How much to lube

[delftshooter]

Going through the 70,000 wadcutter thread and others, i have noticed that alot of folks here are only putting lube in a single groove, despite bullets with 2 or even 3 designed lube grooves. Just wondering if there is a useful reason as to why?

[waco]

In a low velocity round like the 38 wc one lube groove provides enough lube to get the job done. They can sometimes even prove to be more accurate than lubing all of the grooves.

[45DUDE]

I can bench a 10 shot group @25y almost every week end 1 1/2'' My wad cutters have three lube grooves but I can't tell any difference between on lubing. My Star lubes two grooves so I go with that. I have some old 3D hbwc's with a lube in the middle and have greased all three trying to find a difference but haven't yet. Maybe I need to test at a longer distance.

[Dusty Bannister]

Some bullet lubes produce more smoke than others. Reducing the amount of lube results in less smoke. Most appreciated in an indoor range. Not all lubes are as efficient as others. Try it and see.

[waksupi]

Too much lube results in lube purging, which in turn leads to inaccuracy. If you get a lube star on the muzzle after a few shots, you have plenty slick 'um.

[ShooterAZ]

You just have to experiment a little and find what works best for a particular bullet. I have a RCBS 45-185-BB-SWC mold that has two lube grooves. If I lube both grooves on that one it makes a mess on the bullet base. I have noticed no difference in accuracy either way.

[rintinglen]

More than 40 years ago, machine rest testing by the NRA's Col Harrison proved that excessive lubing of 148 grain cast wad cutters degraded accuracy in target revolvers. The findings were printed in the NRA book on handloading. He noted that one lube groove of 50-50 Alox/beeswax was sufficient to adequately prevent leading while maintaining peak accuracy. (I wish I could find my copy to re-read it, there's a lot of good stuff in there.)