Liquid Alox question from a casting noob.

[lee n. field]

I'm getting into bullet casting. So far I've gone the Lee route, to keep expenses down.

Got a question about lubing with Liquid Alox:

Is this stuff supposed to get hard? So far, on bullets I've lubed with Liquid Alox, the lube has stayed tacky. This gives the bullet a tendency to pick up crud if you're not careful. Also, lube tends to get pushed off the bullet and onto the cartridge case during seating (or it's picking it up from lube that's accumulated in the seating die), or while the rounds are sitting loose in the box.

While testing a batch of handloads today, I noticed that the cartridges were positively grubby, presumably from the bullet lube. I had some feeding problems I attribute to this.

Short of springing for a lubri-sizer (which I may yet do, eventually, cash permitting), is there an effective fix?

[hpdrifter]

messy ain't it.

I finally broke down a bought a lubrisizer.

others seem to have developed a method, maybe they'll be able to help; I can't.

[pumpguy]

It is kind of a pain, but, I take a rag soaked with mineral spirits and wipe them as I am putting them in the ammo box. A good friend of mine and fellow member here (Dr A.) never cleans them and does not seem to have any trouble outshooting me!!!!

[jjamna]

Yep they are a mess. I either wipe em down after loading or hit em with a little steel wool. The wool really shines em up and makes em look perrdy. I try to cast and lub just enough to load what I am going to load.

[mtgrs737]

If it's not drying to the touch and still staying sticky after a couple of days drying time, try adding a little mineral spirits to the LLA and thinning it down a bit. If it gets too thick it will take forever to dry, It will still be soft but not sticky.

[Three44s]

Are you belling (flaring) your cases enough?

When you lube with LLA always do so very sparingly! A little goes a long ways.

I even prefer two applications of it "thinnned" with mineral spirits ........

..... and no it does not dry out in conventional terms ............. your life plus my lifetime ..... LOL!

And it's somewhat messy when applied the right way.

But for me ...... it WORKS!

Three 44s

[Springfield]

Instead of thinning the ALOX I put my bullets in an old electric frying pan and lube then after they warm up. Then I dump them into a cookie sheet to let them dry. Less is more when it comes to LLA.

[versifier]

You can dip just the lube grooves of longer rifle boolits in thinned LLA and leave the noses clean. Or you can either wipe them after loading or dip them in dry powdered mica. With shorter handgun boolits that I'm going to use for carry, I wipe them. LLA is not the only tumble lube. Others are White Lightning bicycle chain lube and good old fashioned Johnson's Paste Wax. Both are less messy than LLA, but WLL is more expensive. Whichever way you go, use it sparingly, and always thin LLA with at least 10% mineral spirits, it dries better and faster.

[VTDW]

It is kind of a pain, but, I take a rag soaked with mineral spirits and wipe them as I am putting them in the ammo box. A good friend of mine and fellow member here (Dr A.) never cleans them and does not seem to have any trouble outshooting me!!!!

Dr. A. outshoots most everyone and the dude got me started down this dark road of casting. LLA is a great product though and thinning with mineral spirits like posted does work though. I got a great deal on a lubrisizer and haven't looked back.

Again, as posted above flaring the case mouth just a tad will help a lot. I would be leary of using steel wool on my boolits unless I cleaned them off very well as I don't want to be shooting steel down the barrel, even if just a little bit. JMHO

Dave

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Boy, after reading these posts, I'm glad I picked up a Star sizer as a way of speeding up the process. Can't wait to get the home made heater working properly. The lube I'm using, Jakes Scarlet Cerisen, states that 125ºf is the proper temp. That seems a bit low (can't get the heater down that low), does anyone know what temp the Magma lubes work best at? Thanks,
Morgan

[jonk]

Ditto on flaring. It will eliminate the worst of the lube on the cases problem. Also ditto on thinning- it makes application easier and speeds drying time. The LLA will dry to the point that it isn't tacky, but if you squeeze it it will still move.

Personally I use both LLA and other, lubri-sizer lubes; for some apps the LLA simply works better for me and it surely is easier to apply.

[Lead melter]

I'm with Three44s on that. I lube a thin coat before sizing, and a thin coat afterwards. If you can put the boolits in the sun for an hour or two, that seems to help with the "tackiness".

[lee n. field]

Thanks y-all for the replies. I tend to flare the minimum necessary -- perhaps I'll try a bit more. And start accumulating cash towards a lubri-sizer.

