prelube before push through sizing

[vernb]

I'm just wondering what people are doing for lube before sizing with a Lee push through. It's time consuming and messy to use lee liquid alox first. I have heard of pledge but I want to know it's compatible with the alox after coat

[lavenatti]

I usually just roll them around on my lube pad I use for resizing.

[Hurricane]

Lee liquid alox works great as a sizing lube. I don't waste time waiting for them to dry. I swish them in LLA and size and put gas checks on the wet boolits. Then swish them again and let them dry. The lube makes the boolits MUCH easier to size.

[rsrocket1]

If you are really lazy, just pre lube one out of three bullets. The lube from one is good enough to stay on the sizer for a couple more push throughs. Really, you should try making up or buying 45/45/10. The bullets are much easier to handle and if you are in a rush, will dry in less than an hour with a fan blowing over them. If these are handgun bullets you are talking about, I'd recommend testing a batch without sizing. Just lube and load.

[vernb]

My lee wad cutters drop at 361 a little bit bigger than I like. I have 45 45 10 also but I haven't tried it yet. I also size gas check 454 300 grain boolits. I pan lube them after sizing and checking. I always wondered if the alox interferes with the check seating

[badgerblaster]

I give mine a squirt with WD40, size, quick towel dry then dip lube.
It seems to work OK but I'm interested in what others are doing.

[docone31]

I use dish soap, then an hot soak prior to pan lubing.

[C. Latch]

I put them on a towel, drizzle a squirt of EVOO on them, swish around, and size. It only takes a couple of drops for a lot of bullets.

[BABore]

Homemade case lube made from 16 ozs of Iso-Heat (100% methyl-alcohol) and 2-3 tsp's of liquid lanolin purchased from hippie health food store applied with a small pump-spray bottle from a beauty shop supply.

WD-40 is not a good high pressure lube. Don't buy that? Try it out for case sizing lube.

[DeanWinchester]

I usually end up lapping all my push through sizers anyway and the finish is MUCH better when I'm done. The better finish doesn't 'grab' as I pouch boolits through. I rarely 'prelube' although, my method for pan lubing basically does just that. I pan lube unsized boolits and size them afterwards. All my tumble lube boolits [the ones I actually size to begin with] get sized dry and tumbled after the fact.

[kbstenberg]

You have to remember that if you are going to use an alternative coating. PC or HT The bullets have to be cleaned before coating, and that HT does not stick as well when the bullet is sized before coating. Kevin

[Rex]

I've push through sized a lot of boolits with no lube, they came out just fine. I have sprayed a pan full with WD-40 or Rem Oil, rolled them around and they sized just as well actually couldn't tell the difference.
Pan lube when I get done.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

I use dish soap straight from the bottle on a stamp pad, roll & squeeze.
Only need to do every 3rd one. It dries and its sticky, no lube issues here but I aint
painting or powder coating

[dudel]

Without loob, I leaded up the Lee push through sizer. With loob, they size much easier.

LLA works fine for me. Dries faster and less sticky when mixed 50/50 with solvent.

[Whiterabbit]

I go in dry. But (big but here), I use the push throughs with gas check bullets only, or bullets that already went through a conventional luber. No leading problems when you have a gas check lip to scrap the die clean on the way through.

[landers]

I hit my batch of bullets with a quick spray of Hornady One Shot case lube, its fast, clean, and works great. This has made sizing so much easier especially on a few bullets that cast a little large. I have also discovered the aerosol can seems to work much better than the pump spray bottle.

[RG1911]

I don't know if the Lee works differently, but with my old Star, I found that if I applied a very thin coat of Imperial lube to my thumb and forefinger, the tiny bit that was transferred to the bullet when I picked it up was all the lube it needed. One coating on my fingers usually was good for 10 or so.

Richard

[Walter Laich]

Looks like I'm the only one that doesn't use lube when I size mine. I tried once but wasn't all that much easier and without it can leave out a step

[vernb]

I'm not crazy about having to wash my bullets after sizing . I thought wd40 was a big no no anywhere near a reloading bench. I guess my concern is that pan lube wouldn't stick to the sizing lube. Nobody is using pledge ?

