Hard Lubes for Handgun Bullets

[44man]

I just do not see a problem. Here is a picture of a can of boolits lubed with icky, sticky wonderful Felix lube and half were Carnauba Red when the can was full. Both shoot the same for me and there has not been a single boolit that lost any lube.
I can't picture any of these lubes falling out of the grease grooves.

[robertbank]

Some of the commercial bullets I have bought have had the lube fall out of them. As I lube my bulets I put them in used crates that come with commercial cartridges. Works great and they stack well on my bench. I use Felix lube in the main though recently I have been using Jakes Blue as I had it on hand and was to lazy to make up another batch of Felix lube.

Take Care

Bob

[fecmech]

44 Man et all: I have no ax to grind against soft sticky lubes, I'm sure they have their place as does the hard non sticky types. I just do not want to spend the time adding mica or stacking bullets. I cast with 4 and 6 cavity molds and size with a Star sizer. My bullets fall 1-2" into plastic 1 pt. containers under the Star and when that's full I put another one under it. There is no bullet damage and minimal handling. I then place those containers in front of my progressive reloader and grab 8-10 bullets at a time in my hand and as I cycle the press place a bullet on the case that needs it. I comfortably load approx 300-400 rds per hour. Using this system and hard lubes such as Magma, Zambini etc give me consistent 2"-2.5" accuracy at 50 yds out of my K-38,GP100, SBH .44 mag and my .45 wad gun all with zero leading. My .357 lever guns go 2-3" at 100 yds with 1100 fps loads and the one will average under 4"@ 100yds using a 1600 fps load. These are all plain base bullets, no gas checks. I am not a bench rest shooter no do I believe that much more accuracy is available in my shooting platforms without a disproportionate amount of increased effort.
Obviously other people load on single stage presses and size in Lyman type sizers so sizing and loading procedures are different and therefore they don't mind the extra time or the addition of mica etc. If I felt I could gain an accuracy advantage using sticky lubes I would do it. I've used them, including Felix and Carnauba Red but for my situation none are any better than Magma or Zambini. Now if you get into 2000 fps velocities and above Felix and Carnauba are probably what is needed, I don't know for sure as I don't operate in that range.

[44man]

I understand. But I have had store bought boolits or some sent to me where half the lube was in the bottom of the box. Sometimes "sticky" is better, or at least soft enough so it is not brittle. Paraffin can make a lube break.

[doubs43]

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to reply. The thread has gotten more discussion than I'd hoped for and I appreciate it. There's a lot of good information that I'll need to consider before making a final decision on which lube to try.

[Tom W.]

I just loaded my last stick of Orange magic into my sizer... Soon I'll be left with the Carnauba Red, which I like better. As for accuracy, I haven't seen a whole lot of difference with my '06, and my handgun bullets go where I point them (mostly, anyway) so I'm happy. I'll probabaly have a stick of the Lyman black moly stuff untill I either die or get desperate....I really don't like it.

[44man]

I have not shot cast out of bottle neck calibers for many, many years but do not remember any problems with lubes. I bought what was out there.
It seems as if straight wall cases and revolvers have the most problems with accuracy changes with a lube change. Ever since I started the hunt for the smallest revolver groups with cast, I can see a difference right away. Most revolver shooters would never know.
Even the 45-70 BPCR will drive you nuts with a poor lube.
The .44 Marlin has shown a drastic change at 50 yards, the farthest any boolit will group anyway, beyond that it is a crap shoot so it would not matter if you used oiled sawdust for lube!

[wallenba]

I am awaiting delivery of a new Lyman 4500, top punches, dies and some orange magic. All my loads are low velocity target loads (38 spl, 44 spl, 45 Colt). I use Lee TL type bullet molds and have no experience yet with a lubrisizer. Have I made a good choice? and should I invest in different mold types? I should have made a new post I guess, but I seem to have stumbled onto some knowledgable folks right here.

[GLynn41]

The point of the TL Lee bullets is not to size them--normally -- you just put the liquid Alox on all over them and let them dry-certainly you can size them though if you choose-- orange magic worked well the last time I tried it-- as to other molds that would be your call but normal bullet molds are made to be sized some-- you affect all sizing with the bullet metal -in general softer is smaller and harder is larger - in diameter- not a lot of increase .say from .4105 - .412 --- something like that --this a good place-- as to your choices if they make you happy then they are great choices because they will do what you want

[wallenba]

The point of the TL Lee bullets is not to size them--normally -- you just put the liquid Alox on all over them and let them dry-certainly you can size them though if you choose-- orange magic worked well the last time I tried it-- as to other molds that would be your call but normal bullet molds are made to be sized some-- you affect all sizing with the bullet metal -in general softer is smaller and harder is larger - in diameter- not a lot of increase .say from .4105 - .412 --- something like that --this a good place-- as to your choices if they make you happy then they are great choices because they will do what you want

Glynn41, I want to load my lubed bullets same day, so I thought lubing them in a lubrisizer with conventional lube might work. I'm concerned that the orange magic won't fill the tiny grooves though. Also, two of my six cavity molds have one or more that cast out of round and I have to use a push through Lee sizer on those anyway. I love the concept of tumble lubing, but I have a tendency to over apply the alox, or thin it too much. Finding that perfect coating has been elusive.

[44man]

Glynn41, I want to load my lubed bullets same day, so I thought lubing them in a lubrisizer with conventional lube might work. I'm concerned that the orange magic won't fill the tiny grooves though. Also, two of my six cavity molds have one or more that cast out of round and I have to use a push through Lee sizer on those anyway. I love the concept of tumble lubing, but I have a tendency to over apply the alox, or thin it too much. Finding that perfect coating has been elusive.

Orange Magic is a little hard and might fall out of the boolit. I rub Felix lube in the grooves and run them through an oversize Lee die to remove excess lube.
TL boolits shoot just great that way. 3/4" groups at 50 yards and around 1" at 100 from my .44. LLA will not do that for me. A little while ago I actually had a 1/4" group at 50 with Felix lube.
Too much or too little Alox is not your problem, Alox is!

[wallenba]

44Man, I get good results on targets with it, but when it's too thick.. it's, SMOKEY!!