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Thread: Best lube that will actually stay in the lube grooves?

  1. #1
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    Best lube that will actually stay in the lube grooves?

    I'm tired of using lube that gets all over the bullets and comes out of the lube grooves. Is there anything out there that will stay in the lube grooves and not get messy when bullets are collected in a coffee can or other container. It would be nice to have something that would stay in the grooves. I was told "Blue Heaven" is the lube to get so I ordered some. With shipping it averaged $4 a tube.

    Can I add soy wax to harden up the Ben's Red?
    Last edited by 6bg6ga; 07-07-2017 at 07:30 AM.

  2. #2
    Boolit Buddy wddodge's Avatar
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    A forum sponsor by the name of Randyrat sells lube that works very well for me. It takes just a little heat to get it flowing and it stays in the grooves very well till I get them loaded. No leading from .380's to 45/70's. Plus they are much less than $4/stick.

    Denny

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    Heat is no problem. I have a 400 watt heater in my 1/2" thick aluminum plate that my Star is mounted to and controlled by a PID.

  4. #4
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    Try Hi-Tek or powder coat, I do both, haven't lubed a boolit in years. Hi-Tek is faster, but a steeper learning curve than powder coat.
    There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the same ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force, socialism—by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide. Ayn Rand

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    If it's going to be a while after I lube before I load, I give em a light tumble in BLL and that seals everything nicely. When it dries, nothing is sticky and nothing pulls out of the grooves.
    KE4GWE - - - - - - Colt 1860, it just feels right.

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    Thanks but I'm not into powder coating as of yet. I still do all my sizing on my Magma for 45cal and my Star for 38/357/9mm.

  7. #7
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    +1 on beagle333. Ben's LL is a good lube, all by itself, but it does seem to seal the lube from my lubrisizer application in a coat of kind of hard / yet not sticky shell. Might just work out for you. Got to let 'em dry on wax paper first before tossing into a can or box.

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    Boolit Master bosterr's Avatar
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    I used to use "Blue Angel" but would get leading when using it in my S & W revolver with fast powder. I've switched to Carnuba Red in my heated Star Sizer. I only run my heater for 10 minutes then unplug it. The boolits drop 5 or 6 inches into the Accra bin and the lube stays in the grooves pretty well. However, they're still warm and I only dump them into my coffee cans after they've sat in the bins until cool again.

  10. #10
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    The harder lubes will do just that you seek, however, be forewarned that a hard lune is not always the best for accuracy.

    RandyRat's Tac1 and TacX have done very well for me along with LSS Carnauba Red. Accuracy has been awesome and lube stays where it needs to.

    LBT Blue was a favorite of dads but the lanolin in it always made it kinda tacky. Works well though.

    I believe it was our own Larry Gibson that did a lube test for accuracy and had some nice evidence and showed some good firmer lubes. Perhaps do a search and yield some wisdom from that thread/article.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master Tenbender's Avatar
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    I have been using Tac1 because of the the theory the lube will be thrown out of the boolit after it leaves the barrel ? I'm not sure that actually happens but if it does that would make a boolit fly more true. Mine are a little sticky but not messy . I store them in a closed coffee can so no dust can collect. Anyway it works good for me with pistol boolits. I powder coat my rifle stuff .

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tenbender View Post
    I have been using Tac1 because of the the theory the lube will be thrown out of the boolit after it leaves the barrel ? I'm not sure that actually happens but if it does that would make a boolit fly more true. Mine are a little sticky but not messy . I store them in a closed coffee can so no dust can collect. Anyway it works good for me with pistol boolits. I powder coat my rifle stuff .
    Put a piece of cardboard about 12" away from the muzzle...then fire one shot. That should give you a real good idea how much of your lube is flung off the boolit as it leaves the barrel.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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    Quote Originally Posted by bosterr View Post
    I used to use "Blue Angel" but would get leading when using it in my S & W revolver with fast powder. I've switched to Carnuba Red in my heated Star Sizer. I only run my heater for 10 minutes then unplug it. The boolits drop 5 or 6 inches into the Accra bin and the lube stays in the grooves pretty well. However, they're still warm and I only dump them into my coffee cans after they've sat in the bins until cool again.
    I have used several different lubes. I prefer a soft lube, but I got to say that Carnuba Red really stays in the grooves very well (better than anything else I tried), and doesn't make a mess when boolits are bulk stored...and shoots a lot better than the HARD commerical lubes. BUT, Carnuba Red is known to throw cold barrel fliers when the ambient temperature is below 40º F. If you never shoot in cold weather, then no problem.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    “If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.”
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  14. #14
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    I use the carnauba red for everything, rifle pistol and revolvers. It even works great in my Ruger No.1b with no leading.
    Tom
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  15. #15
    Boolit Buddy PWS's Avatar
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    C-Red is the most user friendly lube I've used in regards to staying put on bullets in bulk containers. Gives pretty good accuracy in most loads too!

  16. #16
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    lars cordoba red
    Quote Originally Posted by 6bg6ga View Post
    I'm tired of using lube that gets all over the bullets and comes out of the lube grooves. Is there anything out there that will stay in the lube grooves and not get messy when bullets are collected in a coffee can or other container. It would be nice to have something that would stay in the grooves. I was told "Blue Heaven" is the lube to get so I ordered some. With shipping it averaged $4 a tube.

    Can I add soy wax to harden up the Ben's Red?

  17. #17
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    Where I used to live we were permitted to collect scrap lead from he berm. On the pistol ranges I noticed almost all the cast bullets still had the lube in the grooves after impact. I could never seen the point of lube that stayed in the grooves. It made about as much sense as motor oil that stayed in the crankcase.

  18. #18
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    Best lube that will actually stay in the lube grooves?

    Quote Originally Posted by BAGTIC View Post
    Where I used to live we were permitted to collect scrap lead from he berm. On the pistol ranges I noticed almost all the cast bullets still had the lube in the grooves after impact. I could never seen the point of lube that stayed in the grooves. It made about as much sense as motor oil that stayed in the crankcase.
    You want one of two things. You want it to fling off when it clears the muzzle. Or you want it to stay intact until impact. Anything other will lead to erratic accuracy. Since I throw, literally, sized and lubed bullets in an ammo can I want a non tacky lube that stays in place. A soft lube the flings off when clearing the muzzle doesn't work for this type of storage.

  19. #19
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    Another solution is to size and lube only just before you need to load them. When I first started casting I put a bunch of sized and lubed with 50/50 boolits in a gallon plastic baggie...what a mess. Now, if I have to size and lube a whole bunch of boolits I put them neatly arranged in rows in a tupperware container, layered in stacks between a thin pieces of card stock. I have found that for me anyway, that the softer lubes like BAC work way better for my pistol boolits. However you can't just size a jillion of them and throw them in a bucket or you'll wind up with a sticky mess every time. At this point, I'm more inclined to size and lube them just before I load them.

  20. #20
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    you could just skin the lube over.
    I only typed out how to do this 40-50 times in the last 10 years.
    don't nobody ever read what I type?

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