[Whiterabbit]

I thought wd40 was a big no no anywhere near a reloading bench.

huh? why would you think that?

[Larry Gibson]

Depends on how much the bullets are sized. I usually use a light spray of case lube if sizing is less than .002. Otherwise if sizing .002+ I lube the bullets with LLA first, especially TL designed bullets, and let thoroughly dry (usually 48+ hours). that keeps the smaller TL grooves intact and they do not smear away and sizing is much easier.

Larry Gibson

[vernb]

Doesn't wd40 kill primers and hurt powder?

[Airman Basic]

Doesn't wd40 kill primers and hurt powder?
It's dry by the time the LLA or 45-45-10 is dry.

[Whiterabbit]

lots of solvents kill primers and clump powder. why is wd40 different?

[fastfire]

I use 2oz lanolin in 10oz 90% alcohol in a spray bottle.A couple of squirts and size-um.
I clean the lube in a soaking of acetone 15-20 minutes,dry and ES powder coat then size w/out lube.

[blikseme300]

huh? why would you think that?

It kills primers.

[blikseme300]

Homemade case lube made from 16 ozs of Iso-Heat (100% methyl-alcohol) and 2-3 tsp's of liquid lanolin purchased from hippie health food store applied with a small pump-spray bottle from a beauty shop supply.

WD-40 is not a good high pressure lube. Don't buy that? Try it out for case sizing lube.

I use a similar method of alcohol/lanolin light spray on the boolits before sizing. I fill 4' tubes to feed my Star's and after a light mist of lube they pass through the sizer like #### through a duck. Lanolin is a very good high pressure lube as any old school metal stamping tool maker will tell you.

[hickfu]

I use my pan lube that I havent melted into a pan yet... I just put it up to the sizer and run the ram up into it pushing a nice round bit of lube through the sizing die. Then I can run 20 to 30 boolits through with no problems at all. Then I squish the lube that went through the sizer a little and run it through again. I do this all the time and never have any issues sizing unlubed boolits.


Doc

[IDIDIT2]

newbee casting question
I Have (1) 357 hp mould and (1) 359 hp mould and was think of only keeping 1 and sell the other 4 cavity
i plugged my 9mm cz and get .3554
confused at sizing some say add .001 others say .002
do i size to .356 or .357. and just keep the 357 mould
what is the limit to size down from a 359 mould

thanks you for your input

[Whiterabbit]

It kills primers.

Hey blik,

you missed the rest of the discussion. We're all aware of that, but so do many solvents and oils. Why pick on WD40 as opposed to any other primer killing solvent or oil?

[blikseme300]

Hey blik,

you missed the rest of the discussion. We're all aware of that, but so do many solvents and oils. Why pick on WD40 as opposed to any other primer killing solvent or oil?

I missed nothing of the discussion. WD40 is a junk product that has no place in any work shop. This is my opinion of course but others have the same freedom of choice as I have.

[rhead]

I use dish washing detergent cut with water. when i size.

[bedbugbilly]

I put 'em in a tupperware bowl - heat with hair dryer - add a small amount of paste wax and tumble lube them. After sizing, I repeat procedure of putting in bowl, heating but add a little more paste wax and a very small amount of Alox - tumble lube and set out on wax paper to dry overnight. They aren't "sticky" when dry and I've never had a leading problem. I do this for the TL design (if sizing is needed) as well as the regular lube groove design.

[stu1ritter]

I missed nothing of the discussion. WD40 is a junk product that has no place in any work shop. This is my opinion of course but others have the same freedom of choice as I have.

WD40, as evidenced from the name, is nothing but a Water Displacement solvent and the 40th try to get the product right. It's great for spraying inside a wet distributor cap to eliminate the moisture, but that's about it. Many folks use it for the wrong purpose. It is a mediocre solvent and a miserable lubricant as it was never designed for that.
Stu

[Jack Stanley]

Just a small amount of Johnsons paste wax and a handfull of bullets tumbled together to spread the wax works well on the small bore bullets I'm sizing . Sometimes I use this method for thirty caliber and after sizing use liquid alox for my gallery loads .

Jack

[JimA]

It kills primers.

