Nice clean pretty boolits - OK, how do you guys do it?

[Cmm_3940]

I keep seeing pictures posted here of clean, pretty boolits, with all the lube in the groove, and none where it shouldn't be. How do you do it? I don't have a lube-sizer, so I pan lube, cut the boolits out of the wax cake, and run them through a Lee push through sizer. No matter how careful I am when lubeing the boolits and cutting them from the wax, I still wind up with lube all over the nose of the boolits when they come out of the sizing die. I have been using White Label Carnauba Red mostly. I tried using BAC at first, but wound up with an even stickier mess.

Thanks,
Chris

[Dale in Louisiana]

Chris-

I'm kind of like you. It's a sort of messy process. The bullets are round, the gas checks and lube are in the right place. They shoot well. To make them aesthetically pleasing and photogenic, I wipe each completed round down with an old T-shirt to get any extraneous lube off the bullet of each round before it goes in the box so that it doesn't frighten the range ninjas when I get there.

dale in Louisiana

[gbrown]

I live in the hot, humid SETX, about 20 miles from the Gulf. I cast and lube in a hot, metal storage building with a really old Star. I don't get clean, shiny boolits after lubing them. There is always some sticking to miscellaneous surfaces. Clean up loaded rounds like Dale in La says--doesn't seem to affect anything. I have done pan lubing as you describe and ended up with the same result. If you are a perfectionist, my sympathies. I just keep on keepin on. Oh well.

[btroj]

Ever think some of those bullets were picked superficially for photos? If you were taking a photo to post of you bullets would you pick the bad ones?

Mine have lube on noses and what not, I just don't worry over it.

[mdi]

One way is to size with a Lee sizer one bullet at a time. Run the bullet up into the die, and instead of using another bullet to push the first bullet out of the die, use a small dowel, just long enough to push the bullet out of the die. A lot of lube gets transferred from bullet to bullet and a lot of lube is left in the sizing die to get on the next bullets through. It can build up pretty quick...

[bangerjim]

Who cares? lube 'em.......shoot 'em. If they don't lead.......EXCELLENT


bangerjim

[dragon813gt]

I can post a pic of an ammo can that I accidentally left on the bench and the sun hit it. The bullets are just in there loosely. To say it's a sticky mess would be an understatement.

[gunoil]

Dont lube, coat!
http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k511/putt2012/A3E7D22D-4953-4B7B-9FCB-DF0CD0225BA3-3986-0000045283EC6596_zps7f5b0e6f.jpg

[Cmm_3940]

OK, the consensus seems to be that sticky is normal, if they shoot, don't worry about it. Works for me. If anyone at the range gives me a funny look, I'll just give them one right back. :razz:

[Balta]

Yep there almost always a messy. I clean them AFTER i reload them to remove excesses lube from nose ..

[hendere]

Hmmm. I've been doing different routines of pan lubing and dipping but have been thinking of getting a lube sizer just because it sounded cleaner. Maybe I'll keep my money and keep on keeping on.....

[HATCH]

this may be stupid on my part because I use a star sizer.
But why can't you Lee size them first then pan lube them?

Even with my Star I end up with a little lube on the nose when I go to load them.
This has to do with them being stored in a coffee can.
After I load them I end up wiping the loaded rounds
I sized up 1500 41 mags this afternoon and the first few end up with a little lube on the nose but after that the only time I get lube on the nose is when I screw up and throw a 38/40 cast in there.
My star sizer is automated. I just have to load the boolits into the tubes. I have ten tubes but to be honest I can keep up with it no problem. 1.8 secs per boolit to size and lube.
Less then a hour to size and lube 1500 boolits.

[hendere]

Not sure about others, but I've done it both ways and still end up with some mess. Lately I've been dipping the bases in lube first then running them through the lee sizers after they cool. This seems to work better on the smaller calibers for me. I'm not quite hitting the 1500 per hour mark though..... ;)

[Echd]

They all come out gorgeous when you powdercoat!

http://i.imgur.com/kTJtrIZ.jpg

[dragon813gt]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I prefer bare lead :)

[PS Paul]

OK, the consensus seems to be that sticky is normal, if they shoot, don't worry about it. Works for me. If anyone at the range gives me a funny look, I'll just give them one right back. :razz:

Meh.... The ones shootin' "the look" are often the same ones who will tell us we shouldn't be casting or shootin' lead boolits in the first place "for our own health and well being" or, my favorite, "for the health of your children". As they say, "Don't pay 'em no nevermind". he he.....

