lube question

[jcw1970]

newbie question here. I'm getting huge amounts of lead using allox. I have an old lyman 45 but most of my molds are so old that you can't find the top punch for them. ex 280473. and i really don't want to pay to get them custom made. The lee sizers i have work great, no out of round bullets, consistent sizes. My question is can i just take the stick lube, melt it in a pan and pan lube then use the lee sizer. If so what would be a all around good lube to use?

[MtGun44]

Unlikely to be a lube issue if you mean 50/50 alox-beeswax when you say
"alox". Most likely undersized and too hard boolits.

50-50 Alox-beeswax IS a good lube to use. Lee mule snot alox has a much more
spotty record, works well for some, very poorly for others.

Slug your bore and cyl throat if it is a revolver. You should have about .001 to .002
larger than throat or groove diameter. If this isn't the case, fix this known problem
before you worry about lubes.

More info required to answer this one definitively.

caliber, diam of the boolits you are using, load, bbl groove diam, cyl throat diam,
bullet design, alloy

Make sure you remove the cylinder and support it properly to slug it, or measure with
gage pins.

I think there is a sticky on slugging.

Bill

[snaggdit]

+1 on what MtGun44 said. Find out what your barrel is at, then check your boolits for .001-.002 larger. As for your question, yes you can pan lube then size with Lee sizers. I do this for several pistol calibers. This is more labor intensive than LLA (Lee Liquid Alox) though, so if your boolits are oversized enough, this should work as a lube with less effort.

[jcw1970]

45 acp for a s&w 1911, 38 sp for a smith k38 revolver and model 52. .451 , .357, .355 slugged. sized to .452 ,.358, .356. 38 boolits are lyman 35891,35863,358311. 45 is a lyman 452374 and RCBS #45-185. using the lee alox. boolits are 16 bnh. 45 loaded over 4.2 gr bullseye. 38 loaded over 3.8 gr bullseye and 4.8 gr unique. with the 158 gr rn loaded over 4.5 gr unique.

[MtGun44]

Lee alox - Mule Snot to some, has been a serious leading producer for some,
works fine for other. My experience is very limited, hated working with the messy
stuff and stopped.

Bullets are harder than necessary, but that should be OK. If I am putting the numbers
together correctly (mixing them confuses me!) you have a .451 S&W 1911 with .452 452374s
over 4.2 BE and get leading. This load should be just super with 50-50 and those
parameters, so I suspect the lube.

.357 throats for .38 Spl sized .358 over .38 BE and 4.8 Uniq - same comment.

.355 groove with .356 boolits should be OK, if it will take (52 is a match gun, so may
not chamber) a .357, I'd try that, but it is probably the lube, as this is not an obvious
problem, either.

Overall - I'd change to 50-50 and pan lube then Lee size like you proposed, and see,
but I'd bet your leading goes away immediately.

I know very little about Mule Snot, but I think some have reported better luck by double
coating or even triple coating. I am in serious danger here of telling you more than
I know. ;-)

Bill