For the experts on liquid alox

[Doc - J]

Ok Im getting ready to lub some boolits. Bought a 6 cavity Lee mold
model # TL452-200-SWC & some Lee liquid alox.

QUESTION..... Everything I've read sez its simple. BUT when I read the directions it sez..."Quote" Place your lead bullets in a plastic container, Dribble a little Lee Alox bullet lube onto the bullets. Gently shake to wet all the bullets and spread on waxed paper to dry overnight.

What I would like to know is "HOW MUCH IS A DRIBBLE?" How many boolits should I put in the container? Can someone say for sure and say. AH! simple question. put 50 Boolits in the container and put in X amout of drops!

Why can't they give us better directions? Put us in the ballpark atleast.
One person said, I guarantee YOU will over lub on your first try....

Bottom Line.... need formula.... x amount of 200 gr 45's.... x amount of Alox.
SIMPLE?

[RayinNH]

Doc-J, take your chosen container (margarine bowl, cool whip container or whatever) and fill about half full with boolits. You want the bullets to tumble well. Now add a squirt of Lee L.A. .This varies according to how many boolits are being done. Start light, you can always add more . Now rotate the container end over end so boolits tumble, Don't shake as this will dent the boolits. If they're not fully coated add a little bit more. A little goes a long way. Spread on wax paper to dry...Ray

[Doc - J]

Ah so were up to a squirt... Hmmm thought after you squirted, then you dribbled.
Perhaps lee should add a dye to it so you can see what's coated?

[Ldgat]

For 200 boolits, I would add at least a dab! That should be enough! Seriously tho, I wonder the same thing. For that many boolits, I put about a level teaspoon and use a latex glove on my hand to mix the boolits gently. Works for me.
Dewayne

[BigSlick]

I just lubed my first batch a couple of weeks ago.

I used one of those cheepie throw away ziploc snap lid containers, added 100 bullets or so and about 4 drops of Alox straight from the bottle, maybe 1/8th of a teaspoon.

I put the top on and rolled the bullets around gently for a couple of minutes. It didn't look like enough, so I added about the same amount again, and rotated the bullets for a minute or two.

Dumped them out on wax paper and let them dry for a couple of days.

Zero leading, but it looked like I was shooting a smoke pole. Smoke was there, in quantity and with every round. Kinda cool the first couple of shots, but after that, not as much fun.

Second batch, (thanks to the help from some of you guys) I added a little mineral spirits to the ALOX to thin it a bit and added 1/8th teaspoon of the thinned ALOX and rolled the bullets as before. Let them dry for a day or two and loaded them.

Nowhere near as much smoke as the first batch, as before, cleanup was simple and no leading.

I've gotten the idea, you don't need to see the ALOX on the bullet when wet for it to be effective. I add it in, roll the bullets and (with nytrile gloves) pick up a random few, if they feel slick, I don't add more, if I can feel they might need a little more, I roll the bullets another minute and try again. That usually works.

When I bought the ALOX, I figured it was a small bottle so I'll pick up a couple. Now I have what just might be a two or three year supply.

HTH,

BigSlick
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Replaye Sc 2 (http://screplays.com)

[RayinNH]

Doc, they did ,it's brown. Be bold, be innovative, you can do it man...Ray

[buck1]

Its not that kinda thing. You can see when they are coated fully. start light and add 1/4 tea spoons full at a time. Its a "feel" you aquire for it. Thats why no one can answer the question the way you want us to. A bit , smidge , or dab is The best we can do, but if the bowl was in our hands we could get it pretty close. You will too by the 2nd or 3rd time. FWIW>>>>>>>Buck

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Doc,

I just got a class on lubing bullets with Rich (rbstern) today and I can say with all honesty that if you follow the instructions, it works great. Rich placed the bullets in a small plastic container and squirted a little of the alox lube in there and then gentley tumbled the bullets back and forth. It didn't seem like he had enough on, but after he tumble lubed them, he placed them on the wax paper and let them dry. (didn't take but a few minutes before they were dry enough to load) I loaded about 50 rounds and after handling them, I have every confidence the little bit he put on was sufficient.

In appearance, it looks thin, but changes the bullets appearance to a "varnished" appearance" where the varnish is real thing. After seeing what was an adequate amount, I realized that once they're coated with the Alox, you have enough, even though it doesn't look like enough.

Certainly after seeing it, I decided spending money on luber sizers for pistol boolits haint the way I wanna go.

I hope this makes sense and helps,

Dave

[Doc - J]

So as right now it looks like Big Slick has the best info. 4 drops alox + 4 drops of spirits per 100. Puts you in the ballpark?
Anyone have more info they want to share?
A little info / plus a lot of common sense goes a long way.

[BigSlick]

I didn't say 4 drops of mineral spirits.

I added just a dab :mrgreen:

This translates to just enough mineral spirits to thin the whole bottle of ALOX out just a bit.

Just add some 'till they feel slick all over, let them dry and shoot them.

You will know first hand if it was too little or too much.

