Lee Bullet Lube

[tbierley]

Today I lubed some 185 gr bullets that I cast Sat. I need to know what I can do to get the Alox to dry. I cut it mineral spirits and they have been drying and they are still sticky. Can I dust them with baby powder.

[Reload3006]

dont know about baby powder. but you can dust them with motor mica.

[williamwaco]

I put mine under a fan.

Takes about 24 hours to get really dry.

( unless it is raining )

In August, it takes about 4 hours.






.

[fryboy]

best bet is before using lee's liquid alox is to thin it down somewhat , even better would be to make recluse's excellent recipe with it , but with either warm lube and warm boolits help both to dry faster ( and in winter time sadly a bit of warmth is missing [doh] )

[dmize]

I have used straight Lee Alox thinned with mineral spirits and have never had it really dry. The JPW 45/45/10 will dry.
Baby powder/talc from a rock or mica from a rock I really couldnt see much of a difference and baby powder is easier to get.

[dromia]

Cornflour is what I use.

[fryboy]

Cornflour is what I use.

by corn flour i have to assume you mean corn starch ? as opposed to a true flour , here it seems we have corn meal ( which isnt a true flour ..more like grits ) and corn starch ( used to thicken gravies etc )

[dromia]

Don't know what grits are other than stuff you get on roads in winter.

So I think the nearest you must have is Corn Starch, do you use it on cuffs and collars?

I use corn flour in cooking for as you say thickening.

Two countries separated by a common language.

[DLCTEX]

There is a corn flour as well as corn starch, but corn starch would be in order here. I use Recluses 45-45-10 and have no need of such. No stickiness, no buildup in dies or guns, and IMHO a better lube.

[Love Life]

Today I lubed some 185 gr bullets that I cast Sat. I need to know what I can do to get the Alox to dry. I cut it mineral spirits and they have been drying and they are still sticky. Can I dust them with baby powder.

Pray.

[mdi]

I've used a small fan to circulate air around the alox lubed bullets. I also thin my alox and the temps when I lube run from mebbe 50 to 85 degrees...

[Reload3006]

I tumble lube all my swaged Lead boolits in LLA and they have all dried for me ok. set them in a cookie sheet and in a window ledge or something so the sun can get to them I will bet they dry pretty good. LLA will stay slightly tacky though.

[Recluse]

Don't know what grits are other than stuff you get on roads in winter.

Pretty much the same thing here, except that some people actually have acquired a taste for the wretched things and eat them with their breakfast.

:coffee:

[Reload3006]

Pretty much the same thing here, except that some people actually have acquired a taste for the wretched things and eat them with their breakfast.

:coffee:

actually they are pretty good with butter salt n pepper..... but i was raised eating them I never knew they weren't supposed to be good LOL

[FLDad]

Cheese grits are the best. But I don't think they will make ALOX dry faster. That 45-45-10 formula is terrrific. Here in the South it will dry outside in under an hour except during the monsoons.

[Elkins45]

I have dusted some with corn starch to keep them from sticking together in the storage box. I have also used fine motor mica, since it's supposed to be a dry lubricant anyway.

[rsrocket1]

Why don't more people use the 45/45/10 formula? Last night I lubed/sized and relubed about 2000 boolits using less than an ounce of the stuff and they dried in less than 1/2 hour outdoors in 45 degree weather with a fan blowing on them set at low.

They have a coating like wax on it and even smokeless powder does not get "glued" to it. Simply brushing it off with your fingers takes it all off.

[cajun shooter]

First, I don't use nor care for the process of using the Lee Alox lube.
I'm of a age where I started with the standard lube process. First with pan lubing and using a Kate Cutter and lucky for me the Star lube/sizer machine.
I know from what I read on this forum that it is used by many members and that is their choice to make.
My posting is directed to our friend from one of our countries that many of Americans can trace their family trees and is the current moderator.
As a true Southern person who grew up eating grits every morning, I would like to know how grits may be used for drying anything that is made from a petroleum base.
Grits are a Southern thing that we are quite happy to see the other states leave alone. If they would ever have the pleasure to enjoy a meal with the real and not instant grits they would start eating them and use up the supply.
This could and would start another Civil War which your Country Mr. Dromia, would be welcome to aid us as you did during the first encounter.
To those poor unfortunate souls who have never had the pleasure of eating "GRITS" , we in the South learned to take corn and mill it into smaller pieces that if cooked correctly will be enjoyed time after time. You may add Louisiana Hot Sauce or butter before mixing them up with those eggs on your plate. Have a Nice Day But Leave Our Grits out of it!!! PS. They are not corn flour or corn meal as was posted!!!

