What do you USE?

[salmonriv]

What do you use on your larger groove lubed bullets (non tumble lube) to keep the lube from getting all over the other sized bullets in the box. Now I know some use hard crayon lube with heaters, but what do you use on softer lubes like 50/50 bees wax withy Alox ? In times past I would stack all my sized bullets in a cigar box, but who's got the time. Do you roll them in Flour, Talc , Mica, dust em with something ?? And how do you apply it, what's the procedure ? Your answers are warmly needed and all replys appreciated. Thanks OL' STICKYFINGERS

[HammerMTB]

Nothing.
I keep them in my basement where it stays 70F or lower all the time. They may be a bit sticky, but not so much it is a big handicap.
I do see where you're coming from. If it's hot where them boolits live, they are prolly nearly tumble-lubed with 50/50.

[geargnasher]

I stack mine in neat rows in cigar boxes, add a piece of waxed paper, cardboard, and another layer of boolits. It doesn't take but a split second more to place the boolit in the box after removing it from the sizer than it does to pitch it in the box, unless you're using a Star, in which case you could use mica. I never store mine loose (lubed or not) because handling them en mass dings the bases, not good for gas check shanks or plain bases. I use soft lubes and doing this I don't have sticky fingers or stuck-together boolits.

Gear

[Will]

I use 50/50 and then just a quick wipe after loading. I don't sweat the little bit of lube that gets all over them. The old factory loads always came with greasy boolits.

[Bret4207]

My boolits go in cans, bags, boxes, whatever I can find. I've never had a real issue with 50/50 causing any undue sticky issues but you could treat them as I do Mule Snot lubed boolits and dust them with Motor Mica, graphite or even corn starch baby powder.

[Nazgul]

A light dusting with cornstarch, especially during hot weather.

Don

[Gtek]

I am a Javelina fan, pan lube. I go through trash cans at range in the pistol area and grab all the shell holders the go bang and drop crowd leaves. I also purchased 30 pistol plastic cartridge boxes
for seperation of boolits. Black Sharpie to 3x5 card, bullet info and wt. and lay on top inside. Thats 1500 holes for a little over thirty bucks, cannot seem to keep them full. Keeps them clean and sticky off everything else. Gtek

[44man]

Nothing. My boolits are a huge sticky mess in a box. I wipe the base across a rag before seating. All the extra lube is GOOD for the boolits.
My Felix lube is soft, sticky and gooey! It is on my press handles, in my dies, etc. Just keep seating punches cleaned out.
Wipe brass after loading, leave the boolit alone.

[XWrench3]

i don't worry about it. the only place i worry about lube getting on a boolit is the base. i make absolutely certain that the base is dry before i load it. anything else will wipe off after it is loaded up.

[Guesser]

I used to dust with Mica, decided it was messy too. I just let'em stick in the can and wipe them off when I seat them.

[MikeS]

I've gone to using LLA as it's much easier to handle boolits lubed with LLA than ones sized and lubed with 50/50 from a lube sizer. This includes both plain based as well as bevel based boolits! I live in FL, and the temp INSIDE the house is usually 80 degrees, so any boolits lubed with 50/50 are a sticky mess. I've considered going with a harder lube, like BAC. or 2500, as they should flow thru my sizer without needing any additional heat when the room temp is 80! I might have gotten my percentages wrong, as I had mixed up some of my own 50/50 and it seems firmer than some sticks of Javelina I have that I've been using in my 45 lube sizer. I got 3 sticks of it left, once I get rid of them, I can move on to something a bit firmer!

[gray wolf]

I stack mine in neat rows in cigar boxes, add a piece of waxed paper, cardboard, and another layer of boolits.

I agree with Gear, I use old flat rate boxes and line them up with wax paper on top of each layer. Works for me, I don't care for a mess.
Take the time storing the bullets or take the time after when you load.
It's up to the person I guess.

[Bwana]

All of mine go into 40/45 Speer cartridge trays. Plenty of trays in the range trash cans.

[btroj]

Like Bret, mine go into whatever I have handy. I don't like the lube all over things but it isn't that big a deal to me. The Star does pile them all together so I just leave then like that.

[NVcurmudgeon]

My method to keep soft, greasy lubes from migrating is to keep all pistol bullets of 9mm through .45 cal. neatly stacked in my own homemade boxes made of 1" boards. The boxes should not be too big, say four layers of 200 .45 cal. bullets, which can easily be stacked into a box 6" X 6" X 3 1/2" so full boxes won't be too heavy to lift. Rifle bullets of 6.5 mm through .35 cal. and pistol buliets of .30 and .32 cal. are stored higgledy-piggledy in old jacketed bullet boxes. This method has kept Felix and Javelina lubes from making a mess for over forty years in the hot summer weather of California and Nevada, other than the one time in 1968 that I stored lubed bullets. Ever since, lubing bullets has been the first step in loading ammunition, but only enough lubed bullets for the lot of ammunition in question.

