Necessary to lube lead bullets?

[sceper]

Sorry if this is a basic question, but I'm new to reloading. Is it necessary to lube lead bullets? There was nothing in the instructions with my press or my first reloading book about it, but "The abcs of Reloading" mentions it. I've made about 100 rds of .38 spl with Magteh lrn and 100 with oregon trail's laser cast bullets, which claims no leading. Should these have been lubed?

Thank you.

 

[MMCSRET]

Lead bullets require lube, commercial lead bullets like yours are lubed during the last phases of manufacture and packaging. If a lead bullet is not lubed it will say so on the package. I only know of 1 manufacturer that offers bullets with or without lube as an option. Good shooting!!!!!!!!!!

 

[kolob10]

Lube lead

Yes, Lead bullets need to be lubed to prevent buildup of lead in the barrel as well as reducing friction while changes pressures. You can of course shoot unlubed bullets but why would you want to do so?

 

[ReloaderFred]

You're good to go with your commercial cast bullets, as they come from the factory already lubed. What your manual is referring to is if you cast your own bullets. In that case, then they would need to be lubed.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[sceper]

thanks

Thank you. Your input has been a great help and made it much easier to get into reloading.

 

[NavajoNPaleFace]

Has anyone experience in moly coating?

 

[Matt Dillon]

Folks, I have a quantity of unlubed hollow base wad cutters, 148 grain, and they are not lubed nor have lube riigs. I use 2.7 or 2.8 grains of Bullseye under neath these, shot out of .38 caliber or 357 Magnum pistols. Is there a way to lube these, or is this necessary given the relatively low velocities?

 

[armoredman]

I have shot moly coated bullets, couldn't tell a real differance. I use Lee Liquid Alox on my cast bullets, works just fine.

 

[scrat]

i tried moly lube once. i found it was pretty dirty if anything. For sure not worth it. i talked to some other guys that used molly lube they said that times you could look down the barrel and see what looked like a spider web from the molly. so nope never again for me. Lee liquid alox or spg lube all i use now.

 

[.38 Special]

Folks, I have a quantity of unlubed hollow base wad cutters, 148 grain, and they are not lubed nor have lube riigs. I use 2.7 or 2.8 grains of Bullseye under neath these, shot out of .38 caliber or 357 Magnum pistols. Is there a way to lube these, or is this necessary given the relatively low velocities?

Are you sure they are unlubed? Speer makes 148 HBWCs with a moly coating; they look unlubed. Hornady also makes a very good 148 HBWC with a waxy lube on a kind of a grid; they can be mistaken for unlubed bullets as well.

Has anyone experience in moly coating?

I strongly dislike moly. I often found it to build up almost as badly as lead, and it can be a real bear to get out the barrel. A lot of us fell for the fad back ten years ago or so. Most of us will tell you what a mistake it was.

 

[dmftoy1]

It's been a very long time, but I seem to remember shooting "swaged" lead bullets that I don't remember having lube. (also in .38 special) It could just be my bad memory or the lack of knowledge about such things. If they DID have lube then it was the of the same type as the lee tumble lube as they didn't have lube grooves.

FWIW.

Regards,
Dave

 

[ReloaderFred]

There have been wadcutter bullets that appeared to have no lube, but were in fact tumbled in a black coating that contained the dry lube and was hard, almost like paint. Zero made them during the 1970's, and there have been other companies that have made them. The Black Bullet comes to mind.

A soft lead bullet without lube will lead the bore. There must be some type of lube, whether it's wax in nature or dry, but there must be lube.

As for moly coated bullets, there have been many reports of rusted barrels using moly. It seems the moisture gets under the moly coating in the barrel and rusts the steel. I don't have any personal experience using moly myself, since it's so messy. I was once given half a coffee can of .30 caliber bullets that had been moly coated that were purchased at an estate sale, but I tumbled them for a couple of hours and removed all the moly and shot them as normal.

Hope this helps.

Fred