Lee Sizer Lube Question

[Mortonspoint]

I'm new to this game and am starting off on the more economical end of equipment. I bought the Lee boolit sizer and reading the instructions they say you must lube the boolits before you push them through the sizer. OK, but I really don't want to use the Lee lube. I want to use Carnauba Red. Can I cast my boolits, pan lube them and then run them through the Lee sizer. These will be rifle boolits with a gas check installed. Any problems?

Thanks!!

[enfieldphile]

Yes, you can do this! There will not be any issues, except finding a pan the right width & depth. What caliber boolit are you going to do? You will also need to come up w/ a kake-cutter. An old cartridge case, where the boolit just slips through will usually work.

[Mortonspoint]

I'm will be casting rifle boolits with either a 311299, 311311 or 311365 mold. I have a bunch of samples that I've been given and I'm going to see which will group best in my M1 Garand and 1903A3.

And yes to the kake-cutter. The pan will be a loaf pan and I'll melt the hard carnauba on the stove (outside that is) and stand the boolits in. Then let em cool, cut em, size em and load em. Well, that's the plan anyway.

[enfieldphile]

Try a double boiler. Set a pan of boiling water on the heat, then set up so your loaf pan is suspended 1/2" above the boiling water. Polish the edges of your cake-cutter so they don't scratch the boolit.

I have zero experience w/ a semi-auto rifle and cast. Some of the other fellows can guide you about that. You will really like how they work in your 03/A3


I'm will be casting rifle boolits with either a 311299, 311311 or 311365 mold. I have a bunch of samples that I've been given and I'm going to see which will group best in my M1 Garand and 1903A3.

And yes to the kake-cutter. The pan will be a loaf pan and I'll melt the hard carnauba on the stove (outside that is) and stand the boolits in. Then let em cool, cut em, size em and load em. Well, that's the plan anyway.

[Mortonspoint]

Thanks, I'll try that and see how it works.

[hendere]

I've been pan lubing handgun boolits for a year or so now and using the Lee sizers for several years. I have tried repeatedly to pan lube then size afterwards, but every time I've tried I end up with a huge mess. I just can't seem to keep the lube from gunking up everything when I do this and also getting the lube all over both the bases and noses. What works for me is to lightly tumble lube the unsized boolits first in something to make it easier to run through the sizing die. I usually end up using a small amount of Johnson's paste wax (only because I have some sitting on my bench). I don't wait for them to dry, I just very lightly coat them then size. Then I pan lube and cut out with my cake cutters.
Maybe I just don't do something right but I never could make it work filling the grease grooves first.

[petroid]

FWIW. Carnauba red is a pretty hard lube. I had trouble trying to cut boolits out of it when pan lubed. You may want to get them out before the lube cools completely so its a little easier.

[HeavyMetal]

Pan lubing can be quite the challange, LOL!

Let me make a couple suggestions and please bear with me it has been 30 years since I pan lubed.

As I recall melting the lube and trying to stand the boolits up in it was "frustrating" plus lube got all over the boolits. I soon learned to stack my boolits in the pan and melt the lube into the pan slowly, tried melting it and pouring it in, boolits got knocked over and was no fun.

Now the plus side to getting your boolits all laid out and slowly melting you lube into it is you only do it once! From then on your lube has a "hole" to drop each and every boolit into for the next run.

Some type of double boiler will help with this, for sure. See thrift stores!

after your lube has melted and hardened put the pan into the freezer for a half hour or so, this will allow you to "pop" the whole cake of lube out in your hands and, if your lucky your boolits will come out of it like ice cubes.

Take care not to break the cake and it will go right back in the pan. You'll only add lube as needed to keep the lube grooves filled as needed.

In six months you'll be so relieved when you finally buy a Star to do this with that you'll have SWMBO kick you for an hour for not having gotten the Star sooner!

[Airman Basic]

I'm new to this game and am starting off on the more economical end of equipment. I bought the Lee boolit sizer and reading the instructions they say you must lube the boolits before you push them through the sizer. OK, but I really don't want to use the Lee lube. I want to use Carnauba Red. Can I cast my boolits, pan lube them and then run them through the Lee sizer. These will be rifle boolits with a gas check installed. Any problems?

Thanks!!
I hit the naked, unsized boolits with a squirt of WD40 or whatever light oil's available, size them, then worry with the lube. If the die is smooth and the cast diameter close, I don't lube at all before sizing.

[Ickisrulz]

I have found it hard to get the gas checks to crimp on if the bullets are already lubed. The lube wants to pop off the gas check. Therefore I put the check on, run it through the sizer to crimp it, then I pan lube the bullets. Then I once again run them through the sizer to get the excess lube off.

I use mink oil for the first size/crimp to lubricate the bullet in the sizer. I use Buckshot's cake cutters to get the bullets out of the lube. I wait until they are just right, not too hard and not too soft. I only use gas checks on rifle bullets so I usually will be doing no more than a couple hundred at a time. It's not a bad process.