[Pigslayer]

I've been reading all posts on this thread and I have a question concerning LEE Alox. What are the limits of this lube as far as feet per second in a rifle? I'm loading a 200 gr. GC Accurate boolit in my Mosin. Have not shot it yet. I have always used my Lyman 450 & 45 for lubricating & sizing. This will be my first attempt with a LEE sizer & tumble lube. What can I expect?

[UNIQUEDOT]

I need to know what I can do to get the Alox to dry.

Stop using too much. Best advice in this thread is to mix up some Recluse lube and never again worry about tackiness.

For some strange reason reading this thread has given me a craving for buttered grits, ham, biscuits, and eggs sunny side up! BTW here in the south hog brains (squirrel brains will do too) with grits and scrambled eggs are considered mighty fine table fare.

[jonas302]

Patience cast before you need them

[MikeS]

Don't know what grits are other than stuff you get on roads in winter.


If you don't know what grits are, you have to rent the movie "My Cousin Vinny" It's an older movie about 2 kids (18 year olds) from New York that get arrested in Alabama. Several great lines in that movie concerning grits!

[Bullet Caster]

I'll have to agree with CajunShooter. Leave our grits out of the equation. If you've never had or tasted grits then it's your loss and not ours. That leaves us more grits. I love them with cheese and some bacon grease. As far as LLA goes, I've never used it by itself. I already had the ingredients to make Recluse's 45/45/10 even before I cast my first boolit. It dries to touch within the hour it is used. BC

[Moonie]

The way I do it is to use 45/45/10, heat the boolits in my oven to about 170F, heat the 45/45/10 in its container with the hottest water my sink will put out. Once the boolits are heated I apply the 45/45/10, when they cool they are done, about 10 minutes and no tackiness at all.

[BulletFactory]

Where do you get the Alox for the 454510 stuff?

[dromia]

White Label Lubes sell liquid alox under the name of Xlox. Same as the lee stuff at a far friendlier price.

Lars is a long time member and vendor sponsor here.

Link here: http://www.lsstuff.com/lube/index.html

[QuickRick]

I have also switched to Recluses's 45-45-10 mixture. I prefer it hands down over the straight LLA. Not to dis LLA but I just find many advantages to the Recluse mix. The bullets seem to dry much quicker, are cleaner to handle, and don't leave a messy build up in the seater die. Wish I would have discovered the mix sooner but better late than never. It has proven to be one of the best tips I've found on this forum. I have not found a need to dust the dried boolits with anything since switching to the R mix.

[BulletFactory]

So, I get some Xlox, JPW and Mineral oil to make Recluses lube?

I've used BAC from white label before, placed another order earlier today actually.

[gwpercle]

As to corn flour.... it is corn ground to a flour ( real fine ). Mix 1 cup of corn flour with 1 cup of regular all-purpose flour, Season with salt, pepper , garlic powder , onion powder and a little cayenne pepper and you got the best fish fry mix in the world. Good for shrimp and oysters too.

Also called masa harena, used in mexican cooking. To make the round things you put burritos in, I dont know exactly what you call them but some are flour and some are made with corn flour.

I use the corn flour to thicken and flavor my chile. but it could be used to dust lubed boolits .

[pdawg_shooter]

So, I get some Xlox, JPW and Mineral oil to make Recluses lube?

I've used BAC from white label before, placed another order earlier today actually.

Mineral Spirits...Not oil. aka paint thinner. I use the odorless verity. Get mine at the wall-of-china-mart in the paint department.

[btroj]

Just gave 1500 or so 38s a first coating with 45/45/10 a few hours ago. Haven't tried it for rifle or high velocity pistol yet but for light 38 loads it has worked very well so far and is a quick way to lube a bunch of bullets.

