liquid Alox build up in seating die

[LeRoy.Beans]

I like using liquid Alox for lube on many of my cast bullets. But I get continual build ups of the lube on my seating dies which result in the bullets being seated ever deeper in the cases. I stop every so often and gouge the stuff out with a Popsicle stick, but that is a PITA, and I still have some variation in seating depth that I would like to avoid. Is there a simple way of avoiding this besides polishing the noses of each bullet before seating? When I do that, I disturb the lube on the sides of the bullets where I need it the most.

[exile]

I like using liquid Alox for lube on many of my cast bullets. But I get continual build ups of the lube on my seating dies which result in the bullets being seated ever deeper in the cases. I stop every so often and gouge the stuff out with a Popsicle stick, but that is a PITA, and I still have some variation in seating depth that I would like to avoid. Is there a simple way of avoiding this besides polishing the noses of each bullet before seating? When I do that, I disturb the lube on the sides of the bullets where I need it the most.

I know less than anyone on this site, but one thing I do know is that 45/45/10 works! 45 percent Alox, 45 percent Johnson's Paste Wax, 10 percent mineral spirits. I mix mine up in very small batches in the bottom of a coffee cup, swirl in plastic container, let dry for two days on wax paper, size in Lee push through sizer, lube again, let dry for another two days and load as usual. A dab the size of the end of my little finger will lube 50-75 boolits. If you can see it on the boolits when you're done, you used too much. No fuss, no muss, try it, you'll like it. Take care.

exile

[twc1964]

Are you using the alox straight? Ive found it to be really sticky that way. I switched to the 45-45-10 lube and its not sticky at all. White label lube makes it and its cheap and goes a long way. It wont gum up your dies either.

[LeRoy.Beans]

J&J paste wax? I've got some, but it's paste that doesn't seem very compatible with liquid. Will the mineral spirits dissolve it? I'll have to try mixing some up. Obviously, I'm way behind the curve here.

[btroj]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?67654-Tumble-Lubing-Made-Easy-amp-Mess-Free

Follow the instructions. It works very well and won't leave that buildup.

[Beesdad]

White label is the way to go. I have mixed my own in the past but it was hard to find JP wax.

I have found that you can dry the White Label with a heat gun and it takes only minutes to do a large batch..

[Love Life]

Also, look up Ben's Liquid Lube in the lube section.

[Ben]

LeRoy.Bean (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/member.php?38519-LeRoy-Beans)s

This will definitely resolve your problem :

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?259285-NEW-!-!-T-L-Liquid-Lube

[rsrocket1]

What I do when I seat boolits coated with 45/45/10 is after each 100 loaded (simply when I run out of primers in the tube), I take a cotton swab soaked in mineral spirits and run it around the seating face of the seat stem. I mark the spots on the die and seat knob so I know where the correct seating depth is and I'm ready to go for another 100. I use a magic marker so that if I ever change anything the old mark cleans off easily with mineral spirits, IPA or just about anything else.

The trick is to not use too much. Most loaders use way too much LLA. It should look like a very light tan haze, not a thick layer of brown splotches. Alox can stay tacky forever. 45/45/10 dries overnight or in about 1/2 hour with a fan blowing on it.

[mdi]

Anything on the exposed part/nose of the bullet can come off and clog the seating die, some more than others. With the ease of tumble lubing you gotta give up something, like clean dies. Alox, 45-45-10, straight JPW, any coating on the nose will eventually goop up your die (yes, you can get 45-45-10 on really thick too). Thinner applications of the lubes helps but sooner or later dies must be cleaned. One solution that I use is I dip lube when I use a "traditional" tumble lube, which leaves the nose clean. Also I keep a rag/towel on my bench and lightly wipe the nose of the bullet before I insert it into the case. Yep you can save a lot of time when tumble lubing, but there's the potential of your process slowing down to clean the equipment...

[prs]

When I used Recluse lube, cooked JPW, LLA, and spirits; I had little to no such lube fouling of my seat or crimp dies. It dries more thoroughly. Now I chiefly use powder coat paint on smokeless rounds and, of course, there is no residue in dies at all.

prs

[quilbilly]

It does tend to build up in the dies of the boolits that like that lube so occasionally I will use a bore brush and some lacquer thinner to clean it out.

[Outpost75]

the 45-45-10 or diluted LLA work best. You need very little lube for standard pressure handgun loads, just enough to turn the bullets a uniform brassy color.