BigSlick
________
Amateurs (http://www.****tube.com/categories/1/amateur/videos/1)

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I think you may be over analyzing it. If you got the bullets cast up and ready, gitcha a little bit on them boolits and experimentally minimally will get you there pretty quick. This ain't rockit science, heck, it hain't even engineering. This is jest boolit lubin. (grin)

[Bigscot]

I have been curious about the amount of lube to put on the boolits. I have been under the impression that the lube grooves needed to filled so I would lube several times to build up the lube. It sounds like there just needs to be an even coating. Is this the case?

BS

[Scrounger]

Easiest way is to mix half a teaspoon of lee's Alox and an equal amount of mineral spirits in a plastic bag with about 50 bullets. Agitate/mix them around for 2 or 3 minutes and pour them out on waxed paper to dry. Like the man said, it ain't rocket science.

[RayinNH]

Bigscot , an even coating is all that's needed. To get rid of the stickies tumble the dried boolits with a little powdered mica or baby powder...Ray

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Based on my experience today, if you just get an even coat, you're golden. After drying I found the little bit of lube that got on my fingers was no more than what I got loading "hard lube" boolits I have purchased in the past. Washed my hands and it was gone. Not sure if i'd bother with the baby powder or not, I kinda doubt it.

Dave

[454PB]

I always stand the coated boolits on their base, if I leave them lying on their side, they develop a "bald spot".

[swheeler]

For boolits that will be shot in a right hand twist barrel I always swirl the bowl to the right to coat them, and to the left for LH twist barrels. Works for me!

[Doc - J]

I always stand the coated boolits on their base, if I leave them lying on their side, they develop a "bald spot".

Now that I can understand...........:drinks:

[steveb]

I may have over done it as I just got 20 bottles of the stuff while it was on sale at www.midwayusa.com for 1.99 a bottle:roll: . The bottle of liquid alox that came with my sizer die I cut with mineral spririts but added to much and got it way thin. So I added the usual amount and got them all covered and took a hair dryer for about a minute to them and swirled them around some more. The bullets was dry before hitting the wax paper. Even if I dont use the patented(:-D ) hair dryer technic they are always dry within a few hours it seems. Never had to leave them sit for a day or two.

[Bass Ackward]

Why can't they give us better directions? Put us in the ballpark atleast.

One person said, I guarantee YOU will over lub on your first try....




Doc,

That one person LIED to ya. Bad.

You use what ever amount that your results dictate that you need. I lube, then size my bullets and then lube again. Especially with PB so my sizer doesn't lead up and my bullets get smaller and smaller.

I can assure you, .... that if you lead up, that $1.99 bottle is going to lose value to you fast. The old addage about better safe than sorry is going to take on a new meaning for you here. :grin:

Most guys either love or hate LQA. Guess why? And the biggest reason for failure by those that hated it was that they were trying to make one bottle last a life time. If you can, you are ahead of me. But eventually, you are going to try old faithful and lead up out the A$$. That's the LQA Degree from the School of Hard Knocks and why lubrisizers are still sold today. Believe it or not.

[Bucks Owin]

I find a ziplock bag to be the handiest for lubing with Lee Liquid Alox. You can sorta "knead" the bag and SEE when the boolits are coated....

With "big" bullets like for instance my 405 gr .45 cal, I partially fill a small container with LLA and then just dip the back half of the boolit in the stuff and then wipe the base of the boolit against the lip of the container. That puts a heavy coat where it's needed and not all over the entire bullet. But, the bullet needs to be big enough to handle by the oqive....(or use some pliers etc)

Liquid alox seems to be good stuff, especially for those who don't size for whatever reason....

FWIW,

Dennis

[jh45gun]

I lube fairly heavy and yea it smokes but I get no leading. Just bought a Lee . 309 sizing die. As with my 45/70 I will lube size and lube again as with Lee's Instructions. Just remember this stuff is great for smokeless powder but it is a no no for black powder or its substitutes.

[S.R.Custom]

LLA is wonderful stuff; I use it on ALL of my bullets, whether they are greased in the groove with conventional lube or not. With the alox added, I can push the bullets a lot harder than with grease in the groove alone, and accuracy is much enhanced. And not much need for gas-checks, either. This is especially true with revolvers, where the grease in the groove gets "blown off" at the throat/forcing cone jump.

And now for the tip of the day... I keep two bottles of LLA around. One is mixed 50/50 with mineral spirits. Only a very light coating is needed on the boolits because... wait for it... the other bottle is mixed 1 part LLA and four parts mineral spirits. Why? Because after I clean my lead-boolit guns, I swab the bore with the stuff...

Seriously. I run a patch on a jag moistened with the 4:1 stuff, and I work it in pretty good. Then I let it dry. I'm talking very little here; just enough to "frost" the inside of the barrel when it's through drying. With the bore "primed" in this manner, the boolits themselves need very little loob (magnums need more, obviously), and bore clean up is usually no more then 3 passes with a dry bronze brush.

It gets better... if you have a dedicated lead boolit gun (no jacketed stuff through it whatsoever), there is a barrel break-in period with the bore applied alox. After shooting about 20 rounds, clean with a dry brush only, re-prime the bore with alox, and repeat. Do this three or four times. You'll find yourself not having to clean the bore much at all after that. Hardly ever with mid-range loads. And except for the really hairy magnum loads, you'll have no need for gas-checks at all. Sort of like a .22 rimfire...

Try it. You'll love me for it. :mrgreen: