Simplist, easist, cleanist way to lube...

[Old Ironsights]

I load only one cartridge: .357, and ned to lube only 2 types of boolits - .357 BP and .45/.50 BP Conicals.

I've seen various "oven & Pan" lube techniques, but they seem annoying and produce way more than I shoot regularly. What is the easiest way to get an adequate lube on a BP cartridge/conical?

[Buckshot]

.................Well if you don't need a lube press, and pan lubing makes too many, I suppose the last resort is to hand lube. Seems awful messy to me though. I'd opt for the pan lube myself, then through a push through die to clean things up a bit.

.....................Buckshot

[Old Ironsights]

What is a lube press? Only lubing I've ever been near is Liquid Alox.

[Blacktail 8541]

A lube press is a nice little machine that has a resivoir to store and dispence lude on a bullet. It takes a sizeing die that can either size the bullet or not depending on witch one you choose. No mess and very little cost depending on which model chosen. Availeable thru many mail order or internet stores in their cast bullet section.

[keeper89]

Try one out and I think your days of pan lubing will come to a screeching halt--mine did nearly thirty years ago and I haven't once thought of returning......:mrgreen:

[Old Ironsights]

Try one out and I think your days of pan lubing will come to a screeching halt--mine did nearly thirty years ago and I haven't once thought of returning......:mrgreen:
It certainly looks like it.

BUT, I am very cheap and VERY low volume. (Remember, I load more than enough using a simple Lee Loader setup - no press.)

However, I just came across an interesting bit of arcana.

According to Clyde "Snooky" Williamson (WINCHESTER LEVER LEGACY) you can do some really interesting things by 'lubing' a bullet with teflon plumbers tape. He claimed a 10% increase in velocity when wrapping cast bullets with teflon tape.

A guy on another forum tested it and got this data:

Reformed 444 Marlin Brass (rifle #1)
40.0gr of IMR-4064 = 1686fps
40.0gr of IMR-4064 = 1840fps (With Teflon Wrap)

Reformed 444 Marlin Brass (Rifle #2)
41.0gr of IMR-4064 = 1765fps
40.0gr of IMR-4064 = 1910fps (With Teflon Wrap)

although Snooky teflon taped them first and then applied the gas check. He just wrapped 2 wraps of the tape around our already gas checked bullets and then shrunk it tight with a lighter then Seated the bullets

He was quite surprised at the difference in velocity.

[smilie=w:

This I must try. It would save me a good bit of hassle for the time being.

[Bucks Owin]

Try one out and I think your days of pan lubing will come to a screeching halt--mine did nearly thirty years ago and I haven't once thought of returning......:mrgreen:


I agree. Now that I have a sizer/luber, it would be mighty hard to go back to "cake cutters" and "cookie tins" and "sizing with the bore"..... ;-)

Dennis

[montana_charlie]

According to Clyde "Snooky" Williamson (WINCHESTER LEVER LEGACY) you can do some really interesting things by 'lubing' a bullet with teflon plumbers tape. He claimed a 10% increase in velocity when wrapping cast bullets with teflon tape.
Yeah, but...you said,

I load only one cartridge: .357, and ned to lube only 2 types of boolits - .357 BP and .45/.50 BP Conicals.
If that 'BP' means Black Powder, you aren't going to be happy with teflon tape unless you pack a grease cookie under the bullet.

I remember seeing a tool (somewhere) for greasing Maxi Balls one at a time. If they are made in models which fit your bullets snugly, it might be your answer.
CM

[Old Ironsights]

Yeah, but...you said,

If that 'BP' means Black Powder, you aren't going to be happy with teflon tape unless you pack a grease cookie under the bullet.Why not? (details please)

edit: BTW, I intend on using my 2lbs of Pinnacle & APP Shockey Gold "3F" first. I can't use them in my flinter and they will corrode the brass less than my 4F. Would I need a grease cookie then? :confused:


I remember seeing a tool (somewhere) for greasing Maxi Balls one at a time. If they are made in models which fit your bullets snugly, it might be your answer.
CM
I have one made by (IIRC) TC. Works OK if I remember to warm the Bore Butter tube up to at least 70 degrees first. (My shop is in the basement... ambient 60deg..)

