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Thread: Lubesizer vs tumble lube vs pan lube vs powdercoat?

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
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    Lubesizer vs tumble lube vs pan lube vs powdercoat?

    Every application has it's pros and cons- what is your experience?

    Lubesizer is the tried and true, tumble lube is quick and dirty but some say effective, pan lube maybe between the two? PC the new kid on the block.

    Thoughts?

  2. #2
    Boolit Buddy
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    Tumble lubed once, never more. For smokeless I use a small diameter rubber tube to dip the shank of bullets in thinned ALOX up to the crimp ring. Set them on wax paper and when finished lubing the bullet bases are wiped clean on a paper towel. Let dry for about an hour then dust with a graphite/mica mix.

    No lubrisizer on my house. I pan lube for black powder. 30’ in the fridge makes for clean separation.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master waco's Avatar
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    They all work well when done correctly. Pretty much your choice. No wrong answer here. I used a Lyman 450 for years and years with great results. This was just how I learned. I then played around with Ben's Liquid Lube for sometime with handgun boolits. BLL also works quite well as an overcoat to a lubed rifle boolit. I never even bothered with trying to pan lube. Looked like a PITA and very messy. I know it works well though. PC is all the rage now for most, not all. It is simple, clean, and effective. This is probably the way that is the cheapest too.
    Try a few methods if you have the means and see what works best for you.
    My one big grip about pc is with bore riding boolits. It makes the nose too big. There are a couple ways around this but that's a topic for another day.
    Walter
    The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
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  4. #4
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    Mk42gunner's Avatar
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    You left out finger lubing. That is where you smear lube into the groves by hand, then either size with a push-through die or load as cast. I have done it for trials of lube, I would not want to load fifty or even twenty at a time that way.

    Never tried pan lubing, my house doesn't have enough level spaces to sit melted lube with boolits to harden. I was preventing a big mess.

    The Lyman 450/ RCBS Lubamatic work fine, but they are slow to process large quantities since you have to handle each projectile twice. They are way less expensive than the Star to get started though.

    I kind of wish I had waited and got a Star, just for those times I want to load a bunch of handgun rounds.

    Never powder coated anything, yet.

    Tumble lube is fast in application, slow in drying. A light coat that dries completely in 24 hours is better than a heavy coat that never dries.

    Robert

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    Never have pan lubed but use a Lyman 450 , tumble lube with 45-45-10 and shoot a lot of Hi-Tek coated they all work.
    With bullets that are not a perfect size or alloy Hi-Tek at low to moderate velocities is the most forgiving and I use the 450 and TL on my cast.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master


    Soundguy's Avatar
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    Tried pc...ugh...no.

    I tumble lube with alox or bll for small stuff 32cal handgun and under or if it is lee microgroove.
    If regular grease groove..pan lube. Set in pan pour cool. Pop cake out of pan, push bullets out of cake. No mess no wiping..no handling each bullet. Push out with a dowel.. Grooves shear the lube easily with nice fill out.

    Re melt cake for next rounds unless same type then just push new bullets in holes and heat till lube fully melted... Rinse..repeat.

    Have occasionally doubled up on lube on fast gas checked stuff. Alox or similar lube..bll..rooster jacket.., gas check and size, then pan lube.

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy
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    A pint of WLL 45-45-10 tumble lube has lasted SSSSOOOO long, I haven't bothered with exploring other options. I've had good results with Alox/WLL so why change? Its easy and here in AZ it dries quick. Cheap and easy too.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master Targa's Avatar
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    Pan lubing worked great but powder coating is a bit better for me.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
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    I pan lubed a lot when younger. Thousands of rounds, mostly .45acp. Could not afford a lubesizer. Now days I powder coat.

    I would not mind having a Star lubesizer. If I did I might use it more than powder coating.

  10. #10
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    GregLaROCHE's Avatar
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    I tumble lube in LLA and gas check my high velocity 6.5mm boolits, because it’s a pain to stand them up to PC them. .45 cal rounds get PCed most of the time or else finger lubed if I’m fooling with BP. Don’t forget the other way to prevent leading. Paper patching.

