Running the Lube/Sizer? (Gaps in the Lube)

[Bigslug]

Just curious if this is a common problem and if there's a fix. The heated Lymans are the only lubrisizers I have known. It is fairly common for me to have gaps in the lube band that require a second press through the die (sometimes giving the bullet a quarter turn) to fill up.

Lately, I've been running a slightly firmed-up Ben's Red without the heater, but this phenomenon doesn't seem to be related to lube viscosity, temperature, or even amount of force on the lube press. As the gaps are often round (bubble shaped), I'm guessing that it is linked to inability of air to get out as the lube goes in. :confused:

[btroj]

Are you using lube sticks? Try melting the lube and pouring it into the reservoir. This will eliminate most of the air bubbles.

[myg30]

If you melted the lube and poured into luber there would be less air trapped. Its not to big of a deal, small gaps in lube not a problem unless your pushing that boolit hard. Typical pistol boolits have plenty lube on them even with small gaps. If leading occurs then do a double pass as you said above.
When I first install new stick of lube the same thing happens, takes a while to purge. Enjoy the bens red, great stuff. Im right behind you as soon as my luber runs out my B's R going in next.
Keep us posted on your success

Mike
Mike

[Bigslug]

Are you using lube sticks? Try melting the lube and pouring it into the reservoir. This will eliminate most of the air bubbles.

I am using the lube pre-molded into hollow-center sticks, but what I THINK is happening is not so much bubbles in the lube reservoir as failure of the air that is in the grooves of the bullet to get out. These pockets seem to stay at a consistent location relative to the die and seem to be a nearly every bullet issue. If it was air bubbles in the lube, wouldn't the location of bubbles on the bullet move around?

[btroj]

Sometimes.
Air gets out of the grooves just fine. Sounds like you need a tiny bit more heat. Lube isn't flowing well.
Is it a big groove bullet?

[williamwaco]

I have found several causes of gaps.

1) New die. The die itself is not yet completely filled with lube.

2) Adding a new stick of lube results in a bubble between the top of the old stick and the bottom of the new stick.

3) Lube is simply too hard to flow at the current temperature.

4) Most common in my experience: not enough pressure. Turn the wrench handle about a quarter inch with the bullet at the bottom of the stroke.

Note that 3 and 4 are related.

If you use a heater, as the lube gets hot, it will leak out of the top of the die. When that starts, the lube is WAY too hot.

[btroj]

Heat needs to be controlled carefully. Five degrees can make all the difference in the world

[bhn22]

Try raising or lowering your travel stop a bit. You may not be matching the bullet grooves to the sizing die holes.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I don't think it's the inability of the air to escape, I think it's the pressure/heat combination of the lube. You don't have enough pressure and/or Heat.

One thing I do, especially in the winter when my casting/lubing room is cold, I preheat the bullets. That makes the lube flow through the grooves much better and requires less pressure. I've also read here that lube may adhere to the boolit moreso when the boolit is warm.

My technique is simple, as follows:
I mount the lubesizer on a 3/8" steel plate. I put a heater (200Watt magnetic engine heater or an old clothes Iron) on the Plate. There is also room to put a small pile of boolits on that plate as well...simple pre-heated boolits !

[williamwaco]

I don't think it's the inability of the air to escape, I think it's the pressure/heat combination of the lube. You don't have enough pressure and/or Heat.

One thing I do, especially in the winter when my casting/lubing room is cold, I preheat the bullets. That makes the lube flow through the grooves much better and requires less pressure. I've also read here that lube may adhere to the boolit moreso when the boolit is warm.

My technique is simple, as follows:
I mount the lubesizer on a 3/8" steel plate. I put a heater (200Watt magnetic engine heater or an old clothes Iron) on the Plate. There is also room to put a small pile of boolits on that plate as well...simple pre-heated boolits !


Great idea!

Why didn't I think of that?

[sleeper1428]

I've had this same thing occur since I started casting and lube/sizing boolits with my Lyman 450 back in the mid-1980s. To manage this problem, I simply got in the habit of giving each boolit a second pass through the lube/sizer with the second pass held a bit longer than the first pass. When it came time to buy a second lube/sizer, I decided to try an RCBS LMII but discovered that it made no difference in the number of boolits that failed to achieve full groove fill on the first pass through the unit. So now, regardless of which lube/sizer I happen to be using, I just give each boolit two passes as described above and while it takes a few seconds longer for each boolit, it most certainly has solved the problem of incomplete groove fill. Oh, and by the way, I don't turn the boolit between passes, basically because I noticed early on that when I did this I often ended up with boolits that apparently entered the lube/size die at a slightly different angle after being turned a 1/4 to a 1/2 turn, probably because of the nose punch not contacting the boolit nose in precisely the same place. Simply doing the second pass without turning the boolit solved this problem so that's the way I've done it for the past 20+ years.
sleeper1428

[canyon-ghost]

4) Most common in my experience: not enough pressure. Turn the wrench handle about a quarter inch with the bullet at the bottom of the stroke.


That's always been my solution. I leave the heater plugged in longer too.

[alamogunr]

I don't use a heater since my shop is heated and air conditioned and I pretty much stay with NRA 50/50. My problem with gaps is(in my estimation) due to not turning the pressure screw enough. Also, a second pass with turning the boolet is 100% effective although it slows things down.

[Bigslug]

Sometimes.
Air gets out of the grooves just fine. Sounds like you need a tiny bit more heat. Lube isn't flowing well.
Is it a big groove bullet?

Does not seem to be related to bullet type. Not sure about heat being the issue. We've run different lubes with the heater on. The first batch of Ben's Red was straight to recipe - as in, pretty darned soft. Lube gaps in all cases. Won't hurt to warm it up, I suppose.

[Bigslug]

Try raising or lowering your travel stop a bit. You may not be matching the bullet grooves to the sizing die holes.

This seems to be a likely culprit. Could it be I'm going too deep and interrupting the lube flow before complete fillout?

[Fishman]

Any time I have had an issue with fill out it has been one of three things. Insufficient pressure, incorrect stop depth, or not enough heat.

[Larry Gibson]

Try raising or lowering your travel stop a bit. You may not be matching the bullet grooves to the sizing die holes.

+1, that's the usual solution for me. It has been for 40+ years.

Larry Gibson

[bruce381]

I get gaps in my lymans when the pressure needs to be turned up every 5-7 boolits or so.
I do not know if a lube gap is a big deal.
I adjust the boolit stop down untill lube goes over the shoulder thats to deep then i go back up a little, this allows the deepest sizing and puts the lube port at the right hight.

Once adjusted right I only have to crank the lube handle every 5-8 boolits depending on lube grove size using BAC lube