Lube questions

[epj]

I have started casting again after a 25 year vacation. I remembered vaugely that sizing was messy. Now I remember it real well. I find both the moly lube that came with my Lyman 4500 and the 50/50 alox/beeswax are far messier and stickier than I would like. :(

I am considering adding a heater to my 4500 and going to a harder lube, or possibly going to a tumble lube. I am casting .45, ,38/357, and 9mm out of straight wheelweights and generally loaded under 1000 fps. :Fire:

What are the pros and cons of these methods.? :confused: I don't want to do anything to degrade accuracy, or promote leading, but I'd like to get away from the messy stuff.

[runfiverun]

i use jakes ceresin the purple stuff, and magma eng. lube these both need heat
and donot play well together.
but when in the lube grooves it stays there, i have pushed the jakes to 2350 in my 308
with no leading with g/c
i have pushed both of them to 1500+ in 44 and 45 model 92's without g/c no leading.
some of it has to do with boolit design and fit,as much as the lube and lead hardness.

[leftiye]

I wouldn't want to make any incorrect assumptions, but I don't find using a lubrisizer to be messy. What is hapening that makes a mess? I use Lar's C-Red with Bullplate lube added. This makes it quite sticky, but I still don't have any messes, though I do wipe bottoms of gas checks, and noses sometimes. Maybe this is only our varying perceptions, maybe there is a particular issue to deal with?

[HeavyMetal]

If you think things are messy now, start tumble lubing!

[454PB]

How much do you shoot? If you're only doing 1000 boolits per year, the tumble lube might be perfect for you.

On the other hand, if you go through 10,000 boolits per year, you might want to try one of the harder lubes. I've never used them, mostly prefering 50/50 alox/beeswax. Perhaps there is something wrong causing leakage on your 4500. When everything is set up correctly and works right, you shouldn't have to do any more than wipe the boolit base on a cloth as they are removed from the sizer. I box them up standing on the base and don't have any trouble with the boolits sticking together unless they get too warm. If they do happen to stick together, I just roll each boolit away from it's neighbor as I pick it up.

[oso]

How warm is it in Birmingham? Minimal pressure on the reservoir helps control lube flow. Some like a little Motor Mica on their fingers to control stickiness, but I keep a rag on the bench so lube doesn't build up on my fingers and that seems to help.

[epj]

How warm is it in Birmingham? Minimal pressure on the reservoir helps control lube flow. Some like a little Motor Mica on their fingers to control stickiness, but I keep a rag on the bench so lube doesn't build up on my fingers and that seems to help.

Warm in Birmingham? How about downright HOT! :mrgreen: I think I have the sizer adjusted properly, as I'm getting the lube groove filled and not getting lube on the bullet above the front driving band. The bases are a different story. I get anywhere from a little to a lot on the bases. My .45 200 gr LSWC bullets have a bevel base, and the bevel also fill with lube. That is a real annoyance, but I guess that is something I may have to live with.

I'm basically looking for something that will replicate the lube that I have seen on commercially cast bullets. It is hard at room temp, and somehow they manage to produce bevel base bullets with no lube on the bevel. Wonder if it would help to plug the holes in the sizing die below the level of the grease groove?:confused:

[jonk]

So far as it goes, tumble lube would work at your velocities. I like Lee Liquid Alox for such uses. Others speak highly of Johnson's paste wax, but I've not tried it.

[runfiverun]

if you only want lube in one spot i would think that is the only place i would let the lube go.

[Springfield]

Commercial casters size with Star machines, not Lyman 4500's. They don't get lube on the bases, and of course are much faster.

[epj]

Commercial casters size with Star machines, not Lyman 4500's. They don't get lube on the bases, and of course are much faster.

I realize they don't use the same equipment. They don't cast with a 2 cavity mold and a 10 lb pot either. :mrgreen: However, it would be nice to be able to achieve a similar result.

[454PB]

One solution for the bevel base problem is to cut a piece of styrofoam from an egg carton and place it on the sizer center punch. Supposedly (I haven't tried it) it conforms to the bevel and reduces lube sticking to the base.

[epj]

One solution for the bevel base problem is to cut a piece of styrofoam from an egg carton and place it on the sizer center punch. Supposedly (I haven't tried it) it conforms to the bevel and reduces lube sticking to the base.

I'll certainly give that a try and report the results. Sounds like it might work well.:-D

[epj]

Well, the styrofoam works as advertised. Only problem is that it wants to stick to the bottom of the bullet on ocassion. I'll try out a couple of other materials as well, but I seem to be on the track of something here.

[fecmech]

I seem to remember in days past someone recommended putting a gas check on top of the push out pin (cup side up) to prevent lube on the bevel base. If it follows the bullet up I would try removing the pin from the die, degeasing the top and epoxying the gas check to the pin. Good luck.

[leftiye]

Or just make a bevel base shaped pushout pin out of mild steel for use with that boolit.

[**oneshot**]

I just tried some BAC from Lars45 and am very happy with it. It goes through my lyman sizer without heat but is not a very soft lube. I used it in my 41mag at low and mid/high velocity without leading and actually increased my accuracy. This was probably a side affect of no lead in the forcing cone like I had before I tried this lube.

[Mavrick]

You'll have fun with tumble-lube!! Messy isn't quite descriptive enough.
The hard lubes that need heaters are for high velocity loadings, I believe. I'm talking in the 1250-1500fps range for handguns. The boolits you mentioned were the same range that I use with my .41 Magnums.
I've tried Blue Angel, Red Rooster, and Lar's RC, and all work well with hard bullets at high and higher velocities.
When I use a softer boolit, such as my favorite, for lower (900-1150fps) w/w+2% tin, I switch to a softer lube, RCBS green, Lyman orange, Lar's BAC, or Javalina Alox.
I have/had a bevel-base bullet that bothered me because of the lube on the bevel. Since the rest of my bullets have straightedge bases, I saw no reason for the BB. Dremel fixed my problem. Unfortunately, it added 2 grains more bullet weight, and I had to run a comlete new load workup....lol 2 grains on a 170 grain bullet is a serious percentage of increase. lmao.
Have fun, Gene