Rifle Rounds, To Lube or Not to Lube.

[vmathias]

I am pretty new at the casting process and I have heard a TON on different opinions on lubing cast bullets under certain velocities. Some say Lube everything and others say if your running under a certain velocity it isnt necessary. I am looking to run 95grain 243's at approx. 16-1700fps. Opinions?

[Love Life]

Lube them.

Where are you hearing all these opinions on NOT lubing boolits?

[BruceB]

"....and some have to pee on the electric fence to find out for themselves."

[Love Life]

"....and some have to pee on the electric fence to find out for themselves."

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[kir_kenix]

Lube them. It is certainly possible to shoot very low velocity handgun rounds without lube. You can save yourself a big headache (and sore arm from scrubbing your bore) by lubing your .243 projectiles that are going to be fired north of 1600 fps.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

"J" bullets NO, Cast Boolits YES!!!!!!!!!!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[vmathias]

Lube them.

Where are you hearing all these opinions on NOT lubing boolits?

I have been doing some internet searches and have talked to some bullet Casters. Talking to some people I know they say it is a good idea but not a necessity under certain velocities. I plan on lubing everything. Just wanted some opinions. New at this and want to get as much info as possible other than what the books tell you.

[btroj]

Those who say you can get away without lubing are either experts who have discovered a specific load that works like that or have no clue what they are saying.
Beware of Internet experts, they are often easy to find on YouTube......

[cbrick]

Those who say you can get away without lubing are either experts who have discovered a specific load that works like that or have no clue what they are saying.
Beware of Internet experts, they are often easy to find on YouTube......

The odds are heavily in favor of the later . . . No clue what they are talking about. Such advice isn't worth nearly as much as you paid for it.

Rick

[ku4hx]

If any of those "TON" of opinions are from people you actually know, ask for a loading and casting demonstration. See what they're actually doing and see for yourself if they're credible.

Of course if you read near the bottom of here, you'll find some justification for shooting certain non lubricated cast boolits. This guy seems to be pretty well known in casting circles. http://www.lasc.us/brennan_5-0_bulletlubes.htm Has something to do with fillers.

[mdi]

Hmmm, I think I'll be an expert today! Nope you don't need no lube on cast lead bullets for a .243, but you need to put some brown chicken feathers, about 17.75 grains, under the bullet, don't cut the feathers up, use them whole. Cast the bullets when the moon is full and as close to 6:00 pm as possible using wheel weights from a '49 Chevy 1/2 ton P.U.....:veryconfu

[waksupi]

I doubt you have a TON of people saying to not use lube. Regardless of who they are, take no advise on reloading from them, for they may be foolish in other areas, too.

[justing]

lube all cast

[7br]

First order of business is welcoming you aboard. Part of being new at something is not knowing what you don't know. Could you have mixed up the need for gas-checks for the need for lube? Just wondering. Glad you are verifying information before you tried it.

[MtGun44]

Not lube. . . . . . LOL!

Give it a try if you want, but the electric fence point is right on target.

We frequently deal with folks that can't make it work WITH lube. Chances without
are not zero, but pretty small. Cost for lube is probably about $0.00001 per
boolit or so.


Bill

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

7br has what might be a good point. ?.?.?.

CDOC

[1Shirt]

Bruce is soooooooo-------right!!!
1Shirt!

[runfiverun]

then there is me...
if you are using something [like cow, or half jaxket] as a scraper, base protector, gas check type thing in a straight walled case.
or a big oversized [or full length] gas check in a necked case you don't need lube.
for a plain naked lead boolit you can get away without lube under some circumstances for a while.
if you use other metals like zinc, brass, mild steel or iron you don't need lube there either, but you do have to still clean the barrel.

[.22-10-45]

Phill Sharpe In the Complete Guide To Handloading, suggested for the newbie to load & shoot a batch of unlubed bullets..this did two things..reinforced the need for lubrication..and gave the new guy good experience in finding the best lead removal method..Some people just have to learn the hard way!

[Marlin Junky]

The only gun I have personally witnessed to shoot half way decent without lube was a big bore air-rifle using virtually pure Pb. The velocity was in the 700-750 fps range and there was a lot of vertical stringing. I didn't examine the muzzle for signs of fouling.

MJ

[vmathias]

First order of business is welcoming you aboard. Part of being new at something is not knowing what you don't know. Could you have mixed up the need for gas-checks for the need for lube? Just wondering. Glad you are verifying information before you tried it.

Thanks for the welcoming, I have not tried anything yet and will not try until I get many, many hours of research in. I have enough training in firearms that I do know to only listen to actual documented proven material. The internet professionals are taken with a grain of salt. After writing this I realized my mistake. 7BR hit it right on the head. I was thinking gas checks, but have read that some do not use lube. Like I said I am new to this and I am sure I will be asking a few more dumb questions along the way. Haha.

[303Guy]

They may not be using lube because the boolits are coated with something like that blue stuff.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Good call 7br!

And, vmathnias, keep asking those "dumb" questions, most of which are not likely all the at dumb, and we'll keep telling you what we think we know about what we think we know something about. :veryconfu :popcorn: :grin:

In truth there is much good info available here, and even those opinions which are rendered, especially by those with some years under the belt, are usually based on experience and not just guesstimations.

Hang in there, and yes, the gas check or not to gas check is another subject beyond the lube issue.

However, I feel that the gas check issue is quite/very small when compaired to the lube situation as there must be hundreds of ways to make bullet lubes, almost all of which will have some good points.

If you get that far, just buy some of the White Label Lube, information about which you can find on this forum. Their lubes, such as the "BAC" are just so good and their prices so reasonable, it is not worth the effort to brew you own. And yes, been there and done that.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[gwpercle]

Lube all cast boolits, handgun and rifle, with or without a gas check. The " expert" who said you don't need to lube below a certian velocity is all wet. Some don't use a gas chek below a certian velocity but my rule is if a mould is cut for a gas check, then put one on it. It might be OK to shoot without but it will require experimenting with your your load / gun combination to find out.
Generally speaking, adding the GC will not make the boolit shoot worse groups.
Gary

[mehavey]

I am looking to run 95grain 243's at approx. 16-1700fps. Opinions? I highly recommend using lube -- notwithstanding anything said/read/rumored to the contrary. For one thing, you'll have a devil of a time sizing the bullets (assuming you will) without it.

Based on your speed caliber, I suggest wiping on liquid ALOX to both size and shoot. I've used traditional 50/50 Alox/Beeswax in the lubrisizer over the years, and lately the liquid Alox in the manual Lee Sizers. It has performed superbly -- especially in my 30-06 w/ 200g bullets going about the same speed as you anticipate in the 243.

[vmathias]

Awesome, I greatly appreciate the input. Cast "420" 243 bullets last night. I cannot think of anything more addicting. Looking forward to playing around with different combinations.