[montana_charlie]

Why not? (details please)

edit: BTW, I intend on using my 2lbs of Pinnacle & APP Shockey Gold "3F" first. I can't use them in my flinter and they will corrode the brass less than my 4F. Would I need a grease cookie then?
Oh! If you are using BP substitutes (not the real thing) you may be OK.
I have no experience with them, but they may not need the 'fouling management' that black powder requires.
CM

[PatMarlin]

I've got the slickest little hand luber I picked up at a Gunshow. I use it for all of my BP boolits.

Its a:

Leding Loader Inc.
PO Box 1129
Ozark AR 72949

It's hard plastic with 4 holes for boolits. There's a thumb screw on the side. Put your bollits in the unit. You pull out the screw, squeeze your lube in to load it, then replace the screw.

As you crank down on the screw, it fully lubes your boolit. Also stores your lubed boolits when on a hunt. Maybe you could find one on eBay sometime.

[DEVERS454]

PatMarlin-

could you post a pic?

I use my other Lyman 45 with soft BP lube.
(bees wax, crisco, canola oil, bol-wax)

I just swap sizers when needed, but, it makes lubing ALOT easer...

I still pan lube for 56-50 spencer.

[13Echo]

If pan lubing makes too many bullets use a smaller pan. It is still the easiest way to lube just a few bullets without investing in a lurisizer. Also since you are shooting black powder, even a substitute, you really will be better off with a good BP lube for fouling control. The simple ones are easy to make such as Emmert's (Beeswax, crisco, and anyone of a number of vegetable oils) or Wolf's for the 45-70 Springfield (half beeswax and half olive oil). FWFL made with peanut oil instead of baby oil and without parafin wax would also do very nicely. Another method is dip the bullet in melted lube, wipe the base and run it through a Lee sizer die. Use a coffe cup heater to melt just enough lube to do the job.

Jerry Liles

[PatMarlin]

I can make you one.

What diameter would you like?...

Buckshot's been giving me lathe lessons.. :mrgreen:

[Bucks Owin]

Another method is dip the bullet in melted lube, wipe the base and run it through a Lee sizer die. Use a coffe cup heater to melt just enough lube to do the job.

Jerry Liles

You mean like this? (This is Lee Liquid Alox...)

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a356/BucksOwin/IMAGE051.jpg

[doc25]

isn't the Lee lubrisizer pretty cheap? and it fits on a regular press?

[Scrounger]

isn't the Lee lubrisizer pretty cheap? and it fits on a regular press?

Yes and yes. It's about $15 at Midway and places like that in factory sizes. If you want a custom size, it's $25 direct from Lee. It's not too hard to buy a factory size (say .430) and lap it up to .432 or whatever...

[PatMarlin]

DEVERS454...

I just looked at a Spencer in 56-50 today. It was an orginal civil war rimfire. Is yours a rimfire?

The patent is up on the leding loader, and they are no longer manufactured, so I think I may start fabricating them if there is a need.

Slick unit for PB, and for anybody that shoots only a few rounds or doesn't want to buy a lube press, but wants to lube grooves only.

[wcb_gabe]

Simplist, easist, cleanist way to lube...

Wouldn't that be using or buying someone else already lubed bullets???
But I guess that would defeat the point.
Hey it is all of the above... just not the cheapest... I mean cheapist
Gabe

[steveb]

If pan lubing makes too many bullets use a smaller pan. It is still the easiest way to lube just a few bullets without investing in a lurisizer. Also since you are shooting black powder, even a substitute, you really will be better off with a good BP lube for fouling control. The simple ones are easy to make such as Emmert's (Beeswax, crisco, and anyone of a number of vegetable oils) or Wolf's for the 45-70 Springfield (half beeswax and half olive oil). FWFL made with peanut oil instead of baby oil and without parafin wax would also do very nicely. Another method is dip the bullet in melted lube, wipe the base and run it through a Lee sizer die. Use a coffe cup heater to melt just enough lube to do the job.

Jerry Liles

Ditto.

