Why Lube Cast Bullets?

[Sam Casey]

I ask this because I just bought an assortment of 45acp bullets from Precision Delta and the pack labeled 45Auto 185 gr LHP -ML .452 Diam appear to be cast & dry? No lube? Bullets I have bought from Dardas have very definite blue lube rings? My "coated" Bayou bullets are also dry, but "coated" as aforesaid.

[lablover]

Bet they are swaged

[Sam Casey]

Swaged as in cast & "squeezed"? Again, why are some lead bullets lubed and others not? A genuine question from load, shoot & clean shooter who knows nothing about making bullets.

[rancher1913]

swaged boolits are not cast they are squeezed into a form under pressure. with out some kind of coating a lead boolit will leave a trail of lead in your barrel. you can tumble lube or powder coat or hytech or regular lube but you need something to keep your barrel from fouling.

[Mica_Hiebert]

I imagine they are either clear powder coated or aloxed.

[leadman]

Rooster Labs makes a clear coating that is tumbled on. Very thin and hard to detect. Some 22lr manufacturers use it. There are also moly coated cast or swaged bullets that appear to be dry. Try a knife on one and see if the color changes when scraped.
If you can't detect any lube it would be good to tumble lube them.

[Dale53]

Sam Casey;
I would simply call or email the manufacturer and ask them. Might save you a world of problems.

FWIW
Dale53

[skeettx]

https://www.precisiondelta.com/contacts

[runfiverun]

I'd look at the part that says ML.
that probably stands for some type of lube.

[Sam Casey]

I called them per suggestion. You are right. They are swaged and then coated with something that can't really be seen. Safe to load and shoot as is, but they do recommend cleaning gun after each outing as gun will be somewhat dirtier than it would after shooting jacketed. Thanks to all!

[Seeker]

Rooster lube or something very similar. Scrape your finger nail across the base, you will see it. Hornady uses the same lube on their swaged boolits.

[Lloyd Smale]

most swadged bullets are lubed and then powdered so they don't stick together in the box. they don't need a high tech lube as there designed to be shot at the lower end of the velocity range of handguns.

[w5pv]

I bought some winchester 45 cal cast bullets that had a checkering on them with a powder they all shot without leading.I don't remember the amount they cost but the local gunshop had them on sale was the reason I bought them in the first place.

[fryboy]

The above post sounds like hornady's ,something kinda clear with what appears to be mica in/on it
The OP sounds like rooster jacket(ed) ,clear,dry ,hard etc ,
Fwiw rooster labs used to make many house brands including bullet and case lubes as well as polishing formulas ( really really miss their HVR )

[Geezer in NH]

good luck with unlubed

[james23]

I bought a few boxes of 1990's Speer lead bullets cheap a few months ago that I found in the back of a old hardware store. It didn't look to have alox or other lube but when I contacted the company they said yes are lubed.

[Ricochet]

The swaged Speer bullets have a thin coat of wax, like a .22 bullet.

[Shiloh]

You may get a few good shots off. Want to keep from mining lead out of your bore?? Lube your boolits.
Any commercial cast or swaged lead bullets I have seen are lubed.

Shiloh