[btroj]

Why are other people looking that closely at your ammo?

[Beagle333]

Because I wipe off the ones I'm gonna post pics of. [smilie=p: These were dip lubed, but you can see some of the paper towel fuzz on em where I wiped off the gas checks. ('shoulda used a Tshirt. :-P)
http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/tt214/shutupandjump/cast%20boolits/bobcat037_zpsa507fd13.jpg

[GLL]

Ever think some of those bullets were picked superficially for photos? If you were taking a photo to post of you bullets would you pick the bad ones?

It is kinda like using an airbrush to apply makeup on the Playboy models ! ;) ;)
Then take a dozen photos and pick the best one !

Jerry

[Balta]

They all come out gorgeous when you powdercoat!

http://i.imgur.com/kTJtrIZ.jpg
That looks awesome..

[Spruce]

Nice looking boolits Beagle333 and Balta.

[Echd]

That looks awesome..

They might look a little better if I bothered to tumble my brass, but I think they look cool loaded too!

Keith SWCs over 23gr of 110 with a super light crimp for my contender

http://i.imgur.com/p7Dyynv.jpg

[fredj338]

Yeah, you want pretty bullets post lubing, ya gotta wipe the noses off.

[glockky]

Whats that green lube beagle ?

[myg30]

Ever think some of those bullets were picked superficially for photos? If you were taking a photo to post of you bullets would you pick the bad ones?

Mine have lube on noses and what not, I just don't worry over it.

Same here. Do you think you would watch the evening news if they didn't put on some make up and fix their hair ? Got to be pleasing to the eyes !
Some lead mixes make them look more shinny. Pure lead. To hot they look frosted. Lino looks like brushed stainless. When lubed boolits pose for the camera all bets are off as to the prep work and make up artists. Mine look like **** and never want their picture taken !! They shoot great but the targets are shy and don't want to pose for the cam either !
As long as your gun don't mind how they look, don't worry about it. lol.
Mike

[oscarflytyer]

Mine tend to be ugly and frosty... until they hit the paper. then they tend to make pretty holes are fairly close together! All that counts for me... fairly new to casting, and when I found that ugly frosty bullets shoot well (as I was assured they would) i could care less what they look like! Ugly is as ugly does for me.

[1Shirt]

Eh----practice/practice/practice!
!Shirt!

[Beagle333]

Whats that green lube beagle333 ?

3 oz of TAC#1 with half a green crayon melted in it. 8-)

(Sometimes it's blue, or brown, or red... depending on which crayons are left in the box.)

[treadwm]

3 oz of TAC#1 with half a green crayon melted in it. 8-)

(Sometimes it's blue, or brown, or red... depending on which crayons are left in the box.)

LOL! I use TAC-1 also. I like the lube but not fond of its natural GhostBusters ectoplasm (aka snot) color. I add a teaspoon of deep blue aniline dye. The lube comes out a nice dark forest green.

[John Boy]

Don't lube, coat!
Gunoil - looks like a shoe polish coating![smilie=s:

Cmm, the easiest & fastest way to lube bullets with all the GG's completely filled is to pan lube them. The trick is ... only cool the cake after you touch a bullet or two and it is hot when you touch it. I have no issues with pan lubed bullets that have shallow or deep GG's to be completely filled ... and pretty to boot!

[mold maker]

The color of my lube is determined by which color crayon the last restaurant gave the kids. They claim their free, but I paid dearly for them.

[waco]

That's just how they come out of the Lyman 450.
86327

[MacFan]

I don't take pictures of all the mistakes and ugly bullets I make, only the pretty ones.

