No joy in lubing bullets!

[GoatGuy]

I hate lubing bullets!!! Despite having been reloading for 45 some years, I had never had done any lubing until a couple of weeks ago. Don't own any equipment to do it, and, furthermore, never in all those years cared to own any of it.

The story - Had 700+ .452 caliber, 255 gr. SWC bullets with the blue "crayola" lube. Was getting leading in my Smith 625-7 .45 Colt Mountain Gun with a load somewhat over 900 fps. My good friend suggested I boil the hard blue stuff out and re-lube with some "good stuff". He's all set up up and offered his lube equipment and lube.

Boiling those hundreds of bullets was a big chore in and of itself, but MAN, what a h**l of a boring, sticky, monotonous PIA that lubing effort was. When the ordeal was over, I had that sticky lube all over my fingers, on my shirt, jeans and when I got home found a wad stuck in my beard. Hated it. And hate it worse to confess,… those bullets now seem to have eliminated my leading problem in that N frame Smith.

Now my friend is encouraging me to boil and lube the 500 RNFP bullets, from the same bullet maker, with the same blue crayola lube. Not sure I’m ready to spend another day on earth at that. So, I’m debating whether to tell him my doctor has diagnosed me with severe nerve damage in my shoulder from cranking that lube lever, or that I’ve decided to use those bullets in 500 “powder puff” CAS loads. Naw, he wouldn’t believe either of those tales. Guess I’ll just put my big boy pants on and get it over with.

[Rusty]

Couldn't you melt the lube and dip 'em in?

[GoatGuy]

No my friend wouldn't let me. I had asked about Lee's pan type lube. He just looked at me, shook his head and gave a big sigh!
I got the message. Besides, all that hand dipping 763 bullets most likely been a worse experience!

[J Miller]

GoatGuy,

I have done the same thing you just did and have several different ways to relube those bullets.

First, I don't boil the lube out of the bullet, I use a small screw driver and just flick it out. The crayola lube is so hard it will just pop out. Still a pain in the neck but not as messy. Then run the bullets through the Lube-A-Matic. All done. Keep some rags or paper towels handy to wipe your hands. Using your clothes or beard don't work so well.

Second, I just leave the hard lube and run the bullets through my Lube-A-Matic. That fills in all the missing lube and helps a bunch.

Or Third, I just lube the bullets as they are with Lee Liquid Alox. That is a good way to do it.
I just put the bullets in one of those sealable food storage things put in some alox then tumble them till they are all covered. Lay them out on a sheet of wax paper overnight and you're done.

It sounds to me like your friend has made it a lot harder than it needs to be.

Joe

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Yeah, don't boil the lube out. Much simpler, and less messy, to melt it out in the oven. Get yourself a cookie sheet, cover it with two layers of paper towels, lay all the bullets on their sides on the paper, set the oven for 200 degrees F and come back in 1/2 hour. The paper towels will wick out 90% of the lube, the little that remains is of no consequence.

Before I bought my Star lubrisizer I used to pan lube all my Black Powder bullets with soft BP compatible lube, 50/50 crisco and paraffin. Very simple to do, no dipping is involved. I'd be happy to post my procedure.

These days I do all my lube sizing with my Star. I can lube/size hundreds of bullets in a few hours while sitting and watching TV.

[Griff]

Heed Joe's advice. DJ's method for gettin' rid of the old lube is spot on. Lubing is a messy business... glad to see you recognized that you just needed to pull up them "big-boy-pants" and get-er-done! I'm mid process in swaging primer pockets on 500 rounds of 223 brass... takin' a dinner break.

[Don McDowell]

If you're not shooting blackpowder just get a bottle of Lee liquid alox and coat those bullets and go on about your business. The alox will gunk up your seating stem after awhile, but it's not a big deal to clean it out and keep on going.
Next time be a might more careful about where you buy the cast bullets, not all bullets are cast equal, and as you've found out not everything they call lube, works.

[Chuck 100 yd]

I grab toe bullet by the nose and dip the base in Lee liquid alox that is in a shallow container with just enough LLA to cover the bullets lube groove. Scrape the bottom of the bullet oacross the container as you remove it to get rid of some of the excess and set the bullet on it`s base on a sheet of wax paper to dry. No need to lube the bullets nose. Lube right over the crayon lube that is there now.

