"Dunk lubeing"

[Jerry11826]

Does anyone else “dunk” lube bullets?

I don’t enjoy casting, lubeing and sizing bullets. It is like mowing the grass. In Florida, in the summer, you need to mow about every week, 10 days. It’s not that arduous a task, but is something I don’t consider fun.

I shoot say 100 - 200 .38, 158 gr. Lee SWC TL bullets a week. That means about once a month - six weeks, I go to the garage and cast, lube and size 750 - 1,000 bullets.

To lube, I use a mixture of about 65% “White Label” XLOX and mineral spirits. To prepare the lube, I pour a quart of XLOX into 1.5 gallon bleach bottle. Add 17oz. of mineral spirits and shake vigorously. Pour the mixture into a plastic bucket and add bullets. Swirl for a minute or so and pour into another plastic bucket with a food colander on top. Let the bullets drain for and hour or so and dump onto an 18 inch aluminum pizza pan covered with waxed paper Place in oven, set on warm, and dry for an hour or so. It kind of “stinks”, but there are advantages to living alone.

I then run the bullets through a Lee .358 sizeing die and repeat the lubeing procedure. The bullets are now ready to load.

I pour the unused lube back into the bleach bottle for reuse. I don’t know how many bullets I get out of a quart of XLOX, but a lot!

Accuracy, using my 6 inch Ruger GP100 is good. 9 ring groups at 50 yards, from bench rest, using the NRA standard BE target.

When I clean the revolver, say every 1,000 rounds or so, using a Lewis lead remover, there is very little evidence of leading.

This is the fastest way I have found to lube/size large volumes of cast bullets. And yes, I did have three “Star” lube / sizers at one time. Sold them to someone on this board

Does anyone else “dunk” lube?

Jerry

[41 mag fan]

Not enjoying casting and lubing, would feel like a sin to me.

[fecmech]

I do a variation of your method. I use a quart ziploc bag, add a small amount of some thinned alox or 45-45-10 and close the bag. I then massage the bag around a bit and dump the bullets on hardware cloth to dry. It's quick, easy and gives the bullets a nice even coat.

[mdi]

There's prolly a zillion ways to get a light even coat of alox on a bullet. I like to be neat so lately I've been dip lubing (keeps the alox on the drivibg bands/body of the bullet). I warm some alox, warm some bullets, pour the alox into a tuna can and dip the bullets individually in the alox and set on wax paper or alum foil and air dry. I usually just do 100 at a time and it may be slower than mass lubing, but it's neater and I ain't in no hurry. Works well on my Ranch Dog 265 gr. RNFP for my .44 Puma...

[geargnasher]

I don't "dunk lube". I'm assuming you've tried lots of different ways of applying the Xlox?

When I tumble lube, which is only for a couple of things, I use Recluse lube instead of straight liquid Alox. The stuff dries in under an hour on the most humid day, less with a tabletop fan blowing on them, smokes less, isn't sticky, and works better.

I have a plastic mixing bowl I use to lube them, swirl around, pour out on a flat trash bag on a table to dry, size, tumble and dry again. I can lube size, and lube 1,000 boolits in under an hour and not be in a hurry. Drying time is less than that with a fan.

Recluse explains the 45/45/10 formula in the tumble lube sticky. Yes, you DO need to cook down the JPW and add solvent at the end.

Gear

[Ickisrulz]

It is like mowing the grass. In Florida, in the summer, you need to mow about every week, 10 days. It’s not that arduous a task, but is something I don’t consider fun.

That sounds a ittle light on the mowing. I live in the desert and I have to mow 1x per week. When I lived in Anchorage I had to mow every 3-4 days.

[lead chucker]

Mowing the lawn is like work. Casting lubing and all that has a calming affect on me. I love it.

[wallenba]

Casting is like jogging, or swimming laps. It's a struggle to get going, but after a while something clicks, and you can go all day. When that happens something usually has to occur to pull me away. Usually low alloy level.

Must add that I don't jog or swim laps anymore. Just speaking from memory.

[popper]

I get excited about casting, put on the protective LS shirt, jeans, boots, gloves, goggles and like this morning, ladle cast 20# of .40. Had to quit, it's 90 deg in the garage with the door open. Maybe I'll size and lube tomorrow morning.

[paul h]

That sounds a ittle light on the mowing. I live in the desert and I have to mow 1x per week. When I lived in Anchorage I had to mow every 3-4 days.

As I'm fond of saying, the grass does a years worth of growing in 4 months up here. Sometimes you have to mow it three times a week. The upside is I have two teenage boys, so I haven't had to mow the lawn in a few years

[noylj]

I pour about 500 bullets into a chaffing/casserole dish, squirt a little LLA on them, and shuffle them around for 30-60 seconds. If all the bullets are shiny and wet looking, I am done and just pour them out onto aluminum foil or wax paper.
I shoot all my calibers using as-cast bullets. Haven't sized a bullet since some time in the '80s.
You could try some as-cast bullets, too. It has worked for over 25 years for me.

[Hang Fire]

That sounds a ittle light on the mowing. I live in the desert and I have to mow 1x per week. When I lived in Anchorage I had to mow every 3-4 days.

You got that right about the fast growing grass in AK. 1969-76 we lived down on the Kenai Peninsula and had about a 1/2 acre lawn which kept four horses in fresh cut grass. The boy would cut it daily 1/4 section at a time in a continous operation. When he got to griping too much, I would just throw on more free fertilizer from the plant over on Nikiski Beach, that really urinated him.