Keep your nose clean? Or not?

[awaveritt]

After loading up my first 100 9mm boolits, I'm wondering whether to wipe off the LLA from the noses, or just leave them be. Does the LLA out front eventually gum up the feed ramp or is there some benefit from leaving it be?

[Ekalb2000]

It does not hurt to leave them there.
I dont wipe mine off, and I dont get any residue on the feed ramp.

andy

[ScottJ]

I wipe mine off so it doesn't get on everything the boolits touch (like the boxes I store the cartridges in).

[Longrange]

I run my finished rounds back through the corn cob media for about 10-15 minutes in the vibrating cleaner. They are now shinny, clean, and ready to shoot.

[Matt_G]

I run my finished rounds back through the corn cob media for about 10-15 minutes in the vibrating cleaner. They are now shinny, clean, and ready to shoot.

Just don't forget about them. ;)

If you were using a stick powder like IMR XXXX and you forget about them for a few hours, that powder might no longer be in stick form. It can break down into smaller pieces, which just changed the burning speed of the powder.
I just wanted to post this so anyone new to reloading wouldn't think, "well if 15 minutes is good, then 6 hours is better."

[Longrange]

Matt

You are sooo right.

DO NOT OVER DO IT...

I should have said that, thanks for having my back.

[Shiloh]

I don't tumble loaded rounds. I have read that ammo manufacturers, Winchester and Remington do, but it is not for me.

I don't clean the alox TL from the boolit noses either. There has never been feeding problems. My alox is thinned a good bit before application. You don't need much Alox.A thin coat only is more than sufficient. I do check and clean ramps and chambers though to be sure.

Shiloh

[Ricochet]

Only problem I've had from lube like that is transferring to the inside of the seater plug, seating boolits progressively deeper.

[grumpy one]

I've had the same problem as Ricochet. I've also seen visible quantities of dirt etc adhering to the exposed lube, which isn't going to be good for the bore. As a general concept I'd rather not have stuff coating my allegedly accurately-cast and symmetrical bullets. The coating isn't likely to be entirely uniform, so there goes one of the important accuracy considerations. I'm not so worried about the lube that has passed through the case neck during bullet seating, because it has probably been scraped away to leave a fairly uniform bullet-diameter surface.

[carpetman]

Yes wipe the noses--use a Kleenex or a handkerchief.

[runfiverun]

dang ,ray.......
you beat me to it.

[SCIBUL]

Hello.
I keep the lube on the nose of the bullet and I've had the same problem than Ricochet. So now, I tumble my lubed and about dry bullets in talc (yes, the one made for babys buttocks. This stuff smelts good and doesn't sticks anymore.

[azcoyhunter]

After I load up a batch of cast boolits lubes with LLA, i will wipe off all the LLA that I can with a rag wet, not dripping with mineral spirits.

It cleans the boolits, and my cartridge box is cleaner.

I was worried that the spirits would hurt my powder/primers. But they have all shot fine....


Just my 2c worth.

[mpmarty]

I tend to run rather large batches of boolits at once. I tumble lube lightly and then run them through the sizer or, if they won't be sized I lube moderately until they have a nice light brown coat. If they were sized I tumble again in LLA. Next day then get tumbled once again in Motor Mica leaving them clean to touch and not sticky.

[snaggdit]

I used to leave them as is after loading. They had a tendency to get stuff stuck to them. After reading that many here wiped off the exposed tips I now do that as well. I use a washcloth lightly soaked in laquer thinner. Makes the brass shiny again and cleans off the exposed LLA. Except for the lead color, they now look like store bought pistol rounds. I too have had issues with buildup affecting seating depth in runs of 200+. I would recommend that you remove your seating die every couple hundred rounds and clean with a q-tip and some form of thinner. At minimum, check for OAL every hundred or so.

[HNSB]

I have never bothered with cleaning mine. It seems like a hassle and they function fine.


I do like the idea of tumbling them though... That had never occurred to me.

[waco]

safe to tumble LOADED rounds?
thought never crossed my mind
is this safe?????

[ScottJ]

Sort of on topic: I keep some gun scrubber on the bench to spray up in my seating die if I've been seating lubed lead with it.

[Calamity Jake]

Yes wipe the noses--use a Kleenex or a handkerchief.

Why would you want to do that?

That extra slickum makesum fly faster!!![smilie=2::lol:

[HNSB]

safe to tumble LOADED rounds?
thought never crossed my mind
is this safe?????

I wondered the same thing... From what I can find, no one knows for sure. It sounds like a lot of people do it though.

The first post here has some good reading: http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?p=433052

[jonk]

I don't wipe them off. The attraction to tumble lube is that it is easy and fast and wiping would remove that attraction.

I sure don't get those who say it is sticky. If it is you must not have let it dry long enough. I am not saying to drop the loaded rounds in the dirt but I never had issue with stickiness in the boxes, handling, or magazines. It IS soft though- so either use a cartridge box or dust in something. Mica, corn starch, whatever, if you find it is an issue. Much faster than wiping each one.