pan lubing

[trigga]

while looking into casting 9mm bullets, i have been drawn between two lee types of molds. one has tumble lube grooves and one with a single lube groove. I know it's personal preference but I think I'm going to like pan lubing better. a lube sizer is out of the question right now because it's a bit too pricy for me. I really want to try the tumble lube too but it sounds messy, like getting the seating die dirty/clogged. i heard from a source that you can also tumble lube the single lube groove bullets.

what i've been reading up on.. and other sources.
http://www.lasc.us/brennan_5-0_bulletlubes.htm

a few questions...
1. can you store the left over lube and reuse it?
2. how do you resize the bullet if you're suppose to lube it first? do you pan lube it and just run it through the sizing die? no re-lube like tumble lube?
3. are there any gains over tumble lubing? e.g. - lube waring off, less leading, accuracy?
4. what are your experiences?

test gun will be a stock 92fs.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/65...380-acp-356-diameter-125-grain-2-ogive-radius

 

[KansasSasquatch]

I'm not impressed with tumble lubing, but I am relatively new to casting in general. I'm I. The same boat as you in regards to a lube-sizer. A lube-sizer seems like it would be the best way to go but buying one right now would mean less reloading/shooting for me. Pan lubing just seems like a pain in the..... So I was happy when a few people started posting on here about powdercoating boolits. http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=743224&highlight=Powder+coating+bullets. Now this seems like the way to go. I bought a $25 toaster oven from Wal-Mart one day when my wife dragged me there and some powder coat for $8 at Harbor Freight. I need to get around to casting some new boolits (my current stash is already tumble lubed) but I'm excited to try it out.

Just another solution you might want to consider.

 

[trigga]

i might have to look into that. I've even considered copper plating too.

 

[KansasSasquatch]

I looked at copper plating too but from what I've seen its not worth it. Powdercoating seems like it would a lot less hassle and produce results that are on par with or better than home-plated boolits.

 

[trigga]

the powder coating looks very interesting. just finished watching a few videos. I thought the sizer would take the coating right off but it seems pretty hard. even when hit with a hammer. I wonder what a recovered bullet looks like... and how much of the coating is left...

 

[rcmodel]

You can buy a Lee bullet sizing die and a bottle of liquid lube for $21 bucks.

The lube only needs to be in the grooves, not coating the whole bullet after sizing.

It will not clog up the die.

And if you are worried about getting your hands or dies dirty you picked the wrong hobby.

Rc

 

[Schwing]

I tried some powder coated 9mms over the last few weeks. I just bought a bottle of harbor freight powder coat and tumbled the bullets in a tupperware container. It generates enough static for the powder to stick. Then I baked them (In an oven dedicated to hobby stuff. I would NOT use my food oven for this.)

You are correct that sizing them does not remove the coating. They look cool, they are not tacky at all and they shoot as well as my tumble lubed bullets and they don't seem to lead at all. Having said that, it is more work, more time and they don't perform any better so I'm not entirely sold on them aside from the novelty of it.

Like RC said, the tumble lube setup will set you back around $20 and it does get the job done.

 

[Don McDowell]

Tumble lubing and pan lubing are two totally different way of lubing.
Tumble lube the stuff only coats the bearing surface of the bullet. That's why the liguid alox works as well as it does it forms a hard surface. Best results usually come from if you have to size the bullet, lube it, size it and then relube it.
Pan lubing you melt the lube, and pour it in a pan that has the bullets all standing neatly on their bases, until the lube fills the lube groove. Then when the lube cools (some folks stick the pan in the freezer and let the lube set up) you can either pluck the bullets out of the lube cake, push them out from the base, or use a cake cutter.
As with tumble lubing you'll have excess lube on the outside of the bullets that will make a mess in your seating die , and cleaning after every 50 rounds or so is a real good idea to keep from having seating depth problems from lube build up in the seating plug.

 

[Jesse Heywood]

I tumble lube with liquid Alox. I use a plastic food container, easier than a baggie. Dump them on an old cookie sheet and let them dry overnight. I don't stand them up, it's not necessary. Don't use a lot of Alox, too much will gum up your seating die. I tumble any bullet with any number or style of grooves.

If your bullets drop at a consistent size and shape you don't have to size them.

 

[kelbro]

I've pan lubed and tumble lubed thousands and thousands of bullets and can't see ever buying a luber/sizer.

Interested in the powdercoating but I haven't been able to shoot a lot lately. Maybe next spring...

 

[hartcreek]

I have used the Lee liquid alox for more then two deckades. Technique is the key. Always use a pastic buttertub and use just enough lube so the bullets have a light brown coat.

I size my bullets as I an casting and I always quench so instead of using lube when I size my bullets are damp so I just use that little bit of residual water.

I just picked up a dany of a mold from Lee that I will be using for 7.62 x 54R and 30-06.
I have two deifferent sizers. Instead of tumbling I am using a Qtip to apply the lube to these specific cast bullets.

 

[hdbiker]

I started out pan lubing, but my last to molds I bought were tumble lube. I really like them. Just befor seating a bullet I wipe the lube off of the bullet tip with a rag diped in mineral spirits as to not have the lube build up in the seater die, then when the bullet is seated and crimped, I wipe all the lube off of the exposed lead. I also use Alox and tumble lube my other bullets that have the large lube groves, works great. hdbiker

 

[Bush Pilot]

I use alox on almost all of my lead handgun bullets. I put just a little bit on them and then cut that with mineral spirits. After drying them overnight I size them using the Lee set-up and re-lube them. I know it sounds time consuming, I just plan ahead and take my time. BTW, as much as I'm not a fan of most Lee products, alox is amazing to me, never had any leading. FWIW, I have a Star sizer and 2 RCBS sizers and prefer the alox.

 

[rsrocket1]

Go over to castboolits and look up 45/45/10 under the lube section.
45% Lee Liquid Alox
45% Johnson's paste wax
10% Oderless mineral spirits

The tumble lubed bullets have a "hard wax"-like coating that will dry completely and not leave your hands a gooey mess after loading. If you pull a bullet and powder sticks to it, you can brush it off completely.

I tumble lube all my handgun bullets whether they are tumble lube designed or traditional lube grooved and they all shoot great.

 

[dagger dog]

Spray them with WD40 and run them through the push sizer, let them dry, heat the Lee Liquid Alox or your favorite alox mix slowly with low heat until it thickens, (I bought a 12 dollar crock pot) then dip the boolits up to the crimp groove set them on wax paper to dry.

This method thanks to Ranch Dog.