excess lube question

[pistolshooter]

After being away from casting for 20+ years, I have picked up a couple of moulds and finally got a few boolits cast. The first mould I cast with is a 45 cal 200gn BB SWC, my first attempt with a BB style boolit. I noticed after sizing them that there is some excess lube around the base of the bullet. Not gobs of lube, but a ring where the bullet base tapers inward and a bit on the base of the boolit. I see no way to adjust the lube die to avoid this. Should I be concerned about that lube and wipe it off before loading them (which would be a pain in the butt) or can I just leave the lube on the bullet and load them as is. Any info or opinions would be appreciated. Thanks.


al

[462]

There are numerous ways to deal with it. My way is to wipe it off -- takes but a second.

[DLCTEX]

One way is to use a styrofoam wad cut from a take out tray with an empty case mouth under the base of the boolit in the sizer. It will conform to the shape of the bevel base.

[sqlbullet]

Keep the pressure off the lub until the ram is all the way down. Then crank it up and back down, and raise the ram. Once you get the hang of it this is not as slow as it sounds.

Also, make sure you have blocked any holes in the lube die that are below your lube groove on the bullet when it is seated. On my .452 die I had to plug the bottom holes as they lined up perfectly with the bevel base and would lift the bullet out of the die with hydraulic lube pressure.

[gefiltephish]

I assume you're using a Lyman or RCBS.

Two suggestions that worked for me. 1) Avoid BB bullets. 2) Get a Star size/luber if money is not an object, and if it is start saving for one now.

Pressurizing/depressurizing each bullet helps, but you'll likely grow tired of it sooner than later. The foam trick didn't work all that well for me. You'll likely grow tired of wiping off the bases very quickly. Of course all depends on your volume, patience and how much time you want to devote to this one step in the casting/reloading process.

The difference in speed and hassle factor between the two types of sizers is alarming. My only regret with the Star is that I didn't get one 3 years earlier. I wound up wasting a lot of time and effort with the 450. I still use the 450 for rifle though, only because I don't have those dies for the Star, yet. That said, I suspect it's not the best for spire points.

[Grandpas50AE]

I do like 462, just wipe that little bit off. It won't hurt anything if left on, if it is a quality lube. I noticed that running a little less pressure on the lube will help reduce the amount that shows up on the BB.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Its a nuisance. If you don't wipe it off which takes only a spin in a rag and load the bullet with it then you could contaminate the powder. I had a machinist friend remake the die that the bullet sits on/in....with a recess that fits the BB so that no lube can get to the bottom of the bullet and around it. That solved the problem, at least for me. There is of course the ongoing question/issue as to whether the BB bullets shoot or don't shoot any better/worse than non BB bullets. I never tried to figure that one out. The one BB that I have shoots well so I've just left well enough alone. LLS

[mroliver77]

I cut wafers of foam from a tray that meat is sold in. It is tough foam! I use a larger than the caliber I am using wafer so it kinda rolls up and is thicker around the outer edge of the die and it kind forms to the boolit base. These do wear out rather fast.

Like has been said you can have a custom push stem made for your die the matches the boolit base. You could clean the stem head well and use some epoxy putty to "bed" the boolit to the stem. Make sure to use release where you dont want epoxy to stick and dont get it in lube holes!
Have somebody with lathe or mill take out the bevel from the mould.

[jonk]

This is why God created LLA or similar. There are some applications I will NOT use tumble lubes for, but my 200 gr BB mold only gets this treatment due to this very issue.

[geargnasher]

I do exactly what Sqlbullet does. You can plug all un-necessary holes by peening short pieces of solid-core plumber's lead-free solder into the holes with a small hammer. Use the ejector pin inside the die as an anvil, and plug the bottom holes, not the top ones. Peen the solder piece like a rivet head so lube pressure won't force it through the hole if you accidentally set your ejector stop depth too deep, and make sure the rivet "heads" will clear the barrel of the sizer. If not, file them down. Set your bottom stop adjustment so the lower edge of the open row of lube holes is slightly above the bottom of the lube groove, and don't overpressure your lube.

Gear

[pistolshooter]

wow. Thanks for all of the input. I was having a bit of trouble getting the lube (White Label BAC) to flow in my 38* garage even with a heater in front of the sizer. I might wait for a warmer day and work the pressure like squbullet talked about. I tried shooting them both with the bases left as is and with them wiped, and it didn't seem to make a difference, but then again, that was with me running the trigger. I really like the boolit (Saeco 68), so I will stick with it. The other boolits I cast have a plain base, which gets a bit of lube on the base, but I will leave that on and load it as is. I am wondering if the lube left on the base really contaminates the powder (that sticks to the lube), and if it really makes a difference in the accuracy.