Never heard of anyone else using this technique, guess I'm a clean shop freak.

[trk]

Bread pans (for baking bread) come in two sizes. About a buck or so at yard sales and/or flea mkts.

[salmonriv]

Looks like most of us have our own particular method. Strictly personal and preference. I was hoping for some Strike from the Blue amongst the heritage here. But lets keep her running and see if someone spills the beans. Thanks to all for what works so far.

[Armorer]

Lubed boolits go into old butter/Tupperware dishes, cool whip bowls or coffee cans. I'm all about rootin in the trashcans at the range like a feral hog looking for the pretty "factory" boxes that guys throw away. Unless somehow they get wet, those boxes can last many, many trips to the range.

Armorer

[Blammer]

I just toss them in a big coffee can and put them in the fridgerator or freezer. Until ready to load. :D

not really.... :D

[Buckshot]

...............Hi, mine name is Rick and I've been a unrepentant trash can diver at the range since forever :lol: Besides the nifty plastic slip top 22RF and magnum ammo boxes, I liberated those compartmented plastic ammo trays some pistol ammo (especially Fiocchi) comes in. Those for the .380/9mm/40S&W/45acp were religiously vacuumed up. Lubed slugs from 30 to 45 cal have their own little 'pocket' to live in until loaded. Quart sized ziploc type bags easily hold a couple trays to keep the dust off.

However, for years I've merely TL'd PB 38 WC & SWC's for mild 38/357 pistol loads, and keep them in those inexpensive re-sealable plastic containers in a jumbled together state;) I always thin my 'issue' TL 50% with paint thinner (heck, that stuff is $9 a gallon nowadays!) which is great for my mentioned purposes. They reload easily and don't end up in big stuck together clumps and using Lee 6 bangers most of those containers are usually always 50% full.

..............Buckshot

[63 Shiloh]

I stack my boolits in polystyrene trays, they have 100 holes in each tray and big enough to hole .459" boolits.

Go to your local chemist/ pathology/ blood bank and ask for them, they normally hold vials of medicine or blood collection vacu tubes.

I have over 40 of them, I use one on the bottom holding 100 boolits and place one over the top as a lid. They are quite durable and you can stack them 4 high with no problems.

I highly recommend these trays, they can even double as a reloading block for your cases.


Mike

[Three44s]

For the most part, mine never seem to lay around that long ........... they end up in a charged case and then spend some shelf time til they are fired!

But it struck me ........... The post office is plum full of various flat rate boxes for the asking and the smaller ones would take the place of the periennial cigar box that less politically correct than it was in the good old days .........

Just wear a different disguise every time you go to the PO for more ............ eventually, they'll catch on!

+1 on Gear's wax paper and a layer of cardboard for a division between the first floor and the second!

Three 44s

[Harter66]

I like the 9mm/380 trays for my 30-32 cal boolits and the 40-45 trays from the factory boxes for the rest . They've been doubling as loading,storage and range/travel boxes for years too. Mostly I only do that for the right away loads the others go in mayo jars. There's so much dust here that is just micro fine and in on everything always that open storage for more than a day or so is bad juju. They say something to the effect of" you've been here long enough to know when you quit dusting twice a week and shovel once"...................

[G. Blessing]

I wipe the base as it comes out of the sizer so there isn't a pound of lube on there to transfer to the others and contaminate powder later, and they then go into red lee die set lids... the tall round suckers. Thats it. When I load, I do it in batches of 10 cartridges for safety anyway, so I glance at the bottoms again as hey go into the case mouth... after seating, I wipe the nose off before it gos into the ammo tray- only takes a second. Any other lube thats on them is in the groove, or driving bans, right where its needed.

G.

[mold maker]

Quote
They say something to the effect of" you've been here long enough to know when you quit dusting twice a week, and shovel once"...................Quote

I've got to save that,,, and yes I've been here that long.

If you use the food storage containers, don't get the large ones. They become unwieldy and split if not handled just so. I had about three pints in a quart glad container, and they wound up on the basement floor with sawdust and dirt.
PITA to wash and re lube. A pint or sandwich size, would have worked much better.

[Harter66]

The matching trays keep the dirt off mostly. Ours is pretty heavy being high iron ,tungsten,manganese,etc from lava and granite.