PC with lube?

[Super Sneaky Steve]

I've shot a lot of PC'ed hand gun boolits and they work well but when I tested some PC'ed rifle bullets they did not shoot as well as standard lube.

I was thinking, if I lubed my coated rifle bullets could that bring back the accuracy?

I could try it myself and find out but I wanted to see if someone has already tried it yet.

[bangerjim]

This had been brought up many times in the past.

The general consensus/concern is lubes could attack the PC and soften it if sitting down in the case for periods (unknow) of time.

We just do not know.

I certainly do not use any kind of lube on my PC. Some have mentioned they were going to load up some and let them sit for several months and tear down to see if the beeswax, JPW, oils, greases in lubes can soften it.

If you plan to lube/load and shoot your PC in a few days, probably no problems. Try it and let us know.

banger

[Super Sneaky Steve]

Well, that's interesting. Lots of parts are powdercoated on my motorcycle and the chain lube that gets on there doesn't seem to break down the PC.

I think some testing is required. Thanks for the info.

[Sneakybuffalo]

Well, a PCd bullet and a lubed bullet really shouldn't shoot exactly the same.

They have different dimensions, which can effect case pressures, as well as rifling engagement.

And they have different coefficients of friction, which will impact barrel harmonics.

Try tweaking your load or seating depth slightly and see what happens.

[Beagle333]

I been thinkin' of tryin' this too.... just for the fun of knowing. I know it doubles the work, but I do have a boolit that casts .0015 smaller than I need for my Mauser, and it's kinda got a semi-rough bore yet, so I'm thinking of just building it up with the PC, resizing it to perfect, and lubing it like it wasn't every modified. 'Just for the science. https://s.yimg.com/ok/u/assets/img/emoticons/emo20.gif

[bangerjim]

Well, that's interesting. Lots of parts are powdercoated on my motorcycle and the chain lube that gets on there doesn't seem to break down the PC.

I think some testing is required. Thanks for the info.

There is a significient difference. Having some grease just slopped onto a cycle part is some what different than the tightly crimped confined space the lubed PC would be subjected over a period of time down inside the brass.

But this definitely warrants someone who wants to try to actually test it for a significient period of time.

Let us know!!!!

banger

[MGnoob]

I've seen this come up several times, and appeals to my tr anything mindset(That won't blind or scar me for life in the face)
I've shot coated and plated projectile that i then lubed(of coarse with custom lube)

IMO, the biggest benefit of coated/FMJ/plated is their lack of smoke, There was no benefit to trad. lubing plate/coated/fmj Projectiles.

I am stalking you banjerjim!
On a side note, since starting reloaing/casting, i am shocked at how different firearms preform with different reload/cast/custom made ammo, so i can't say for sure that there isn;t an application for coat/lubed projectiles. Happy shooting

[kungfustyle]

I did try it and had great results in both my 30-06 and 30-30 over SR4759. Boolits are in the 1900 fps for the 06 and 1800 for the 30-30. about 1.5 inches for both at 100 yards. Smoke's blue powder coat and Randy Rats tac1. My/Pat Marlin's gas checks. Couldn't be happier. Used up the rest that I made for my 06 now I have to cast/coat/lube more for my 30-30. (Savage 111 06 and Mossberg 464 30-30) Dacron over both and was good to go. Zero smoke and took about 4 patches to clean up w/ Ed's Red. Good day at the range.

[bangerjim]

I did try it and had great results in both my 30-06 and 30-30 over SR4759. Boolits are in the 1900 fps for the 06 and 1800 for the 30-30. about 1.5 inches for both at 100 yards. Smoke's blue powder coat and Randy Rats tac1. My/Pat Marlin's gas checks. Couldn't be happier. Used up the rest that I made for my 06 now I have to cast/coat/lube more for my 30-30. (Savage 111 06 and Mossberg 464 30-30 (tel:464 30-30)) Dacron over both and was good to go. Zero smoke and took about 4 patches to clean up w/ Ed's Red. Good day at the range.


Good field info. Thanks!

Still......what was the LOADED storage time?

That is the big unknown we need info on. Your loads can't be too old because Smoke has only offered that powder for a relatively short time.

Someone needs to take one apart (after a significient period of storage) and check the PC integrity down around the lube grooves. I do not immediately shoot everything I load. I have some that have been loaded for 12+ months in my storage. (the prepper in me?!?!?) But NO PC+lube.