[41mag]

Man you folks are making my stomach growl just thinking about a good plate/bowl full of doctored up grits. Growing up we used to get quite a bit from an old grist mill, which operated up into the 90's before the USDA finally came in and closed it down. They turned out all sorts of good things from out there. One building did nothing but grains, and the other did sugar cane for syrup. We used to get sweepins from the grain mill and the OH so awesome pure cane syrup straight from the spout of the cane mill, even got to hold our own can while it filled, all the while chomping on a chunk of cane. I always wondered if those ol mules ever got dizzy walking around in circles all day long....

Oh yea, the 45/45/10, well I have been using it almost exclusively for my revolver loads in 454. Shooting the Lee 300gr RF, I have managed to hit mid the 1700fps range with no ill effect so far. While I DO admit I wasn't really looking for that velocity, it was good to know I didn't experience any issue when I got there.

I also smear it on a patch, and after cleaning the bore really well, I swab it several times with the coated patch. Great tip from one of the members, sort of preconditions the bore for the initial shot outta "Tha Beast". Also seems to work well with my other slower revolvers as well.

[sixpointfive]

What is the 45-45-10 mix?

[Boyscout]

I tumble lube almost all my bullets to be gas checked and then run them through Lee sizing dies to size and seat checks. I then dip them in liquid Alox to the last lube groove I want lube in and set them on wax paper to dry. I then use a cakecutter to free them from the small puddle around each one. So far the results have been acceptable but I am ready to try a few of lubes I read about on this site.

[BBQJOE]

I like to dust my alox lubed bullets with chocolate cake mix. :roll:

[fryboy]

What is the 45-45-10 mix?

ummm recluse's recipe , lars now sells a commercial version at white label lubes ,here's the thread if you wanna make it

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?67654-Tumble-Lubing-Made-Easy-amp-Mess-Free

it sure made me tolerate alox better ( cant stand the smell uuughhh burnt grease/wax isnt for everyone :P )

[dromia]

White Labels 45/45/10 is the way to go I bought a gallon of the stuff.

Made the original 45/45/10 to recluses recipe using Trewax as JPW isn't available here, it was an improvement on Xlox but was still a tad greasy, White Labels version dries fine. Only minor issues are the bottle needs some gentle heat to get the stuff moving, also you use it as it comes whereas I would cut the Xlox 50/50 with white spirit so it doesn't go so far.

[gunoil]

causes cancer in california.

[Recluse]

White Labels 45/45/10 is the way to go I bought a gallon of the stuff.

Made the original 45/45/10 to recluses recipe using Trewax as JPW isn't available here, it was an improvement on Xlox but was still a tad greasy, White Labels version dries fine. Only minor issues are the bottle needs some gentle heat to get the stuff moving, also you use it as it comes whereas I would cut the Xlox 50/50 with white spirit so it doesn't go so far.

Shortly after I posted that thread on how to make 45/45/10, I was getting the inquiries from our overseas friends who couldn't find JPW and who were wondering if miniwax and Trewax were acceptable substitutes.

I grabbed some cans of each, plus another one whose name escapes me at the time (but it was LOADED with carnauba and parrafin) and tried to duplicate the mix to be exactly like the (original) 45/45/10 using JPW.

Like you, I found the lubed boolits were a little "greasier" and "slippery" but not in a good way that I'd want to load up and fire. I pay little attention to MSDS sheets as I'm definitely not a chemist, but Lamar (RunFiveRun) pm'd me a few times explaining the slight difference in base or "non-active" ingredients in the Trewax and Miniwax as opposed to the Johnson Paste Wax.

Glenn (White Label Lubes) sent me a complimentary jug of his first ever batch of commercial 45/45/10 and I've tested it one several batches of boolits, loaded them up (known charges and formulas) and I can tell exactly zero difference between his commercial formula and my homebrew that is described in the sticky.

I simply cannot endorse Glenn and Leah enough, along with their top-shelf products, more-than-reasonable pricing, and outstanding customer service. Their commercial 45/45/10 is to a tumble-lube what their Carnauba Red is to a stick lube--simply superb.

:coffee:

[runfiverun]

glen know's his waxes.
carnuba red is a blend of 7 different waxes and if one of them is substandard it throws off the whole mix.
he pays a premium for some of his waxes [i'm surprised he sells the lube as cheap as he does]but if he changes even one of them he doesn't get the same results.
I remember a mix-up he had a while back and it took a few weeks for us to figure out the change.
he ended up tracking it all the way back to the wax maker.