Tumble lube 405 winchester as cast bullets?

[winchester85]

i have cast a few bullets for my 405 winchester that i would like to try as cast. Can i get enough lube on them by tumble lubing? or how should i do it?

as cast they run about .413 to .414, the bullets that i have been using are sized .412 but lead badly if i push them faster than 1600 or so.

i have a sizer, but i have not used it yet and have no dies or top punches.

[Bent Ramrod]

If you can get a thin coating of tumble lube on them, that should be sufficent for normal cast boolit velocities. You ought to have a gas check design if you're going past 1400.

I put the boolits in one of those thermoformed deli containers that they sell potato salad in, squirt a couple squirts of Lee Liquid Alox on the boolits, put on the cover and swirl and turn the container around in my hands until the lube is evenly distributed over the inside of the container and its contents. I then pick the boolits out (tweezers or tongs are handy for this) and stand them up on a piece of wax paper to dry.

[MT Chambers]

You don't say whether it is GC or not, but prolly should be, if you have the sizing/lubing equipment, I would use that.....get into it man!

[Yodogsandman]

Make up some Ben's Liquid Lube and give your boolits a few coats. I use a plastic ice cream bucket with rounded bottom edges. I put about 50 boolits in and add a very little bit of BLL and swish them around. Take them out and set them on wax paper or butchers paper to dry (about 2 hours). Then give them another coat for good measure and dry them again. I gave some 308 boolits 3 coats and run them at about 2500 FPS (gas checked) with no problem and decent accuracy.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

The generally accepted diameter for the 405 WCF is .412-.413. I'm fortunate in that my mold drops as-cast pills at that diam. so I lube them as such with the old NRA formula of 50/50. No problem with leading even at 2000 fps. I use 3031 powder which does a good job. Newer lubes should do just as well, but you have to experiment a bit to see what works well. LLS

[winchester85]

i have bullets that i bought that are sized .412 and they lead badly. that is why i wanted to try the as cast at .413 to .414.

[Cowboy_Dan]

Leading isn't always a diameter issue, but different sizes are something to try. Other members could tell you what the issue likely is if you say where the leading is. Also +1 on the BLL, it is a wonderful tumble lube.

[Vern Humphrey]

I find it helps to run the sink full of hot water and float the Alox bottle in it -- it liquefies the Alox and makes it coat the bullets more evenly.

Another trick is to stand the bullets on their bases when you let them dry. It makes for a more even coating of lube.

[winchester85]

got some lube on the way. going to try a few as cast bullets and see what i get.

[GaryN]

You could do it the Ranch Dog way. Heat up some Alox and dip them by hand. It goes on pretty thick that way. After dipping stand them up on some waxed paper. All those tumble lubes work better if you heat them a little. I even heat my bullet with a hair dryer before tumble lubing. The other thing you need to check is whether they will chamber at that diameter.

[winchester85]

i got some lube, liquid stuff, dark brown from a guy on ebay. LSstuff I think.
i poured a little into a gatorade bottle and dumped in 10 bullets and shook them up real good and then set them on aluminum foil for a couple days. i loaded 5 of them last night with 42gr of IMR3031. chronographed about 1700 on average, accuracy was better than i have seen yet, but not great. i had the slightest bit of leading nearing the muzzle.
based on where i found the leading, I assumed that i needed more lube. so 5 of the 10 bullets i had done one coat on got a second coat. waiting for them to dry now.
accuracy was not great, but then i wasn't trying real hard. it was about 3" at 50 yards. i know the rifle is capable of about half that or better. for plinking loads i use 41 mag pistol bullets at about 1250 fps and i have done groups at 100 that are under 3" even with the semi-buckhorn sights.

the lube grooves on the bullet were not full with the liquid lube on one coat, but looked pretty good. with the second coat, it looks like quite a bit of lube will get pushed into the grooves if they are not already full when i seat the bullet.
barrel is 24", modern production 1895

[35 shooter]

winchester85 try making BLL with your alox..it cuts your drying time to about 2 hrs. per coat.
It also drys to an almost hard coat..non tacky or sticky.

Just mix 60% alox and 40% Johnsons liquid wax in a squeeze bottle and shake it up well.
I use 3 very light coats for rifle use. Using straight alox i used to get purge shots at the range. BLL doesn't purge at all for me...all shots go in the group!!

Just a few drops, say 3 or 4 in the bowl and maybe 3 or 4 on top of the boolits and shake. If you have run off when drying on wax paper you used too much. Let dry 2 hr's and coat again. I don't try to fill the grooves at all. 3 coats looks like one coat when i'm done...no build up in the grooves. I don't have leading at all in the 35 whelen to 2500 fps.

Mine are actually dry enough to coat again in an hr., but i usually wait 2 hrs. between coats, let sit overnight and ready to load in the morning!

[winchester85]

good info, thanks. i will give that a try.