According to the "Box of Truth" the only way WD40 can hurt primers is if you spray it directly into the priming compound. They left WD40 on loaded rounds on the primers for 6 weeks and they all fired normally. Another one of the myths that has been repeated until everyone thinks it is true, is if you get any oil/WD40 in the firing pin channel it will migrate to the primers and kill them.

[Whiterabbit]

I missed nothing of the discussion. WD40 is a junk product that has no place in any work shop. This is my opinion of course but others have the same freedom of choice as I have.

then THAT is why you don't have it on your bench, has nothing to do with deactivating primers or clumping powder. You and others are searching for Other ways to justify your personal opinions about WD-40.

stu1ritter really hit the nail on the head though imo, took it a bit farther.

I think a lot of folks single out wd-40 by mis-using it then use fake excuses to further single it out.


--------------

Who says duct tape is a junk product because it doesn't stick well? Who really "repairs everything" with duct tape? It's the flip side of the WD-40 coin, and I don't know anyone who treats Duct tape with the same disdain as wd-40 just because you cannot hold a jumbo-jet together in flight using it (aka wrong application).

[dondiego]

WD-40 is a great wasp nest killer. I always have a can in the barn. It is not a good lube or rust preventative and was not designed as such. It removes the rust preventative and the lube and that is why things rust after it is used, but it does displace water and clean things well. Just need to lube after use.

[zuke]

Straight Dawn dishwashing liquid applied the same way I tumble lube. Then a couple rinse's and it's all gone and clean,sized boolit's.

[Quiettime]

Tumble in Johnson Paste Wax. Quicker and not as messy as LLA.

I do like to use 45/45/10 on the finished product

[jhrosier]

The Lee case lube (not lla) works well. I put some on a cleaning patch and give a quick wipe to the first couple then every second boolit. It leaves so little residue behind that I don't bother to wipe it off after sizing.
It does not affect subsequent applications of LLA.

Jack

[Kansas Ed]

duct tape....... just because you cannot hold a jumbo-jet together in flight using it (aka wrong application).

I used to work flight on the Citation X (The fastest business jet in the world)...and we would hold down external air pressure sensors with duct tape on the control surfaces during flight testing. So you might be able to told together a jumbo jet with that stuff. :lol:

Ed

[vernb]

Just a follow up. I have a block of bullet lube for pan lubing . I rolled a bullet on it and sized it. Then the next 5 I ran dry. I then rolled another and so on and so on. After I tumble lubed some in 45/ 45/ 10 I would resize one and continue sizing 5 more. I noticed no difference between the wet recluse lube and the hard bullet lube. It went well. And my first use of 45/45/10 was less messy than lla

[DrCaveman]

Hmm. Wd40 works fine for pushing through gas checked boolits for sizing, when i dont wanna lube them that day...or week. It aint causing my boolits to rust, and there is no leading of the sizing die...

Yeah, it's not a real 'lubricant' but it has its place. I do believe i picked up the habit from ranchdog's advice on lube procedures.

Lately, rem oil or similar has worked nicely for sizing gaschecked boolits. Just wipe em off, and let dry for a few days... If the lube wasnt sticking properly afterward, i think i would notice. Not that im an expert but i do have eyes and hands...

[sthwestvictoria]

Homemade case lube made from 16 ozs of Iso-Heat (100% methyl-alcohol) and 2-3 tsp's of liquid lanolin purchased from hippie health food store applied with a small pump-spray bottle from a beauty shop supply.

I do the similar job with lanolin however I use a commercial lanolin product here in Australia called Lanox.
101091
I figure there is lanolin in my pan lube so a little when I size is not going to be here or there. Great case lube too.
I only do this if I need to heat treat, to avoid sizing after heat treating. If heat treating then: cast>GC>thin spray Lanox>size>heattreat>pan lube>age>load

If Air Cooled only: cast>GC>pan lube>size>age>load

[Shiloh]

Usually just mineral spirits. I have used case lube, and alox cut very, very thin with mineral spirits.

Shiloh

[Airman Basic]

Haven't seen my method, which is no lube at all. Usually size my boolits so close to as cast diameter that I don't need lube. Then 1 coat of 45-45-10, then shoot.