There are, BTW, .40 S&W, from Lee's 175 grain 401-175-TC mold.

Lot's to learn.

[Sundogg1911]

I helped a friend use that Moose snot once before I ever got into casting. The same day I bought my first mould I bought a Lyman 450 and never looked back. I have moved on to Stars, but I still use the 450 from time to time. I think my friend stopped casting because of that stickey mess. I cast all of His pistol boolits now, and He keeps me supplied with a nice assortment of Fly's for Fly fishin' Seems like a great deal for me

[mag_01]

On Lee tumble lube boolits I use LL and if velocity is high 2 coats are in order --- Trick is to let em dry 3 or 4 weeks then they handle easy ---- Make them up ahead of time --- I do have an RCBS lubersizer for the rest of my boolits. Mag_01

[fireflyfather]

Um, a rag soaked in mineral spirits can wipe off the crud on the case and the tip of the bullet AFTER you have loaded the round.

[flhroy]

I do like springfield does (post #7) only a bit different. I put the boolits in a metal coffee can, the plastic ones wont work too good doing it this way. Put the can on a heat source anything from a camp fire to a coleman stove. Best not use mamas kitchen though because this way really stinks things up. Anyway when the boolits get hot, were you can only hold one for 3 or 4 seconds i squirt in the LA. I then swirl them around and around till everything looks just perfect then dump 'em out and stand 'em up. By then time you get the next batch done the first one is dang near dry. Your mileage may vary but this works for me.

[Crash_Corrigan]

Thin the LLA with mineral spirits and dump boolits into a gallon plastic round ice cream container and squirt the Moose Snot onto the pile.

Put on the lid and swirl the mix around for a minute or so. Decant onto a layer of waxed paper inside a shallow pan or box and let them dry 48 hours under a fan so the air moves.

Run them thru a Lee push thru sizer if needed and relube before assembling rounds. Keep the lube thin and apply two coatings if needed.

Yeah they do mess up the dies and look ugy when done. If you are a neat freak then clean off the boolits with spirit soaked rag/towell and make 'em purty. However they do shoot well and it is fast and cheap to do.

I have a Saeco Lubrisizer now and it does a great job. However LLA is faster and cheaper if you do not have to size the boolit it is the way to go.

I find not a bit of difference in the accuracy of either method but the weapons stay cleaner if not used with LLA boolits as I am not fussy about ugly rounds.

As for the reloading dies they load up pretty quick with excess LLA and require cleaning about every 500 rounds or so. I use the Dillons Pull apart dies than disassemble real fast and easy and clean in about 20 seconds. So it is not a big issue for me but with the kind of dies that require unscrewing from the press.....that is another deal altogether.

[lar45]

To get away from the LLA and still not spend too much money, you could try getting the Lee push through sizer.
Then get some stick lube and smear it on the base with a finger. Do up a bunch, then push through the Lee sizer. Your bullets will stay cleaner for sure, but you won't be lubeing 200 in 5 minutes.
When I am trying a few bullets with a different lube, I do it that way. With my Carnauba Red lube, I can pull off a small piece and get it warm in your hand, then rub the bullet on the grape sized piece of lube and spin on your finger, grab the next one and repeat.

Another option with a regular stick lube is to hot dip the bases.
Melt a stick of lube in a small can(tuna sized), grab the bullet by the nose and dip into the melted lube. Hold it in the lube for a few seconds until the bullet warms up and does not leave a big lube glob on the base. Then sit base down on a piece of wax paper to cool. It works better with longer or bigger bullets that you can get ahold of the nose on.

If you'd like a sample of Carnauba Red to play with, just send me your address.
www.LsStuff.com/lube

[JIMinPHX]

On the odd occasion that I use the Lee method, I start with 50/50 thinned LLA to use for push through sizing lube. I push them through, still wet. I get the 50/50 from what I cleaned off the wax paper with mineral spirits from the last batch. Then I dip the sized slugs half way into pure LLA & let them sit on wax paper to dry. Here in the Arizona desert, that stuff dries up plenty from sitting overnight in my shop. Results in other climates may vary. I still get some goo, when I seat the slug in the cartridge. I wipe the cartridges down with a paper towel before boxing them. I also clean out my seating die before putting it away. I don't need to do any of that extra work when I use a lubrisizer.