Newbee lube ?

[flipajig]

I have a lee set up. 9mm mold and sizer die I'm Planing on useing the 45-45-10 mix for my lube. I also understand the need to lube before you size your Boolties. Now for my question can you use dish soap for lube when sizing your Boolties rince with water dry them and then apply the lube and load your Boolties.Has any one tryed this?
Thanks
Flip

[357maximum]

Dish soap can cause your dies/press to rust. Light mineral oil barely touched to your fingers and then to the boolit every 3rd or 4th boolit works better.

[runfiverun]

i like to spray mine with a mix of lanolin and 90% rubbing alcohol.
yeah, case lube.

[fryboy]

even if you use another type lube for the sizing two thin coats of either LLA,xlox, or recluse's recipe is better than one

[Recluse]

I have a lee set up. 9mm mold and sizer die I'm Planing on useing the 45-45-10 mix for my lube. I also understand the need to lube before you size your Boolties. Now for my question can you use dish soap for lube when sizing your Boolties rince with water dry them and then apply the lube and load your Boolties.Has any one tryed this?
Thanks
Flip

I think you're trying to create additional work for yourself that isn't necessary.

Tumble-lubing works a little different--it lubes the bearing surfaces of the boolit. So if you (tumble) lube, let dry, size, then (tumble) lube again, you're adding another light coat overall to the boolit as well as refurbishing any lube possibly lost on a bearing surface swaged or sheared by the sizing die.

A misconception is that the little macro-bands on a TL boolit need to be filled. Not necessarily. It's equally important that the bands themselves be lubed as they are what make contact with the bore.

:coffee:

[randyrat]

Lube a boolit before you size. I hardly ever lube a bullet before I size it with the LEE push thru. You may have to lube a little if your sizing down 3-5 K and your bullet is real hard.... I have seldom ever had to lube to size in a push thru die.

If your smearing lead inside your push thru die you need to smooth it a bit with some real fine polishing compound.

If you insist on lubing before you size use some thinned down Alox add mineral spirits, that can be the first coating of two.

[zomby woof]

I've used soap before, I thought it was too messy.
I've used a light coating of LLA.
The best so far is my bootleg case lube. Lanolin and alcohol as mentioned above.

[cajun shooter]

Why don't you either use your lube of choice or pan lube and then size.
It does not have to be complicated. You will find that not all things printed or said by others needs to be done if you are going another way.
Your moulds and alloy has as much to do with your question as the lube does. If using a mould and alloy that drops your bullets at or .001 above bore then you shoot them as is.
The only reason to size a bullet that is bore or even .002 above bore is to assure a concentric bullet that is equal in it's entire circumference.

[geargnasher]

Actually, I can think of another excellent reason to size every boolit: QC. Every once in a while, the mould doesn't close right, or the stars and planets don't align (especially with Lee two-cavity moulds) and you get an oversized, out of round boolit. The sizer caches this before you seat them. It also adds a measure of uniformity that we can control easily with a push-through die.

The 45/45/10 mix dries in 20 minues on a dry day, less if you use a fan and warm the boolits first, so there's no reason I can see not to just use two coats, one before sizing and one after, letting the first coat be the sizer lube. It's a system that just plain works, and you don't have to clean the sizing lube off to get the tumble lube to stick.

Just my two pennies after a lot of trial and error.

Gear

[btroj]

Excellent point Gear. I just noticed the value of the sizing from a QC point of view yesterday. I had lubed better than 1000 Lee 158 swc with 45/45/10 days ago and needed to size them. When sizing thru my Star, it is what i use even for this, I could easily pick out those with poor base fillout or rounded bases. Those bullets are now drying with a second coat.

[mdi]

I believe lubing bullets prior to sizing in a Lee die is merely to ease sizing and eliminate any galling between lead and steel. So, anthing slippery will work, then tumble lube with your choice of lube...

[flipajig]

As I have stated I'm new at this so thank you for all the input and your thoughts.
Im planing on getting my casting down with the 9mm then move on to others I gues my
Next will be for the for the 38 or 357.
Once again thank you.
Flip

[338RemUltraMag]

The 9mm will make you pull your hair out, Trust me. I just got it perfected after 3 years! Definitely not the beginner cast boolit cartridge

[Recluse]

I believe lubing bullets prior to sizing in a Lee die is merely to ease sizing and eliminate any galling between lead and steel. So, anthing slippery will work, then tumble lube with your choice of lube...

True, but I've found that two light coats of (tumble) lube work better than one heavy coat.

:coffee:

[RayinNH]

I just give them a quick spray with Hornady One Shot case lube. Runfiverun's case lube is probably less expensive though...Ray

[QuickRick]

I'm with randyrat on this one. I have never found the need for any lube prior to sizing so long as the boolits are only a a thousandth or two oversize.

