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Thread: more on Lee tumble lube

  1. #61
    Boolit Bub woodsoup's Avatar
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    Corn starch, May be OK.
    Baby powder and mica are abrasive.
    Put some on a damp rag and rub on your cars hood.
    You'll not be using those in your barrels anymore (your local auto detailer will love the business though).
    ....Dang, it's great to be old!!

  2. #62
    Boolit Master




    Old Ironsights's Avatar
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    Well, I just got done sizing all the 457122s I dip-lubed... I'll have to take some pics, but it seemed to work OK.... except that I kept dropping the fool boolets into the LLA and filling up the HP.

    I guess I'm just too fumble-fingered.
    A Democrat that owns Guns is like a Vegan that owns Cats...
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    1.618034 Fnord
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  3. #63
    Boolit Master Ricochet's Avatar
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    Smile

    It's tricky dip lubing, especially once you get a bit of lube on your fingers.
    "A cheerful heart is good medicine."

  4. #64
    Boolit Master




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    The good, the bad, the large and the FUGLY....



    457122, 405 encapsulated, 450 and the Mega Whomper 600gr
    A Democrat that owns Guns is like a Vegan that owns Cats...
    C2N14... because life is not energetic enough.
    Gott und Gewehr mit uns!...
    Death is only The End if you assume the Story is about You.
    1.618034 Fnord
    מנא, מנא, תקל, ופרסין - Daniel 5:25-28 - Got 7.62?


  5. #65
    Boolit Grand Master leftiye's Avatar
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    I made a pair of srpinging tweezers out of a coat hanger. They have sharp points to grip the boolit ogive for dipping. A pair of needle nose pliers bent in and pointed might work better, as the wire things will flip sideways if you don't do your part just right.
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  6. #66
    Boolit Bub
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    Talking

    Quote Originally Posted by Ricochet View Post
    Yes, mineral spirits is the stuff it comes dissolved in.
    Acetone works better. This stuff is millitary "Grade 4" anti rust compound. "CPC"

  7. #67
    Boolit Master
    exile's Avatar
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    This may be slightly off topic, but do you guys use the Lee tumble lube kit, and if so, how does it work? Does it work well? Or are you all using a different sizer with Lee tumble lube bullets? How are the bullets pushed through the Lee sizer? I ask these questions because I am trying to decide what to buy and what method is cheapest and best for a beginning reloader on a budget. I would like to eventually get a sizer but if I could load Lee tumble lube 148 grain wadcutters without one for awhile I would like to. Sorry if this is somewhat confusing.
    "There is not a single instance in history in which civil liberty was lost, and religious liberty preserved entire. If therefore we yield up our temporal property, we at the same time deliver the conscience into bondage." --John Witherspoon, The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men. 1776

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  8. #68
    Boolit Grand Master
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    exile,
    I use a Lyman 450 and have never used a Lee luber. I have only heard good things about them, however. One nice feature is that the Lee pushes the boolit base through the die and captures it in a collection jar. You can't beat the price, either. As far as to size or not to size, that would depend on the slugged measurement of your bore and the cast measuement of your boolit. As long as there is a reasonable tolerence between the two, you're good to go. Lots of boolits are cast and shot without sizing. Sizing does allow more consistant performance for some and less leading in some cases.
    One of the highly respected guys around here is ranchdog. He runs a specialty mould business and he uses Lee sizers. Hard to get a better recomendation than that.
    725

  9. #69
    Boolit Master

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    I really like the Ranch Dog bullets, I have been using his Lee Sizers with Alox on his bullets over the last week or so. Great combination, but Michael does recommend Mica as a powder on the finished bullets.

    I am not completely sold of the Lee TL system, but I am coming around to it. I still made a lot of bullets that go thru my Star sizer.

    Jerry
    Honor is a Way of Life

    NRA Benefactor Life Member

  10. #70
    Boolit Master
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    Good recommendations. Thanks. I guess I will go that way until I can afford other equipment.
    "There is not a single instance in history in which civil liberty was lost, and religious liberty preserved entire. If therefore we yield up our temporal property, we at the same time deliver the conscience into bondage." --John Witherspoon, The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men. 1776

    "The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times." Psalm 12:6 (E.S.V.)

  11. #71
    Boolit Master


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    Another addition I've made to my "system" is using a cooking sheet that is made of some type of plastic/nylon that has one side that is a bit rough and the other is slicker than snot. I use the slick side to place my bullets on. The sheet makes it a lot easier to recover all the Alox that comes off the bullet and the sheet is easy to clean/store for future use.
    Michael

  12. #72
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by exile View Post
    This may be slightly off topic, but do you guys use the Lee tumble lube kit, and if so, how does it work? Does it work well?
    I started off with the Lee sizing/lubing kits and still use them. In fact, not sure but what I actually prefer them now. You'll read a lot of comments here, and you'll be surprised at the number of boolit casters who lube in a variety of ways.

    Started off with just the straight LLA and had no problems other than a bit of smoke and more soot on the gun than I was used to. But for the ease, accuracy and cost, that extra three minutes of wiping the gun down during the cleaning was a non-factor.

    Then I tried something that made all the difference--Johnson's Paste Wax.

