Tumble Lubing--Made Easy & Mess-Free

[noylj]

Mineral oil doesn't evaporate or dry. Most want a dry tumble lube and not some oily bullets that can pick up dirt/lint/dust/sand/etc.

[lar45]

Ok guys I have been lurking for a while and got my 1st boolit mold (lee 240 swc gc 2 cavity) for my ruger 44 mag bisley hunter. I got lla and jpw but no mineral spirit. Instead I got mineral oil. Has anyone tried to substitute mineral oil instead of spirit for 45/45/10? Any advice for a new caster?

Do not use Mineral Oil. It will never dry out.
If you can't find Mineral Spirits, then look for Naptha. Naptha will dry faster, but shouldn't cause any problems.

We now have 45-45-10 in 16oz bottles for $12.95 if anyone wants a smaller amount.
http://lsstuff.com/store/index.php?m...products_id=47

[rfd]

love the white label lube - fast, easy, economical, but most importantly it works superbly with the bullets/cartridges i build for my .357mag ruger gp100

[Nogoslow]

Ok thanks. I can get mineral spirits easy just was hoping I could use the oil that I purposely bought for this project, for some reason I had it in my head that it was oil I needed lol. Guess I will find another use for it. Thanks a lot guys! If I can't get it to work I will purchase your mix lar45..thx again

[VeryOldGuy]

A word of notation:

Odorless Mineral Spirites does not work as well as the original version. In other words, when mixed with waxed based substances, they won't harden the same.

[alamogunr]

What did the "original version" use?

[m457109]

been a lurker here for several years. Have lubed thousands of bullets with Recluse's recipe. I can tell you for certain, if you are still leading your barrel using this lube....it is not the lube's fault. Check your bullet size...if they will chamber in your gun as dropped from the mold, do NOT run them through any kind of a sizer...pistols/revolvers-2 light coats, load and shoot. Rifles- 3 light coats, load and shoot. Have run upt to 2450 fps in rifles from 223 to 338 with no problems. Have also come up with an unscientific process to duplicate the recipe from batch to batch. 1. Find a cast iron skillet big enough to hold 3 cans of JPW at one time. 2. Place three full cans of JPW one the skillet (on an electric hot plate-outdoors unless you feel like fighting with the wife today. 3. Cook the JPW down until all three cans will fit into one can---below the lip so the lid can be applied without running over.

[Phlier]

I've been using the 45/45/10 from http://www.lsstuff.com/ for the last week. It really works well. Very fast shipping. Good stuff!

The boolits aren't at all tacky after drying.

[Morgan61]

Anyone ever use this 45/45/10 lube for black powder?
I'd like to try it with .50 cal lee REAL bullet and was wondering how well it works.

Do not use Mineral Oil. It will never dry out.
If you can't find Mineral Spirits, then look for Naptha. Naptha will dry faster, but shouldn't cause any problems.

We now have 45-45-10 in 16oz bottles for $12.95 if anyone wants a smaller amount.
http://lsstuff.com/store/index.php?m...products_id=47

[Phlier]

I know there's been much discussion on how much/little to use, but I thought I'd share what works very well for me.

This is for 9mm, 124gr RN: 1/2 teaspoon per 250 boolits. You should end up having to look very closely to see any lube on them, but if you pick one up, you'll feel it. I use a children's medicine syringe to measure it.

I warm the lube up first, and shake it til it's the consistency of skim milk.

I think most guys that use too much are going by what the boolits look like, thinking they have to be able to see it. Try going by the way they feel instead. I started with 1/8 teaspoon, and went up in 1/8 teaspoon amounts until I could finally feel the lube. At this point, it is quite difficult to actually see.

Two coats applied like this results in fine shooting boolits.

[joken]

I use the same method as the OP, except I put the lube on a small piece of tee shirt.

[kmrra]

OK I mixed up my first batch of 45-45-10 tonight and lubed a batch of bullets , I ha a beeker that was graduated in milliteres and this is what I diod ... I cooked up a batch of Johnsons Wax and cooked the solvents out , Pored it out into the beeker to the 4,5 ML line and pored intp a 4 ox bottle , then I heated up my LLA in the microwave just for a about 45 seconds just to get it thin enuff to shake it up and mix , as it was perty thick just in the bottle , {it was a new bottle } after shacking it it up I measured some out in the beaker to the 45 ML line ..... I poured this in with the Johnsons wax that I had cooked of and then I poured in 1 ML of Mineral Sperits and mixed it all together so correct me if im wrong, But does this come out to be 45-45-10 since 45 ml and 45 ml and 10 ml come to 100 ml by voluem ....Is the the correct way to do this. By Voluem that is , thanks for any input

[kmrra]

went to today and checked the bullets that I coated and the seam to be dry and all , but the bottle of lube that I mixedup looked like it sit up in the bottle,. is this normal , what do I have to do each time I lube , go and heat it up in the Microwave ,

[Kevinkd]

First - Your measurements are good. It will work fine.

