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wallenba
06-10-2009, 10:10 AM
If you are the patient sort, and have a special load you take your time with, try this. Lay out a wax paper sheet as usual and pour a half dollar or so size puddle of Alox on you dominant hand side. Saturate a Q-tip with Alox. Put a cartridge case over the bullet to use to turn it slowly as you apply the Alox with an up and down motion. Repeat

Sprue
06-10-2009, 10:51 AM
Nice pics...

I try to apply the KISS methodology (at least in my mind) for most applications, although I do have patients especially in the reloading room. After all, the reloading room is most gratifying.

Everyone has there own technique, here's mine. Its fast, simple and mess free- Post Sizing method :


Place 100 boolits into a plastic bowl
add 12-15 drops of warmed & un-thinned alox onto boolits
Toss, shake, swirl for a couple mins
dump boolits out into a pan for 24 hour dry time
shake once or twice during dry time
load em up

This process takes only 5 mins of my time, I then move on to another task.

wallenba
06-10-2009, 11:05 AM
That's how I normally do it too Sprue. I posted this because a few posted their dislike for all the mess. I normally only do this for my 45 ACP loads so as to reduce the time to clean them up as lube on the nose of my 230 Rn's give me feed fits in my 1911.

snuffy
06-10-2009, 01:08 PM
It's easier to just dip the base up where you want the LLA to be;

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/P2220036.JPG

I just sit them on cardboard, then move them once after they have a chance to drain off.

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/P2220037.JPG

You loose a bit of LLA, maybe I should say used more than by tumbling, but you get a better coating in the grease grove. Yes, it takes a lot of patience to grip each one with a tweezers, but it beat the heck outa setting up the 450 with a .308 die. Oh, those are lee 110 grain RN for my tokorav Czeck M-52.

jack19512
06-10-2009, 01:21 PM
If you are the patient sort










I'm patient, but not that patient. :-D

jack19512
06-10-2009, 01:23 PM
http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/P2220037.JPG

You loose a bit of LLA,






It looks like you waste a lot of alox! :-?

Junior1942
06-10-2009, 01:27 PM
wallenba, that's messier than the zip bag method.

1. dump 'em in a zip bag
2. squirt in some LLA
3. knead the bag
4. dump 'em out

Sprue
06-10-2009, 01:33 PM
Actually I haven't used alox in quite some time. Although I really never considered it being nasty with the (my) process mentioned above.

I got away from it for two reasons. #1 - I had no luck with alox, I could not seem to get rid of leading. #2 - I dislike the smell of the smoke from a fired round.

As for the new caster/reloaderer it does have its pluses. It is very economical and a quick way to get in to the hobby. I'm sure there are those that DO have good luck and will continue with the alox method.

However, I found sucess in the homemade lubes utilizing lubersizers. Rounds loaded up with this process not only shoot good and are lead free, but also very appealing to the eyes.

These are "as loaded", meaning, they have not been cleaned in any manner. Yeah I know that they ALL look the same after firing.... but these are purdy.

BTW... my 45's eat these RCBS-201-SWC just fine, who would of thunk it?


Some 38 Spl's (http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh266/spilihp_2007/4a3cd1be.jpg)

Another view of 38 Spl's (http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh266/spilihp_2007/6e19c413.jpg)

Some 45 ACP's (http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh266/spilihp_2007/b6bc4097.jpg)

Trey45
06-10-2009, 01:45 PM
Snuffy I bet you could do your same procedure there, but use wax paper instead of cardboard, and reuse the alox that's run off. Just scrape the wax paper with a wide blade putty knife and Add a little mineral spirits if needed. That's quite a bit of waste there, easily enough to tumble lube a few hundred boolits.

SciFiJim
06-10-2009, 01:55 PM
+1 to Trey. When RanchDog still had his forum up, he had a show and tell how he used Xlox. He would scrape up the run off and return it to the bottle, thinning with mineral spirits as needed. I hope that he moves that thread to CastPics (http://www.castpics.net/), because it was good info.

dromia
06-10-2009, 04:45 PM
+1 to Trey. When RanchDog still had his forum up, he had a show and tell how he used Xlox. He would scrape up the run off and return it to the bottle, thinning with mineral spirits as needed. I hope that he moves that thread to CastPics (http://www.castpics.net/), because it was good info.


I concur! That was a good PHD course in liquid aloxing boolits.

BarryinIN
06-10-2009, 04:46 PM
+1 to Trey. When RanchDog still had his forum up, he had a show and tell how he used Xlox. He would scrape up the run off and return it to the bottle, thinning with mineral spirits as needed. I hope that he moves that thread to CastPics (http://www.castpics.net/), because it was good info.

That would indeed be nice. I didn't know his whole forum was going to shut down with the mould selling operation or I would have printed a few things. Like that.

wallenba
06-10-2009, 05:11 PM
Yeah Junior, I usually tumble them in one of those disposable zip-loc tubs with the screw on lids for all my revolver loads. But the 1911 is a finicky old lady and does not like the sticky stuff up her skirt. Cleaning them off after is harder than keeping it off. Plus, you ever drop one of those suckers in the dirt? Nasty.

Gohon
06-10-2009, 11:44 PM
I've used nothing but LLA and it works great for me and I really don't think it is all that messy. But I do hate having to constantly clean the stuff out of the seater die. Almost all my guns are loaded with cast as dropped from the mould so a quick question....... can a lubersizer be used just to lube the bullet without sizing it and what would be a reasonable priced one to use?

Ranch Dog
06-11-2009, 09:03 AM
Here is a link to the article I wrote on "Dipping Alox".

http://www.ranchdogmolds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=99

I like the technique of the opening post! There are some bullets I shoot that I simply cannot grab by the nose. I would use a small jar to dip from though.

DLCTEX
06-11-2009, 09:28 AM
Boolits can be lubed with a lubrasizer without sizing by using a die the dia. of the boolit. It may require a custom die, or open up a too small one. The fit must be snug to prevent lube squeezing where you don't want it. As to price of a used one, that's hard to say in the current environment. I've seen used equipment bring more than new on Ebay. Reloding stuff has goten so out of line that I rarely go there to look anymore. I'd go to Midway's site and find prices of new, then compare that price to used and see if the difference is realistic. With new, the warrenty is worth something, unless it's RCBS, whose warrenty never ends even if you aren't the original purchaser.