[765x53]

If you're not shooting black powder just get a bottle of Lee liquid alox and coat those bullets and go on about your business. The alox will gunk up your seating stem after awhile, but it's not a big deal to clean it out and keep on going.
Next time be a might more careful about where you buy the cast bullets, not all bullets are cast equal, and as you've found out not everything they call lube, works.

I agree, liquid Alox right over the old lube will make the leading go away.
Even if your are shooting black powder, liquid Alox works just fine.
Dusting the finished bullets with mica will slow the gunking of your seating stem.

[mikld]

Well, you could listen to your friend and suffer, or you could find an easier way to remove the old lube. Like Driftwood, I just put them in my toaster oven. I put some paper towels on a cookie sheet (no it don't catch fire), set the oven to 175-200 degrees, put the bullets in, and "cook" 'em for 1/2 hour or so. The paper towels absorb the melted lube and there's less of a mess...

Nuttin' wrong with pan lubing. I think your friend may be a "tool snob" in that he looks down on any method he doesn't use.

[TedH]

Forget everything you have ever been told about cast bullets and lubing them. Google "powder coating cast bullets", or do a search over on the Cast Boolit forum. Once you get set up it's faster and much better results than old school bullet lubes, almost like shooting jacketed bullets. I got set up for less than $30 bucks. A $16 toaster oven from Walmart, a $6 can of powder coat from Harbor Freight and a $4 bottle of Acetone. Here's one of my 45's from a Lee mold that I converted to a hollow point and then powder coated. They shoot very clean, no smoke, and can be pushed almost as fast as jacketed bullets. There are guys shooting powder coated bullets in AR's and 30 cal centerfires with great results.

20131112_080217.jpeg

Here's a 9mm with a 125 gr. Lee RN

9mm.jpeg

[AJMD429]

I grab toe bullet by the nose and dip the base in Lee liquid alox that is in a shallow container with just enough LLA to cover the bullets lube groove. Scrape the bottom of the bullet oacross the container as you remove it to get rid of some of the excess and set the bullet on it`s base on a sheet of wax paper to dry. No need to lube the bullets nose. Lube right over the crayon lube that is there now.

+1...

[GoatGuy]

Folks, thank you for all the replies, suggestions and recommendations. All were good and helpful.
I posted my trials and tribulations somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Yes, it was a pain! No, it's not something I would look forward to doing again anytime soon. Yes, I might do it again if I just had to. Yes, my buddy enjoyed helping me out with the leading problem. Yes, he thought he was being helpful and he was. However, he's old-school just like me and I can't see him using an oven or toaster oven to melt lube. And, meaning no offense at all, picking lube out with a screwdriver may not seem like a much of a nightmare, ...if you only have a couple of dozen to do. But 750+, I don't think so. Not me!

Bought these bullets from a gun store in Roswell, NM some 10 or 12 years ago. Knew they had the crayon lube (after I got them home and opened the box.) Didn't make any difference to me then. The 1500 bullets (1000 SWC's and 500 RFN's) averaged 5 1/2 cents a piece. Pretty good price I thought, so no worries about researching/locating better crafted bullets. Just shooting fodder, as far as I was concerned.

Like I said, my friend is old school (former cop, competitive pistol shooter) and a gunsmith. He's not inclined to look for easier ways to do most things. So Lee Alox, dipping/pouring or powder coating bullets just aren't gonna be on his try list. Now I'm a little bit different, so I'm liable to try some of your options for doing it rather than the way I did this last time. Either that or just buy properly lubed bullets.

Thanks again. My post wasn't meant to be a rant, just venting about a chore I really didn't enjoy at all. I like to reload, shoot and repeat that as often as possible. Casting/lubing bullets just ain't high on my list of priorities.

[Chuck 100 yd]

If you must melt lube off of bullets, do it in a pan of water. The melted lube will float on top of the water and after cooling the cake of lube is easily removed .

I have melted bullet lube in a pan of water to make a sheet of bullet lube that I later cut into grease cookies to go between the wad and bullets base in BP cartridge loads. Load the powder and seat the card or felt wad and use the cartridge like a cookie cutter to punch out your grease cookie. Seat the bullet on top of the grease cookie. Go shoot and have fun!!!

Remelt the left overs,no waste!