How to remove lube from boolits?

[RG1911]

I have about 500 CBs for .45 ACP sized and lubed with Carnauba Red. When I bought the lube, though, I failed to tell Glenn that I just push the CBs through my Star sizer/lubricator and into a box. There they sat for a week or so until I decided to do some reloading yesterday. Turns out, even in a cool basement, they've all stuck together, and when I separate them, the lube comes out in clumps. (I didn't have this problem with the Rooster Red I had been using until it went out of production.)

So, I need to remove the lube so I can run the CBs through the sizer with a non-sticky lube.

I had two ideas:

1. Dump them into a can of gasoline and swish them around. I have no idea (yet) if gas will remove Carnauba Red.

2. Put them on paper towels in a 180-degree oven for a few minutes and hope the lube melts off and is soaked up by the paper towels.

Will either method work, or are there better methods I don't know about?

Thank you,
Richard

[GSM]

Pan of hot water - the lube should float to the top and can be skimmed off.

[RG1911]

Pan of hot water - the lube should float to the top and can be skimmed off.

That sounds like a good idea. Thank you.

[1Shirt]

Better yet, pot of boiling water, and when it cools, the lube will just skim off, and you drain the blts in a colander. Just hot water by itself may not remove all of the lube.
1Shirt!

[1Shirt]

Boiling water also works well for cleaning up old gunked up lubersizers.
1Shirt!

[bangerjim]

This has been asked many many times.

I have tried all above methods.

Bestest, cleanest way:

Put boolits in glass or HPDE container with ild
cover with acetone
Swirl several times
Let sit overnight, siwrling if possible
Dump & retain acetone
Rince with new acetone
Dump and retain
Wash/swirl well in VERY HOT water and Simple Green (best degreaser in the world)
dump
Rince with VERY hot water
Dump water
Dump hot boolits out and let cool/dry

You now have perfectly 100% degreased/delubed/cleaned boolits ready for a new powder coating or whatever you are using!!

Just hot or boiling water will NOT cut grease nearly as well as acetone and Simple Green.

But use what you want. This method works VERY well......every time.

bangerjim

[Bjornb]

What Bangerjim is proposing will certainly get your bullets ready and prepped for surgery. However, since the OP was looking for a way to remove old lube and then re-lube them with a different lube, the hot/boiling water method is very acceptable and should take a lot less effort and time.

[GhostHawk]

I cleaned and lubed about 180 .312 185 gr boolits today. Hot water and a bit of Dawn lifted it just fine.

Then I sacrifised a couple of old towels to work them around a bit and got them shiny clean, like new.

Will be trying Ben's Brown aka Liquid lube (Johnson's liquid wax and Alox) Puts a nice coat on and seems to dry fairly fast.

[cuzinbruce]

Heat gun them. Outside preferably.

[FLHTC]

What Bangerjim is proposing will certainly get your bullets ready and prepped for surgery. However, since the OP was looking for a way to remove old lube and then re-lube them with a different lube, the hot/boiling water method is very acceptable and should take a lot less effort and time.

Ditto, Carnauba Red isn't as much grease based as it is wax. I boil my H&I dies all the time

[nrdewalt]

Ive tried the boiling thing in the past. It works but the outside of the bullets get a thin layer of the was on them. I wasnt able to get it all off.. Its an awful mess too.

[paul h]

I'd just run through through the star again and load them right up. Why go through the extra effort and waste a good lube? I prefer sticky/gooey lubes as I've found them to be superior to crayon like lubes and am willing to deal with the stickyness.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I'd just run through through the star again and load them right up. Why go through the extra effort and waste a good lube? I prefer sticky/gooey lubes as I've found them to be superior to crayon like lubes and am willing to deal with the stickyness.

Yep, I agree with Paul on this.
Carnuba red is a fine lube for 45acp and I suspect you haven't cleaned out your Star yet. I'd just run them through the star again, and catch them as they fall, then place them on a cookie sheet type of thing til the lube forms a skin,,,then you could put them in a jar or such without a problem.

[Twmaster]

I've had good luck with brake cleaner to remove lube.

[John Allen]

I have used the boiling water way and it works just fine.

[sealer]

interesting info. i have some bullets that need to be cleaned also.
dennis

[spotsboss]

Never mind hot water, chemicals, etc. Put the bullets in a cardboard box and use a heat gun on them for 15-20 seconds. The lube will soak into the cardboard and the bullets will shine like new. Throw away the box.

[C. Latch]

Maybe if you warmed them up the lube wouldn't stick so badly. Put them in a plastic container, squirt a little alox on them, swish them around a bit, and shoot them.

[Cowboy_Dan]

I have about 1200 comercial cast boolits I want to remove lube from. Since it is Magma Blue, I want to recover it. What's my beat bet?

[Bullwolf]

I have about 1200 comercial cast boolits I want to remove lube from. Since it is Magma Blue, I want to recover it. What's my beat bet?

Since you want to recover the lube, my advice would be to use a heat gun to melt off the majority of the original lube and recover/catch the melting lube in some form container such as a pan, bowl, or tray.

Once you have melted and recovered most of the lube, you might consider using boiling water, or a solvent bath to completely remove the rest of the lube residue, depending on your final desired state of cleanliness.


- Bullwolf