Thoughts on a RCBS lube a matic

Why ? Powder coating gives excellent accuracy with less mess and smoke, the set up cost is less then buying a luber sizer. I gave my Lyman luber sizer away after a couple of years of happy powder coating. I shake and bake then size. I now use the LEE push through sizer system with my powder coated bullets. Its easier to obtain powder paint then bullet lube.
Secure a reliable source of lead before you spend any money on casting equipment. I am very happy with a RCBS lead melting pot.
BTW pistol bullets that are powder coated aren't fussy about alloy. And being able to color code your bullets or loads is nice.

My RCBS is as old as me perhaps, works just fine and when it recently needed a part RCBS was there. Depending on your lube you’ll possible need a heater, mine is a Lyman bought separate.

Now, these days I only use it for gas checked higher velocity bullets. I now use Lees push through sizers, dirt cheap caliber specific. Liquid Alox does a fine job of lubing.

@Targa

earplug said:

Why ? Powder coating gives excellent accuracy with less mess and smoke, the set up cost is less then buying a luber sizer. I gave my Lyman luber sizer away after a couple of years of happy powder coating. I shake and bake then size. I now use the LEE push through sizer system with my powder coated bullets. Its easier to obtain powder paint then bullet lube.
Secure a reliable source of lead before you spend any money on casting equipment. I am very happy with a RCBS lead melting pot.
BTW pistol bullets that are powder coated aren't fussy about alloy. And being able to color code your bullets or loads is nice.

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Sounds like great advice to me. Exactly the route I'll go if I ever take the plunge.

.40

I have 2 RCBS and a Lyman. Would buy RCBS just for their warranty. Very few lubes need heat, Look on Cast Boolits they come up used quite often. Lots of home made recipes there or look up White Label Lube.

The Lee sizing dies are simply a machined and polished die the one pushes the bullet,nose first thru.
At one point each kit came with a bottle of liquid Alox. No longer. Now it has to be ordered separately. Once cast the bullets are placed in a suitable container, plastic tub with a lid a few drops of Alox added and the tub shaken “ tumbling the bullets”. Dump on a sheet of wax paper and allow to dry for a few hours They then can be pushed thru the die. Depending on the use this will usually suffice for lube. Rifle or pistol bullets intended for higher velocities can be re tumbled in Lube.

If you need to but molds check out Lees made for tumble lubing.

I do both size/lube with an RCBS lubricizer and powder coat bullets.

I find the RCBS lubricizer takes less time than powder coating. I did get a Lyman heater for the lubrizier and it makes the lubricating part easier.

Powder coating takes more time to complete and I use the Lee push through sizer dies to finish size the coated bullets after coating. But note, Lee sizer dies are not as available in different diameters as the sizer dies for the lubricizers.

For me, I like the oily free feel of coated bullets but it does take more time to get there.

It definitely won't fall in the less expensive category, but a Star/Magma lubrisizer is hands-down the most efficient way to lube bullets. Lubing/sizing 30 bullets per minute is easy. I also have a RCBS LAM2, but don't use it much anymore. There are plenty of YouTube videos showing this model in action.

35W

I have a RCBS lubrisizer for a few years now. Works great no problems. I find I get into the process of double checking my bullets by a quick look before running them thru the sizer.
Check out the Cast boolits forum great info especially for a newbie.

Hi-Tek or powder coat. Lubing is old tech. If you're using a soft lube storing bullets can get messy quick. I've cast close to a ton of bullets and have ammo cans full of them. I can store them in the garage in the Texas heat and there's no mess.

If you're going to cast for multiply calibers I'd suggest the NOE sizing system. https://noebulletmolds.com/site/product-category/sizing-tools

The bushing are available in MANY more sizes than the Lee is. They are correctly sized, something that can be hit or miss with the Lee tools.

