Best way to clean a lubrizer

[Curly James]

Okay,

I know I have read on this board in the past methods for cleaning a Lyman lubrisizer and now can't find anything using the search engine. I have had it with the harder lubes and am sticking with a softer mix (anybody know a good one [smilie=1:). I seem to remember something about a pot of boiling water.....anybody got any good ways to get hard lube out of my sizer? Thanks, CJ.

[dragonrider]

I use a hair dryer, works quick and slick.

[KYCaster]

I tried boiling one......what a mess!!! I think a hair drier would be much better.

Jerry

[NVcurmudgeon]

My lazy method of cleaning a lubrisizer is not cleaning it at all. The lube of choice here has been Javelina Alox for decades. I wanted to try Felix's WFL so waited until one of the two Lyman 450s ran dry and simply added the Felix's. For a while the lube was a little mixed, so I used that sizer for pistol only. (Mixed lube will shoot far beyond my poor pistol talents.) Now that sizer is dispensing straight Felix's, and is ready for research to continue. My lubrisizers don't ever look like the ones in the photographs in gun magazines, but are clean enough to get the job done. Also, my 450s never rust! Excess lube leaking out is saved for mould lube, or if I really leaned hard on the pressure screw, it gets put right back where it came from.

[klausg]

My method involved a $0.75 thrift shop roasting pan & the oven, of course I'm single so I can get away with things like that in the kitchen. If that's a no-go, I would definitely go with the hair dryer, or better yet, a heat gun if you have one.

[44man]

A heat gun is best. You can get one of those guns used to put covering on model airplanes at the hobby shop cheap. They only get to 400 degrees or so.

[jonk]

I do not clean mine. It was loaded with (what I swear) was axle grease when I got it, with parafin added. That gooey slop was used on low velocity .38s with no ill effects. Then it got loaded with Rooster Red, which I didn't like. When that was empty, I put a stick of RCBS rifle bullet lube in. When that was empty, Feelix lube, and when I emptied that last, 'the gunk ball' (see my earlier post of "el cheapo meets the gunk ball.") In every case, there has been some mixing for the first few dozen bullets- also as things get cleared out of the sizer die- but for plinking loads, I don't notice any difference.

[Shepherd2]

I've cleaned a couple using a heat gun. The type used to soften paint, etc. Don't hold it too close to the sizer and have a pan or something under it to catch the liquid lube when it pours out. It doesn't take very long.

[UweJ]

I also use a heat gun.Fast and works great.
Good luck
Uwe

[44woody]

the best way I have found is get a pot or a steel bucket that will hold water put the luber in with it open where you put the lube in then fill the bucket with water till it is at least 2 inches over the luber put on the turkey fryer turn up the heat and in no time it will be clean then turn the fire off let the wax on top of the water get hard skim it off take out you clean luber that what I did with my rcbs lam-2 took maby 5 or 10 minutes after the water started to boil :castmine: 44woody

[Kraschenbirn]

+1 for heat gun...quickest and least messy method I've been able to come up with.

Bill

[kodiak1]

I second with 44 Woody.
Get the pot or pail water to cover boil hard for 10 minutes disassemble give it 5 more pull it out will dry very fast as it is very hot and no rust at all.
It will be as clean as when you got it new.
Done it to two that I have bought off of e pain.
Oh yes empty the bucket fairly soon while it is still hot and wipe with paper towel and it is clean also. No big mess at all.

Ken

[beemer]

I have boiled mine several times, just think it's easier. My wife bought me a new one last year and I boiled it to clean it up. There was metal shavings in the lube reservoir where the die fits. I didn't feel that would be the best for my rifles.

beemer

[hotwheelz]

Well I was looking around here this morning for a way to clean my new "used" lyman 45 and dies I want to run some soft lube so I needed all the old stuff out. I dont have a hair dryer no hair to dry, my heat gun is on loan and Im not sure to whom so I used my mapp torch and this machine is clean as new. It only took about 10min with clean up. I didnt realize how big the cavity in the base of these luber is but thanks for the ideas here are some pics.

[carpetman]

You get all these varied opinions as to the best way to clean a lubrisizer. Perhaps what color lube is used is creating the wide choice as to what works best?

[hotwheelz]

Yeah the stuff that was in it was a black hard lube I have a lyman 450 with heater for my hard lube. This 45 is going to be for the soaft lubes and testing out diff. lubes.

[twoworms]

Get out your turkey cooker, and some old cooking oil or use a little new oil. Put your sizer in th en bring the cooker up to temp 400 all the lube will melt away. Afterwards wash it out with soap and water and coat it with a light oil to prevent rusting.

Tim

[miestro_jerry]

I just use my heat gun on my RCBS and Star Lube Sizers. It works well and fast. But I just clean them ebrry so many years, I have been using the same lube for a long time.

Jerry

[GP100man]

i pop out the h&i die& the pressure screw plate then hang a heat lamp over it with the trash can underneath 30 min tops!!
havent cleaned since changing to lar 45 carnauba red see link at bottom of this page.

GP100man
:cbpour:

[Shiloh]

Did mine in the pre-heated oven. About 225 for an hour or so had the contents all liquified for easy removal.

I put it on a cookie sheet. Be sure and put newspaper under the cookie sheet to catch the inevitable wax spill. Have the rack situated high enough to keep the newspaper away from the heating element. I did it when my wife was gone just to keep the peace and avoid getting the "Look"

If I were to do it again, the heat gun sounds like the way to go.

Shiloh :castmine:

[Three44s]

I could not tell which boolits had mixed lubes ....... when a stick gets low and I want to change ........... I jez CHANGE IT!

In short order ....... the new color comes through ...... and all is well ............. that is if it ever wasn't!!

Three 44s

[hotwheelz]

I wouldnt have cleaned this one except it had hard lube and I want to run soft lube in it. I agree just put the new lube in if its similar but the soft lube probably wouldnt have pushed this stuff out. :castmine:

[scb]

I boiled one that I had once. Worked fine. Just let the whole works cool and let the lube harden on the surface of the water. Of course I wouldn't suggest using the good cookware.

[jcwit]

I picked up a used Lyman 45 some time back that was filled with some kind old black lube, very hard, and wanted to clean it out. After geting the easy crap out with a screwdriver I took it to the local handy dandy car wash and finished it up,very easy and quick. This also works well cleaning old MilSur rifles, have done it many times. You can get the oil out of the stock using Easy-Off oven cleaner and a car wash, usually cleans deep enough so the stock won't bled oil even in the hot sun.

[Nick10Ring]

When I went from the black graphite lube to the other types I would just heat my luber over the grill and let it run into towels or a pan. It got everything out.

Nick10Ring