Is 7 hours long enough

[grubbylabs]

I lubed some water quenched bullets about 7 hours ago with some Lee Alox, is it safe to size them now or do I need to wait longer?

[JJC]

I would think you could have sized them when you pulled them out of the water and dried them. They don't start the hardening till after removed from the water. Now you are working the hardening when you size. But it may not matter much within a few hours?

[FLDad]

Should be fine. you'll be lubing them again after sizing anyway, right? By the way, I found the 45/45/10 recipe here in the lube section and tried it. It is terrific! You might like it , too -- it dries faster and doesn't stay tacky like straight alox tends to do. Makes tumble-lubing even faster and easier!

[noylj]

I was always taught that sizing the bullets would soften them.
You certainly can size immediately after lubing with LLA or whatever.
I have thought for those who feel a need to size their bullets, that lube with LLA, size, then lube with Rooster Jacket or other wax emulsion might work well.

[SciFiJim]

You can size while they are still wet an slippery from the alox. You don't need to let it dry for sizing. It make a mess on your fingers, but so what, it cleans off.

[454PB]

Why make your life complicated? Use some soapy water, resizing lube, shortening, etc. etc. for a lube when you size, then coat them afterwards with the liquid Alox.

There's nothing magical about LLA when it comes to lubing the boolits for sizing.

[mooman76]

Case lube works too, like one shot.

[mpmarty]

All my boolits are barrel sized only.

[runfiverun]

i prefer to size mine within 24 hrs after water dropping.
then let them sit for two weeks to harden fully.
a little dish soap on the wet boolits lets them size easily [a little =2 drops]
push through i assume, some boolits bend or smoosh in a lubrisizer. if not allowed to harden.

[bigjake]

I'm confused, why do people lube before sizing? is that what you're supposed to do when using a sizer-luber type?
I water drop then when using a cheapo lee sizer kit, I push that bullet through dry, 9mm to 44mag. I have 0 problems. I've sized WW bullets and hard babbit bullets, then I lube.

[SciFiJim]

Try one without lube and the next with lube. It may not solve a problem, but it does make them easier to size. I've used alox, dishsoap, case lube, and water at various times. I've also sized boolits dry before as well. A little lube just makes it easier.

[randyrat]

I'm confused, why do people lube before sizing? is that what you're supposed to do when using a sizer-luber type?
I water drop then when using a cheapo lee sizer kit, I push that bullet through dry, 9mm to 44mag. I have 0 problems. I've sized WW bullets and hard babbit bullets, then I lube.
I very seldom lube before sizing with push thru dies. Most of my molds drop very close to the correct size, so sizing is ALMOST unnecessary. sometimes I think it is done to make me feel better. Maybe one or two molds that I have drop over sized boolits to the point I have to size and they need a little lube to make the job easier.

[Wayne Smith]

Grubby, are you asking about the Alox or the boolit hardness? I could read your question either way. As for boolit hardness, you want to size soon after casting, before they begin to harden. That way (a) the sizing has a minimal effect on hardness , and (b) they size a whole lot easier!

[grubbylabs]

Well I made it out to the range this A.M. and shot a hand full of my cast bullets and they seem to have done fine. I am going to clean the guns real quick and see if there was much leading. They look like they normally do after shooting so I don't suspect they will have a huge build up of lead.