What do you use to lube bullets to size before PC ?

[kryogen]

What do you use to lube bullets to size before PC ?

My 358 mold bullets drop at 360. Therefore I would like to size, then PC, then size again.

What should I use to lube so I dont ruin the PC ability to bond? water and soap? what do you guys use? Then wash the boolits?

Anything easier? I don't really want to spray them with case lube or something.

Or just PC as is, and then size once? Will be a 3-4 thou size, will it chip the coating?

How do you do it?

[pretzelxx]

The theory behind the powder coat is that it never chips, it should stay with the lead and smudge, but not chip.

I've heard people size before pc and after. I guess it depends on how many thousandths over the boolits come out.

[catman81056]

I size before PC'ing and after. I don't use any lube, just run them thru the sizer. Haven't had any probs yet.

[kryogen]

they size much harder when not lubed, and they seem to "smear" lead in the lee sizer die.

Water and soap maybe? then rinse, then dry, then PC?

[catman81056]

My alloy is a 50/50 mix of COWW and pure lead +2% tin. I have no problems running them thru the Lee sizer and I haven't noticed any smearing.
Try PCing a few without any kind of lube then run them thru the sizer, they might be alittle tough but the PC will stay on. That's how I do my 9MM boolits. They drop right at .357 so I PC them then size to .358.

[totalloser]

If I were to lube and size before PC and then again after, I'd try diswashing detergent. I used to use Dawn to lube draft hose couplings to get the hose over the ends and it's pretty slippery. And it should remove any petro contaminants and is water soluble.

I don't size before PC, only after. And I do use lube- just makes it smoother. I wipe my boolit handling fingers across an oiled sponge before sizing to get just a tiny bit of lube on them. Really doesn't take much and just feels gentler on everything.

[Beagle333]

I don't lube, I just size, PC, and size again. But I'm not sizing down more than .0015 or .002 the first time.

[Hang Fire]

Liquid soap is a pretty good lubricant, back in the 1960s we used it to lube air compressor for hookah diving.

[donhuff]

I use a light spray of CRC heavy duty silicone. Before PCing or after PCing. It is amazing how much easier they go through the sizer. I pour them out one layer deep on a rag and give them a light spraying. Then grab the rag by the corners and pick em up, and roll them around a little to distribute the lube. BE QUICK with this if doing after PCing and lay them down and spread out thin to dry. The solvent they use will soften the PC if you spray heavy or keep them piled up so that they cant dry quickly. Give the a couple minutes to dry and start sizing. It takes 3-5 before you get a good coat of lube in the sizer. But then the almost fall through. First time I tried it, I thought that I had cast a bunch of small slugs cause the effort was so little.


I use straight wheel weights so my alloy is pretty soft especially after curing the PC. So if the bullet is much over sized, and hard to get through the sizer, the nose or base might get deformed a little by the top punch. With the silicone, there is never a problem with this.

After sizing and before PCing, I rinse the bullets with a little acetone or toluene or lacquer thinner (whatevers handy) to get rid of the silicone. Never had a problem with the PC sticking to the cleaned bullets.

[prickett]

+1 on the silicone spray.

I used it when I was using Klass Kote. That dried hard as a rock and was hell to size. Silicone fixed that.

[flyingrhino]

I size after coating. It doesn't hurt the PC. Saves a step. I cast, coat, then size.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

Sometimes I used Hornady One Shot Case Lube. It's a dry lube so it shouldn't mess with the PC.

[Floydster]

Yup, I use Hornady one shot also, put my bullets in a Baggie, spray a little lube in, nead the bullets a little, dump them out, let them dry a few minutes, good to go.

[retread]

I size after coating. It doesn't hurt the PC. Saves a step. I cast, coat, then size.

Second that. No problems. Have done thousand at least that way.

[Walter Laich]

I size after coating. It doesn't hurt the PC. Saves a step. I cast, coat, then size.

+1 use the Lee single stage sizer and it works without any additional lube

[kryogen]

Second that. No problems. Have done thousand at least that way.

ok will try this, and will lube the coated bullets a bit I guess.

[retread]

I don't bother with lube except for what may be present from earlier sizing. Have not had any PC come off or mar in any way.

[MacFan]

Dawn dish detergent before PC'ing, nothing but PC on the bullets after.

[HDS]

I haven't done any of this but it seems it can't hurt to tumble the ready PC'ed bullets in carnauba wax when still hot.

[kryogen]

ok I pced a few tonight with my new gun, and they sized fine unlubed all the way
so no sizing from the mold, and no lube after cooking.
the pc didnt flake or anything, they went a bit rough but nothing too bad. Maybe I'll try some silicon spray on the next batch.