Can I use ALOX for boolits with standard Lube Grooves?

[rhouser]

I guess I could just try it, but, I hate to go down a road already travelled.

I am 65 and still fighting the lube battles but for different reasons now. I have almost NO space for my reloading/casting equipment. I have to cast outside on a table and pull in and re-store my equipment each time. I then go back out with the equipment to lube.

I can't seem to get the knack of the pan lube down right and make large messes each time (again, out in the back on the same table that I reload and cast on). For pan lube, I need to pull the hot plate, pull the pan, melt the lube, pour the lube, cut out the bullets, melt the lube out of the lube pan, Put the lube back into it's storage container, etc etc etc.

All of a sudden the LLA is looking pretty good again. I own molds for every caliber I shoot, both rifle and pistol. I generally cast only a couple of hundred bullets at a time. I could tumble these and then put them out on the wax paper without much equipment.

Anybody using LLA or one of the mixtures to tumble lube bullets with standard lube grooves?

Thanks in advance... rch

[Bullwolf]

In a word, yes.

I tumble lube regular lube groove boolits often. It generally works fine if the boolits are the right size.

Couple come to mind off the top of my head.

Lee 358-105-SWC in 9mm and 38 Special
(ones in pic are Tumble Lubed in 45-45-10)


I tumble lube my 38 Special 148 grain button nose wad cutters
(with regular lube grooves) In Lee Liquid Alox, or 45-45-10.

My 44 Magnum C429-240-SWC Hollow Point mould is often TL'd



10 grains of unique, no gas check tumbled lubed in Lee Liquid Alox

My Lee C430-310-RF



The Plain Base boolits get lubed in either C-red/BAC, or TL'd in 45-45-10.


I tumble lube the Lyman 358311 for 38/357 in Alox and 45-45-10.




My Lee 358-158-RF and,
Lee 358-125-RF are often tumble lubed in 45-45-10 as well.






- Bullwolf

[rhouser]

Thanks Bullwolf. I just came home with a can of Johnson 1 step floor wax. I am going to mix it with my next batch of LLA per Ben's instructions. I have setup about 50 C452-300-rf's with gc's for mid speed loads in my Casull. I am going to tumble lube these and give them a try. I can always clean out the lead if this doesn't work out. I appreciate your information. rch

[Yodogsandman]

All the different tumble lubes should work fine.

Another option would be to finger lube with a softer stick lube like White Label 50/50 alox/beeswax, RandyRats TAC or Ben's Red. Finger lube boolits and then push through your kake cutter to just clean up the excess lube or push the boolit thru a Lee sizer die if you want them sized.

[Budzilla 19]

rhouser, when you mix up Ben's Liquid Lube, and use it once, you will NEVER go back to whatever you were using, that's for sure!!! If you think it needs more than one coat, then by all means put a couple more! I used it on some 200 grn .30 cals in an '06' and drove the fire out of them!! I mean upwards of 2400 fps! Two coats,(probably only needed one), no leading, love the stuff!! On low velocity pistol rounds, its all you will ever need!! Crazy simple to make, and sooooo easy to use!! Just my .02 cents

[GhostHawk]

Just takes a LITTLE bit of the Ben's Liquid Lube for 50 bullets.

And I shoot Pistol/low velocity loads with just a single coat of Liquid Lube, Rifle/higher velocity I do dipped or tumble lubed in a Ben's Red Variant, then sized and liquid lube to seal it all. Although I probably would not need to. Sort of a belt and suspenders afair.

[Bullwolf]

Thanks Bullwolf. I just came home with a can of Johnson 1 step floor wax. I am going to mix it with my next batch of LLA per Ben's instructions. I about 50 C452-300-rf's with gc's for mid speed loads in my Casull. I am going to tumble lube these and give them a try. I can always clean out the lead if this doesn't work out. I appreciate your information. rch

Your most welcome. I hope to try Ben's Liquid Lube at some point too, but it's hard for me to mess with something that works so well. (Recluse/White Label 45-45-10)

I'll readily admit I've also purchased a can of Johnson's One Step no buff floor wax. I'm sure I'll be trying out BLL at some point as well.

