathe )
If you had already drilled out the primer hole to 3/8 " for the plunger, you can pound the mandral back out with a punch.
The cutter doesnt have to be perfectly round, as it is only to cut the lube Close to the diameter of the bullet.
You then run the bullets thru the sizer and it final presses all the lube deep into the lube grooves.
 
LAGS said:
I don't know what reloading dies or shell holders you have, but I take a case like a 7.62x54 or 30-06 and put it in the press with the correct shell holder.
Then I use an expander die from my 35 Whelen to expand out the neck to .357 for the 9mm and .38/.358.
You cant use a pistol die expander because it only Partially expands the neck and starts Flairing the neck.
You can also make expanding mandrals out of 3/8 steel or brass rod.
If you don't have a lathe, then spin the rod in a drill motor and use a file to turn it down to the desired diameter. ( Poor Mans Lathe )
If you had already drilled out the primer hole to 3/8 " for the plunger, you can pound the mandral back out with a punch.
The cutter doesnt have to be perfectly round, as it is only to cut the lube Close to the diameter of the bullet.
You then run the bullets thru the sizer and it final presses all the lube deep into the lube grooves.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Just what i need to know to get started.
 
If your recipe is working try a larger pan and less boolits, place the "cake" with the boolits into the fridge until the edge of the cake draws away from the pan, then push the boolits out of the cake nose first.

I used to try the compact method and it never worked, always resulting in the problems you described.

A larger pan , 9", and less boolits along with refrigeration worked for me.
 
I gave up on pan lubing, I find dip lubing to be quicker. I bought a small crock pot called a mini dipper at Walmart for $3.50. I use it to melt my lube then I just dip the bullet to fill the lube grooves, then set it in an old metal pan. Excess lube runs off and sticks to the pan, then I run the bullets through a Lee sizing die which removes any lube that's not in the grooves. The lube that sticks to the pan gets scraped off and added back into the mini dipper.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Rival-Min...gMethod=Recommendation:wm:RecentlyViewedItems
 
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