[NavyVet1959]

I was reloading a 7.7x58 this evening and needed a quick lube for just a couple of bullets. Instead of using LLA+JPW and having to wait for it to dry, I just heated up pan of pan lube that has been sitting around for a couple of years and dipped the base of the bullet into it. Seemed to work, so I did a search on this site to see if I had done something new or if someone had done it before. Of course, someone had done it before. :)

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

If you're lubing black powder bullets, you first need a top of the line black powder lube. Here is a link to a good one and how to make it:

http://1858remington.com/discuss/index.php?topic=352.0

Notes: If your mutton tallow is good and stiff, your lube will be nice and stiff too, making it easy to pan lube, just place a few bullets base down in a throw away/leftover aluminum pie pan, pour in just enough lube to cover the bullets and then cut out with a cake cutter. Remember, if you make up a good handful, clean them up with an appropriate Lee sizing die and store them in a left over plastic container from Bojangles chicken, you can store the bullets until ready for use. Also, a plastic soup container from a Chinese restaurant is an excellent container for the lube for long term storage.

Second, you need a way to lube the bullets. You said you don't need many. But here's something to think about: If you make up a good handful and store them, you're ready to go when you want to. Just grab your plastic container of lubed bullets and go shoot. Lubesizers are great, but they cost and if you're really low volume, not worth the cost. Just pan lube this way: A. place bullets in flat container like pie pan base down. B. Pour in warmed lube (don't use wife's cooking pan, get one from the dollar store when you buy a small electric stove there) C. Let cool mostly down, but still soft enough to cut out with a sharpened brass case. D. Cut bullets out of lube cake (I use the cheapest silicone pan amazon sells, slip the cake of bullets out of it onto a wood surface. This keeps the lube cake cutter from wearing out so fast against the aluminum pie pan.)

Third, you need to size the bullets to uniform if need be and to remove excess lube if not. Size with Lee size die mounted in your single stage press. Make more than you need because you're going to:

Fourth, storage - place freshly lubed/sized bullets in plastic container, ready to go. When you're done, heat left over lube enough to melt and pour back into plastic soup container from Chinese outfit and put up on shelf, ready for next time.

Is this a lot of trouble? Yes and no. If you cast with two molds (I usually do.) and cast a couple times a year (I usually do.), then after you've cleaned up from casting, you can go into pan lubing/sizing. Depending on how much you're shooting and how many bullets you've cast, these methods can be very affordable while getting not just your black powder, but all your lead bullets lubed at one time. Once lubed and sized, you place all of them in storage ready to reload your cartridges or take shooting in your muzzle loaders.

As a side note, you can use the pan lube method to make lube cookies with wool felt in the same pan you just lubed your bullets in. Just toss in the felt, melt the lube, pour it in and let the felt soak up the lube. Remove from lube before it solidifies and your done. You now have lube cookies for your black powder shooting. Store in the same kind of container or a ziploc plastic bag and you're set.

You do this twice a year and in volume, it's not much of a job and you have shooting supplies for a long period. That said, be careful, as you may find yourself shooting more, because you have the stuff to do so ready on the shelf.:)

[w5pv]

In lubing all booolits be sure tu use a little hog lard or bacon drippings in your lube just in case

[C. Latch]

I hand-lube. I probably don't shoot much more than you do.

I start with a pile of bullets, usually .452" for my .45 colt, and a pan of lithi-bee or whatever I'm using, as long as it's warm enough to be very slightly gooey.

Smear some on my finger, rub finger around bullet, push through .452 sizer, repeat, repeat, and soon there's a ring of lube on the bottom of the sizer. Push the nose of the next bullet past this ring, squeeze the ring of lube onto the bullet with my fingers, then ram the bullet through the sizer. By monitoring the size of this ring I can adjust the amount of lube I put on the next bullet; some get lubed iwth my fingers, some get lubed by compressing the ring at the base of the sizer.

I end up with a bit of lube on the bullet noses from time to time, but once you get the hang of it, the process runs quite smoothly and doing a couple hundred is no big deal.

