How well does Lee Liquid Alox work?

[walker77]

Anyone have any experience with it? To me it seems like a short cut that probably isnt the best idea.

[Bret4207]

Do a search on "LLA", "liquid alox" or "mule snot". In many guns it works fine, in some it doesn't. There are pages and pages of information on Mule Snot here. I use it on many loads in both handgun and rifle. It works in most of them up to at least 1400 fps given good fit and a proper alloy/load combo to start with. I don't think it's the last word in lube, but it seems to be a workable alternative in the mid-range load category.

[Cloudpeak]

Anyone have any experience with it? To me it seems like a short cut that probably isnt the best idea.

It's a short cut that works very well for me and many others'. I've loaded well over 30,000 rounds of 9mm, 40, 38 sp. and 45 ACP rounds and used LLA on them all. The Lee push through sizer is low cost, works well and is fast as does LLA. ( I now use "XLox" sold by Lar's on this forum. Works the same.)

Welcome to the forum.

[randyrat]

One example of many, LLA working great is in my 30-30 load:
180 gr GC under 26-27 grs of IMR3031 tumble lubed in LLA.... Very accurate, cleaning my barrel consist of a swipe or two with an oil patch. This is after 50 to 150 rds each session.

[Calamity Jake]

Anyone have any experience with it? To me it seems like a short cut that probably isnt the best idea.

Boy houdy!!! DID you open a can of worms!!!!! :twisted:::)

[Shiloh]

It works great in all the applications I have tried it with. This is for lubing and rust protection. The only real drawback is that is is messy. It can be thinned with mineral spirits and this has worked VERY WELL for me.

DON'T put it on to thick!! It won't dry and will be gummy in humidity.

SHiloh

[Gunslinger]

I too wanted to try it for my .38 special loads. That way I could use my 140gr SWC .358 as cast. Why I thought that it'd be possible to acquire something this simple in this God forsaken country is beyond me!! I called a few dealers and here's the answer I got: "LLA contains petroleum and is therefore regarded as an explosive substance and thus not possible to import to this country"! :confused:

[Maineboy]

EXPLOSIVE! Wow what doesn't contain petroleum these days! I've used an awful lot of the stuff and never had an explosion. I don't think the LLA even burns!!

[sheepdog]

think alot of people use Alox for pistol, not so much for rifle.

[Wayne S]

Do you that use LLA have any trouble with it melting in the summer heat ?? I thought I'ld give it a try on some .225-60 gn that the GC shank it to big for seating the GC, even after beveling the bases with my Eagan beveling tool.

[corvette8n]

I use it for all my plinking loads as the LEE sizers are the only kind I own.

I even used it in factory duplicate loads in .30-30 and 6.5 Carcano.

So far no complaints from me

[TAWILDCATT]

I use it in my 1903.I cronyed it at 1680,using 13 gr red dot and lyman 311291 also Lee 312-160 TL.it shot 1" size groups at 100 yds.
if one dipped base in LLA and set it upright on cookie sheet it would be clean.I did that with .430 320 lee.and worked good.
The LLA is actually a rest inhibiter for undercoating.the denmark poster may find that kind of product in his auto supply house.
The idea is because Lee makes bullets that need no sizing so you dont need a sizer.just lube let sit over night and load.:coffee:[smilie=1:

[Leftoverdj]

I too wanted to try it for my .38 special loads. That way I could use my 140gr SWC .358 as cast. Why I thought that it'd be possible to acquire something this simple in this God forsaken country is beyond me!! I called a few dealers and here's the answer I got: "LLA contains petroleum and is therefore regarded as an explosive substance and thus not possible to import to this country"! :confused:

Get some shipped to you from the states declared as "rust proofing compound". Without any reference to its possible use in gun applications, it should sail right through customs at your end, and there are no restrictions at this end.

[wallenba]

It works great with hard bullets and reduced loads using the Lee micro-band bullets that it was meant for. I also tumble lubed some soft commercially cast pre-lubed bullts that had been leading my Ruger, it stopped the leading. I'm not so sure how it would be on bullets with deep lube grooves. A lubrisizer should probably be used, then try tumble lubing them on top of that if they lead up your gun.

[SciFiJim]

LLA came before Lee's tumble lube grooves. I use LLA or XLOX on .45ACP and .357Mag rifle with not leading issues. The only thing that I have had to watch for is a little coming off of the nose when seating the boolits. I have to occasionally clean the seating stem in my seating die. Other than that it works great.

