Cleaning off excess lube

[James6406]

I purchase my cast bullets from a local commercial vendor. Straight out of the box many have excess lube stuck to areas other than the groove. After loading, I hand wipe each round to remove the excess. Since the red lube used is very sticky, this takes quite a bit of time and is a strain on the fingers. The wiping step, which is done with a cotton cloth, allows for extra inspection however it takes me longer to wipe the loaded rounds than the time to load them.

I have done a castboolits site search and find that most have commented that they have not experienced this problem. For those of you that have - is there an easy method to accomplish removal of the lube gobs and smear?

[Yodogsandman]

There's just no easier way, I use paper towels.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Yeah, no way around it, that I know.
btw, check your OAL regularly. If some of that lube starts to build up in your seater die, your OAL's will get shorter.

[RobS]

Put a little cleaning solvent on the rag/cloth or paper towel..........not a lot just enough to help take the lube off. I like the blue disposable shop towels.

[BNE]

I took two tooth brushes and cut the brush head portion off. I then took a metal top to a jar and hot glued the heads so that the brushes were at 45 degree angles into the metal lid.

The bristles were just touching each other. I then filled the lid with mineral spirits and held the loaded cartridge by the brass and rubbed the bullet end inbetween the brushes.

THEN I did a final wipe down with a rag. This method is still time consuming, but it is a little easier on the fingers.


Lubing the bullets almost turned me off of casting. The lube is a pain to put on, it is a pain when it gets stuck in your loading dies, and it is a pain to get off the bullet! This is why I kept looking and finally found the powder coating method. Using the Air Soft "BB"s and tumbling them in a container with the powder is really easy. And it is 100% cleaner. If you can get your hands on Un-Lubed boolits, I would highly reccomend this method.

I hope the brush method described above helps. PM me if my description above was not clear enough to help.

[James6406]

I took two tooth brushes and cut the brush head portion off. I then took a metal top to a jar and hot glued the heads so that the brushes were at 45 degree angles into the metal lid.

The bristles were just touching each other. I then filled the lid with mineral spirits and held the loaded cartridge by the brass and rubbed the bullet end inbetween the brushes.

THEN I did a final wipe down with a rag. This method is still time consuming, but it is a little easier on the fingers.


Lubing the bullets almost turned me off of casting. The lube is a pain to put on, it is a pain when it gets stuck in your loading dies, and it is a pain to get off the bullet! This is why I kept looking and finally found the powder coating method. Using the Air Soft "BB"s and tumbling them in a container with the powder is really easy. And it is 100% cleaner. If you can get your hands on Un-Lubed boolits, I would highly reccomend this method.

I hope the brush method described above helps. PM me if my description above was not clear enough to help.

thanks for the reply and description of your method. I made up a brush array based on your method and it is working very well for me. Much faster and easier on my arthritic fingers.

[Geezer in NH]

When this is the big problem buy J-Words. Come on wipe it off rag, paper towel we all do it at times.

[brassrat]

I keep brake cleaner on my bench and cloth rags. Use a rag about 4" square and keep the middle wet. I just did like 30. Easy

[Dan4570]

Hi,

I pan lube my bullets, and shoot them pretty much as-cast. However a lee styled bottom punch sizing die near the as cast size .460, has shown to not only uniform stuff that is not .460, but will very nicely clean all the .460 size bullets dropped from the mold. This leaves me with only to wipe the base of the bullet before loading. A lee sizer mold is only about $20 bucks and fits into your loading press. Works like a dream, and barely touches the bullet, just shines and cleans off excess lube. Only takes a second to wipe bases as I load them.

Good luck

[retread]

I hold mine in a Lee auto prime, check primer seating and wipe off excess lube. Easy on told hold with no finger fatigue and both jobs are done with one operation. I use the blue paper shop towels also. Moisten very slightly with paint thinner.

[w5pv]

I start off with a rag soaked with sovlent and just wipe the bases,it wil stay moist for a while with boolit lube.