diminished math skills...

[weakhand luke]

Since 20 years, my math abilities have waned considerably but not my curiosity.

Who can figure out how many H&G #68 45 bullets I can lube with a fresh 4" stick of Orange Magic?

Dave

[CastingFool]

I would weigh one unlubed boolit. Then lube it, and weigh it. The difference in weight would be the amount of lube per boolit. (Really should do 10 boolits, to get an average weight) Then, weigh a whole unused stick of lube. Divide by the weight of lube used in one boolit, and the result should give you the number of boolits you can expect to lube per one stick of lube. There are variables that can affect the actual number of lubed boolits per stick, but this gives you the general idea. I don't use a lubersizer, I pan lube so i mix my lube in batches.

[greenjoytj]

Approximately 600.
Lyman says a stick of orange magic weighs 1.5 oz. at 1.1 grains per bullet.
Charging the lubrisizer for the first time. Factor in waste like cleaning off a bullet base.Will cause the number of bullets lubed will drop.

[Winger Ed.]

Weigh a lubed boolit.
Weigh & subtract the weight of a un-lubed boolit.
That gives you the weight of lube for one boolit.

Weigh your lube stick.
Divide the weight difference of the two boolits into the weight of the new stick.
That will give you a total number of boolits one stick will lube. if none gets wasted.

When I wonder about how much mileage I can get out of a lube stick:
I try to keep things simple, and not over think stuff.
That's why I buy 4-5 sticks of Orange Magic at a time.
When I get down to two--- I order 4-5 more.

[wv109323]

I would guess 400 to 600. I have found Lyman Orange to be hard and brittle and needs heat to be used.

[ABJ]

I can't say about the orange, but with carnuba red in a star and magma mold 68 clone I get close to 1000 give or take.
Tony

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Casting Fool and Winger Ed have the 'PRECISE' answer for a single bullet style with no waste. With the single lube grooveof the H&G 68, reducing lube would be tricky, then there is tumble lubing...

[gwpercle]

472 plus or minus 12 boolits depending on if every boolit lube groove is filled 100% .
Many of my boolits only get filled 95% full so that allows for a few extra at 99.9 % full .
No allowance has been made for lube stuck to the base , wiped off and not returned to the sizer reservoir . No allowances made for ambient temperature or humidity .
How much pressure applied to the lube supply handle may also vary the total number .

Disclaimer ... Gary don't know doodly - squat about math
could be he's just
Yeah ... You Right !
Gary

[Lead pot]

Dave, just get a dozen lube sticks then you don't have to worry about not getting enough bullets lubed for a weekend shooting session

[pcmacd]

Weigh a lubed boolit.
Weigh & subtract the weight of a un-lubed boolit.
That gives you the weight of lube for one boolit.

Weigh your lube stick.
Divide the weight difference of the two boolits into the weight of the new stick.
That will give you a total number of boolits one stick will lube. if none gets wasted.

When I wonder about how much mileage I can get out of a lube stick:
I try to keep things simple, and not over think stuff.
That's why I buy 4-5 sticks of Orange Magic at a time.
When I get down to two--- I order 4-5 more.

That's why I buy ten or twenty Magma Blue sticks at a whack.

I buy the lube locally (I live in Maricopa County, AZ), and have the delightful experience of parrying with Sadie, the bartender at the Uncle Bear tavern across the street ever trip I make when I go there for lunch after visiting the guys at Magma Engineering.

(It's worth the drive just to talk to that magnificent specimen of a woman!) Tall, cute, and personable. I'll buy it.

I'm local, but if you are not, the postage would not be that different betwixt ten and twenty sticks.

[GregLaROCHE]

The amount of lube used per boolit will vary depending on the size and number of lube grooves. The method of taking the difference between lubed and un-lubed boolits will give you a good estimate. I would subtract 10% just to be sure you have enough lube. There will probably be some waste.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I would weigh one unlubed boolit. Then lube it, and weigh it. The difference in weight would be the amount of lube per boolit. (Really should do 10 boolits, to get an average weight) Then, weigh a whole unused stick of lube. Divide by the weight of lube used in one boolit, and the result should give you the number of boolits you can expect to lube per one stick of lube. There are variables that can affect the actual number of lubed boolits per stick, but this gives you the general idea. I don't use a lubersizer, I pan lube so i mix my lube in batches.

Thats a much better method than getting the slide rule out. But they did put a man on the moon with slide rules.....

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Look at the simple lube sticky and quadruple the recipie. Works great unheated through a lube sizer.

[Lead pot]

Once I was a lubeaholic and all of this lube you see in this dead fridge was lube that failed and was poured into a 5 gallon bucket and pushed under the bench including what you see in this photo. one day I was cleaning out my mole den and All that lube went into the garbage can. Well when I was going to drag the garbage cans down the hill for the man to pick it up I pulled those 2 -1/2 5 gallon buckets back out and melted them back down and blended all that lube and made bread pan bricks and I found that all of that different lube mixes that were in those buckets since the 70's turned out to be the best lube I ever made but I haven't used any lube for many years now and those lube bricks I been giving to the Cowboy shooters at our range that placed first second and third a brick.
Now when they see me they ask if they could buy some of this lube from me
I guess you can call it the Heinz 57 lube.

[lar45]

My 1x4" lube sticks(Carnauba Red) weigh around 1.5 oz. I weighed several different sizes and styles of bullets, then lubed some and weighed again. On the low end was a 50 cal Minnie that came out to 500 bullets per stick. The most I got was my C358-180RF that was 1500 bullets per stick. I posted the list someplace, but can't seem to find it.

[lar45]

Hi all, I get asked this occasionally, so I weighed some bullets, then lubed them and weighed again.
Below is the results. I don't know if the formating will hold when it posts, but I'm sure you'll figure it out.

lube weight Lubed bullets per stick stick weight oz 1.5
4/19/2007

Bullet qty bare-oz lubed lube weight # per stick
C358-180 RF 6 2.533 2.539 0.001 1500
C358-180 RF 5 2.111 2.116 0.001 1500
45-230 BD 5 2.643 2.654 0.0022 681
454-255-SWC 6 3.482 3.498 0.002666667 562
45-330 PB 70% 3 2.329 2.337 0.002666667 562
50-360-HB minnie 3 2.465 2.482 0.005666667 264

[StrawHat]

… Tall, cute, and personable. I'll buy it…

You know the rules, “PICTURES OR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN!”

Kevin

[weakhand luke]

All good advice and answers here. Thanks!

I'm going with 400-500 bullets/stick. That means my 6 tubes + will last long enough, like my new boots.

I like the simple approach of weighing before and after lubing. I had imagined many would have calculated groove volume then use that to divide stick volume.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Once I was a lubeaholic and all of this lube you see in this dead fridge was lube that failed and was poured into a 5 gallon bucket and pushed under the bench including what you see in this photo. one day I was cleaning out my mole den and All that lube went into the garbage can. Well when I was going to drag the garbage cans down the hill for the man to pick it up I pulled those 2 -1/2 5 gallon buckets back out and melted them back down and blended all that lube and made bread pan bricks and I found that all of that different lube mixes that were in those buckets since the 70's turned out to be the best lube I ever made but I haven't used any lube for many years now and those lube bricks I been giving to the Cowboy shooters at our range that placed first second and third a brick.
Now when they see me they ask if they could buy some of this lube from me
I guess you can call it the Heinz 57 lube.

I am far from being able to invent a lube recipie. But the sticky is full of tried and true ones. I chose one that was supposed to work for pan lubbing and also not need heat to run through a lube sizer. The simple lube has been flawless in my guns.