I started off with the NOE tools in a single stage to size my coated bullets. Then I traded into a Star and got the adapter. It's the fastest way to size bullets you can get. No balancing bullets on the sizing stem, just drop them nose first into the sizing bushing and pull the handle.

A couple of years ago I got some Hi-Tek coated MBC bullets in on a trade and I really liked them, but they were no better for my loads than traditionally lubed bullets . The problem with the various coatings such as Hi-Tek is the application and curing is tedious and time consuming. In the time it takes just to cook Hi-Tek coated bullets (8 - 12 minutes x 2) I can size and lube around 600 bullets with the Star.

Some people enjoy piddling with projects like coating and that's fine, but I'd rather be shooting and have found no reason to take the time to coat bullets. Besides, why defile something as beautiful as this with some coating??



35W

In terms of getting into the game, I advise getting a (used if possible) classic
Lubrisizer -- either Lyman/RCBS will do fine/take the same to inserts/dies.

You're going to be playing lotsa games w/ different diameters/bullets/etc ...
a half-dozen/dozen/coupla-dozen at a whack... as you get smart[er].
The Lubrisizer lets you do that experimentation* on a whim/near instantly
and w/o a lotta fuss/delay. And the various lubes (I like 50/50 generally)
can get you into the 14-1500 fps regimes w/o even breathing hard -- after
that (up to 22-2,300) size`em & ALOX`em.

* including simultaneous gas-check installation

35 Whelen said:

A couple of years ago I got some Hi-Tek coated MBC bullets in on a trade and I really liked them, but they were no better for my loads than traditionally lubed bullets . The problem with the various coatings such as Hi-Tek is the application and curing is tedious and time consuming. In the time it takes just to cook Hi-Tek coated bullets (8 - 12 minutes x 2) I can size and lube around 600 bullets with the Star.

Some people enjoy piddling with projects like coating and that's fine, but I'd rather be shooting and have found no reason to take the time to coat bullets. Besides, why defile something as beautiful as this with some coating??

View attachment 903241

35W

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You don't have to sit and watch the oven cure the bullets. You can be sizing the last batch or reloading. It seems people forget this.

On coated bullets
The more YouTube videos I watched the more put off I became. Not knocking them, to each his own but too many looked haphazard. Store bought may be different.
May be an advantage if your driving projectiles at max speed. The RCBS allows for gas checking such projectiles with none of the hassle and fuss.
Saying that, coated bullets sure are pretty.

35 Whelen said:

A couple of years ago I got some Hi-Tek coated MBC bullets in on a trade and I really liked them, but they were no better for my loads than traditionally lubed bullets . The problem with the various coatings such as Hi-Tek is the application and curing is tedious and time consuming. In the time it takes just to cook Hi-Tek coated bullets (8 - 12 minutes x 2) I can size and lube around 600 bullets with the Star.

Some people enjoy piddling with projects like coating and that's fine, but I'd rather be shooting and have found no reason to take the time to coat bullets. Besides, why defile something as beautiful as this with some coating??

View attachment 903241

35W

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Rooster Red is nice as is Lyman Orange. All need heat though for best results.

NOE makes a outstanding push through sizing dies . The sizing dies are finished in a first class
manner. The die body is done better than some of the better reloading tool makers.
A worth while addition to any loading bench.

whughett said:

Rooster Red is nice as is Lyman Orange. All need heat though for best results.

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I used to use Rooster Red and a blue type of which the name I forgot, have even made my own that worked great. But a few years ago I discovered TAC-1 and love it, and it's less than $3.00 per stick. I use it over just a little heat. The bullets on the left and right are lubed with TAC-1.

Texas10mm said:

You don't have to sit and watch the oven cure the bullets. You can be sizing the last batch or reloading. It seems people forget this.

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Understood, but there's still more handling of the bullets with any type coating. I cast, carry them from the casting bench to the sizing bench where they're run through Star, and as they're sized they drop directly into the storage box. Done. It's a very efficient process.

35W