Has anyone here ever tried putting a light, diluted coating of XLOX on a pistol bbl?

[Ole]

Here's my method and what got me to here.

I made some Lee 125RNFP's for my 9mm pistol. They were lubed with a light coat of Xlox, sized to .357", then lubed again. I use 50/50 Xlox with mineral spirits.

Anyway, I went shooting today and got some (minor) leading with these rounds. Most of the leading was towards the end of the barrel, so i'm assuming that it's a lube issue. Not a huge deal and it only took me about 15 minutes to clear the leading out from 150ish rounds.

Would it be possible/productive to put a light coat of LLA, cut about 1/4 with mineral spirits to try to solve this issue? (1 part LLA/4 parts paint thinner)

Here's what I did.

I had an old shot glass that was part of a very large collection. I put about a tablespoon of mineral spirits in the glass, then added a couple/few drops of LLA and stirred it up. I used one of those oversized Qtips that I bought from midway many moons ago to coat the inside of my barrel. I know by the smell that there is definitely some lube in there. It is currently air drying and I'll probably use another coat in a few hours.

Any chance this will help my (minor) leading issue that seems to be cause by lack of lube?

Your (scoldings/praises/patent permission requests) of my idea are welcome.

:mrgreen:

[bhn22]

Fix the problem, don't just put a band-aid on it & hope for the best. Are you planning on doing this every couple of shots?

[geargnasher]

Interesting idea. I always de-virginize a spotless, new, degreased barrel with a light coat of Bullplate patched through, but only when using cast. The way I see it, dry metal needs all the help it can get that first shot, then the seasoning can get off to the right foot as I'm forcing good boolit lube into the pores and not microscopic bits of lead dust.

I do know one thing, and that is Alox makes a good tinning flux for solder, take that for what it's worth.

Let us know how it works.

Gear

[Gohon]

Might help a little on the first shot but even then I doubt it. Why cut the stuff with mineral spirits? All your doing is weakening the product. When you seat the bullet the alox is going to mostly be scraped off the side of the bullet into the lube groove. If it is diluted then there isn't much lube being used to do the job. I do add JPW to my LLA but I sure wouldn't add mineral spirits.

[Ole]

Fix the problem, don't just put a band-aid on it & hope for the best. Are you planning on doing this every couple of shots?

That would be awesome but I already assembled about 1500 of these rounds due to previous success with this particular bullet.

I'd rather scrub lead out of my barrel for a few minutes than disassemble 1500 rounds of plinking ammo.

I'd rather put some LLA on the inside of my barrel than spend 10 minutes scrubbing lead out of my barrel.

[Bret4207]

Use 4/0 steel wool on a worn bore brush and your leading will be gone in a few strokes.

[pls1911]

You may be able to remedy your problem long term by hardening your alloy a bit or turning down your velocity and/or pressure.

[Grapeshot]

My advice is to dip the exposed lead nose of your loaded rounds into full strength LLA ot Xlox, let dry and then shoot.

I'd save my loose change and purchase a lure-sizer with the appropriate sizing die and nose punch and use stick lube from this point on.

[Tom W.]

You don't suppose that may cause a minor bore obstruction, do you?

[mpmarty]

I would be very reluctant to "coat" the bore of any firearm with anything. 9mm pressures are high enough already.

[RobS]

Ive done the same thing as gear regarding "seasoning" the freshly cleaned bore but just use liquid alox lube on a patch. Now, I'll have to try a bit of bullplate and see if there is any difference.

[Centaur 1]

My advice is to dip the exposed lead nose of your loaded rounds into full strength LLA ot Xlox, let dry and then shoot.

I'd save my loose change and purchase a lure-sizer with the appropriate sizing die and nose punch and use stick lube from this point on.

I'd try this, hopefully it will work well enough to get through what you already have loaded. In the future try the alox/jpw/ms recipe, it works in my sons 9mm AR with a 16" barrel without leading.

[geargnasher]

Ive done the same thing as gear regarding "seasoning" the freshly cleaned bore but just use liquid alox lube on a patch. Now, I'll have to try a bit of bullplate and see if there is any difference.

It'll fling the first shot high, I don't store my guns this way, only break a new one in on cast using the Bullplate as "prelube". I try to never clean the bores of my rifles, and I don't shoot jacketed bullets anyore in anything I own. If I get leading for some reason and I have to to an electro-chemical cleaning, I start over with Bullplate before I shoot it again since it has to be totally degreased to use the foul-out chemicals.

