Bullet lube for light loads

[Shak3s1977]

Does anyone have a good lube for light loads? I'm new to lubesizers and lube. I had been powdercoating and wasn't haven't any troubles, but decided to try using a lubesizer.

So I ordered a RCBS Lube a matic 2 and some White Label Lube carnuaba blue. Loaded some really light loads for my 1911 and ended up having trouble with the slide going into battery after about 10 rounds. I upped the powder charge and it didn't happen till about 150 rounds. So its getting better with the higher charge, and I'm sure if I upped my charge a little more it would be fine.

I've been shooting 200gr lswc from a MP mold. I know the problem is blowback from the light charges. Then the lube blows back to and starts building up in the chamber. If I pull a round out that didn't chamber all the way, it's covered in sooty, goo. Wipe it off, and it drops right in. (Yes I do wipe any lube from the bullets after they are loaded. It is coming from blowback due to the cases not sealing in the chamber from light loads.)

Would the NRA 50/50 formula work better for what I am wanting to do? I also have a stick of RCBS pistol lube that came with the lubesizer. Maybe I should try that? It seems about as firm as the blue lube I used

I guess if I have to, I can always go back to powdercoating some bullets for this light load, and lubing the rest. I don't have any problems with the light loads and powdercoating. I just would like to not have to mess with the powdercoating. Thanks for any replies.

[Outpost75]

You don t say what caliber, but with plain-based bullets in any rifle or handgun load I get good results with Lee Liquid Alox diluted with equal parts by liquid volume of clear mineral spirits. You only need a light wash to turn the bullets a uniform brassy color. No need to fill lube grooves. Works great for .38 Special and .45 ACP, cowboy loads in .44-40 and .45 Colt or gallery loads in military bolt guns to 1300 fps.

[BLAHUT]

I tryed all you stated ended up with bees wax ( tolet bowl wax ring ) or parifin ( candle wax ) if you want soft or hard lub ??
What outpost75 said worked good i didn't care for the mess.

[Winger Ed.]

I'd crank the speed on up to about 800fps or so, and be sure you have a good crimp.
Or stick to powder coating for the real light loads.

If you're getting lube blowing back from the case not fire forming and sealing-
I doubt it would be much different no matter which lube you use.

[JoeJames]

You don t say what caliber, but with plain-based bullets in any rifle or handgun load I get good results with Lee Liquid Alox diluted with equal parts by liquid volume of clear mineral spirits. You only need a light wash to turn the bullets a uniform brassy color. No need to fill lube grooves. Works great for .38 Special and .45 ACP, cowboy loads in .44-40 and .45 Colt or gallery loads in military bolt guns to 1300 fps.

That is exactly what I use: A 4 ounce container with a mixture of 2 ounces of LLA and 2 ounces of mineral spirits will do a slew of bullets. I use it for 32's, 38's and 44's.

[gwpercle]

You really need to get the case to seal to stop the blow-by / blow-back of the lube .
Light loads don't need a lot of lube and just about any will do but stopping the blow-by is a must .
Have you tried annealing the cases to get them a bit more flexible .
You may also not need all the lube you are putting in the lube groove(s) , modern lubes are efficient and too much lube will cover the gun .
I would just up my powder charge untill I got good case seal and watch the barrel and slide for excess lube ... My 45 acp boolit of choice is Lyman 452460 , 200 gr, SWC , it has two small lube grooves and I typically fill only one groove with a good soft lube for Target loads (5.2 grs. Unique)
this provides plenty lube for that 745 fps load .
Gary

[dannyd]

Great lube and good people to deal with.

https://lsstuff.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=21&zenid=dbf8e9f1181198966913ce3589771f5d

[pworley1]

I don't think the lube is the problem, but the white label BAC works great with all my handgun loads.