  11. #11
    Boolit Buddy
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    RCBS lube-sizer, smeared Crisco in the grooves of those T/C Maxi's for years when I shot muzzle loaders, messy as heck especially in the summer. Still use the lube-sizer but I'm finding PC to my liking...
    Retired: school of hard knocks
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  12. #12
    Boolit Master

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    Never pan lube, tried LLA and found it not to my liking, have a RCBS lube sizer I use for certain applications. I bought a Magma Star and haven't looked back.
    I dabbled in powder coating and am on the fence about it, I just don't like it for my Bullseye rounds.

    I guess it is all up to you as to what you you want to use. But once you get a star set up you can easily do a pile of bullets in a short while.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by mattri View Post
    Every application has it's pros and cons- what is your experience?

    Lubesizer is the tried and true, tumble lube is quick and dirty but some say effective, pan lube maybe between the two? PC the new kid on the block.

    Thoughts?
    I have done all 4 of the methods you listed and settled on Hi-Tek being the best for me and I shoot a lot.

  14. #14
    Boolit Grand Master
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    The "right" answer for me will be different for others.

    Read all you can. Determine your volume in each caliber and how many calibers you want to lube/size. Watching YouTube can get you a feel for how messy and how much time each method requires.

    The person dealing with 10 calibers, and 3-5 bullet types per caliber that shoots 2-3k rounds a year will give a different response than someone casting for 3 calibers, and uses one or two bullet types per caliber and shoots over 15k rounds a year. Rifle shooters will have different needs than pistol shooters.

    There are too many variables that most posters do not include when they tell you what works for them.

    Short answer...every system works or no one would use it.

    Example....I have a Star but would never use it to lube 200 rifle bullets that need a different lube than what I have in the machine. That is what the Lyman is for. PC might work for all my needs, but I lube indoors and will not run PC in the house.
    Don Verna


  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    I tried pan lubing, once. Too slow and messy for me. Tumble lube for lower velocity is OK, but I size anyway so lubsizing is a common go to for me. I have become very fond of and prefer powder coating. I tumble a couple of hundred bullets at a time in a vibratory case cleaner with aidsoft pells and tight lid. I let one batch tumble while the other is baking. Then I final size; so lube sizing is quicker, but I still prefer the coated jewels. Clean/dry loaded rounds and clean barrels.

    prs

  16. #16
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    GregLaROCHE's Avatar
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    Today it is hard to beat powder coating.

  17. #17
    Boolit Master


    Walter Laich's Avatar
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    another PC convert here.

    I like the fact that the PC doesn't melt or get soft in our hot Texas Summers like the lubed bullets do.

    I also like "messing" with mixing colors (if they end up ugly they still shoot fine )

    PCing is somewhat of an art and practice is needed to develop the process
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  18. #18
    Boolit Master Jim22's Avatar
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    I have a lube-sizer, I tumble lube, and have gotten into powder coating. They all have advantages and disadvantages. If you have the right size dies the lube sizer is a joy. Mine has a heater. If you want your boolits a different diameter you need to do something different. Unsized boolits can be tumble lubed or powder coated before loading. I have been experimenting with softer alloys for my Marlin 1894C in .357. Someone told me to size the boolits .360" for micro-groove rifling. I don't have a .360" sizing die so have been casting the plain base boolits with 50-50 COWW and soft Pb without sizing. Then powder coat. The PC seems to protect the softer alloy boolit and accuracy has been very good. Consistent 1.5" groups at 50 yds with iron sights. For the .32 S&W long I am using LLA and sizing the boolits to .312" with a Lee push-thru sizer. I also have two colors of PC powder from Smoke. I can cast the same boolit from straight COWW and use one color. The 50-50 boolits get the other color so I can tell by boolit color which is which.

    Hope this helps.

  19. #19
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    I've done all of the above - and settled on powdercoating before sizing through my lube-sizer.
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  20. #20
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    Lube sizer , one stroke of the handle and the boolit is sized , lubricated and if required a gas check is seated . One step ... it doesn't get any faster or easier than that .
    No matter what method you use 9 out of ten times they require a trip through a sizing die ...
    Some powder coaters size them twice . And don't forget about getting gas checks crimped on ... that's another step .
    I just don't see a benefit for me to change my method ... besides my Lyman 450 was paid for in 1971
    Use good lube (Lithi-Bee ) and I've never had a leaded barrel .

    I also don't care for the unnatural look of green, red and blue boolits ... it just ain't right.
    Gary
    Last edited by gwpercle; 03-16-2021 at 02:47 PM.
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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check