LLA when dry

[TinCan Assassin]

What are bullets supposed to look like when lubed with LLA after drying? I can't find a pic as a basis for comparison. My first batch had a slight red tinge to them, this batch looks almost uncoated, but I can feel the lube when I pick it up...

Please post a pick of your bullets, lubed and dried, with straight LLA. Thank you for your help, and your time.

[maglvr]

The fact yours look uncoated tells me they are probably perfect! I just found some 3 days ago I coated when I first got LLA, LMAO they looked like I had dropped them in butterscotch sundae topping! They are now soaking in some gas to remove the LLA so I can redo them properly.
IMO far too many people get carried away with the alox.
I now thin mine down some with lighter fluid(naptha), so it dries faster.
Ready to load they look like this.
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd325/maglvr/TL358Bullets.jpg

[geargnasher]

Straight LLA dries? :kidding:

Gear

[btroj]

It does dry in time Gear. Think geological time.

[fishnbob]

What do ya'll do with it when it dries & sets up in the bottle? Thin it and heat it or throw it away? I made some LLA/JPW/MS and it set up in the bottle as tight as Dick's hat band. I microwaved it and added some mineral spirits and used it and as I look at the picture above, I believe I still got it too thick on the boolits.

[onondaga]

don't throw it away Bob. It gets thick because the MS in it evaporates, You can thin it any time and replace the MS. If it is too thick at room temp to easily shake it or you can't squirt it out of the bottle easily --- it is just too thick because of evaporation of the MS.. Just add more Mineral Spirits . There is no magic amount! just add enough so your LLA or LLa mix is easily shakable in the bottle at room temperature.

If you don't have MS, some WD40 or Hoppe's #9 will work fine too. Various other petroleum distillates will also work to replace lost thinner in LLA

Gary

[fryboy]

It does dry in time Gear. Think geological time.


:goodpost: lolz hmmm how long does it take oil to umm dry ( solidify ? )


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/04/100426-asphalt-volcanoes-domes-california-underwater/

[shotman]

not a good Idea in a microwave try HOT water If you stand them up on wax paper the lube will run into the grooves and base will be clean, most will run off nose too

[MBTcustom]

Here's some of mine that I cast up before I found out about 45/45/10
http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l481/goodsteel/IMG_1183.jpg
The one in the center was treated 3 times because its a rifle boolit ya know.:groner: The other two were treated twice 'cause more is better dontcha know.:groner:
Obviously these were from 15 B.C. (thats 15months "Before Castboolits.com")[smilie=l:
Seriously, if you have some dried up LLA and have never given 45/45/10 a try, you realy ought to. It will make that one bottle of LLA last you for thousands of rounds.
By the way, its been over a year since I lubed those boolits, and they are still tacky.

[gray wolf]

I warm my bullets with a hair dryer and my 45/45/10 in hot water.
my 40 S&W boolits wind up with just a hint of color and a nice even coating.
I have a 12''X 20'' card board box with wax paper in the bottom, I dump the bullets in and give the box a little shake. The slight rolling around of the bullets spreads any lube clumps out around the bullets. They are dry in about a 1/2 hour, ready to load in about 2 hours. The bullets have a nice waxy feel and are not sticky at all.
Why use LLA by itself when 45/45/10 is so easy to make ?
If we could figure a way to make it in a spray can it would be a very big hit.

[fishnbob]

I use the 45/45/10 & the MS dries out like onondaga says. I guess common sense should have told me that if the mineral spirits dries out, then add some more. I have found out that if you can see it on the boolit and it has changed the color to a brown hue, it's too heavy.

[onondaga]

Here are some 30 Cal. rifle bullets LLA lubed once before sizing/checking and lubed twice. My LLA was thinned with mineral spirits to be shakable in the bottle because it was thick and wouldn't shake in the bottle. Each coat was dried overnight per Lee instructions. This works for me and now I also use 45:45:10 that dries so much faster, 1/2 to 1 hour per coat.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c338/rhymeswithwhat/Lee312.jpg



Here is some 30 Cal rifle boolits lubed with the same 3 coat lube but using 45:45:10

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c338/rhymeswithwhat/312Checked.jpg

Gary

[noylj]

How long does it take grease to dry?
Why are we so concerned with dry?
Does the LLA work or doesn't it?

My bullets look almost exactly the same after LLA as before. I label my bullet boxes as to whether they are LLA coated or not. Soon I will have to start casting again and I will be trying Recluse's formula, thinned JPW by itself, RJ again, and some Anchor Seal wax emulsion (should be like Rooster Jacket).
Why would you bother to remove the LLA? So it is too thick. It still works, In fact, if the bullets are just a little to small in diameter, they will work with the thick coating when they will cause leading with a standard coating. The "important" thing is to have a seating stem that can "store" any excess LLA pushed off the bullet during seating (so it doesn't build up.
Some day, we might have small powder coating systems to apply powdered lubricant to the bullets like powder coated paint is applied.

[MBTcustom]

Nice thing about 45/45/10 is that when its 105 degrees out, you can lube your paperpatch boolits at the range and it takes less than 15 minutes to dry "mater of fact, I think they were dry 2 minutes after I lubed them but I wanted to make sure, and it gave my barrel a chance to cool". Small consolation for the misery of shooting in such conditions, but being able to shoot more than makes up for it.