[fryboy]

i tend to prefer hard lubes , especially in my brutal summers , i prewarm the boolits under a desk lamp in a tuna type can ( sometimes a chicken or beef can, they're both bigger ) i use heat and wipe the bases as/if needed on a paper towl on my leg, i stack in ammo trays and allow a day or so to dry/harden , i then box up and wipe any errant lube as needed , sometimes i'm fairly anal other times not so much depending upon the end usage , when i seat a long big boolit i often only partially seat and then check again for errant lube and wipe of as/if needed , this keeps excess lube out of my sizing die , once loaded i often wipe again , after all that wiping they appear polished as chrome !!!
and then there's those i tumble lube .... lolz
to get pretty boolits to start with ( eg; bare and bright - which isnt the best for tumble lubing but looks awesum on regular lubed and sized boolits ) keep the heat down as low as possible and keep your cadence slow enough to avoid frosting [shrugz]

[Ben]

The only photos that I really care about are the ones of the tight groups fired down range. The appearance of the bullet prior to that photo being taken is a moot point.

Ben

[SniderBoomer]

I am seriously tempted to try powder coating... but I get a lot of my lead range-scrounging... how do these rounds behave when you smelt them back down?

[bayjoe]

After you get them loaded. Throw them in the case tumbler for 30 minutes. I cut a paper towel in about 5 or 6 lengths and put it in the tumbler to absorb lube.
Come out clean and pretty

[denul]

This brass was polished when I got it, but I cast these ,sized 452,lubed with 50-50 ,and loaded them in a Star universal reloader.86606

They are seated and crimped in a single step, and there was no wiping or other handling after they were loaded. You can see a few of the unpolished brass as well.

[fcvan]

Back when I was still pan lubing (saving for the Lyman 450) I had a small tin lid that held 50 or so 9mm boolits. I heated up the lube, arranged the boolits in the lube and let cool. During winter in the Tehachapi mountains, that didn't take long. Anyway, I popped the lube, boolits and all, out of the smooth sided tin lid. Then I just pushed the boolits out of the cake which left pretty clean boolits. I lubed with Javalina and sized with the old style push through die. Eventually, I just shot as cast because the S&W 459 liked them at .358 which was as cast diameter.

Waiting for the lube to cool became tedious, especially when it wasn't winter. I started heating up the lube with boolits warming too. Once things were liquid, I picked the boolits out with hemostats and placed them onto wax paper. When cooled, excess lube stuck to the wax paper and I just plucked the boolits off. The lube grooves weren't full but enough remained to where I had zero leading in the 459. The excess wax peeled off the wax paper and was laced back into the tin lid.

Depending upon what you are shooting a lot of boolits can be shot as cast. Folks often resize their boolits during seating without even knowing it. This leads to undersized boolits and of course leading. If the dies are set correctly, the seating process will properly size the boolit (as opposed to resizing too small) and correct a slight out of roundness. Even so, the first inch of the barrel will certainly size the boolit if not the forcing cone.

If the case mouth is belled correctly even a slight amount of excess lube won't create a mess. Too small and you are pushing lube up or even shaving the boolit. If after the seating process you have excess lube just wipe it off. Just be sure to look at the case expansion as a fix. Even a very small amount of lube eventually ends up filling your seating plug with gunk and over time that changes the seating depth. Yes, I learned the hard way.

The only boolit I ever pan lubed was the Lee 356-125 2R as that was what I was casting for at the time. After a few months I had my Lyman 450, and for each new caliber I bought molds and sizing dies at the same time. Pan lubing is still a great method for those working on a budget. Some of the new pan lubing methods use hi tek, epoxy, or even powder coating powder with acetone. I haven't tried that yet as I've been using a powder coating gun and loving it.

[Buzz64]

Pan lube may work for some but I like the "assurance' of a 'positive' size - i.e. .358 H & I die means .358 boolit EVERY time. I use both a 750 with retro fit heating and a 7500 with built-in heat. Yep, you handle each boolit but it is exactly the same diameter every time and with carnuba red (white label) it is not sticky and doesn't go anywhere but in the lube groove. Good points above about the proper 'belling' of cases. Not too much and not too little is the key to not squeezing the boolits and keeping the brass good for many loads. "Pretty" boolits are not hard to do with some practice - knowing mold and melt temp (and tempo) are key to getting there. COWW and a little tin make fantastic boolits.