"Drying" Alox

[thumbs]

Just tumbled my first batch of Alox boolits. I know they have to dry but was wondering. Has anyone tried to put the coated boolits in a toaster oven or the like to speed up the drying? I just put the behind the humidifier like I do with the brass to dry but it would be nice to be able to put the alox boolits in the oven for a few minutes and get on with the loading.
If this does work at what temp and how long do you "cook em"

Thanks

[country gent]

Look up a MSDS hazzards sheet on it if possible and see what volatile solvents are in it and what the "flash point" is. Also keep in mind that heat may allow vapors to travel faster and farther. A heat lamp might be better than the toaster oven.

[thumbs]

Look up a MSDS hazzards sheet on it if possible and see what volatile solvents are in it and what the "flash point" is. Also keep in mind that heat may allow vapors to travel faster and farther. A heat lamp might be better than the toaster oven.

Good idea. I just saw a guy dry them with a heat gun. That doesn't mean there isn't vapor problems. Like I said I put them behind the dehumidifier where the heat comes out. Just a warm heat not hot. I will see how that works out. Yeah the oven may not be the best idea. It may work but Ill check it out. Thanks

[bangerjim]

That drying time was just one of the reasons I really jumped on PC early on. I hated waiting the 24 hours or so for the mule snot (alox) to dry. And then still having sticky boolits when they got warm in the AZ heat.


But gentle heat with air would evap the VOC's faster, but not the residual stickyness that I found always there. Same with grease.

If you go down the mule snot trail, try the 45/45/10 mix that is on this forum. I used that with good success over straight snot.

[GhostHawk]

Check out the thread on Ben's Liquid Lube.

Much thinner, smoother coat, faster drying.
I have noticed that a fan moving the air over the bullets results in significantly reduced drying time.

[fryboy]

ahhh alox ....the tack ... the aroma ...( yuck ) eh to be fair some love the smell ( umm nope i aint one of'em lolz )

if using it straight it should be cut/reduced with real mineral spirits ( eg; not the fake so called envio-friendly b.s. they peddle ) how much to " cut it " is dependent upon the stage yours is in , some cut it to a viscosity of water ...umm maybe when it's warm , speaking of warmth ... heat can be your friend, properly applied that is , warm the reduced alox , warm the castings ( before and after application ), this helps the drying time , also important is to apply it sparingly , eg; less is more ,
much better ( in aroma,reduced tack, and faster drying time ) is the 45-45-10-ish formulation , much better means "by way"
if you didnt reduce it , if you applied it to heavy and if it's humid/cold it may never ( as in ever ) totally dry ( especially if all three of the conditions mentioned are met ) some sprinkle with talcum powder/cornstarch/mica to alleviate the non-drying tacky type feel , in the end it just depends upon theindividual user to choose and use the method that makes them feel best [shrugz]

[NavyVet1959]

I tried having a cage fan blow on the Alox+JPW bullets for an hour in my garage to get them about as dry as leaving them overnight. After that, a dusting of talc and they were ready to load.

[Motor]

I've used a heat gun and a hair dryer before. It works. They actually heat the lead up then the warm lead dries the A-Lox. I still prefer the overnight or longer method. That is before I started powder coating. Now I'm wondering what to do with all these bottles of A-Lox.

Motor

[bangerjim]

I've used a heat gun and a hair dryer before. It works. They actually heat the lead up then the warm lead dries the A-Lox. I still prefer the overnight or longer method. That is before I started powder coating. Now I'm wondering what to do with all these bottles of A-Lox.

Motor

I had 6 or 7 bottles of it and I just poured it all in a garbage can full of leaves! Good riddance. Cleaned out the bottles with laq thinner and now use them for other liquids.

I wish Lee would sell the sizing kit without that garbage in the can! I like the red plastic cans but hate the mule snot.

You can always undercoat your car with it! Or rust-proof threads on outdoor bolts. About all it is worth.

[35 shooter]

Motor you could give BLL a try as mentioned by Ghosthawk in post #5.
It dries well in about 2 hours, but i usually let it sit overnight before loading.

