New to me lubesizer

[Squrl78]

I use to cast 9mm bullets a few years ago. I just used the Lee liquid alox for lube. It is messy, & smokey. But effective. My least favorite part about that is that it never really dries. It always seems to stay tacky. Even the loaded ammo I still have a couple years latter is still sticky. Well I bit the bullet, figuratively that is. I got my first .45 ACP. It's a M&P with a 4" barrel & night sites. I'm in love by the way. After buying my first 500 plated bullets on sale for $58. I decided to start casting again. I also decided I wasn't dealing with that sticky mess again either. After the first couple thousand bullets I cast, I started out trying the powder coat route. It seems to be working just fine so far. It did take me several tries to figure out the right technique that worked for me however. But I'm past that now. Smooth sailing. It's just very tedious and time consuming. I know, I know. This is a lube thread. I'll get to it. So this time around I did more research. I found I may want to lube size them. I had been sizing with a Lee sizer for the .45 to this point. I started looking for a lube sizer. And quickly found I did not want to pay $200 for the press, then dies and punches on top of that. Now as most reloaders & casters are. I don't mind old stuff. Or recycled for that matter. I actually prefer old used stuff for most situations. Hell, my squirrel gun is a 1950 semi auto .22. And I'm from 1975. OK, back to lube. I found a nice Lyman 45 on fleabay. Then I found a nice used RCBS .452 die on fleabay too. The top punch was ordered at the same time. The press also had a stick of "orange" lube in it. Pretty sure I know what it is. And I'm going with that for now. I really like how well it works so far. I also like that I can size & lube quickly without all the sticky mess. And no drying time. I am also going to try out some blocks of the White label lube soon. This is all a new experience for me. And I love it so far. I am always open to tips, tricks, & sage wisdom. I have learned. Once you know everything. It's time to get out. I like to learn and I'm always open to new tricks.

[casac47]

Don't know if there are any tricks to lubing bullets. I find the most difficult thing is getting it adjusted so the "crimp groove" on my bullets stays clean. The other thing I had to do on my RCBS unit was replace the piece on the bottom. I don't know what it's called but, it's the one that pushes the rod up. The rod kept skidding off the factory bar. So, I made a wider one. Problem solved.

[g17]

I like my Lyman 45 also. I mixed up some Ben's red bullet lube which I keep in an old coffee pot. Just heat heat and pour the lyman 45 full leaving enough room for the pressure nut when needed and best of all, no air gaps.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Squrl78, welcome to the website,
If you are able to get that Lyman setup and working well, the only suggestion I have is to try pre-heating the boolits before you run them through the sizer.

I use a heatgun and just warm them to the touch, I do 50 or so boolits at a time. This heat does two things, Lube will adhere better to a warm boolit than a cold one. The other thing may seem counter-intuitive, but the warm boolit heats the lube, the lube will be a bit more tacky while warm, but that heat flashes any oil/solvents off the outer surface creating a 'skin' as the lube cools. So when loading ammo, the boolits are less tacky.

[roysha]

If you are going to cast a bunch ahead of time and they will be stored for a while till they are loaded, dust them with "Motor Mica" and they won't stick together. I use unscented talc I get off eday in bulk packages which is quite economical and I suspect I have a lifetime, (the rest of my lifetime anyway) supply.

When I use my old Lyman 45 I have 5"x 8" rectangular wooden boxes that I lay the bullets in them and when 3/4 full I sprinkle the talc on (I use an emptied spice bottle with the plastic cap with holes in it), and gently roll back and forth to coat. Then they can be stored just about any way you want and won't stick together. I've used method this with everything from liquid lube through some stuff I got from CH many years ago that was so hard it would actually break if dropped on the floor. Now, I use Carnuba Red virtually exclusively since I really haven't found anything anywhere near as convenient and economical, however it does require heat.

Oh yeah, the wooden boxes I use are from long, long ago when Philadelphia Cream Cheese came packaged in them. This would have been probably the late 40s and I got them when an old gunsmith in the area retired in the 70s. I have enough of them I store the cast rifle bullets in them, but my pistol bullets get the coffee can storage system.

[gwpercle]

Depth adjustment is critical. You want a die lube hole lined up with the lube groove and you do NOT want a hole inline with the base or crimp groove.
How much pressure you put on the lube is also important , too much and it will go under the base, use just enough to fill the groove....no more.
These are the two tricks that are hardest to pick up on , but important for easy use. I can even lube bevel base boolits with these "tricks".

Welcome Aboard...Gary

[georgerkahn]

A big +++ on gwpercle's apt suggestions! Both are right on! If I may add one more -- perhaps more germane to me from my location geographically, and, that I lub in (unheated) basement -- but the temperature characteristics of your lub must be factored in. JonB in Glencoe on this site suggested slight -- operative word IS "slight" -- warming of your boolits (hair dryer works well), regardless. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that cold lub on cold boolits will be more than a challenge to uniformly fill grooves with lub, while too warm lub on too warm bullets will often make a bit more than a little mess. (I've been there!!!) Slightly warmed boolits with lub at workeable temp produces many awesome looking boolits with not so much required pressure on the lub/sizer handle. So, a third challenge is getting the brand of lub you're using -- yes, it does vary -- in sync with boolits and pressure. Hey -- this sounds like a big challenge, but it is not. Persevere!
BEST!
geo

[gwpercle]

I have always used soft lubes that don't need heat to flow. On a cold day if I want to lube I just prop a shop light next to the lube/sizer and get things warm. Now I live in Louisiana and my idea of cold is above +20 and below +40. That's cold to me. I usually wait until its above 50 to go out there.
Right now it's Jan. and 80 degrees outside so I don't need to warm anything. But on a cool day I might try warming the boolits first, anything to make the process easier is worth a try.
Gary