[Shak3s1977]

My load that was really gumming up the chamber was 7.0gr of Accurate #5, 200gr lswc sized to .452, 1.250 oal, with a .469 taper crimp. This load clocked at 776fps avg from a Ruger 1911 commander. I've shot hundreds of these when powdercoated and they work great, plus my kids like shooting them. Unfortunately when switched over to lube, they gum up.

The next day out I upped the charge to 7.8gr and it was definitely better as far as going into battery everytime. I do have another light load using Winchester 231 that seems to be working okay with the same lube. Maybe the #5 powder light load and lube combination just aren't going to work like I want.

[Dusty Bannister]

Using the barrel as a gauge, how is the fit and does the cartridge pass the plunk test?

[Geezer in NH]

Simple clean the gun at the end of the day unless you are shooting over 1K a day.

Seems many don't want to clean their gun IMHO.

[Shak3s1977]

Simple clean the gun at the end of the day unless you are shooting over 1K a day.

Seems many don't want to clean their gun IMHO.
This builds up after only 10 rounds or so. Well the #5 load does.

[Springfield]

Pic of the bullet? I shoot Blackpowder in my 1911 using 260 grain bullets with 2 lube lube grooves and I don't have any problem at all, and the loads are pretty light(15 grains fffg) Maybe your problem is actually unburned powder mixed in with the lube.

[Shak3s1977]

Pic of the bullet? I shoot Blackpowder in my 1911 using 260 grain bullets with 2 lube lube grooves and I don't have any problem at all, and the loads are pretty light(15 grains fffg) Maybe your problem is actually unburned powder mixed in with the lube.

I still haven't figured out the picture upload. Your right though, it is a mixture of powder and lube. I just narrowed it down to the lube because the bullets I cast and powdercoat, work with the same charge of #5 powder. The same bullet, with the same powder charge, but are lubed, are giving me problems. It's a black grease type buildup. Probably lube, carbon, and powder residue.

The lubed bullets do work with a different powder. My Winchester 231 loads at 4.4gr seem to work fine. It may be that the 231 is a faster powder than the Accurate #5 and is sealing the case better and preventing blowback. I was just hoping to use the #5 load and try a different lube. Maybe one that isn't quite so hard? I'm going to work on trying to get a picture up.

[Shak3s1977]

303499

This is not my lubed bullet. This is a 230gr round that I tried to chamber in my gun AFTER firing my lubed bullets. It has the same buildup on the case mouth though.

[Shak3s1977]

303500

These are my bullets that I casted with the White Label Lube Carnuaba Blue. Boy are they purdy. [smilie=w:

[Hick]

As mentioned above this may not be a lube problem. Example: I had a medium load for 357 Magnum I used in my Henry rifle that shot very clean-- but in my 357 magnum revolver I had exactly the problem you are seeing-- gunk in the cylinder. It turned out that the revolver cylinder gap was allowing just enough pressure release to not fully expand the case and seal the cartridge mouth in the cylinder, while the rifle was developing enough pressure to seal properly. The gunk was due to partially burned powder, not lube. I raised the load a little and the problem went away.

[725]

Hard to beat Ben's Red. Check out the "Lube" thread

[David2011]

You're probably not building enough pressure. One of my 1911s is purpose built to shoot very light loads. It shoots a 200 gr SWC at 645 fps using Winchester Super Target. These loads won't cycle an off-the-shelf 1911. It has to be cleaned fairly regularly because the cases don't expand much and carbon builds up in the chamber but I can still get probably 200-250 rounds through it before the carbon becomes a problem. I've used several different lubes. None seem to foul and faster than the others. The more I powder coat the more I'm willing to make the extra effort.

[megasupermagnum]

This is not a problem I have had, but Carnauba blue (or red) are not good 45 acp lubes. Many shoot them, and they go bang, but those lubes stay solid on 45 acp bullets. Every bullet I've ever recovered still had lube full in the groove. It looks like none of the lube is consumed. They don't lead, and they go bang, so most people just ignore it.