[wildphilhickup]

You guys got a good recipe for a case lube?

THX

[felix]

Mix anhydrous lanolin down with mineral oil for the desired thickness. The more sizing is needed, the more anhydrous lanolin needed. Cases fired from close fitting chambers can get away with mineral oil at about 90 percent. Anhydrous lanolin can be mixed with a very high grade of rubbing alcohol. Dies should be oiled good afterwards if using alcohol. Look at post #3 for usage during sizing. Do NOT lube case necks when using a lanolin mix, unless wiping if off completely there before sizing. ... felix

[Hamish]

flipajig, read this: (Just the first post)

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=67654

Then read the first half of post #344

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=67654&page=18

I don't know chemically how it's differs from straight Recluse, but it works. To be able to lube that many boolits *that* fast, swirling them around in a cool whip bowl is just too much fun.

As to your inital question, by doing an initial lube, it *does* make it easier to push them through the sizer.

Biggest thing is don't get discouraged if you have a problem. Have fun, and ask questions.

[cajun shooter]

Just for the record Gear, I have never in my life shot a bullet that was not sized in my life. My posting was a answer to those who choose to shoot and use the Lee tumble method.
I don't care for it and since I come from the old school I much prefer a bullet with lube grooves that are run through my Star.
I did say in my posting that a good reason to size is so that the bullet is "concentric". You then posted a second reason to size under my posting which for all practical purpose is the exact same thing that I posted.
If you would "READ" my postings completely then this thing you seem to have about correcting everything I post could be put to sleep.
If you give me a PM then we can get this thing straight as it has become almost a automatic thing of late. Later David

[pdawg_shooter]

I'm with randyrat on this one. I have never found the need for any lube prior to sizing so long as the boolits are only a a thousandth or two oversize.

I size .311/.312 down to .3015 and .459/.460 down to .451 in one pass, dry, in a push through die with no problem.

[onesonek]

Actually, I can think of another excellent reason to size every boolit: QC. Every once in a while, the mould doesn't close right, or the stars and planets don't align (especially with Lee two-cavity moulds) and you get an oversized, out of round boolit. The sizer caches this before you seat them. It also adds a measure of uniformity that we can control easily with a push-through die.

The 45/45/10 mix dries in 20 minues on a dry day, less if you use a fan and warm the boolits first, so there's no reason I can see not to just use two coats, one before sizing and one after, letting the first coat be the sizer lube. It's a system that just plain works, and you don't have to clean the sizing lube off to get the tumble lube to stick.

Just my two pennies after a lot of trial and error.

Gear


I have to agree with al of what was said here by Gear.

And the Recluse formula 45-45-10 is the easiest most user friendly lube I have tried to date. It works well for both low and higher pressure rounds for me at this point, for 90% of my needs. The other 10% is pan lubed with a WLL product.

[pdawg_shooter]

I see people agonizing over a bullet being out of round by .001/.003. Please explain to me how you push a bullet down 2 to 30" of barrel with 15 to 50,000 psi of pressure and have it exit in any shape BUT round? Is your bore not round? If the bore is not round what is the point of starting out with a round bullet?

[felix]

That's why some guns shoot mo'betta' with hot loads: to assure base expansion of the boolits. Non-BR chambers get out-of-round very fast because the loads are not round to begin with. You should never index rounds because to do so will assure faster deterioration of the chamber where the case ends. BR guns only last for about 1000 rounds or less instead of 10,000 or so. Getting perfect cases is the desire of this crowd. ... felix

[geargnasher]

David, I did read your post, I don't savvy why you're bent at me.

You said "The only reason to size a bullet that is bore or even .002 above bore is to assure a concentric bullet that is equal in it's entire circumference. "

I understand and agree that if the boolit is close to the right size, that concentricity might be the ONLY reason to size them, but I wanted to point out that there are more than just that one reason to size every boolit in the first place, which is to CATCH those boolits that AREN'T the right size out of the mould due to operator error. So I added, for the benefit if anyone else reading this thread, that I can think of even MORE reasons to size: "Actually, I can think of another excellent reason to size every boolit: QC. Every once in a while, the mould doesn't close right, or the stars and planets don't align (especially with Lee two-cavity moulds) and you get an oversized, out of round boolit. The sizer caches this before you seat them. It also adds a measure of uniformity that we can control easily with a push-through die."

Just adding to your list. Lots of people, especially new casters, seem to have an awful lot of trouble getting the moulds closed right every time, and push-through sizing is a good way to catch "boo-boos" before trying to cram them in a case or getting a failure to chamber at the range because they didn't catch the oversized boolit due to skipping the sizing operation. After all, Richard Lee brags that the TL boolit is "so precise" that it doesn't require sizing unless you gun is a weird size, so I would expect a lot of people to try shooting them "as cast", but people who know better, like you and me, don't take chances.

Gear