[wiljen]

Get some shipped to you from the states declared as "rust proofing compound". Without any reference to its possible use in gun applications, it should sail right through customs at your end, and there are no restrictions at this end.

Or see if you can buy it there from a chemical shop. The actual product is solvent cutback Alox 606-55HF from the Lubrizol corporation. You can buy it in a 5 gallon bucket and split it up between you and 10 or 15 of your closest friends.

[superior]

I push Lee Tl-312-160-2r's over 2000fps using LLa, lightly lubed before sizing and lubed again after. I also have shot Lee c312-185's and Lyman 314299 at high velocity using only LLA. I have never had leading in my rifle. LLa works on all types of boolits. Since then, I've begun to shoot my own homemade lube of lithium grease/parrafin 50/50 with the same results.

[mpmarty]

LLA works! Period! 180gr cast gas check in 308 with 30grs 2400 and no leading whatsoever. A dry patch or two and the bore shines! My Star lubrisizer is now a safe queen. It seems to work even better on the Ranch Dog .460 boolits with similar mid range to "warm" (for cast) loads.

[Shiloh]

I too wanted to try it for my .38 special loads. That way I could use my 140gr SWC .358 as cast. Why I thought that it'd be possible to acquire something this simple in this God forsaken country is beyond me!! I called a few dealers and here's the answer I got: "LLA contains petroleum and is therefore regarded as an explosive substance and thus not possible to import to this country"! :confused:

Gee!! They really said that??

Sounds kind of interesting. I wonder if they will tell me how to get it to explode! You know, with the Fourth of July coming up soon for those of us in the states??

Shiloh

[mdi]

Hmmmm, you know lipstick and many cosmetics contain petroleum. Are they banned too?:confused:

[jack19512]

think alot of people use Alox for pistol, not so much for rifle.









Speaking from my experience only, I don't find that to be the case. I have found it to work in my rifles just as good as in the handguns.

[tactikel]

I used a Lyman lube sizer for 10 years, the LLA is so much faster, easier, and cheaper- I sold my Lyman to a friend.

[geargnasher]

I've been using LLA off and on for years with mixed results. Have had several handguns that leaded like crazy with one boolit, not at all with another all else being equal. Some problems I solved, others I finally gave up on. A friend lets me borrow his Lyman sizer, I buy the top punches/sizer dies for my needs, and I use it on all my rifle boolits and those pistol boolits that thes LLA just won't work for.

I won't say its bad stuff, or the bee's knees either, but it doesn't allow for much error on boolit fit, bore condition or bad alloy like Caranuba Red or some of the other stick stuff does in my experience. Wish it worked better for me, I really like the principle and always reach for it first when trying new guns/boolits/loads. The "mess" so many gripe about with LLA really isn't that bad if you thin it a little (or a lot, I've done that lately on recommendation of folks here) and add a little caranuba wax to make your bore hurt your eyes when you scope it. I clean my cartridges with paint thinner and a rag after loading anyway, so who cares if there's a little goop on the boolit?

Gear

[dromia]

I too wanted to try it for my .38 special loads. That way I could use my 140gr SWC .358 as cast. Why I thought that it'd be possible to acquire something this simple in this God forsaken country is beyond me!! I called a few dealers and here's the answer I got: "LLA contains petroleum and is therefore regarded as an explosive substance and thus not possible to import to this country"! :confused:

PM your address and I'll send you some. Being in the EEC it won't be importing.

I've got a couple of gallons courtesy of Lars. "Imported" into the UK from the USA

Sometimes on things like this its better not to ask people in "authority" it only allows them to say no.

[4570guy]

I've used nothing but LLA in all my cast bullet applications - .45-70, .30-06, .30-40, .303 Brit. I've had no leading problems whatsoever. Its cheap, fast and dirt simple to use. Most all my load velocities are in the 1300-1800 fps, although I have pushed some .303 loads to 2100 fps with no issues.

[walker77]

If the stuff works, whats the point in running anything through a regular lube sizer?

[gefiltephish]

Didn't work for me in my XD9 or 45. Neither did rooster jacket. I also tried 2 coats and still got bad leading. Got a Lyman 450 and ended that problem...till it broke. Go figure.

[walker77]

So what did you buy to replace it?

[jack19512]

To me it seems like a short cut that probably isnt the best idea.








Since you asked the question, care to elaborate?