NRA 50/50 lube is definitely worth a try. That is a classic that got popular for bullseye loads in the 45 acp. White Label lubes will send samples. Try their NRA 50/50. Another one you will want to try is their blackpowder lube. One of those two are likely to be the best for your needs. That's not to say nothing else they make is good, but they are all relatively hard. BAC is kind of the middle ground.

[gwpercle]

This builds up after only 10 rounds or so. Well the #5 load does.

Try a faster powder . I bought Acc #5 with the hopes the burn rate would be close to Unique , which is great for mid-range loads but you can't light load it ... low pressure = poor combustion + filthy loads . Working with it and 38SPL HV supplying some load data he chronoed , has shown Acc #5 to be a good deal slower and best regulated to at least +P loads and Magnum loads .
If you can try some powder with a faster burn rate ... it should help .
I tried for years to load target loads with Unique ... it just won't work ...wrong burn rate and no way to get around it . A can of Bullseye opened my eyes ...700X , Red Dot , W231 , HP-38 ...all will give you better results !
Gary

[Shak3s1977]

Try a faster powder . I bought Acc #5 with the hopes the burn rate would be close to Unique , which is great for mid-range loads but you can't light load it ... low pressure = poor combustion + filthy loads . Working with it and 38SPL HV supplying some load data he chronoed , has shown Acc #5 to be a good deal slower and best regulated to at least +P loads and Magnum loads .
If you can try some powder with a faster burn rate ... it should help .
I tried for years to load target loads with Unique ... it just won't work ...wrong burn rate and no way to get around it . A can of Bullseye opened my eyes ...700X , Red Dot , W231 , HP-38 ...all will give you better results !
Gary

Thanks. I do have lots of 700x and am currently experimenting with 231. I really like the 231 so far, so maybe I'll leave the #5 for something else.

[Shak3s1977]

This is not a problem I have had, but Carnauba blue (or red) are not good 45 acp lubes. Many shoot them, and they go bang, but those lubes stay solid on 45 acp bullets. Every bullet I've ever recovered still had lube full in the groove. It looks like none of the lube is consumed. They don't lead, and they go bang, so most people just ignore it.

NRA 50/50 lube is definitely worth a try. That is a classic that got popular for bullseye loads in the 45 acp. White Label lubes will send samples. Try their NRA 50/50. Another one you will want to try is their blackpowder lube. One of those two are likely to be the best for your needs. That's not to say nothing else they make is good, but they are all relatively hard. BAC is kind of the middle ground.

Do you know if the RCBS pistol lube is NRA 50/50? It says formulated to NRA Specifications on the box. Maybe I'll give it a whirl since it came with the sizer. I'll go ahead and order some 50/50 from White Label. I have 4 more sticks of White Label Blue. I'll probably use them on my 357 magnum and 45-70 loads. Should work good for them.

[Rich/WIS]

Conventionally lubed bulets are dirtier to shoot than powder coated and if you don't like cleaning your guns stick with coated. I use WLL XLOX 2500 for all my rifle and pistol bullets and it works well even with very low power 45 ACP and Bullseye. With 3.1 grs of BE and a 190gr SWC in a tuned SA Range Officer I can go 500 or more rounds before a cleaning is needed. The fouling is easy to remove, take off the slide and spray with WD40 and scrub with a GI toothbrush. Wipe off the crud, lube and reassemble. Takes all of 10 minutes and you're back in business. If you'e getting a lot of unburned or partially burned powder residue increase your load or change powder.

[justindad]

I would follow gwpercle’s advice here. A fast powder with a short pressure spike should seal the chamber, and still give lower recoil.
*
Another thing to consider is the size of lube groove. If you continue to have problems, get a mold with a smaller lube groove.

[popper]

Stick with PC or use BLL. 231 is much faster then #5. Don't know why anybody would buy a lubrisizer these days.

[gc45]

Call Veral at LLS.com, he has what you need. Really helped me.

[Gobeyond]

Try 10% less than the starting load.