Pan lube/powder contamination

[jar-wv]

Just finished up my first attempt at pan lubing and I must say, I managed to make a real mess of some of the bullets, as well as the wifes kitchen :smile: . I even managed to somehow get some in my hair. My lube was 1 lb beeswax and 9 oz of lithium grease. Lots of the bullets ended up with lube on the bases. Will this contaminate the powder? The bullets are going to be used in 45 colt, with velocities 1,000 fps or less. I'm thinking about maybe cutting over powder wads from poster type cardboard. Haven't decided on the powder yet. Any input greatly appreciated.

jar

[chunkum]

Wipe the bases off before you load the bullets. There's no way lube on the bullet base can be favorable to consistancy of performance in any caliber
chunkum

[Dale53]

jar-wv;
Write me direct, if you haven't already, and I'll send you my article on "Pan Lubing - a Piece of Cake". I can send it by attachment. It should smooth the way for you.

Dale53

[jar-wv]

Dale53. Email sent. About the only thing close to being a "piece of cake" was the cake pan used. Actually after I managed to get the first batch done and had the holes in the lube, it wasn't all that bad, just time consuming. Worked on it from late afternoon till nite to lube about 250 boolits.

jar

[The Nyack Kid]

if you really want to get in trouble , wipe the bases off in you pants then track the mess all over the house then throw the dirty pants in to the washington machine after there isnt any lube left to spread around on other things but enough left to foul up the next load of laundry . then get on your knees and beg for forgiveness and a luber/sizer so it dont happen again.

[jar-wv]

if you really want to get in trouble , wipe the bases off in you pants then track the mess all over the house then throw the dirty pants in to the washington machine after there isnt any lube left to spread around on other things but enough left to foul up the next load of laundry . then get on your knees and beg for forgiveness and a luber/sizer so it dont happen again.

I like that line of thought. I kinda referred to a lubrizer as the mess was being made. The nephew dropped in to watch the show and was saying " there's gotta be a better way" as he and the wife laughed all the way thru the mess they knew I would have to clean up.

jar

[BrushBuster]

When I saw Dale53 offer his article on Pan Lubing in this thread, I didn't hesitate to take him up on it. This well written article is a real boon to those of us just getting started with casting and lubing boolits. He takes you right through the process and avoids the pitfalls that can make the method a kitchen nightmare! As he says, its not a bunch of original ideas, but he's put it all together for us and thrown in a few tips of his own.

Highly recommended
BrushBuster

[Blackwater]

Jar, just so you'll know, I laughed all the way through this post, and .... well, let's just say "I can identify." BTW, regarding the lubesizers, I got 2 more, in addition to my Lyman 450 (added a Lyman 45 and a RCBS) by watching Shotgun News. A fella' out in Arizona had them at darn good prices - $35 & $45 IIRC. They're well used, but 100% operable, and do fine work.

What you do, see, is show the wifey the price of the lubersizer, and get THAT amount of $$$, THEN you buy on the cheap, and add some sizer dies and top punches to go with it.

You're on the way, and doin' FINE! Lots and lots of stuff to learn about castin' really GOOD bullets. I've cast for 30+ years, and never really started learning until I came here, and from the old board. Never really tried to cast "The Perfect Bullet" until I got my BPCR, and THEN realized how little I'd learned through all those years. Was good at volume production, and even those shot pretty darn good, but now .... well, I'm already seeing significant improvements, and most especially in the wt. spread of my castings. These guys really make you think, and reason out problems that arise, and that's a GOOD thing in ANY shooting endeavor. Finally, I'm giving cast bullets their just due, and they're treating me better and better because of it. A buddy took two deer with my bullets this past season, and I think next season, I'll be going out with only cast in my rifles. That's really something for a sort'a half-arsed "velocity" guy, when it comes to hunting. Most of my hunting places are fairly short range affairs now, and there's just no real reason to use them 'spensive J-bullets for that. The new challenge of these cast bullets is just frosting on that cake.

Ain't this FUN!

[Dale53]

Brushbuster;
Thanks for the kind words.

Dale53

[redneckdan]

I have not noticed any ill effects from tumble lubing nor dumping the bullets in molten lube and letting them heat up and then pulling them out. I shoot mid level .45 acp and .357 mag loads.

[jar-wv]

Dale53, Thanks for the article. Very informative. Although my mixture was melted good, It didn't self level like in your article. I was also using a coffee can to pour into the pan and the mixture ran down the side of it, causing some problems. Was also hard to get out of the pan, so I used a 45-70 case as a cookie cutter. I think next time I'll use your mixture and see what happens, along with the pyrex measuring cup.

jar

[Dale53]

I use several different ways to lube my bullets. When using soft (25/1 or 30/1 lead/tin) alloys in my schuetzen rifle (1/2 minute rifle) or one of my BPCR's I use "as cast" bullets. These I pan lube, only. I do them in volume, several hundred at a time.

For pistol bullets, I use a Star lube sizer. For occasional use (small quantities) I use an RCBS sizer/luber. I even have a few Lee sizers to use for that "Custom" problem.

"Different strokes for different folks"? No. It's "Different methods for different tasks" :razz:

I think that sometimes we get locked in to a specific way of doing something and fail to realize that there really IS a better way - sometimes, maybe :razz:

Dale53

[rbstern]

Dale, your article is excellent. Thanks for sharing it.

[Dale53]

Thanks, RB.

Dale53