[kir_kenix]

I have had good results with it in handguns, mixed results with rifles. Seems like just about any lube will work up to 1200 fps or so, and I might as well use the easiest to apply. The vast majority of my shooting is just plinking, so I'll try and make LLA work. My all time favorite '06 plinker however is the 113 lee over 13 gr red dot unsized and lubed with alox. It is the absolute easiest load with the least amount of steps to get a good, accurate shooting session underway.

95% of my pistol ammo is aloxed and sized in the last station of my reloader via LFCD. This saves me 1 whole step and lets me spend more time on the range. Accuracy does not seem degraded much (if any) in any of the autopistols i load for.

Usually, I can achieve better accuracy at higher velocities with a conventional lube and sizer for rifle.

[gefiltephish]

So what did you buy to replace it?

New parts to fix it! They're on the way.

[geargnasher]

If the stuff works, whats the point in running anything through a regular lube sizer?

Ok, now THERE'S the can o' worms. The point many of us are trying to make is that, like just about everything in life, the particular application of a given product for a given purpose is very subjective. IE it depends.

Magnum handguns loaded with full-bore hunting loads are often asking more than LLA (or even hard stick Alox) can deliver as anti-leading compounds, so harder lubes or lubes of a different composition and harder boolits are necessary to handle the extra heat and pressure without plating lead vapour on bore surfaces.

Sometimes LLA just doesn't work no matter what you try, other times it can make you believe that all other lubes are obsolete. We can share our experiences, but ultimately only YOUR experience with YOUR guns will tell YOU what works for sure and what doesn't. Try LLA first, the sizer kits are uber cheap and you don't have much to lose. Also read http://http://www.lasc.us/FryxellLubeCastBullets.htm (http://http://www.lasc.us/ FryxellLubeCastBullets.htm) for more information.

Gear

[HangFireW8]

Anyone have any experience with it? To me it seems like a short cut that probably isnt the best idea.

It works well in some applications and not in others.

Before taking up casting, I used it to overcoat some hard-lubed store bought 45Colt boolits before handloading them. It quickly cured the leading problem I was having with moderate loads. It also created a lot of smoke and I was a bit shy to use it any more indoors.

Wiping the bottom of each boolit off before loading would have helped, but I didn't know that at the time.

-HF

[jack19512]

Since you asked the question, care to elaborate?









I guess not. :)

[dromia]

At the end of the day its like most things in this game you'll only truly know what works for you with and in your kit, in your situation, is by trying it for yourself.

What places like here do well is help you refine your options.

[WILCO]

think alot of people use Alox for pistol, not so much for rifle.

I'm washing my 8mm's in the stuff and am eager to see what happens.....

[lead-1]

If I coat the boolit with LLA and then after it dries run it thru the sizer, the sizer removes part of the LLA. If I put a second coat on the boolit then wouldn't the case mouth scrape that lube back off during the boolit seating?


Edited to add that I should have asked about this on rifle rounds.

[Bret4207]

If I coat the boolit with LLA and then after it dries run it thru the sizer, the sizer removes part of the LLA. If I put a second coat on the boolit then wouldn't the case mouth scrape that lube back off during the boolit seating?

Wouldn't the case mouth scrape any type of lube off? First off you should be belling your chamfered case prior to seating. As to the specifics of your question thst depends on the boolit diameter and ID of the neck, the condition of the brass-annealed or not-, and probably a few things besides that. In practice I've not found a problem with Mule Snot being "scraped off" and giving issues with a boolit of proper size. While I understand what you're saying, I think it takes a lot less lube than we think to successfully get a boolit down the bore at the speeds and pressures Mule Snot works at.

[airborneshooter]

Do you that use LLA have any trouble with it melting in the summer heat ?? I thought I'ld give it a try on some .225-60 gn that the GC shank it to big for seating the GC, even after beveling the bases with my Eagan beveling tool.

I live in Houston and have some rounds I loaded about 10 years ago that have been kept in an ammo can in the garage this whole time. No problem.

[lead-1]

Bret4207, I guess I should have mentioned the word "rifle" in there somewhere. I chamfer the case mouth a little but do not bell it. After the LLA do you guys use any Mica or powder on top of that?

[Doc_Stihl]

LLA is a great lube.

I like to warm mine up in very hot water and make sure my bullets are warm(room temp) and I keep my coat as thin as possible. 158gr TL SWC's and LLA = Small Groups.