Lube Removal

[Ironboolit]

Does anyone know a simple way to remove lube from boolits for coating. I have some boolits that has been around a while with most of the lube off. I would like to remove the rest and try powder coating.

[freddyp]

Well if the lube is beeswax based, you can pour them into boiling water
to get the bulk of the wax off. Then you will need to soak them in gasoline for several days in a coffee can. After a few days, change out the gasoline and let them sit some more. After a few cycles, they will be clean enough to run them through some walnut media. Run them for about 5 mins, this will prep them for powder coating. This was the process I used to coat 2000 Remington 158 swc that I acquired. The media removes the remaining film of wax and roughens the surface so the powder sticks really good. I went from leading the barrel with mild loads to a clean barrel with stout loads.

[rodsvet]

Gasoline in a coffee can, just enough to cover the boolits. Soak in a safe place most of the day. Wash them with Dawn and rinse thoroughly, dry on a towel or a dehydrator. Rinse in a clean container with acetone for 5 minutes. If the acetone is clear (almost) you can pout it into another container for use again. Wear latex gloves when touching the bolts after that.

[richhodg66]

Why not just shoot them like they are and try the nail polish on new bullets?

[Ironboolit]

Sounds like too big of a project for no more than I have. I think I will just send them down range. Thanks for the feed back everyone.

[John Boy]

Pot of hot water ... dry with hair dryer

[mehavey]

https://i.postimg.cc/zG4WPSbM/Proof-Mark-32-20-PC-d-sm.jpg

[oley55]

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?405531-Removing-lube-before-powder-coating&highlight=lube+removal
https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?266191-Removing-Alox-before-PC&highlight=lube+removal

here are a couple multi-page threads

[GregLaROCHE]

Shooting them the way they are makes the most sense to me, unless they are so old that the lube has dried out so much, that it doesn’t prevent leading. In that case I would start by boiling them.

[Cryhavoc]

Xylene......but you better do it with plenty of ventilation!

[shootinfox2]

Alternate method, melt and recast.

[reedap1]

There is another discussion on this subject in this thread

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?405531-Removing-lube-before-powder-coating&p=5094955#post5094955

Xylene is the solvent to use but do it outside

[ioon44]

Alternate method, melt and recast.

This.....

[gnappi]

I guess it depends on how many you have, if you have a lot? I'd say melt and re-cast, but all that work down the drain. I had a lot of .45's and .40's which I HATED shooting, all that smoke coated my mouth. I boiled them and soaked in acetone a while, dried and PC'd them.

Recently I brought a box of .40's that were already loaded to the range, and I couldn't stand the smoke and wondered how I did it for so many years. I've actually considered pulling a bunch of already finished ammo I have and doing the same.

[fast ronnie]

I just boiled mine twice, but wanted to just re-lube instead of powder coat. Old lube was coming off because it was old and had gotten hot.

[Dragonheart]

Yes, there is a simple and relatively inexpensive way to remove lube from bullets and that is soaK them overnight in gasoline to cover, obviously outdoors. Stir and drain off the gas and repeat. A final rinse in acetone will usually remove the last remnants of oil. The old gas can be absorbed and left to evaporate using cat litter. This method works, boiling in water does not. Obviously, take care in handling any flammable liquid.

[gnappi]

>>SNIP<< . This method works, boiling in water does not. Obviously, take care in handling any flammable liquid.

Well it worked for me and others.

[mehavey]

boiled w/ a drop of dish soap works just fine.
They PC beautifully after that.

[cwlongshot]

Its gonna sound odd. But old Coleman fuel has worked best for me hands down.

Just a iver night soak and its almost completely gone. Tooth brush and water flush and dry then coat.

Done this more than a few times.

CW

[Finster101]

Boiling in water and skimming the melted lube floating on top is about easy as it gets.

[gnappi]

Boiling in water and skimming the melted lube floating on top is about easy as it gets.

I agree, it's not "hard" but... It seems as if I'm faced with the lady or tiger decision all the time on lubed bullets. I moved here some 11 years ago and more than once I've found lead / lubed bullets I hurriedly stashed when I moved. Even though I REALLY hate the smoke and smell of shooting them, and really like the results of PC'ing them, the demon sloth in me has a hard time spending the effort re-cast, or to strip off the wax, then PC and size what was perfectly good bullets!

This last week in my continuing struggle to get order in my garage I discovered some lubricated 3,000 .45's and .40's. This is like being at a feast with my lips sewn shut :-(

[yobohadi]

I just boil them in water for about 10 minutes in the cast iron pot I use to melt wheel weights or range scrap on my turkey fryer. When done I shut down the fryer and slowly pour cold water into the pot until all the melted wax has all overflowed with the water out over the edge of the pot. I then pour out the rest of the water and dump out the boolits on a mat to dry. I don't use any soap, gas or acetone, just plain boiling water and the powder coat adheres to the boolits just fine; they pass the smash test.

[jonp]

Tried the boil, rinse and boil again but the lube of some type is hanging tough. Got the boolits at auction and they are lubed with something or other which I assume some type of alox but never assume I guess. I did try putting a few in a can of Berrymans parts solvent I found on a shelf for an hour or so and that partially worked. Maybe try that overnight and see what happens before the gasoline soak.

[Dragonheart]

This is exactly what I experienced back in 2012 when I first got into powder coating. I had several thousand lubed bullets from different sources that I wanted to PC. The boiling method was touted as the sure cure and I tried it. On some lubes it worked, on the lot it didn't. A club member said overnight soak in gasoline, it always works: and it did.

Quite frankly, if one can't safely handle a bit of flammable liquid in a can, should they be involved in a very hazardous hobby like casting bullets to begin with.

[30calshooter]

The easiest way I've found is to spread them on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels, and bake in the oven at lowest setting (170 F) in my oven. I double up on the paper towels. Remove them from the oven after several minutes and wipe them back and forth with the paper towels. The wax melts and is collected by the paper towels when blotting the bullets with the towels after baking. You may need to replace the paper towels and do a second bake and repeat the wiping/blotting to remove all of the wax. Then powder coat as usual process (shake and bake) is what I do, no BB's. Worked well for me.