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View Full Version : What do you use to lube bullets to size before PC ?



kryogen
02-23-2014, 10:52 PM
What do you use to lube bullets to size before PC ?

My 358 mold bullets drop at 360. Therefore I would like to size, then PC, then size again.

What should I use to lube so I dont ruin the PC ability to bond? water and soap? what do you guys use? Then wash the boolits?

Anything easier? I don't really want to spray them with case lube or something.

Or just PC as is, and then size once? Will be a 3-4 thou size, will it chip the coating?

How do you do it?

pretzelxx
02-23-2014, 10:57 PM
The theory behind the powder coat is that it never chips, it should stay with the lead and smudge, but not chip.

I've heard people size before pc and after. I guess it depends on how many thousandths over the boolits come out.

catman81056
02-23-2014, 11:22 PM
I size before PC'ing and after. I don't use any lube, just run them thru the sizer. Haven't had any probs yet.

kryogen
02-23-2014, 11:23 PM
they size much harder when not lubed, and they seem to "smear" lead in the lee sizer die.

Water and soap maybe? then rinse, then dry, then PC?

catman81056
02-23-2014, 11:26 PM
My alloy is a 50/50 mix of COWW and pure lead +2% tin. I have no problems running them thru the Lee sizer and I haven't noticed any smearing.
Try PCing a few without any kind of lube then run them thru the sizer, they might be alittle tough but the PC will stay on. That's how I do my 9MM boolits. They drop right at .357 so I PC them then size to .358.

totalloser
02-24-2014, 12:26 AM
If I were to lube and size before PC and then again after, I'd try diswashing detergent. I used to use Dawn to lube draft hose couplings to get the hose over the ends and it's pretty slippery. And it should remove any petro contaminants and is water soluble.

I don't size before PC, only after. And I do use lube- just makes it smoother. I wipe my boolit handling fingers across an oiled sponge before sizing to get just a tiny bit of lube on them. Really doesn't take much and just feels gentler on everything.

Beagle333
02-24-2014, 12:33 AM
I don't lube, I just size, PC, and size again. But I'm not sizing down more than .0015 or .002 the first time.

Hang Fire
02-24-2014, 05:53 AM
Liquid soap is a pretty good lubricant, back in the 1960s we used it to lube air compressor for hookah diving.

donhuff
02-24-2014, 10:34 AM
I use a light spray of CRC heavy duty silicone. Before PCing or after PCing. It is amazing how much easier they go through the sizer. I pour them out one layer deep on a rag and give them a light spraying. Then grab the rag by the corners and pick em up, and roll them around a little to distribute the lube. BE QUICK with this if doing after PCing and lay them down and spread out thin to dry. The solvent they use will soften the PC if you spray heavy or keep them piled up so that they cant dry quickly. Give the a couple minutes to dry and start sizing. It takes 3-5 before you get a good coat of lube in the sizer. But then the almost fall through. First time I tried it, I thought that I had cast a bunch of small slugs cause the effort was so little.


I use straight wheel weights so my alloy is pretty soft especially after curing the PC. So if the bullet is much over sized, and hard to get through the sizer, the nose or base might get deformed a little by the top punch. With the silicone, there is never a problem with this.

After sizing and before PCing, I rinse the bullets with a little acetone or toluene or lacquer thinner (whatevers handy) to get rid of the silicone. Never had a problem with the PC sticking to the cleaned bullets.

prickett
02-24-2014, 02:26 PM
+1 on the silicone spray.

I used it when I was using Klass Kote. That dried hard as a rock and was hell to size. Silicone fixed that.

flyingrhino
02-24-2014, 02:46 PM
I size after coating. It doesn't hurt the PC. Saves a step. I cast, coat, then size.

Super Sneaky Steve
02-24-2014, 08:15 PM
Sometimes I used Hornady One Shot Case Lube. It's a dry lube so it shouldn't mess with the PC.

Floydster
02-24-2014, 09:25 PM
Yup, I use Hornady one shot also, put my bullets in a Baggie, spray a little lube in, nead the bullets a little, dump them out, let them dry a few minutes, good to go.

retread
02-24-2014, 09:28 PM
I size after coating. It doesn't hurt the PC. Saves a step. I cast, coat, then size.

Second that. No problems. Have done thousand at least that way.

Walter Laich
02-24-2014, 11:55 PM
I size after coating. It doesn't hurt the PC. Saves a step. I cast, coat, then size.

+1 use the Lee single stage sizer and it works without any additional lube

kryogen
02-24-2014, 11:56 PM
Second that. No problems. Have done thousand at least that way.

ok will try this, and will lube the coated bullets a bit I guess.

retread
02-25-2014, 02:16 AM
I don't bother with lube except for what may be present from earlier sizing. Have not had any PC come off or mar in any way.

MacFan
02-25-2014, 06:23 AM
Dawn dish detergent before PC'ing, nothing but PC on the bullets after.

HDS
02-25-2014, 05:25 PM
I haven't done any of this but it seems it can't hurt to tumble the ready PC'ed bullets in carnauba wax when still hot.

kryogen
02-25-2014, 11:17 PM
ok I pced a few tonight with my new gun, and they sized fine unlubed all the way
so no sizing from the mold, and no lube after cooking.
the pc didnt flake or anything, they went a bit rough but nothing too bad. Maybe I'll try some silicon spray on the next batch.

russs
02-25-2014, 11:51 PM
I size, PC, then size again. No lube, no problem in a lee sizer.

a.squibload
02-26-2014, 12:56 AM
Cast, PC, size (no lube) seems to work fine.

donhuff
02-26-2014, 08:55 AM
The lube IS NOT necessary at all. You can size without it just fine.