Gear

[bruce381]

I think would be a band aid and shoot out in a half dozens rounds, also i have found that i get flyers for about 10 shots when i leave the barrel OILY

[XWrench3]

well, it will be interesting to see how this works for you. but really, like others have said, it is putting a band aid on the problem, not repiaring what is really wrong in the first place. have you slugged your bore, both ways? are the boolits you are shooting larger than the slugs that came from your barrel? if not, you will never be able to fix your problem, no matter what band aids you put on it. if you are shooting boolits that are larger than your bore, then either the alloy needs changing, and/or you need to reduce the speed. in my liquid alox, i mix in a tablespoon of lyman powdered moly to it, and thin it about 10% with mineral spirits (mostly because adding the moly to the alox makes it thicker). i have tried mixing it thinner, and in low speed loads it works, but i dont like having to decypher my own chicken scratch everytime i lube something, so now i just mix it all the same. this makes the lube work in even my higher speed rifle loads. as long as your cases are flared before you load, any lube that is pushed off the boolit will end up in the grooves of the boolit when you are loading. and from there, hopefully be dispersed to the barrel as the boolit passes through it. personally, i think the rear edge of all "grease grooves" in boolits should be angled so it forces the lube outward just from acceleration. but what do i know, i am just a dumb old retired mechanic.

[noylj]

Personally, I think the idea has merit and I can't believe the responses that either don't understand or simply want to push their beliefs.
1) Cutting Alox/Xlox with MS or naphtha or whatever is a good idea, even just for tumble lubing. The LLA, in my opinion, is thicker than it needs to be anyway.
2) The idea of having bullet lube already in the bore makes sense since the stick lube is often thought to be coating the barrel for the next bullet anyway. The idea of thinning it out so the coating is very light sounds good.
3) I wonder how many people who size and lube have EVER tried as-bullets and/or tumble lune?
4) I pour about 500 bullets into a casserole dish, squirt a little Alox/Xlox on them and shuffle them around. Takes about 1 minute at the most and then I pour them on Al foil for a night to "dry." Works great. Fast, easy, and it works.

[harvester]

I have tried LLA cut with JPW and Mineral Spirits 45 45 10. I did this in a Colt Trooper that was leading too much for me. Light coating on one patch down the bore, let dry. Not too much. Did it help? Perhaps a little because the gun does not seem to lead so much now but I only did this twice on that gun. Did it hurt? no.

[white eagle]

ya know it can't hurt
fwiw why bother your leading is so very minuscule already

[lwknight]

Thinning the lube just makes it go farther and apply thinner. After it dries , its the same as it was before thinning.
If you shoot a lubed boolit down the barrel there will be a light coating on the barrel. Maybe not enough but precoating the barrel would be the same thing. Good for 1 or 2 shots.
I figure its a waste of time but you never know. Great inventions come from wild ideas.

[gunsablazin]

Has anybody tried polishing the bore with Flitz metal polish? I would think that would reduce leading. Unless someone has a reason not to I think I'll try it and see.

[Bob Krack]

Ole,

Don't cost anything to try.

Many "sillier" ideas have become serious cures to problems.

Consider this - long ago and far away I was a steam turbine mechanic. When replacing bearings (with new OR old) I "pre-lubed" with STP - at the request of the General Electric turbine consultant. I have no idea how long it lasted as a lubricant or if it only supplied lube until turbine lube system came up to pressure.

I do know that liquid Alox (by whatever name) will last for a while and absorb a lot of punishment. The coating will not likely affect pressure. Might only help for a few shots (if at all) but I canNOT see it hurting anything and I believe you are thinking constructively.

Good luck and please keep us informed,
Bob

[XWrench3]

all the time. that is how i store my boolits that will end up with gas checks in the future. when i need them, i add the check (wich sizes them) then it is back to the peanutbutter jar for a good heavy coat of lla.

[lwknight]

gunsablazin , I have used jewelers rouge on #0000 steel wool wrapped around an old cleaning brush in a drill to polish a bore and it did greatly reduce powder fouling and leading.
I did not change the slug measurements of the bore either si I'd say dlitz couldn't hurt.