Can it be cleaned ?

[Ben]

I recently purchased a " hodge·podge " of lube sizing dies, bullet molds, bullet alloy and a casting pot in a " package deal " , one price - - takes all .

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/download5-1.jpg

All the items were very old !

The lube sizing dies were filthy , some with rust, all had hardened lube in them such that the ejector pin was immovable. At one point, I began to wonder if this mess would ever be able to be cleaned up properly ? ?

One of the molds that I got in the deal was a pretty nice, 225462 round nose.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/782.jpg

I cleaned the H & I .225 " dia. sizing die and top punch that came with the Lyman mold in gasoline for about an hour to soften the old black Lyman lube that was in the die. The old lube had basically turn into an immovable solid and had the die locked up.

This is what my .225" diameter H & I die ( that was boxed with the .22 cal. mold ) looked like when I starting the cleaning process today.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/001-92.jpg

This is what everything looked like an hour after :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/004-76.jpg

Now to try some of these. They are sized .225" and lubed with Ben's Red . Took quite a bit of cleaning but eventually everything came clean. Now I'll shoot a few of these in my Rem. 700, .223 VSSF flutted hvy. barreled rifle.:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/005-59.jpg

[MattOrgan]

Nice work Ben. I normally give mine a soak in Ed's Red and all that dried old lube falls off, generally loosens the pin and softens the dried lube in the holes too. I've found that the "microfiber" rags really grabs the residue and make the final cleaning really easy. I really like finding sizers that look like that, the price is always low. Never found a speck of corrosion, that old lube seems to protect better than cosmoline. By the way finished my second batch of Ben's Red today, loaded some 200 grain RCBS FP without gas checks in my leaded up 336. 6 shots the bore was shiny clean and got a couple of quick 1" 5 shot groups at 50 yards with tang sight. Just keep loving your recipe. Thanks again.

[Ben]

Matt,

I'm thrilled that you're enjoying Ben's Red.
It is some fine lube, if I thought there was better lube out there for my particular shooting needs, I'd be headed in that direction.

Catch is, Ben's Red meets my needs just fine. Again, glad that you're also enjoying the lube.

Thanks ,

Ben