Lube for Outside Lubed Bullets?

[36g]

Loading for .38 Long Colt with heeled boolits (.375" diameter with .358" heel). I'm thinking that a lube similar to that used on .22 RF might work and suspicions are that it's a beeswax/Alox type. Any suggestions? One boolit used has a grease groove in front of the crimping groove and another has a grease groove after the crimp groove.

[uscra112]

I use liquid Alox on my .32s.

.22s are just hard wax. Don't know whether anybody's tried that on the bigger heeled bullets.

[imashooter2]

A few drops of LLA and a teaspoon of Johnson’s Paste Wax should lube a couple hundred at a time swirled on in a cool whip bowl.

[uscra112]

The 1895 Ideal handbook describes heeled bullets being "dipped into molten lubricant" after the cartridge is fully assembled. My guess is that they meant beeswax, perhaps with addition of "steam cylinder oil". Today that would be Alox, approximately. Elsewhere they talk about beeswax and vaseline.

[Castaway]

The lube we now know as Gato Feo lube was supposedly a recipe developed by Winchester for heeled bullets in the days of black powder. By weight, 2:2:1, mutton tallow, paraffin, and beeswax respectively. Works great for black powder cartridges and low velocity smokeless loads

[FrankJD]

The lube we now know as Gato Feo lube was supposedly a recipe developed by Winchester for heeled bullets in the days of black powder. By weight, 2:2:1, mutton tallow, paraffin, and beeswax respectively. Works great for black powder cartridges and low velocity smokeless loads

Yep, hard to beat Gato Feo #1.

[Outpost75]

For pure simplicity 50-50 olive oil and beeswax works with either smokeless or black. In hot weather where you want a former lube use 60 beeswax and 40 olive oil. Works well through RCBS or Lyman lubricate as well as for pan lubing.

[vagrantviking]

I've had a couple of bad messes with ALOX type lube when combined with black powder. Works great for smokeless if you don't mind the bit of smoke it generates.

Anything black powder I stick to beeswax and natural oils like crisco, olive oil, lanolin etc.

[john.k]

The lube used on 22 rf is calcium stearate......a hard soap.

[uscra112]

From an old,. old post by Outpost75, who should know:

"When I come across old .22 LR ammo in which the lube is dried out, I simply wipe off the dried lube and lead oxide with a patch lightly wet with pure USP mineral oil, as I use them at the range, and then shoot them immediately. Old Eley Tenex in disintegrated paper boxes from the 1960s from a good target rifle with 10X Unertl, so salvaged will hold X-ring at 200 yards prone on the SR42 300 yard rapid-fire target scaled to 200 yards. If you are a good wind doper a Master shooter can clean the MR52 600 yard slow fire scaled to 200 yards.

If you want to bulk lube .22 rounds, use 45-45-10 from LSStuff and pour enough in a 100-round CCI tray to wet the bullets, stopping just short of the case mouth. Use the CCI 100-round box inserts to hold the rounds, dip in the lube, then keep the bullet noses pointed down, line up the lubed trays across the opening of a .30 cal. ammo can and let stand overnight until the rounds are dry. Then you can do any final profile sizing and crimp. Only a VERY thin coating is necessary. Lee Liquid Alox diluted 50-50 by liquid volume with mineral spirits will also work, as will a 1:3 solution of JPW and mineral spirits."

There are several mentions of calcium stearate in that thread, but as a lube component, not all by itself. worth RTWT

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/archive/index.php/t-299446.html

I'll leave y'all to it.

[Bwana John]

3 times tumble lubed with 45-10-45 and allow to dry between tumbleing, followed by a quick tumble in a bowl lined with a damp mineral sprits paper towel to remove the lube on the high spots but retain the lube in the grease grooves.

A quick wipe with a dry paper towel after loading and the ammunition is not a dirt magnet, but has a nice ring of lube in the external groove.

But powder coat is the best cure for icky-sticky externally lube projectiles.

[robertbank]

When I was loading 41LC heel based bullets with smokeless powder I just used liquid Alox in the end. Over the years I also just dipped them in Johnson Paste wax after the bullets were loaded and let the wax dry before shooting. I never made many at a time. Both methods seem to work fine and the process was simple.

Good luck and good shooting.

Take Care

Bob

[.22-10-45]

I just loaded my first batch of .320 long. Used Corbin dip-lube..this is a polerized wax ythat dries in about 15-20 min. & is a clear non-sticky film. I use an old artist brush to "paint" it on.

[barrabruce]

I dipped the noses of a packet or two of 22lr in a container with hot water and just a film of melted paraffin candle on the surface.
Worked out well.
Going to try it on some loaded 310 cadet next time.

[ndnchf]

This is an original heel bullet lube recipe. It was reported in an early 1940s issue of The American Rifleman by a retired ammunition factory worker. I've made and used it - it works very well.

Original Heel bullet Lube
1 pt paraffin wax
1 pt sheep tallow
1/2 pt beeswax

[higgins]

I had about 400 rds. of Winchester Xpert .22LR that had oxidized, but not as bad as I had seen before on other ammo. These Xperts were black bullets, not Lubaloy plated. I fired them in an old Dan Wesson revolver and bullets started tumbling at 25 yds. after only 12 rounds. A look with the Teslong borescope revealed leading in the forcing cone area that could only be described as worst case. Being a tightwad I decided to wipe some bullets with undiluted Lee LLA to see what happens. Today I fired 30 shots with reasonable accuracy and what I would describe as light leading. Best of all, no tumblers.

The wiping process removes the loose oxidation while applying the lube. I just used a piece of an old t-shirt and laid the wiped rounds on waxed paper to dry. I may apply a thicker coat of LLA to the next batch to see if leading is reduced even further. This is a good project for July because I can do it at the kitchen table instead of in the garage which has been feeling like an oven for the last couple of weeks.

[barrabruce]

Well I tried hot water with a film of lube on it and dipped lubed some 0.310 cadet.
A nice skin of lube ensured.
Looked beautifull.

Shot like 4" splatters instead of groups.
I’m going back to finger lubing.
I did have some fail to fire squib loads. As the bullet stuck in bore and case self ejecting after opening the action.
A least I can say they are not gas cutting and sealing well.
Bullets come back out easily enough.
I think I got a bit of leading as well.
Next time I won’t try and dip so deep into the water.
Ahhh well least I tried.
Ha.

[FrankJD]

Well I tried hot water with a film of lube on it and dipped lubed some 0.310 cadet.
A nice skin of lube ensured.
Looked beautifull.

Shot like 4" splatters instead of groups.
I’m going back to finger lubing.
I did have some fail to fire squib loads. As the bullet stuck in bore and case self ejecting after opening the action.
A least I can say they are not gas cutting and sealing well.
Bullets come back out easily enough.
I think I got a bit of leading as well.
Next time I won’t try and dip so deep into the water.
Ahhh well least I tried.
Ha.

Perhaps give paper patched bullets a go - no muss, no fuss, no leading, very accurate. :)