In seater dies i use on progressive presses I have a bleed hole EDM'ed through the die body so that if lube builds up in the die it just extrudes out a thin spaghetti-like rod of it, which I save and use for fluxing the pot.

Erik at www.hollowpointmold.com can do bleed holes in RCBS, Redding and most makes of dies.

[leeggen]

not hard to cure, a little light oil on a rag strip and a quick swipe with the boolit nose and all will be fine. No build up and the die gets a little oil coat to protect it.
CD

[LeRoy.Beans]

Funny you should say that leeggen. I just finished cleaning my die with Hoppe's #9. I wiped noses, but not enough and I have too much on the bullet. I'm a learnin' though.


Slowly :)

[Walstr]

Some Dillon die sets have push on clips to easily remove the seating portion or the belling mandrel from the top. I use Delux Alox also.

[stu1ritter]

Using the LnL system, I just pop out the seater every once in awhile and a q-tip in naptha or thinner and swab out the gunk. Works well.
Stu

[10x]

I use Brake Kleen® to clean out the bullet seating die every so often.
I also use Lee Liquid alox diluted about 50/50 with Brake Kleen® so that the stuff goes on every lightly. I have yet to have enough bullet lube to build up in a seating die to change overall length.

[Duckdog]

Good thread. I have dummy rounds for everything that are crimped in good and tight, so after removing the seating stem for an occasional cleaning, it is a cinch to get the same bullet seating depth again. I also, as stated above, mark the seating die depth on the die itself to aid in getting it back to the same spot.

I might have to try some of the bullet lubes listed above. I already us JPW straight on pistol rounds, but I am hesitant to try it on rifle rounds. Maybe the listed concoctions are the ticket to keep my dies cleaner!

[sig2009]

I stopped using Alox for just that reason!

[Shiloh]

You have to clean this out from time to time. You will find that your seating depth starts getting deeper. I cleaned out my 38/357 dies last fall. Alox gets all over the boolit. Traditional lube for the most part, is confined to the lube groves. Traditional lube can build up as well.

Shiloh

[mdr8088]

I take mine apart and clean them, about every hundred rounds. You'd be surprised the amount of brass and **** that gets in your sizer, expander, seating, and fcd dies. I've played around with a lot of different lubes. Never found anything that totally eliminates this. If I have to stop in the middle of a hundred batch, to clean my seating die, I don't use that lube again.

[prs]

Gumming-up in just 100 rounds? Say it ain't so.

prs

EDIT: I failed to notice the "Bring the smoke" motto. Black powder lube, I can see that packing a die in 100. Damn well worth it though.

prs

[stinjie]

After tumbling with the LLA,setting them on their bases on wax paper,lay a paper towel over top of them,press down by hand a few seconds.This removes enough lube from the noses to keep the seating die/stem from gunking up too much.

[runfiverun]

if it's coming off you put too much on.
try this on your next batch.

cut the lla with more mineral spirits. 50% should be good.
heat the lube up until it's hot.
heat up your boolits with a hair dryer until they are hot.
now apply the lube.
but only apply about half of what you normally apply.
now the other benefit.
put the hot lubed boolits down in front of a fan [cookie sheet with wax paper] and come back in half an hour and roll the boolits over.

I had to add some pigment to my 45/45/10 lube so I could see it.
my second coat after sizing is generally just more mineral spirits and some juggling.

[LeRoy.Beans]

I have learned much from you guys and I greatly appreciate it.

Up until now, I have lubed my bullets with sizing lube on a case-lubing pad, then sized, then applied two coats of straight LLA, letting it get thick and trying to fill up the grooves as much as possible.

What is clear to me now is that I have been using 10x too much lube, maybe more. Yesterday, I bought a can of Johnson's Liquid Floor Wax at Lowes and I'll be using that with LLA in my next attempt. But I have about 100 bullets loaded and ready to go first. The next 100 will be much much easier thanks to all of you.

[Ben]

Once you've made Ben's Liquid Lube and used it , I doubt that you'll look back.........

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?259285-NEW-!-!-T-L-Liquid-Lube

[LeRoy.Beans]

Once you've made Ben's Liquid Lube and used it , I doubt that you'll look back.........

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?259285-NEW-!-!-T-L-Liquid-Lube

I suspect you are right. But I get all queasy about shooting bullets with little lube on them. Still, I came here for advice, so I am certainly going to follow it.

Many thanks.

[runfiverun]

lee's lube relies on the boolit doing the work anyway, adding more does nothing except gunk up dies [and other stuff] as you have seen.

[zuke]

Remove the seater plug and clean with a solvent soaked patch then dry