As far as what to do with those bottles of alox, if you decide you want to get rid of them shoot me a PM. I just picked up 4 bottles, but could always use more.

I've tested this lube for months now and it puts the first shots in the group from a clean cold or fouled cold bbl. for me.
It also dries enough to carry rounds in a coat pocket when hunting.

The mix is 60% alox and 40% johnson's liquid wax.
I don't weigh my boolits anymore, but my groups run from 100yd. cloverleafs to 1.5" 5 and 10 shot groups in a 35 whelen.

Just make a pencil mark at the 60% level of a ketchup or similar bottle and fill to the mark with alox and fill the rest of the bottle with jlw...shake it up and done.

This is the best tumble lube i've seen yet and the one i'll be hunting with this year. It dries to an almost hard finish.

[Motor]

How would you ship it ORMD with UPS? USPS don't allow liquids correct?

Don't get me wrong. I've never had any issues using A-Lox. It's just been replaced with something that in my opinion is better all the way around. Powder Coating

Motor

[Maximumbob54]

I never did try it but I wonder if you could just smear some alox (prefer 45/45/10) across wax paper and roll the bullets across it. Tip them up to dry and they should be good to go without all the ill of having the stuff on the nose. The last I used liquid lube I was using the zip lock bag method which I thought worked a little better. I'm half tempted to try rolling some just to break out the old stuff again.

[NavyVet1959]

I never did try it but I wonder if you could just smear some alox (prefer 45/45/10) across wax paper and roll the bullets across it. Tip them up to dry and they should be good to go without all the ill of having the stuff on the nose. The last I used liquid lube I was using the zip lock bag method which I thought worked a little better. I'm half tempted to try rolling some just to break out the old stuff again.

I seem to remember someone posting that they just grabbed each bullet by the nose with some forceps and dipped them in a thinned (and possibly heated) alox. The nose was left clean. For speed though, it's difficult to beat just swirling all the bullets in a container and then dumping them on a flat surface

[Yodogsandman]

I'd like to throw my two cents in and say that Ben's Liquid Lube is a lot faster than PC. Size the bullets normally and swish them around in a plastic tub with a few drops of BLL, dump them onto a frame with 1/4" hardware cloth and done. Go back a few hours later and they're dry. I get much better accuracy with rifle rounds too using BLL than with PC. For rifle rounds, I do 3 coats of BLL. I've shot BLL up to 2500 FPS with under 2", 10 shot, 100 yard groups. Who does that with PC?

Note that if your bullets come out sticky with BLL, you used way too much.

Fastest method
No mess
Non sticky
No smoke
Very accurate

[williamwaco]

I set them on the back porch in the sun.
Time ranges from 12 to 24 hours.

In cool weather I add a small fan to blow on them.

[NavyVet1959]

I'm thinking that for the next batch of tumble lube, I'm going to put them in up in a skillet on a hot plate to around 200F, toss them in the swirling container with a dollop of the alox+JPW paste that I use, and then dump them on the glass surface that I use for drying.

[gpidaho]

Just my opinion but, 45-45-10 is a much better tumble lube than strait LLA, it dries in just a few minutes. Use a very light coat, a little bit goes a looooooong way. Gp

[Maximumbob54]

I seem to remember someone posting that they just grabbed each bullet by the nose with some forceps and dipped them in a thinned (and possibly heated) alox. The nose was left clean. For speed though, it's difficult to beat just swirling all the bullets in a container and then dumping them on a flat surface

Sounds like RD's method:

http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/Tips/Alox/

It does work and work well, it just took so long compared to tumbling. I actually found that half the time I put too thick a coat on and while seating it would come off everywhere making a mess.

[Beagle333]

If you wanna do em really slow, but get only the driving bands...... lay em down and paint em with a hobby brush! (I only did this once. I think I was snowed in or something anyway). But it was interesting to do.

[fryboy]

nice looking boolits ! ( love the hp's ) aye, what one does not to be bored lolz