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Thread: Anyone test unlubed bullets...

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
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    Anyone test unlubed bullets...

    Where the bore was oil swabbed between shots?

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master Bazoo's Avatar
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    Mann did if I recall correctly from his book.

  3. #3
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    Winger Ed.'s Avatar
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    When I first started casting, I made some .38s, I didn't have a lube/sizer yet.

    I ran a bunch through a S & W 6" 586.
    I'd load the cylinder, and spray the front end of the boolits with motorcycle chain oil, close it up and shoot.

    It was a unholy mess, but I didn't get any leading either.
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  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy
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    That's a great anecdote Ed.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master

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    Just watched this morning. No lube at all.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FMLUdaIHH-0

  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Why is my question?

    If you want to shoot unlubed boolits for some reason I guess that is a reason to ask but wouldn't it be more work to swab the bore each shot than lube boolits?

    If you don't have a sizer/luber you can tumble lube, pan lube or even use your fingers to smear grease into the lube grooves. When I was young and poor and got my first .45-70 I used boolits as cast and smeared wheel bearing grease into the lube grooves with my fingers. I loaded literally thousands of rounds that way and they worked just fine. No leading.

    Winger Ed's solution should work too but I will guess it is far messier than smearing grease into the lube grooves.

    I did try unlubed boolits in my .303 Lee Enfield with very bad results and lots of leading. That followed reading an article about using cornmeal filler over light powder charges and unlubed boolits. Supposedly the cornmeal scrubbed the bore clean each shot with reportedly good accuracy and clean bore. Didn't work for me!

    Longbow

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Winger Ed. View Post
    When I first started casting, I made some .38s, I didn't have a lube/sizer yet.

    I ran a bunch through a S & W 6" 586.
    I'd load the cylinder, and spray the front end of the boolits with motorcycle chain oil, close it up and shoot.

    It was a unholy mess, but I didn't get any leading either.
    Now that right there's something I would have never thought of.
    Last edited by Bookworm; 11-01-2019 at 06:36 PM.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Martin Luber View Post
    Where the bore was oil swabbed between shots?
    Black powder shooters swap after each shot with moose milk.


    But does it make it easier to shoot smokeless if you have to swab after each shot?
    I know that airgun shooters lube the bullets in a bag with tiny amounts of good lube and then shoot fine without worries. If not then leading will occur despite no hot powder gasses, just pure abrasive rubbing between lead and polished steel.

    What you need to understand is that bullet lube is not only a gliding source. It acts as a liquid gasket when hot powder gasses try to pass a pullet in the bore while shooting. Way more so than as an actual lube.

    As long as a bullet fits the gun Lee mulesnot will do the job, but in an ever so slight underbore bullet gasses will pass and leading will occur. A softer lube will melt and act as a iquid gasket and save the day.

  9. #9
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    Tom W.'s Avatar
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    Back a long time ago a friend called me to bring some boolits to his house. He had the latest and greatest thing, some moly! Said all I needed to do was tumble them until they got nice and black coated and then load them. Fool that I am I loaded a 50 round box for my Colt Government model. I went to the range the following weekend and loaded up my magazine and commenced firing. After the third shot I had to bump the slide to close it. After the fifth shot the pistol would not feed. I dropped the magazine, pulled the slide back and cleared the pistol, then looked at the muzzle. It looked like silver spaghetti was coming out of the thing. I cased it up and finished the session with my .357 and went to the next range to fire the rifle that I brought.
    It took some time to clean that bore, and I broke down all of the remaining loads and tumble lubed the moly coated boolits. They fired just fine when I reassembled the loads, and you can be sure I never tried that foolish maneuver again!
    Tom
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    Did I ever mention that I hate to trim brass?

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
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    I asked not because I lack equipment (l have 3 Star lubers and an old orange Lyman) but because the functions of bullet lube are interesting. It's not just velocity or pressure that relates to lube or to smoke in the range.

  11. #11
    Boolit Grand Master Bazoo's Avatar
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    I always found it interesting that lead was used as a lubricant in fuel, but needs lube itself to go down a barrel.

  12. #12
    Boolit Master
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    Tetraethyllead, (CH3CH2)4Pb a liquid. Not a lubricant, it was an octane booster.

    Tried bare lead bullets before. Not good. Took a while to clean it out of the bore. In an ideal world you could polish the bore until it was perfectly smooth and you would not get leading. But, you won't get there.

    Muzzle loaders do not always swab between shots. I usually get 5 to 10 shots before I have to swab the fouling out of the bore. But, the bullets are either lubed or paper patched. I swab powder residue not lead deposits. And the swab is not oil. I use either water or windex followed by dry patch.

  13. #13
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    Wouldn’t running a patch with lube through your bore season it.
    Then run a bare bullet with a lube wad underneath work?
    May have to use a filler to prevent powder contamination between lube and bullet.

    If you used a cardboard wad under neath the lube would it just scrap out all the seasoning .

    I could try it myself as I found a bronze scrubber pad to wrap around a bore brush.

    Be a lot less hassle on some cartridge handling that’s for sure.

    Have to me light loads because I believe in filling all lube groove so the don’t concertina when the big boot kicks them down the barrell.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master redhawk0's Avatar
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    What did the early settlers use? I can picture them sitting around a campfire casting lead boolits over the flame...but then did they smear them with bacon grease or some lard?

    I hope its not off topic...just curious is all.

    redhawk
    Last edited by redhawk0; 11-08-2019 at 08:30 AM. Reason: pioneers was the wrong word.

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  15. #15
    Boolit Master
    Tom W.'s Avatar
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    Lube the patch on a roundball, put lard, Crisco or whatever is soft on a conical.
    Tom
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    Did I ever mention that I hate to trim brass?

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check