BLL or Ben's Liquid Lube is:
60% Lee Liquid Alox
40% Johnson's One Step no buff floor wax


- Bullwolf

[lar45]

I've used 45-45-10 on regular 265gn boolits in my Rossi M92 45Colt 24" bbl. Shot 300rnds in one weekend without cleaning and the barrel was spotless.

[rhouser]

Shot 36 Lee C452-C300-RF in my SRH 7.5" Casull with 8.5 gr of trailboss. One Coat LLA, waited overnight, through the lee .452 sizer with a GC, then recoat and wait overnight. No Leading at all.

Now to try same bullet with 16 gr blue dot. If still no leading, I will up it a little more. I will try the BLL on this group and see if the drying time is shorter.

Thanks to all
rch

[williamwaco]

I do it every day. Just as good and makes less smoke!

[MBTcustom]

Now I'll tell you something that will really blow your mind:
You can use standard bullet lube........in TL grooves! In fact, it works quite well.
Modern lubes (especially those made by White Label) are so good, (contrary to the designs that everybody loves with the cavernous lube grooves) that only a very little bit is really needed to properly lube a bullet. Often, most of the lube is doing nothing but spraying the grass between you and the target.

[Frank V]

I am new to tumble lubing, My Wife bought me a Lee TL kit & I've read Lee's instructions. They say add a bit of lube, I'm wondering just how much to add? I've got some drying now & they look like they have a film of lube on them & I'm hoping they don't lead. The instructions say just spread them out on wax paper to dry overnight. I stood mine on the base as I thought laying on their side might wipe lube off the side. I was thinking about standing them on their nose & leave the bases lubed?
Any thoughts on how much lube to put in the tub? I put in several drops from the Lee bottle?
Thanks.

[Fishman]

It sounds to me like you are on the right track. Some people like to stand theirs up and others like to just dump them out to dry. I have always just dumped them out. Standing them on their bases will at least theoretically help keep your seating die punch a little less gunked up, since the lube film will be thinner on the nose. The lube will get on the punch and as it builds, your boolits will be seated progressivly deeper, so keep an eye on that and be sure and clean it occasionally.

You only need a thin film of lube.

[Frank V]

Well I've got some dry I stood them up on end I'm hoping to load them tommorw I'll let you know if they lead. I'm hoping they won't several have said they have great results with tumble lubing.

[Patrick56]

I use Lee Alox for all my bullets. My method is a little bit different. I use a small plastic "mini-grip" (zip) bag. Bullets in, a small squirt of Alox and a short massage and then the bullets out on a piece of glass to dry. Works well and no spill!

[Frank V]

Thanks Fishman.
I've got some loaded & as soon as I get to try them I'll post the results.

Oh I've been experimenting with lubing the bullets for the first pass through the Lee sizer die with regular case lube just like you'd lube your cases for resizing. So far looks promising? Size them then on to tumble lubing. We'll see.

[rhouser]

I tried my first batch of BLL this week on some lee 452-300-rf standard lube groove bullets. Wow, they dried quick (under 2 hours).

Coat, let dry, put through my lee pass through sizer seating gc's. One more coat of BLL and again in about two hours, they were ready to go.

The BLL finish is much less sticky than any of the ALOX or ALOX mixes I have tried. It is super easy to make, and I had NO leading at the range.

I was shooting the 454 Casull with 14.5 gr of Blue Dot, so it was kind of a low mid-range load, but, great fun and Very accurate in my gun.

Just my 2 cents. rch

[Frank V]

rhouser
Glad yours worked out for you.

I tried mine & got a little leading sized .410, I'm wondering if sizing them .411 would work better?
More to try, the bbl looks glassy smooth, but may try fire lapping just the same? I'll work on it.