more on Lee tumble lube

[Ranch Dog]

If the Alox will flow back into the bottle, I let it. If it doesn't, it gets cut with mineral spirits until it does.

[randyrat]

Lube after cast and cool, size while lube is still wet.... Lube again let dry over night minimum. I've never had a major problem with any of my seating dies building up lube and i check OAL regularly... Possibly using too much.. Or i'm just not paying attention I gotta take a good look inside my seating dies and see if there is some buildup of snot.. I never worried about it because i never have to change my seat depth.

[Cayoot]

If the Alox will flow back into the bottle, I let it. If it doesn't, it gets cut with mineral spirits until it does.

I'm talking about the dried up alox that you scrap off the wax paper with a putty knife. Do you just drop the pieces back in the alox container with the liquid stuff, or do you find a way to (re)liquify the dried up alox before you put it back in the bottle?

Thanks

Bary

[kamikaze1a]

I wonder if most are applying too much Alox lube? I used to use Hornady swaged lswc's and they had a knurled or diamond pattern on their bearing surface which was sort of the same idea as the small grooves on the tumble lube Lees. Hornady used some lube that was probably Alox. They came with only a really thin layer of lube and I did not have any leading problems. I must admit that the Hornady's were swaged and using cast may be different but I think it could apply? I am thinking only a really thin layer will suffice and the amount I see left after a dip is excessive...IMHO What you all think?

[Ranch Dog]

I missed Cayoot's question but the chips or tough stuff gets put into a tub that is very wet with mineral spirits. I will keep working it until I feel it is ready to use again. This hasn't happened yet as with my "method" I have very little remaining.

I think you are right kamikaze1a, most probably use too much LA. Those are some nice looking bullets that Hornady produces. The Hornady Bullet Display Board that was given away in PMV had a complete lineup of those bullets on them.

I keep surprising myself with this Liquid Alox! I've even started using an eyedropper to apply it to very small bullets such as these I cast for my 25 ACP...



This is a bullet, not of my design, that had been sitting on a shelf at Lee Precision for quite some time. It has a traditional lube groove near the base and I just could not get any Alox into it with only one tumble. I tried one drop of LA applied to the nose of the bullet and that did the trick! It flows real nice down the bullet and pools at the base, filling the groove! In the picture on the right you can see the amount of lube in one drop. There isn't enough lube to scrap off the baking sheet when I'm done!

I've got a new bullet in the works for this caliber along with all the semi-auto calibers you find in the Saturday Night Specials; 25 ACP, 32 ACP, 380 Auto and 9mm Luger.

[kamikaze1a]

Ranch Dog, I tried out my two light coats of Alox boolits and JPW yesterday. I found no leading at the 800fps I was running. Also tried one light coat of Alox and then the spray on Carnuba wax instead of JPW and got good results too. The spray on wax treated was less sticky than JPW and I did not lose any Alox during application of Carnuba since heat was not necessary so may be a good alternative (for my application)...

[jonk]

Lee has a picture on their data card that comes with a lube and size kit illustrating a bullet melting... and the lube still clinging tenaciously to the bullet.

Ergo I do not think you will get it to melt.

[wiljen]

Probably not the heat that causes problems when coating with JPW over Alox. It is more likely the fact that JPW is about 50-60% spirits. If you cook down a new can of JPW and let the solvent air off you'll end up with roughly 1/2 a can of wax left.

[kamikaze1a]

wiljen, the more I thought about it, the more I agree with what you said. I'' continue my testing of the spray on CArnuba wax and see where that takes me...thanks for all the input!