Does bullet lube really lube?

[roysha]

A rather dumb question, I suppose, but an interesting, (at least to me) situation arose the other day while I was sizing some 32 Spec. bullet from .322 as cast to .316. I use an old SAS swage press with an adapter that I made to hold the bullet size die for this particular job. Lots of leverage and allows a good feel of how things are going.

I was sizing them dry because I wanted to use a hard lube and really didn't want to go through the extra step of pan lubing, especially since I was installing a GC at the same time. Just to see if it would make any difference in the sizing ease, occasionally one would be extra hard to push through and deform the nose a bit, I put a very small amount of liquid alox on my finger and rolled a dozen or so bullets between thumb and finger to very lightly coat the bullets. I just wanted to coat the outside and ( as much as possible) keep from getting any into the grooves. By the time I got them all sized, the bullets were harder to push through the die than running them dry.

So my question is, why?

[runfiverun]

cause you used a rust preventer.

in one of our rifle lube failures in the long lube quest thread we did learn that boolit lube does get left behind to coat the barrel.
this was confirmed by several testers whether they knew it or not.

[roysha]

cause you used a rust preventer..

OK. So am I to assume that some bullets that I dipped in the LA, (different bullets for a different application) are going to lead badly because of no lube?

Please understand I'm not trying to be a smart alec, I'm asking in all sincerity. I was under the impression that LA was just another method/product for lubing bullets. It certainly is advertised as such and for the aforementioned situation was real convenient to use.



An ad touting this product.

Quick and easy to apply. Coats entire bullet with a soft lube coating. Liquid Xlox lube is here in a large 32 oz bottle. I can fit 5 bottles in a flat rate box. I'll be happy to combine this with my other lube auctions to save on shipping costs.

This is the same product that is in Lee Liquid Alox(tm). We buy it in 55 gallon drums and repackage into 8 and 32 oz bottles. The bullets coat easily and dry overnight. Instead of coating the whole bullet, you can pour some Liquid Xlox lube into a shallow cup and just dip the base in the lube, then set on a sheet of wax paper to dry. Any left over lube can be poured back into the bottle.

If the lube gets too thick you can warm the bottle in hot water, it can also be thinned with a small amount of mineral spirits. Add a small amount and mix well before adding any more. Any cleanup can be done with mineral spirits also.

[fryboy]

if you wish to keep the lube grooves mostly intact during major resizing operations filling them first helps immensely

as for lube , many things will work in the barrel under pressure , a look at the lube recipe thread shows this quite plainly , or perhaps i should state that if fit is correct and pressure isnt above the alloy's strength many things will work successfully

if you just wish to lube for a temp operation such as swaging ( eg; what you're doing ) another type of lube would be better , i use the same i use for major case forming chores - imperial sizing wax and afterwards a mineral spirits douche removes this , but please note imperial isnt exactly the best boolit lube for shooting in the barrel ( it's too slick by way ) but even dawn dishwashing soap works for swaging but yet again not something i'd want to use as a shooting lube

[btroj]

In short, no, a bullet lube need not be a great lubricant.

LLA is a pretty poor lubricant really. It works as a bullet "lube" because it has good film strength and forms a decent seal between bore and bullet, especially along the trailing edge of the lands. Give it too much pressure and it fails there too.

Like Fryboy I would use case sizing lube for what you are doing. STP oil treatment would work well, it is just a bugger to wash off. I would use anhydrous lanolin. A tiny amount will work great for sizing like you are doing, it is fine to leave on bullets as it isn't bad in a bullet lube in small amount. If you want it washes off easily with a bit of alcohol.

[Garyshome]

btrol I love your hat! Good info got to load a few 9mm today and I have some LA.

[btroj]

Thanks Gary, there are a couple other guys here with similar hats.....

[roysha]

Thank you for the explainations. I believe I understand the situation now. However, one last question, how does the hat fit into all this?:kidding:

[btroj]

Can't tell you that, my amigos wouldn't approve.......

[geargnasher]

What's with the hats?

LLA is also used as a cutting lube additive, but for the life of me I can't figure out how it's supposed to lube anything when wet. Now, oddly, it works very well as a sizing lubricant if it's DRY. I too have tried it wet, or half-dry on boolits, and no dice, it's worse than nothing at all.

Gear

[Beagle333]

Now, oddly, it works very well as a sizing lubricant if it's DRY. I too have tried it wet, or half-dry on boolits, and no dice, it's worse than nothing at all.

Now you tell me. I got in a hurry to size a few last night, just 'cause I wanted to load up and test a few PB checks I just got, and it didn't take but 2 or 3 to figure out that what one would expect to slide better when wet, doesn't.

(but all is not lost...... ya just gotta wait 12 hours and size then.):veryconfu

[btroj]

Sometimes things just don't work out the way we expect, do they?

[geargnasher]

Make 45/45/10 and it's dry in fifteen minutes.

Gear

[mdi]

FWIW, and I could be wrong, but I believe the term "bullet lube" is a hold over of times when patches were lubricated with different types of grease for round ball patching in blackpowder shooting, mostly for keeping fouling soft and ease of loading/ball seating. (Good thought but no facts for back-up);-)

[fredj338]

Yes, A good lube actually lubricates. It's easy to feel when sizing my Star. Drop a lubed bullet into the die & then follow with unlubed, much easier for the next 10 or so handle pulls.