How much lube ?

[RoGrrr]

I use a Lyman 450 and am wondering how much lube to put in the grooves ?
I can crank it so the grooves are completely full, or fill only about halfway around.

[C.F.Plinker]

What boolits are you lubing?

[gray wolf]

I would start with the grooves filled as they were intended to be ( full )
Some folks by choice may fill only one ring on a bullet that has two lube rings
but they have a reason for doing it. I don't think you do at this point.
What caliber are you shooting ? if it's a pistol bullet with one groove I would fill it evenly all around.

[LUBEDUDE]

You have to be the judge of that.

Lube is cheap, why not fill the groove out ?

However, when mining bullets, you find an awful lot of bullets with the lube still in or most still in.

It seems pistol bullets don't need as much.

And of course it depends on the bullet. Is the lube groove narrow or wide?

Is the gun barrel short or long?

Do you want good looking bullets, or do you care?

Then there is the ol' "star" test. If you are getting a grease "star" at the end of your barrel, then you have enough lube. If not, then not enough lube.

Then of course, the end all question - are you getting leading?


Lot of factors to consider.


Do it right the first time and take out all the guess work.


Good Luck

[Echo]

The lube should completely fill the groove - I doubt that it will do the job if the groove isn't completely filled. Is it necessary to fill all the grooves? No. In fact some experimenters have found improved accuracy with only one groove of a 38 WC boolit filled. One doesn't know until one tries...

[runfiverun]

full....
you can use fewer grooves or just one, but they need to be full.

[noylj]

My "understanding" is that a lube groove acts by the boolit compressing the groove and 'pushing' lube against the boolit/barrel interface. If so, then the grooves must be full, or they can't push lube into the interface. I know that recovered boolits generally still have fully filled grooves, but the grooves are shorter than they were originally.
For low pressure pistol rounds (.45ACP and .38 Special), you will often/sometimes get better accuracy if the bottom groove (of a cast boolit with more than one lube groove) is filled and the rest are empty.
In fact, swaged bullets perform with no more than a very slight "swipe" of wax across a narrow knurled band, so it doesn't take much lube as long as the lube is at the right place at the right time...

[RoGrrr]

Lubedude
The answer you gave is the kind of answer I like to see. It answers questions not asked. I'm guilty of not knowing what questions to ask so people like you help people like me learn. Thanks much.

I'm casting "mined" lead into a Lyman #452424 mould. It's the modified Keith bullet, 45ACP, 255 grains, which I use to shoot bowling pins with. The boolit has a square grease groove and a narrower crimp groove. Both tend to fill in my 450 and if I crank a bit too much, I get lube under the base of the boolit which remains until I seat the boolit. Since the Lyman ALOX lube is soft, it's kinda messy, similar to the wax ring under a toilet. This batch of lube is about 30 years old, as I haven't loaded anything in that long. I have no idea if it is the same consistency/formulation now as back then tho I get the idea from reading some, it still is the same.

I normally shoot a 5" 1911 but some of them go thru my 3-1/2" Compact Officer at paper.

I really don't care what the bullet looks like as long as it hits what I'm aiming at.

When this lube is used up, I'd like to find a harder lube which is less messy. That's why I liked loading copper washed boolits but since they are so darn expensive and I'm starting to shoot a lot more than I ever thought I would, I decided to start casting again.

I had been shooting very light target loads (Bullseye) but now that I'm shooting pins, I need something like a "MACK TRUCK on the freeway" so I load a lot of Universal. No leading so far. And no lube star on the muzzle, either. I will keep an eye out for leading since I've bumped up the powder.

This brings up another question - would I be wise to heat the 450 so the lube flows easier ? I find the (original short) crank rather stiff to turn, even tho I only move it an just under an inch when I feed lube. I'd like to have a longer lever arm on it but that's another subject.
The 450 does not have the hole for the heater but that's not a problem, as I have a machine shop and can easily bore a hole where I need it. I also saw a flat heating element which goes under the base so I'm not sure which one I would use.

Bottom line, I'm going to put more lube in the groove and not worry about it.

[Donor8x56r]

I fill all grooves simply because all my rifles have long (or very long) barrels.

If I had ,lets say, M44 or K95 and heavy 200Gr cast with multiple grooves I would fill only half of them.

[MtGun44]

Full.

Bill

[Jack Stanley]

My lubesizing gear is in the dungeon and if I don't heat the room the Alox is somewhat hard to move into the grooves . You can get a baseplate heater , use a lightbulb or a hairdryer if ya want . I find running the room up to "t-shirt" temperature works as well .

As for how much lube to use ..... now that will depend on what you want to do . With heavy bullets and Universal in a revolver , I'd fill the grooves up completely . If you are getting lube in the crimp groove , adjust the stop so the bullet doesn't go so far into the die first . You should have to use a cheater bar to get lube into that style of bullet . Adjust untill the lube groove is matched up with the first available lube hole in the die have the whole thing warm and see what happens .

Jack

[runfiverun]

one lube groove wil work just fine in a 30" bbl.
the volume isn't the most important, the lube doing it's job is.

[nanuk]

RoGrr
I think some are misreading your post.

are you saying you fill ONE groove only Half way round??

as R5R said above, fill it in all the way 'round

many rifle boolits only have one groove, up to you to find what the rifle likes.

but fill it all the way around

[ku4hx]

Fill 'em all up except the crimp groove if there is one. Lube's cheap and if they don't shoot the way you want them to you've at least eliminated one variable.

[stubshaft]

Fill it all the way around and even with the side of the boolit.

[AndyC]

When this lube is used up, I'd like to find a harder lube which is less messy.

White Label Lube's "Carnauba Red" for .45acp - it's harder. Not as soft and sticky as their BAC and only requires a little bit of heat (lightbulb, clothes iron, etc).

[RoGrrr]

Jack Stanley
I didn't know about the depth stop so I will work on that one tonite and post my results.
Thanks for all the input.

[Char-Gar]

I fully lube all available grooves.

[tenx]

Speer used to put a little note in their 45 cal 200 grain swc swaged bullets stating that the lube grooves may not appear to be full (i/e some of the lube may have crumbled and fell out) but it was still adequately lubed. I used to shoot a lyman 452460 on the short line in bullseye and a old timer shot the same bullet. He told me he only lubed the bottom groove and it shot better for him. I tried it, didn't seem to notice any accuracy issues but there were no leading issues either. Of course it was 45acp at a little over 700 fps.

[44man]

I found a lot of store bought boolits others have shot here into my trap. Many had some lube left here and there, hard stuff. It would appear to me lube was lost in flight and can throw a boolit out of balance.
I use soft, sticky Felix and never find lube in recovered boolits so I assume it spins out at the muzzle exit. Most of my revolver shooting for fun is at 100 yards or more so does it make a difference? I have to say it does so no matter how messy it is to work with, the results only speak for themselves.
I look over at my press handle and it is full of lube spots! My bench gets real sticky too and I have to wash it off now and then. Boolits in the boxes are a sticky mess.
I will go out on a limb and say you either want ALL the lube in recovered boolits or NONE.
I never want pieces of lube in the bottom of boolit boxes either.