Lubing/Sizing in the summer

[TomT]

Just finished my first lubing/sizing session of the summer. Ran around 2,500 .45s through the Star and had almost no problems. Amazing when compared to all the problems I was having in the winter. It must be that the ambient temperature is so close to White Label's Red lube's melting point of 100 degrees. In the winter I just could not maintain a constant temperature, nor a consistent flow of lube. This after getting a heater for the base of the Star and trying to wrap the reservoir in insulation to protect it from the cold out in the garage. Tried different dies. Tried the boolit nose first, base first. High pressure, low pressure. Everything I could think of, and everything that was suggested here on this forum. When I could get the lube to flow, it went everywhere. The lube was sticking better to the lube on the bullet next to it then it would to the lube groove where it belonged. I was constantly having to touch-up the lube into the grooves when I was loading rounds.

The only hick-ups I was having today though was with air trapped in the Star every once in awhile. As soon as I heard the air pop, a full turn (or more) of the tension spring bolt brought everything right back on track. Before starting, the heater was plugged in for a few minutes. Just long enough to bring the temp at the luberesizors base up by 10 degrees to the mid 90's. Unplugged the heater and went to town running boolits through the Star. The temp climbed to a little over 100, then hovered in the high 90s until I wanted to take a break. Kept enough tension on the lube plunger bolt so that I could feel resistance at the bottom of each stroke. No lube overflow on the base, no lube stuck in the corner of the shoulder and cone. Rarely did I have any boolits that dropped out of the Star that were not perfectly lubed.

The bullets that were just sized and lubed were cast in early February. At the time, I just couldn't face another hellish session of either getting lube all over the base, the shoulder, and the box they were falling into - or not getting the lube to flow into the groove at all. Today's session went like a wet dream. So good that I want to cast another batch of boolits just so I can have something to lube again.

Man, I am stoked!:-D

[Leftoverdj]

Tom, the problem with heating lube is that you can't do it rapidly or you melt some while the rest stays solid. When I was sizing in an unheated garage, I used a light bulb in a large can and gave it several hours. Then I got divorced and can now do it in my home at room temperatures. That may seem drastic to some, but I think it was a great deal.

[Slow Elk 45/70]

+1 on the lamp , when it is cool in my reloading area , I run a hair dryer around the sizer tube for a few minutes , then I have a small lamp with a flexable neck that I keep close to it while I am lubing my boolits. WFM

[cajun shooter]

Leftoverdj, Now your entire home is your man cave; how nice. Went through the same thing until I married the right woman. My wife comes to my CAS shoots and retrevies my brass for me. All the other shooters can't even get the wife to go to a shoot. Tom you said that you unplugged the heater. If you have the Magma then it is designed to be left on while lubing once you find the right setting.

[lavenatti]

My wife quickly became an avid shooter once I took her a few times (and bought her an AR-15 and a Berretta shotgun).


It's well worth the cost, where else can I take her and be able to wear earplugs.

[462]

A use a clamp-on, flexible necked lamp. To speed up the process, I wrap aluminum foil around the lamp and the lube reservoir.

[Calamity Jake]

My wife quickly became an avid shooter once I took her a few times (and bought her an AR-15 and a Berretta shotgun).


It's well worth the cost, where else can I take her and be able to wear earplugs.

Yap mine too, she always tells me the next gun you buy IS MINE!!!:roll::mrgreen:

[TomT]

Tom you said that you unplugged the heater. If you have the Magma then it is designed to be left on while lubing once you find the right setting.

The heater is from Midway. Bolts onto the bottom of the Star. It does have a temperature adjustment screw on it, but for me it is easier to just unplug it. I've put some insulation over it so that it will retain it's heat a little longer.

Last winter I tried the light bulb against the reservoir, as well as heating everything up with a hair dryer. Before getting the heater, also tried an aluminium plate under the Star with a clothes iron on the other end of the plate. Nothing worked nearly as well as waiting until the temp outside was in the 90s. Just can not get over how much easier it is now.

Moving everything inside (except melting lead) is an option for next winter. Would also like to try the technique of putting the light bulb and reservoir tube in a large tin can, or wrapping it in foil. Good ideas. Our winters aren't long here though so it might be easier to just make up enough to last me for a few months until summer rolls around.

[runfiverun]

with the red i let the heater cycle a couple of time so the tube gets warmed up too. if it get's too hot you found out what will happen.
you know know why i put a wood stove in my garage.

[azjohn]

You heated the lube in Feb, but what about the bullets: were they at ambient temp? Heat goes to cold and the bullet mass would have zapped the warmth right out of the lube. Just something to think about.

[TomT]

You heated the lube in Feb, but what about the bullets: were they at ambient temp? Heat goes to cold and the bullet mass would have zapped the warmth right out of the lube. Just something to think about.

Thought about that since I was doing the sizing/lubing at night and the garage (and therefore the bullets in the garage) were below freezing. Tried a couple of times last winter to heat the bullets up with a hair dryer. The results were mixed enough that I stopped trying to heat them up. Suspect that the pile of bullets cooled right back down, or that I heated them too much and caused the lube to migrate even more than it would have in the first place.

[azjohn]

Kinda like trying to lube an Ice cube. If you try it again this winter bring the bullets into the house for a few days before you size and lube.