Can you DE-lube?

[DaveSpud]

Found a lube I like much better. Can I wash off the old lube and re-lube?

Or just put them in the (cold) pot and re-melt? Will the lube just burn off as the pot heats?

The old lube is Alox/paste wax/mineral spirits.

[btroj]

Old lube will need a solvent soak to remove. I doubt a boil in water will remove that stuff.
It CAN be removed but it won't be easy.

Unless you are way short on lead or hate that lube for some reason I would load em and shoot em.

[DaveSpud]

Old lube leads. Badly. New lube does not lead. I'd rather melt them down than scrape 'em off the bore.

[btroj]

You could also just add new lube over the old, unless you are doing a coating of some sort.

[texassako]

Boil it off in an old pot and water. Skim melted lube of the top before draining or it will coat the bullets. I did that to about 800 .38 bullets I found in the bottom of a box of random lead scraps. Do not use any of the wife's good pots.

[btroj]

I don't know that 45/45/10 will boil off very easily. It dries pretty hard. It doesn't even melt in the pot easily.

[DaveSpud]

Dang! Can't even melt the stuff off in the pot??

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Mineral spirits will take it off so easy, it's crazy !

[btroj]

Mineral spirits are the key. Soak, drain, them repeat.

What are you changing to?

[DaveSpud]

60/40 beeswax/vaseline. Found it on the "Just the facts" stickie. Leaves my bores shiney

[Del-Ray]

Do you work at a place that has a boiler? If so check with the operator and ask if he would stick them under his test water port for ten seconds. When I want lube off my bullets, or out of a lubrisizer I take it to work and just do that. High pressure 212 degree condensate will take off everything. And the bullets get hot enough to dry almost instantly.

Of course I am the operator, so I don't have to ask.

[DaveSpud]

No such luck. I work in an office.

[bangerjim]

I have removed the old lube from MANY boolits in the past....coated with various formulas.

1. Soak in LAC THINNER overnight
2. Swirl for several minutes. Drain off and keep for at least 2 more batches
3. Rinse in clean laq thinner (save for 1st step when original gets "gunked up") & drain.
4. Swirl in VERY hot water + Simple Green to cut all remining grease films
5. Drain
6. Rinse in HOT water
7. Allow to dry

You will then have perfecly clean grease-free boolits you can coat any way you like. I PC everything now. Better than any grease lubes.

bangerjim

[DaveSpud]

That shounds like it will do a good job!

Will I really have trouble with the lube if I just add these to the (cold) pot and bring up to 750 degrees? Is Alox or the past wax that heat tolerant?

[cuzinbruce]

Heat gun it. That's what I use to clean old lube out of a sizer.

[bangerjim]

That shounds like it will do a good job!

Will I really have trouble with the lube if I just add these to the (cold) pot and bring up to 750 degrees? Is Alox or the past wax that heat tolerant?

I have not found anything that will stay on molten lead at 700+F.

Alox/JPW/stuff will just act as a flux/reducer, as anything else that is carbon based will do.

But why waste all those nice pre-cast boolits when all you need to do is dissolve the old lube off? That is sure faster than recasting, unless you do not like the boolit design you have.

I have done this to thousands of rounds with grease lubes so I can powder coat them.

Good luck!!!!

banger

[LivewireBlanco]

Can you just lube over the 45-45-10?