What do you lube PC'ed bullets with before sizing

[nighthunter]

I've tried several products to lube my PC'ed bullets with prior to sizing. The product I have had the best success with is Lanolin Cream, the product used by nursing mothers when they get sore. Lanolin Cream can be purchased at just about any drug store or wally world pretty cheap. It has about the same consistency as Vaseline. When my bullets are still warm from the oven I put them in a plastic coffee container and add a very small amount of the lanolin cream then place the lid on the container and roll the bullets around till the cream is evenly distributed on the bullets. If there is too much lube on the bullets just add the next batch of bullets to those already in the container and don't add any more lube. It doesn't take long to figure out the proper amount of the lube to add per batch. I have even used this cream as a lube when swaging. The cream is nearly pure lanolin. Heck, even Dillon case lube is just lanolin added to rubbing alcohol. The alcohol evaporates and leaves the lanolin to remain on the cases.


Nighthunter

[flyingmonkey35]

I don't lube them at all.

I use Lee sizing dies an just keep them clean.

[Smoke4320]

I do not use any lube

[tbierley]

I found if I spray them with Pam cooking spray an then size them. After I size them I wash them with paint thinner.

[Jupiter7]

Nothing. Just run them through.

[Bzcraig]

I too just run them thru

[odfairfaxsub]

Run through, I've already had issues of seeing washed off lubed bullets having tendencies of non bonding as well as right out of the pot and dried bullets. The less handling, the less moisture, the less whatever the better. I just sized .435 bullets in my dad's .430 for him and no lube....no big task just stand up and size when you do. I did it one armed. Now I admit nothing easier than sizing lubed/coated bullets but no lube isn't bad and your gaurenteed a good bonding surface

[Spawn-Inc]

i don't lube before sizing as i size as cast powder coated. but if i did, i like using lee's lube mixed with 20 parts or more of 99% isopropyl alcohol

[Whizzer]

Wow. I've never needed any lube at all...on my ALREADY POWDERCOATED pills. I use the Lee Push Through Sizers. Sometimes they go just a little harder, but I never need to use two hands or stand up.

[Love Life]

I size after I PC. I can size without lube even when sizing down from .456 to .452, but I'll usually swipe a bit of Unique case lube onto every 20th bullet or so just cuz.

[JD74]

shouldn't need to lube your PC bullets to size. If you really wanted to you could tumble them with a little johnsons paste wax right out of the oven I had to do that with Epoxy coated bullets sometimes if they were way to big.

[gpidaho]

As the others have said, lube isn't needed when you size PCd boolits. If I came across some special instance where lube was needed I would use dish soap mixed about 4 parts water 1 part soap. Washes off clean and easy. GP

[R3104D3R]

I resize before PC for rifle bullets, and resize after PC for pistol. Pam cooking spray is a great idea, as I've been using heavily diluted lee alox (add 99% rubbing alcohol (warmed to ~100F) , about 1:10 ratio), for sizing. Tumble in 10gallon bucket, only needed about 2oz of this fluid for 1500 rounds of 223. Wife's blowdrier speeds this up immensely! Then I rinse them off with solvent inside a rolled towel. I've even used lee case resizing lube.

I see sizing a polyester-coated lead round as causing angular perturbations as it spins after firing. You'll never have the correct center of gravity because the slight imperfections, while visually insignificant, will dent the lead so it would be like casting from a hand-turned mold instead of a computer generated CNC mold. In my testing it isn't a problem with pistol rounds or pistol-velocity rounds. I have been considering softening the polyester coating so it has a little "give" like traditional lube, by creating a "polymer blend" with something like polystyrene. This would prevent the deformation of the lead.

My primary need to size is for concentricity, so I want it to be concentric before I coat, generally. Pistol rounds having been PC'd before sizing won't require lube. Sizing a PC rifle round won't need lube either but like I said earlier, dents.

What I'm still looking for is a water-soluble lube to wash off easy for sizing before PC (and applies easy), as tbierley picked up on.

[Tech2]

I have converted almost all of my lubrication needs to coconut oil. I have the big Costco tub in the kitchen so it costs me virtually nothing. I keep a 2x2 patch loaded with it and just occasionally run my finger tips over it. You can add a little castor oil to it if you need more film strength for moving big brass. I don't think that you would be putting enough coconut oil on your PC'd bullets to worry about cleaning it off. It probably wouldn't effect adhesion if you did it before powder coating but it may soften the coating.

[labradigger1]

The last batch I cast were too hard and I had a devil of a time pushing pc'd boolits through a star. I was running a cast lubed boolit through every 5 or so strokes. I found if I turned on the lube heater I could run them through much easier. Ymmv
Lab

[nighthunter]

You folks that don't lube before sizing must all be using the Lee dies that have a very small contact spot with the bullet. I'm sizing with a Lyman 450 and I guarantee they sometimes stick without lube.

Nighthunter

[prs]

IF I were to use a lube to size PC's boolits, I would not bother to wash it off. Why? We never washed traditional boolit lube off cast boolits. But, the slick PC is the "lube".

prs

[bangerjim]

NO lube. Period. Unless you mold is dropping waaaaay too big, your sizing die should never need any lube. I have forced some slugs thru REALLY hard and never damaged or scraped off any PC. That stuff is really tuff.

Lube (petroleum or grease based anything) could cause PC deterioration down the road after loaded in the brass. And cleaning off any kind of lube just adds a totally unneeded step to the already multi-step PC'ing process.

I have PC'd and sized many many thousands of boolits from 223 all the way up thru 45 and never any need for lube.

banger