Best way to lube boolits

[SkookumJeff]

New to boolit casting. I'm casting for my .44 mag, .444 marlin, and my .45-70 guns. I finally have all my equipment bought, and have started smelting and pouring ingots. I've spent a lot of money on equipment and lead. The only thing I have not bought is a lube machine. At this point, I really don't want to spend any more money on a lube tool. I was planning to tumble lube and pan lube my boolits. I have the Lee sizer in .44 and .45 caliber.

Is it worth the expense to buy a lube/sizer? Like I said, I was planning to pan lube. I haven't done this yet, how hard can it be? :roll: Do the lube machines do a better job than what you can do pan lubing? If I really should buy a lube machine, now is the time as I have the money. If not, I'll buy more lead instead. What do you all recommend?

[DragoonDrake]

A lube/sizer can help if you are worried about what diameter your bullets are dropping; ie. too large or you want a more uniform size for accuracy.

Pan lubing is not hard, I did it for about a year before I got my first sizer. You have to find the correct lube that is not too brittle or too soft. You can shoot as cast as long as the bullets are the right diameter to fit your guns. With pan lubing make sure whatever surface you are melting and cooling on is level.

As far as sizers go, if you are shooting for quantity a star is the way to go. If you are a low quantity shooter/caster a lyman or rcbs is fine.

Adam

[songdog53]

I pan lubed and used Lee sizer for my boolits, but finally bit the boolit and bought a Star sizer luber. I don't regret it at all, besides the money i spent was well worth it because was matter of time before i splilled molten lube on my wife's cermaic tile floor and would have been lot more fussing than i spent for lube sizer. One of the others probably would have worked for me but then more i researched more i decided to go with Star. Pan lubing isn't that hard once have worked out right lube that works. I just enjoy using the Star. I'm sure Lyman or RCBS either one will work fine for you.

[onesonek]

Being relatively new to casting myself, I looked into all aspects as well. If possible I wanted to avoid unwarrented expense if possible, (in some area's). I elected just to go with Lee push through sizer's and tumble lube with 45-45-10. I may at some time try pan lubing, but as of now the tumble lubing seems much easier and simplier, and I have been getting very good results in the loads for my .45-70 and .454. Tumble lubing just seems a lot less fuss even though though it is or usually a 2 coat process.
Certainly nothing wrong with pan lubing and or the lubrisizer methods. It is more a matter of personal wants and needs. The biggest advantage to pan lubing as I see it, is one can experiment with a wide variety of ingredients, in small batches to see what works best for them. One could do that experimentation with the other methods as well however, I just see PL'ing more flexible in that respect,,,jmo of course.

[Ktom38-55]

I tried pan lubeing and made a huge mess. GF forbid me to use the kitchen for that anymore so I had to break down a buy a sizer. Seems dumping wax on the tile floor is a poor idea in some peoples estimation.

[mdi]

I don't have a luber-sizer and have no plans to get one soon. I've been using "alternate methods" of lubing for several years; tumble lube, dip lube, spray lube, and mostly pan lube. The only "problem" I found with pan lubing is finding the right time to push the bullets out of the cake. Some lubes don't allow me to push bullets out of the cake, so I just use a homemade cutter. IMO pan lubing is only as messy as you are. I put a pan with bullets and lube in the oven, heat it up, remove and set on the counter. No mess...

[Ktom38-55]

mdi, you are either very neat, or very lucky or both. I had no intention of it slipping and don't consider myself a messy person, but a little liquid wax goes a very long way in short order when/if you do slip.

[Grapeshot]

I started moulding my own bullets in 1973 for muzzleloaders. I then started casting for .45ACP, .45 Colt, .45-70 and .357 Mag. Pan lubing large qunities of bullets are a pain. I went and bought a Lyman lubrisizer in 1975 and haven't looked back since.

If you don't like the Lyman 4500 you can always go to the STAR. I just like the Lyman machine.

[Gelandangan]

Try all the cheaper method first before investing $$$ on expensive sizer.
Choose the most comfortable procedure for you and the best result for your shooting.

The rest of opinion here are Tomatoes and Potatoes.

[btroj]

No such thing as best sizer.
I like my Star but it has limits too.

This is like asking who has the best wife. We each have one that , hopefully, works out well for us but that doesn't make one better or worse than another. And no, I don't want anyone offering to send me theirs!

Brad

[Lead Fred]

I enjoy pan lubing. It took a few tries to get the kinks out.
Now I stuff the boolits in holes made by the last batch, stickem in the oven, coolem over night. Then size.
After I added STP to my bees wax & lard, dang did it make the lube easier to use, and dont have any redos.

[SkookumJeff]

Thanks for all the response. I am primarily casting for Marlin lever rifles in two calibers. I need oversize boolits for these rifles. If I buy a Lyman, RCBS, or Star sizer/lube tool, will oversize dies be readily available or will I need to find custom oversize dies?

As I mentioned in my original post, I have custom oversize Lee sizers in the two calibers I need. My need for the sizer/lube tool was the lube capability. The Lee tool only supports tumble lubing.

[btroj]

For a sizer just go the Larhesmith on this site, he will make whatever size you want. I had o problem getting a .460 from Magma for my Star.
I really like my Star. I don't use it for long 30 cal bullets but only because I don't have a die dedicated to them. For any pistol caliber it works great. I use it for my 460420 45-70 bullet too.

Brad

[Doby45]

You could also pan lube with a good solid lube and then cut them from the lube cake and then size them through the Lee sizers that you already have in the sizes you need.