Second post - Yes, the lube if cold will stiffen up. Before using it, I put the plug in the bathroom sink, fill with hot (from tap) water, then put bottle of lube in water for 5-10 mins and then its very watery at that point. Drip your lube in container with boolits and away you go.

Thanks

[kmrra]

Sized and gave them a second coat today , will load some up Tomorrow and see how they shoot , so far they have dried and are not tacky so thats a start

[Walstr]

I feel everyone's pain regarding 9mm cast boolits and leading the barrel. I have attached a pic of the 124 gr lee tl 9mm boolits I've recently processed. I hope that they show up as this is my first attempt to attach a pic to a thread. I too had leading even after tumble lubing with lla/jpw, sizing and re-tumble lubing. After trying several different things and about to lose all my hair, I think I have run into something that works for me. I ended up making up a little heavier mix of lla/jpw and not adding any ms. My ratio is approx 60/40 lla/jpw. My boolits are cast from ww & are a 10 brinnell hardness using the lee lead hardness test tool. I tumble lubed the boolits and let them air dry under a fan for a couple hours. I then sized the boolits to .356 with lee's sizer and re-lubed the boolits to where you can see that I have a heavier application of the lube down in the bands of the boolit, kind of looks like I ran them thru a traditional sizer/lube press. If there's not enough lube down in the bands I simply add a little more lube and tumble 'em again. I then pour the lubed boolits onto wax paper, set them up on the base end and let them dry overnight under a fan. I have fired these boolits thru a glock 19 w/drop in storm lake barrel with excellent results -- used only a few strokes with a bronze brush w/solvent thru barrel and it was clean. I have chronographed this load and it is running an average velocity of 1020 fps and very accurate. Only problem is the boolits are a little tacky to touch but as long as it is working I'm afraid to mess with it any more. Hope this helps.

I TL my .45-70-405 pills & found a pinch of Powdered Mica (a very soft mineral) works great for storing stock & subsequent handling.

[Walstr]

My leading is toward the end of the barrel. My bore is a .354 and I size at .356. I am using 4.6 grains of unique. The .356 boolit is very hard and close to impossible to get into the bore by hand. My slug is soft lead not my cast mixture.

IMHO sizing @ .356" is way too small. Think your grooves are only .001" deep? If pistol range is convenient for you, load a few "Squib" rnds before going home...say 3gr, 2gr. Fire the 3gr & see if it comes out; if not, you've got your barrel "slug".

[noylj]

I gave up sizing any cast bullets about 1976 and never missed it. 9x19 usually does best with 0.357" jacketed and 0.358-0.359" lead.
However, usually, a light tumble with straight LLA cuts 90-100% of leading due to bullet smaller than the barrel likes.
Slugging really requires a bullet that is way over groove diameter to ensure good measurement.
9x19 groove should be 0.355-0.359", but some older pistols and European pistols are larger, but even my 0.355-0.3555" groove barrels do better with 0.357" jacketed and 0.358" lead.

[wbrco]

I know there's been much discussion on how much/little to use, but I thought I'd share what works very well for me.

This is for 9mm, 124gr RN: 1/2 teaspoon per 250 boolits. You should end up having to look very closely to see any lube on them, but if you pick one up, you'll feel it. I use a children's medicine syringe to measure it.

I warm the lube up first, and shake it til it's the consistency of skim milk.

I think most guys that use too much are going by what the boolits look like, thinking they have to be able to see it. Try going by the way they feel instead. I started with 1/8 teaspoon, and went up in 1/8 teaspoon amounts until I could finally feel the lube. At this point, it is quite difficult to actually see.

Two coats applied like this results in fine shooting boolits.

Agreed. You should only see a little build up in the grooves. Shot magnum 357 from carbines, no leading.

[wbrco]

First - Your measurements are good. It will work fine.

Second post - Yes, the lube if cold will stiffen up. Before using it, I put the plug in the bathroom sink, fill with hot (from tap) water, then put bottle of lube in water for 5-10 mins and then its very watery at that point. Drip your lube in container with boolits and away you go.

Thanks

15 seconds in the microwave on high.