Lube and GC process?

[Ferdinand]

Newbie here, so please excuse my ignorance. I have cast some 158gr SWC's from my mold that is designed for GC. The die that applies the GC looks like it would swage off the lube. When should I apply lube - before GC, after, or both? I'm planning to pan lube with a mix that I learned about here. Thanks in advance.

[wiersy111]

You read my mind I was going to ask the same question (basically) but I got to lazy tonight.

[Calamity Jake]

Newbie here, so please excuse my ignorance. I have cast some 158gr SWC's from my mold that is designed for GC. The die that applies the GC looks like it would swage off the lube. When should I apply lube - before GC, after, or both? I'm planning to pan lube with a mix that I learned about here. Thanks in advance.

Apply the GC before you pan lube.

When you size and apply GC at the same time some kind of lube is a + to keep from smearing(gauling) lead in the size die, Thinned LLA works pretty good but i use Hornday One Shot case lube, spray the boolits then apply GC and size.

[wiersy111]

Great tip I don't know if I would have thought of the One Shot. Will the One Shot affect the pan lube sticking to the boolit? I used LLA and it seemed like the pan lube didn't stick so well. But I didn't mix it down at all.

[MakeMineA10mm]

Newbie here, so please excuse my ignorance. I have cast some 158gr SWC's from my mold that is designed for GC. The die that applies the GC looks like it would swage off the lube. When should I apply lube - before GC, after, or both? I'm planning to pan lube with a mix that I learned about here. Thanks in advance.

When you say, "the die that applies the GC looks like it would swage off the lube," are you talking about the sizer die in a lubri-sizer, such as a Lyman, RCBS, or Star?

If so, don't worry. Those dies are designed to put lube into the lube grooves as well as installing the GC. They won't take lube out of the lube grooves (though, since you're pan lubing, the dies will scrape off the lube that would normally be stuck to the driving bands).

This is no great loss/disappointment, since the lube that's stuck to the driving bands generally does not stay there anyway and becomes gunk that clogs up the seating stem of your seating die, so if you think there's a benefit by keeping that lube on there, there isn't. In addition, even if you could keep the lube on the driving bands, the act of firing the cartridge will eliminate that lube as the bullet goes down the throat and into the bore (depending on exact fit of the cartridge, chamber, throat, bore, and boolit size).

HTH

[Ferdinand]

It sounds like one only needs for the lube to be in the grooves, rather than on the bearing surfaces that contact the bore, so lubing before hand should be fine. I just lubed my first pan full of bullets - ran short on melted lube so I think I need to do them again anyway after GC to fill the upper groove. Thanks all for the replies.