How bad is over-lubing?

[DaveSpud]

I'm a newbie. Be gentle. How bad is it if I over-lube? I'm using 60/40 beeswax/vaseline. Last batch I did were pretty waxy. They seemed to shoot OK, but more smoke, of course. Bores looked gunky, but cleaned up easily. Does the excess lube raise pressures? Or is it just a nuisance?

[geargnasher]

What do you mean by "over lubing"? What boolit are you shooting? What are you shooting them in?

GEar

[shredder]

When I first go going I thought the more the merrier and that is basically how it works. Keep it in the grooves and try not to get the base too gunked up. I don't wipe bases but I try to avoid boogers of lube on there. Once they are loaded you can wipe their little noses with a solvent rag and they will shine right up. Sometimes but not always that will help groups. Shoot some that are not cleaned up and are "overlubed" as you say. Generally the case neck will rid you of excess lube and it pays to wipe that little lube donut off.

I don't think excess lube will effect pressure but your bore will become well lubed and may suffer occasional fliers as excess lube is purged from the bore. A few patches of solvent certainly fixes that. I say go shoot and let the rifle speak!

[DaveSpud]

Details, details...

Shooting .45 Colt, comparing the 255 gr. with the 200 gr. Lee moulds. Shooting them in a Blackhawk 5.5in and a Rossi 92. First batch was lightly lubed. You could sorta tell there was lube on them. Shot beautifully. Second batch feels pretty waxy. Looks cloudy. Groups were NOT as good. More smoke, more gunk in bores. But it cleaned right up.

Just wondering if I should clean 'em off and re-lube, or just shoot 'em and put up with the smoke and gunk.

[geargnasher]

I don't savvy. Are you filling the grooves or trying to coat them all over somehow?

The beeswax/Vaseline combo is a very good and simple lube for what you're doing, but it works best if you apply it to the grooves only. The Lee boolits generally have fairly shallow lube grooves and I'd say that filling both of them all the way is never going to be too much.

Gear

[DaveSpud]

More details, more clarity.

I am tumble-lubing them.

[geargnasher]

That is not a tumble-lube recipe, so it might be a bit messy. Other than possibly contaminating the powder due to lube on the bases, it isn't going to be much of a danger.

Tumble lubes are formulated to dry on the surface. You can purchase a pre-made, proven formula from White Label Lubes called "45/45/10" which is a concoction of one of our own castboolits members. Or you can make it if you have or gets some Lee liquid Alox, some Johnson's Paste Wax, and some solvent mineral spirits. This formula is applied very sparingly to just put a thin haze, barely wet, on the boolits and then you let them dry for a few hours. They aren't sticky and the coating is stable in heat and won't contaminate powder.

Gear

[geargnasher]

What will work best for the beeswax/vaseline recipe is to either pan lube or get yourself a lube-sizer machine (Lyman 450, RCBS, Saeco, Star, etc.) so just the grooves are filled.

Gear

[357maximum]

More details, more clarity.

I am tumble-lubing them.


When tumble lubing think about a 22LR boolit...you want a lube that hardens and gives a slightly waxy coating just like a 22LR. You are using a panlube/lubrisizer lube...not a tumble lube.....going to be inherently "GUNKY".


YOU NEED 45/45/10 it is available from the LS.STUFF.COM link at the bottom of this and every other page here at castboolits....Glenn will hook you right up and is an excellent soul to deal with.

[fouronesix]

:) I don't think you can "over lube" a bullet. You might use a lube that doesn't work well. But over lubing seems nearly impossible to do unless you leave a huge gob on the bullet's base which could adversely affect the powder. Usually for me, the more the better. But no matter what, the volume of lube is pretty much limited by the volume of the bullet's lube grooves. For larger calibers, I like to see a bold lube star on the muzzle and if shooting through a chronograph, it's good to see lube splattered on the chrony's face 15' in front of the muzzle.

[runfiverun]

Dave where are you in Idaho?
if you are near me [S.E. Id] I could easily clear a lot of stuff up for you.

[DaveSpud]

Thanks for that kind offer, run. I'm on the other side--Treasure Valley.

[44man]

It is the lube itself, not how much.