BUT, the sizing process will go so much easier with a little spray of silicone.

If your only doing a few bullets it's no big deal, but when I have 300-500 to size. I want it to be as easy as possible.

What I have noticed is that when sizing with my Lyman 450, and a regular sizing die installed, If I do not use lube. Some of the bullets, that are larger and need a good bit of squeezing down, and also the larger calibers 44 45. Take more force to push through the sizer. The holes in the GH&I die will scrape some of the PC off. Meaning that I am apply enough force to slightly expand the bullet on it's way through the die. With the silicone, the scraping goes away as the force to get it through the die is reduced to 1/3rd or less.

I have started making my own sizer dies, using a set of adjustable reamers, sandpaper and polish. This way I get rid of the hoes for the lube to come through and also I can have any size I want. I also make them larger at the top so that I can just drop the slugs into the hole nose first, and they self align, and get the proper sizing at the bottom half inch of the die. This also speed up the process a lot, since I don't have to "aim" the top punch to hit the nose correctly.

flyingrhino
02-28-2014, 02:39 PM
Since I started PC'ing I have never used a lube. The powder coat is tough enough to go through the sizer without damage. It actually comes out shinier. My Lee molds drop dead on diameter. PC adds maybe .0005". Run them through my Lee push through sizing die. It makes sure they are concentric and takes off any flashing on the bottom. Have run 1000's this way. Minimum steps. No cleaning of lubes. Shoot great.

Super Sneaky Steve
02-28-2014, 05:31 PM
I'd only size first to seat a GC. In case the added PC made it hard to put the GC on the base.

DxieLandMan
03-10-2014, 12:38 PM
Is it really necessary to size PC boolits?

Beagle333
03-10-2014, 12:39 PM
It depends on how big they are when you coat them. PC adds about .002 to mine. 8-)

My lymans drop at .358 and I coat to .360 and size back down to .358
My MiHec, NOE and Accurates usually drop .360 so I size to .358 first, coat to .360, and size back to .358 again.

DxieLandMan
03-10-2014, 12:45 PM
Thank you, Beagle333. I'll measure mine this weekend too but I may just go on and buy a sizer.

Jupiter7
03-10-2014, 02:37 PM
It makes me wonder if a stepped(2stage) sizing die is possible? Maybe .002-.003 a stage. Like a lot of us, we've got molds oversized and that leaves us room for multiple firearms usage. A few of my .30 cal molds are .314 to start and would be .316 after PC and desired to shoot at .310. Handling boolits twice seems like too much work and maybe alleviated with a simple tool. Maybe I should contact Buckshot....

Cloudwraith
03-29-2014, 08:55 PM
My lymans drop at .358 and I coat to .360 and size back down to .358

So by corollary if my lee drops at .358 could I size to .356 then PC back to .358 or is it always better to size AFTER PC?

BT8850
03-31-2014, 08:33 AM
I size after coating. It doesn't hurt the PC. Saves a step. I cast, coat, then size.

This is the method I use also. Initially I put 3 coats of PC on to my unsized .401 bullets, which brought them up to .409-.410, then ran them through the Lee .401 sizer die with no problems at all. No chips in coating, streaking, etc and bullets are right back to .401! The PC is some tough stuff. Also, having the sizing die as high up in my rock chucker press gives me pretty good leverage, they go through pretty easy. Now that i've got it down to 1 or 2 coats of PC they all but glide through the sizer :) moral of story: I cast, tumble coat, size. No lube involved, works good

Beagle333
03-31-2014, 10:52 AM
So by corollary if my lee drops at .358 could I size to .356 then PC back to .358 or is it always better to size AFTER PC?

I would size after PC. I would drop at .358, coat to .360 and size back to .358
This will let the lead absorb any small lumps or voids you might create and also make sure you don't end up at .3575 if you don't get an exact .0020 coating. :cool:

Coating makes em slick!!! Sometimes I have to check my die to make sure I'm using the right one.
I have sized some down .004 and had to get out my micrometer to make sure everything was as I thought. They didn't feel like it was any more effort than the ones that only had to be sized .001 ;-)

Cloudwraith
04-01-2014, 06:22 PM
My thinking was since I only have a .356 sizing die currently would it be ok to go that route.

LubeckTech
04-05-2014, 03:23 PM
It depends on the boolit's diameter. Some I don't size at all, some before and after and some after only. When I size after coating no lube is required as for before if the boolit goes smoothly thru the sizing die I don't lube when I do lube I use a cheap silicone spray I get at WalMart. I put the boolits in a plastic container, spray a little lube then roll them around to give a LIGHT coat. After sizing I clean them in a seperate container by rolling them in a little alcohol.

Beagle333
04-05-2014, 03:32 PM
My thinking was since I only have a .356 sizing die currently would it be ok to go that route.

You could..... but I'm not sure how you'll know you're getting .002 of coating every time. That'll be a tricky "eyeballing" kinda thing.
You might get it down, but I just don't see being that precise with a spray coating thickness, especially not all the way around the boolit.

I'd say.... put a WTB ad in the S&S forum and see if you can't pick up a used Lee .358 push thru sizer for 12-15 bucks. :coffeecom

Another option is.... you can get the barrel itself here for 15 + ship and use your .356 punch and lock nut.
https://fsreloading.com/lee-precision-bullet-sizer-.358-bs1324.html

edit:
on second glance.... the whole kit is just 2 bucks more.
https://fsreloading.com/lee-precision-new-lube--size-kit-.358-90048.html

ipijohn
04-05-2014, 04:25 PM
My thinking was since I only have a .356 sizing die currently would it be ok to go that route.

Why not take some 400 grit wet/dry paper on a dowel rod and make your .356 into a .358? No cost and fixes the problem.