Pan lubing gone wrong

[yondering]

I cast a few different bullet styles last night, and thought I'd pan lube a few to experiment with before lubing the whole batch. Already had a pan of lube, so I set the bullets in it, put it on the stove, and promptly got myself distracted and didn't come back in time. Came back in the kitchen to find a lot of smoke and a burnt beeswax smell; fortunately the wife wasn't home.

After pouring the burnt lube into another pan, on the stove top, and my wife's bamboo rice scooper, this is the mess I found of the bullets. Guess I won't be shooting those! Is the lube still ok to use after it's been overheated? That's it on the left of the picture, it's pretty dark brown now.

The wife hasn't found her rice scooper yet so I'm still alive.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c26/zthang43/Misc/IMG_1001a.jpg

[docone31]

Yeppir, it got hot. Melted a few castings.
I use an oven to pan lube, and I put the gas checks on after lubing.
You might want to remelt that batch. The lube will make good flux.

[JSnover]

Yeah, just remelt the whole batch, use the burnt lube for flux.

[Onlymenotu]

:groner: he he OPPPS....I'd throw it back in the smelt pile...... the checks will float.... and the lube will be flux..... Good Luck with the WIFE.... the rest is" A LEARNING EXPERIENCE" [smilie=1:

[yondering]

Yep, I normally apply the checks after lubing; those are from a batch of bullets I had previously lubed with LLA. I wanted to try a few pan lubed, so I wiped off the LLA and set them in there.

The lube that's still on the melted lead will get used as flux, but what about the stuff I poured off? Can I still use it? It was RCBS lube, pretty much a full stick of it.

[Calamity Jake]

They'll still shoot++++++++++++++++++++++++++++












If you've got a muzzle loaden cannon!!!!!!! [smilie=1:

[jonk]

I burnt some lube once. Worked for low velocity loads fine, but not so well for high speed rifle.

[GSM]

Hmmmmm. Pre-fluxed lead. You may have stumbled onto something there [smilie=1:

Not sure what to tell you about the rice scoop, except deny, deny, deny. If there were no witnesses, it's only hearsay.

[WARD O]

You have a different technique ... My pan lubing is mostly for BPCR and mostly with big bullets and soft lube like SPG. When I do it I use one of those new fangled flexible rubber baking pans and stand all my bullets in there carefully. Then I melt my lube in a double boiler on the stove and slowly pour the lube into the pan with the bullets. That way I can control the depth of the lube and how many lube grooves get filled.

After some cooling time the flexible pan allows me to simply pop the lube cake and bullets out of the pan. With this softer lube I can simply use thumb pressure on the bullet nose and push the lubed bullet out of the cake. With this method the lube stays in the grooves and my bullets are ready to load (since I am shooting as cast and not sizing these bullets.)

I have used this method on handgun bullets and it seems to work quite well even with smaller lube grooves.

Ward

[yondering]

Maybe I can blame the rice scooper on the cat, or one of the kids. It sure soaked up that hot lube like crazy, I think it's pretty much waterproof now. Maybe if I hide it, she'll forget? [smilie=1:

I hadn't heard of those flexible rubber baking pans, might have to get one as that sounds like a good way to do it. I've been using the cookie cutter method, which seems to work well. I haven't tried pouring the melted lube into the pan with the bullets in place, but I did try melting the lube and setting the bullets into the melt. Seems like the cold bullets cooled off the lube too fast so the grooves didn't get filled completely. I've only tried the RCBS lube though, I need to get some other lubes to try.

[docone31]

I pan lube. It is simple for me. I did 500 .312 bullets that way.
I got a cookie sheet and designated it for lubing.
I lay down a sheet of wax paper, set the bases down on it. This is in the cookie sheet.
I set the cookie sheet in the oven and set the oven to 200*. When it is hot, and set for a while, I melt my lube. I use a ladle and pour the lube into the sheet. It becomes self leveling, the bullets are hot, the pan is hot, and the lube is hot. I add what I need to make the level and put the cookie sheet back in the oven. I use a sliding rack from the oven so I do not knock over the bullets. Once in the oven, I shut the oven off and take a long break. Sometimes I let it cool down overnight. I then take the assembly and turn it over onto a folded towel. Either the cake falls out, or I have to bap it slightly and it falls out.
I find the wax paper to be effective in releasing the cake easily. It seperates easily from the cookie sheet.
I turn the cake over so the bullets are nose up, lift a corner and push them through base first. I then size them with a Lee Push Through Sizer with gas check.
I tried lubing in a pan with the pan and bullets cold. I redid the lubing heating the bullets and pan.
Once in a great while, one or a few grooves are missing lube. I put it on with my finger while sizing. There is enough built up lube on the sizing die to add to one or two bullets.
Thorough heating of the bullets licked the issue of missing lube. It is not as messy as people say.
The lube I make is 55% beeswax, 45% petroleum jelly, a tad of Marvel mystery oil, and a large spoonful of Turtle wax. The Turtle wax takes time to melt into the mix. It seems unfriendly at first but after a while stirring it blends in.
So far, on my recovered bullets I found no lube on the bullet! Almost no leading at all.
Lubing that way works for me.

[GSM]

yondering:

Take look at goatlips (can't ever remember his real name) site for some pan lubing tips & tricks. Good stuff.

http://goatlipstips.cas-town.com/panlubing.html

[Southern Son]

I am with Wardo on this, those flexible cake pans are great. All the tin ones I got had buckled bases which varied the depth of lube each boolit got.