[MT Chambers]

isn't the Lee lubrisizer pretty cheap? and it fits on a regular press?
The Lee only sizes, it does not lube......an RCBS lubesizer is your best bet, sizes and lubes in one step, and is best for small volume, no mess, no fuss.

[swmass]

Don't fear the pan! I've heard it called "pain lubing" so many times I never tried it until recently.. Give em time to cool down (about 2 hours for me) and make sure you fill the pan enough to make a thick/sturdy lube cake that wont break when you push em out. I don't use a double boiler or anything fancy... just a few 1 dollar cake pans right on top of the burner. Just use common sense and melt the wax slowly on a low setting and you'll be fine. I just refill the holes in the wax with new bullets. Melting the lube with the bullets in the holes gets the bullets nice and hot so all the lube stays in place once it all dries. I've had 0 problems with pan lubing and wont be doing it any other way for a long time. If you're not lubing that many bullets, just use a smaller pan.

[JoeH]

I pan lubed for 30 years because I didn't feel I shot enough to justify the cost of a lube/sizer. I also did the Lee liquid alox tumble lube thing. Both methods produce bullets which are messy to handle and clog up bullet seating dies. I finally splurged and bought a Lyman 450 and now I not only get better results but I actually shoot more because I don't dread the effort of lubing and sizing bullets or the mess of loading them. At today's prices you're looking at about $200 for a new lube/sizer and dies but by shopping used on ebay and auction sites you can cut that in half. I recently saw a brand new Lyman 4500 go for $125 on ebay and I bought an older Lyman 450 for $100.

[varmintpopper]

When Teflon is heated it gives off Cyanide gas, So if You use it for a boolit lube be careful about breathing the smoke and gases .

Good Shooting

Lindy

[shoot-n-lead]

When Teflon is heated it gives off Cyanide gas, So if You use it for a boolit lube be careful about breathing the smoke and gases .

Good Shooting

Lindy

Dang...and they put it on cookware....

[NavyVet1959]

Dang...and they put it on cookware....

Just be careful with the temperature when stir frying and don't use it to blacken a steak. Personnally, I refuse to use the stuff.

[JoeH]

So that's why my lungs are wrecked? I never did believe it had anything to do with 50 years of smoking anything that would burn.

[PatMarlin]

This is a timely thread and was just going to ask BP shooters here at CB about this...

I need your opinion guys, you seasoned BP shooters on a product I'm considering to manufacture, that is a Hand Lube Sizer for BP boolits that will accomplish what you're talking about.

No press needed, and can hold your projectiles lubed and ready to go in field as well. It would process 5 at a time. Install your lube, push in your projectiles. It lubes under pressure, then continue to push through to finish. Or, keep inside ready to load in the field. Light weight aluminum, and maybe even anodized.

I can make these caliber and diameter specific from 32 cal all the way up to the largest calibers and sizes, and in between sizes like .501 .504 .511 etc, just for an example. I think it could possibly be used for lubing patched round balls as well.

Could could offer any caliber actually. I guess guys on a budget that needed a low cost hand luber, this would work for softer, or freshly cast softer alloys like WW's I would imagine.

I'm trying to determine if there would be a demand for it, and what BP shooters would be willing to pay, to see if there's even a market.

I don't want to post it here, but if it sounds like something needed I would like to hear your thoughts.

Please PM, or let me know if you would like to have me send you more info in a PM about it.

Thanks,

Pat... :drinks:

[JoeH]

Well Pat I've been a BP shooter all my life but I don't know how to answer your question. I'm a traditionalist, I shoot flintlocks and patched round balls so I'd have no use for your device but I know some shooters will buy any new gadget which is advertised as being "improved, easier and cleaner". Look at all the "black powder substitutes" on the market, they come and go, make great claims and more or less work but none of them are really "better" than the original black powder which sells for half the price of the highly acclaimed subs. I seem to have some vague recollection of a device sort of like what you describe. As I recall it was plastic, had a long cylinder with a push plunger terminating in a short cylinder set 90 degrees to the long one. The idea was to push a maxi ball or minie into the short cylinder, then push the plunger to force grease into the lube groves of the bullet. I don't recall who made it nor what it was called.