    Now I simply cook a little bit of JPW on a hot plate to "cook off" the solvents and leave mainly the carnuba. I mix that with a pre-heated amount of LLA in about a 60% LLA / 40% JPW mix, then add just a smidgen of odorless mineral spirits and shake extremely well, then set on the shelf for a day or so.

    I use this formula twice for each boolit. I'll do a light lubing, let the boolits dry, then run them through the (Lee) sizer. After sizing, I do a normal lubing, let them dry, and then load them.

    I now get virtually no smoke, no more soot on the gun than I do with LubeAMatic sized/lubed boolits, a shiny bore, and outstanding accuracy. No leading whatsoever.

    Or are you all using a different sizer with Lee tumble lube bullets? How are the bullets pushed through the Lee sizer? I would like to eventually get a sizer but if I could load Lee tumble lube 148 grain wadcutters without one for awhile I would like to. Sorry if this is somewhat confusing.
    I love the Lee sizers. They are easier and faster than the RCBS and Lyman lube/sizers, don't require top punches, and to change calibers takes only as long as it takes to unscrew the sizer from your presss and screw in a new one.

    The sizers look much like a die. They come with a "seating plug" (for lack of a better word) that snaps into your shell plate holder on the ram. You set your boolit on this, base first, and then raise the ram to push the bullet through the sizer where it is swaged to size.

    The round, red plastic container sits on top of the sizer and catches the boolits as they come out of the sizer.

    My first boolits ever cast were Lee.358 148 WC with regular lube grooves. I tumble-lubed these, and this is what the first batch shot like--



    So go for it, enjoy, learn along the way and enjoy the journey.

    Jeff

  13. #73
    Boolit Master Ricochet's Avatar
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    Smile

    JPW is mainly paraffin, with a whiff of carnauba.
    "A cheerful heart is good medicine."

  14. #74
    Boolit Master
    exile's Avatar
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    Wow! A picture truly is worth a thousand words. Now I wonder if I should get the regular Lee wadcutter mold rather than the tumble lube one. I recently bought a Smith and Wesson 686 with a five inch barrel and a non-fluted cylinder that I really want to try with bullets I have cast rather than commercially cast ones.

    I thought reloading was an intricate and involved undertaking, but bullet casting seems much more so. I am waiting on a copy of "Cast Bullets" by E.H. Harrison from the local library. So much to learn! Glad I found this website.
    "There is not a single instance in history in which civil liberty was lost, and religious liberty preserved entire. If therefore we yield up our temporal property, we at the same time deliver the conscience into bondage." --John Witherspoon, The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men. 1776

    "The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times." Psalm 12:6 (E.S.V.)

  15. #75
    Boolit Master
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    There is no easier way to break into bullet casting than with the Lee microgrooved bullet.

    I apply two apps of LLA (thinned with mineral spirits with the LLA drizzled sparringly into a margarin dish and the bullets swirreled around until I get complete coverage). I dry them for 24 hours with them sitting base down on wax paper.

    And for plinking purposes........ I load and shoot them "as cast" ...... no sizing.

    Cheap, easy plinkers ........... six gang molds where available speed up the casting process.

    And when I care to ..... I treat the bullets after the final lubing with motor mica.

    And on wilder days .... I have even tried powdered moly between LLA apps.

    VIVA LOCA!


    Three 44s

  16. #76
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    powdered moly eh, hmmm theres an idea
    might have to try that

  17. #77
    Boolit Mold
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    Should I thin my LLA with mineral spirits and then tumble them with a thin coat before sizing? How much mineral spirits should I use or is that just trial and error? I've been thinking about the dipping as well since I have read these threads. I hate the sticky bullet and messy reload I get from double tumbling.
    I have fumble finger dropped a few rounds at the range and it seems like a pound of dirt will stick to them.

  18. #78
    Boolit Master

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    try this --it works for me---heat the lube in hot water[around 160#] it is real thin. I use a plastic peanut butter jar . PUT around a 100 in the jar and about 1 teaspoon of lube. It dont take very much when its hot.Shake till coated ,dump on wax paper let air dry over night. I add powdered moly to mine but you can do it with out it. I can carry 45s in my pocket and they are not sticky unless the temp is high shotman/rick

  19. #79
    Boolit Master
    Lucky Joe's Avatar
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    This is my method.

    Quote Originally Posted by leftiye View Post
    I made a pair of srpinging tweezers out of a coat hanger. They have sharp points to grip the boolit ogive for dipping. A pair of needle nose pliers bent in and pointed might work better, as the wire things will flip sideways if you don't do your part just right.

    I use LLA for 90% of my lube and must be one of the lucky ones, even so I found a lot of good information in this thread. I want to show how I handle boolits with out having to touch them (short finger nails) or try to configure a pair of pliers or tweezers. I took a 6" spike available at any good hardware and in my town you can buy 1 or 1000. Next I went out in my farm shop and found enough different kinds of tubing to fit any kind of boolit I cast. You should be able to find the tubing again at any hardware or auto store or go to a auto repair garage should not be hard to find. The tube in the picture is about 5 3/4" long.

    The boolit in the picture is a .45 and the picture should be self explanatory, just slip the tube over the nose, use your thumb to push it out. I like to make things work, this is quick to make and use also inexpensive.


    I hope this helps someone.
    Lucky Joe
    "There's always a way."

  20. #80
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    Lucky Joe, I doff my cap to you sir.

    That is one neat and simple approach.


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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check