Let us know.

banger

[rsrocket1]

I been thinkin' of tryin' this too.... just for the fun of knowing. I know it doubles the work, but I do have a boolit that casts .0015 smaller than I need for my Mauser, and it's kinda got a semi-rough bore yet, so I'm thinking of just building it up with the PC, resizing it to perfect, and lubing it like it wasn't every modified. 'Just for the science. https://s.yimg.com/ok/u/assets/img/emoticons/emo20.gif

It might very well work, but you probably need to DT PC those boolits. My DT bullets are about 2 mils thicker (dropped at 0.403" and PC'ed at 0.405"). ESPC may be a little thinner because it puts the powder on so uniformly. Ironically, I'll ask but I suppose you don't want to consider "Beagling" the mold would you?

[Beagle333]

I might. I have done that on a couple of them. My ESPC usually adds .002 to the size, so that would be perfect. I'm eventually going to paper patch this particular boolit and my NOE will be my plain lead shooter (when I get my NOE), so this'll hold me 'til then. If I don't get the size with the spray-on, then I'll certainly try the DT.
Once I learn to patch, I should be all set. 8-)

[kungfustyle]

It as been about three months that I've had these boolits. Can't see any pc coming off. If it does they are still lubed. I'll keep and eye on the stored leads and see what happens. I tend to cast for a few months of shooting. Cast, store and shoot repeat.

[wyrmzr]

I've been wondering about this myself; I do have a few .314 rounds that are PC'd with HF red, where I really wanted the PC to just slightly upsize the bullets (the barrel could actually use a .315 diameter instead).
The only thing is, I don't tend to leave a lot of those rounds loaded for long, so I'd love to hear the results of a soak test with loaded rounds.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

I did try it and had great results in both my 30-06 and 30-30 over SR4759. Boolits are in the 1900 fps for the 06 and 1800 for the 30-30. about 1.5 inches for both at 100 yards. Smoke's blue powder coat and Randy Rats tac1. My/Pat Marlin's gas checks. Couldn't be happier. Used up the rest that I made for my 06 now I have to cast/coat/lube more for my 30-30. (Savage 111 06 and Mossberg 464 30-30) Dacron over both and was good to go. Zero smoke and took about 4 patches to clean up w/ Ed's Red. Good day at the range.

When you say you had good results, are you saying accuracy was better with lube than without lube?

[RP]

I loaded up some PC that were also lubed I going to get it a storage test if I do not forget and am still alive I post the results in 1 decade or 10 years what ever comes first. Or is there a set time limit that this storage test should run and at what temp or climate ? Should some be frozen and others room temp or even stored out side in the shed for temp swings. Any test that is given will have to have some kind of guidelines.

[kungfustyle]

I was trying a few different things: New 06 rifle, Dacron, Powder Coat and Lube. All of my test loads from 23 to 25.5g of SR4759 were under an inch and one group was .375. I've never had that happen before. I powder coated a batch of boolits and they didn't turn out stellar(Florida humidity) but they were covered so I wondered if lubing them would help. It did. Then I ran out of the pc boolits and loaded some cast for my 3030 for this trip to the range. I had about a 3" group w/ cast boolits at 100 yards then after about 15 rounds I popped in some pc'd/lubed rounds and had a group that was 1.5" I didn't know they were shooting that tight till I walked down to check my target. These did not have Dacron...hmmm room for improvement. By the way clean up was a breeze. about 4 or 5 patches for each rifle. After soak of Ed's red, one patch through, one scrub, 2nd scrub, 4 dry, dry/purty clean Rem oil and put away. Took about 10 minutes for the two guns. Same thing testing my Super Blackhawk Powder coated boolits w/ Lube over 18.3 to 19.8g of 2400 test loads 18.3 had three rounds touching and about 4 or 5 patches to clean up. By the way the weight was gc 311401 at 175g and pb 429421's at 260g acww+tin.

[gpidaho]

Beagle 333: I'm using PC to upsize the boolits for a couple guns when the mould drops smaller than the fit I would like. I've also hand lubed some when loading mouse loads, might be easier to push on through if I stick a boolit in bore (haven't yet, so just theory) I'm going to do some side by side tests with the chronograph to see what lubing does, if anything to SD. As far as degrading the PC with the lube goes, I'm not worried about it until I'm shown differently. GP

[C. Latch]

From day one of my PC experience I have just smeared some lube on the bullets that weren't perfectly coated, and thus far have seen -0- reason not to continue that practice.

Admittedly, I don't often make ammo for storage, and if it's for storage, shooting it up would defeat the purpose anyway, but I do NOT have any reason to believe that lube would cause a degradation of the PC over time.