Tumble Lubing--Made Easy & Mess-Free

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Just made my first batch using Hamish's no cook method. Easy peasy. Float the Alox bottle in the double boiler for a couple minutes and it pours out like water. Been using BLL but that Lundmark wax is not available in stores here and I don't want to pay for shipping.

My batch seems to be staying quite liquid. Put it in the fridge for a couple hours after it cooled and it's still sloshing around in the can. Maybe if I leave the lid off for a while it will thicken up.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I actually sized unlubed then lubed afterwards. I'll see if I get leading or not.

Try spraying your as cast boolits with some Hornady 1 shot case lube before sizing them. Works great. Then tumble lube them.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Just shot about 40 rds. of .44 special with this lube recipe. Half coww and half pure with 2% tin. As cast which is just larger than the throats. 240 grain tl style boolit over 7.0 yrs. Unique. Accurate and no smoke and no leading. Small amount of antimonial wash that would never cause any problems. This is a good lube recipe.

[centershot]

Just made my first batch using Hamish's no cook method. Easy peasy. Float the Alox bottle in the double boiler for a couple minutes and it pours out like water. Been using BLL but that Lundmark wax is not available in stores here and I don't want to pay for shipping.

My batch seems to be staying quite liquid. Put it in the fridge for a couple hours after it cooled and it's still sloshing around in the can. Maybe if I leave the lid off for a while it will thicken up.

Yes, mine too, makes it really easy to apply! As it ages it thickens a bit, I just add a bit more MS until it runs like water.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Yes, mine too, makes it really easy to apply! As it ages it thickens a bit, I just add a bit more MS until it runs like water.

It dries really fast too.

[Texas Gun]

I use alox and a ziplock bag let them dry in the bag as far as gumming up the seat die never have trouble with it but I do think some use way to much alox .
I will give your mix a try

[inspector_17]

Found some JPW today at Lowe's, 1lb cans of the stuff for $1.99. Think I will finally try to make it.

[Mugsy32]

Thank you for sharing your wisdom, I've never reloaded, even though I have a single throw reloading kit from Lee. I've had brass cases, powder, primers for 223/556 for years, just never got precast bullets. I want to make boolits instead and now that I know that I can lube the lead casts, I'm going to start looking for molds, if I can find the measurements I may be able to make my own molds, be that as it may, this was definitely part of the puzzle. Thanks much!

[Shootequip]

If i use Carnauba wax instead of JPW what would the mixing parts be, i think in that case 45-45-10 should be to much wax, are my conclusion right or wrong
Sincerely

[AccelR8]

I haven't cast in over 20 years but since I'm (semi)retired I plan to start again.

Meantime, I have 500 Hornady swaged SWC's that lead my bore enough that accuracy degrades during a shooting session. I am going to use 45/45/10 applied over the factory wax coating, which is dry, powdery and sparse. Old I guess.

For my first batch of 45/45/10 I used a new, still-sealed bottle of Lee LLA. It was like honey that had crystallized. I heated it with warm water and still it was much like squeezing toothpaste. And I'll admit I eyeballed the proportions of JPW, LLA and MS. The resultant blend is semi-solid at room temperature even after re-melting and adding more MS.

So I tried another batch with another bottle of LLA and actually measured the three ingredients (There's a concept, eh?) This batch is very runny at room temp., which is what we want I guess?

Cooking the JPW even outside in the fresh air still gave me a bit of a headache. I see in a recent post about a no-cook method. I have tried to read this entire thread, every page, but the wife keeps coming up with honey-dos whenever I sit down for more than 15 minutes. So forgive me please but I must ask, is there a reference to the no-cook method?

[JTB]

Now that Johnson's wax has been discontinued, what's everyone using for the wax portion?

[JustPractical]

Great recipe (I like when things are...affordable) and thanks for all the pictures.

[JustPractical]

Recluse, that is quite possibly the best tumble-lube instruction ever published.

I was going to suggest we make a sticky out of Kelbro's thread, as the Mule Snot question gets asked a lot, but THIS is EXACTLY what we all needed as reference. Mod's agree?

I use exactly the same formula (except I use blue painter's masking tape for relabeling the bottle!) for my high-volume pistol needs, shoots very well and functions flawlessly with my equipment. This non-sticky formula even works in a progressive press with boolit feeding tube.

Gear

Same

[Cujo665]

Now that Johnson's wax has been discontinued, what's everyone using for the wax portion?

Bump for an answer hopefully

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Bump for an answer hopefully

Trewax clear paste wax

[Michael J. Spangler]

Going to try this 45/45/10 again.
Looking back in my notes Recluse lube worked pretty good in 9mm and BLL did not. Maybe operator error or just bad bores in the S&W M&P I was testing it in.
Either way I’m shooting a lot of 9mm now and I wouldn’t mind something a little easier than Hi-Tek for plinking fodder.

I cast up 100 or so this morning. Water dropped MP 357-125s with the penta pin installed. Tumbled 1/2 in BLL and 1/2 in Recluse lube. I figure I might give them one more tumble tomorrow and load a few for a Sunday range trip.

Hoping this is just what the doctor ordered and I can enjoy the smell of Alox at the range again.

[Michael J. Spangler]

I tried the recluse lube in the full size CZ 1st. It had a tiny bit of leading. I followed it up with Ben's liquid lube second. Tiny bit more leading.
So I moved onto the compact and started with Ben's liquid lube. No lead. Then tried recluse lube. No lead.
Two different guns, two different barrels.
Maybe the full size having been just scrubbed clean, would have benefited from a tiny bit of oil or lube in the barrel to start.

Either way it's promising enough to do a couple more tests. I need to order up a .357” sizing die for my star while I’m at it.

[JMN]

OK, so perhaps a dumb question, but... I've been using LLA for some time and I'm happy with how everything shoots with it. But it is rather sticky and I'm concerned about what crud might be blowing down the barrel along with the lead. So I just bought a batch a Glenn Larsen's 45-45-10. With LLA I tumble lube once and I get the results I want. Does 45-45-10 really need to be tumble lubed twice or is it just a habit because it works?

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

OK, so perhaps a dumb question,
<<<SNIP>>>
Does 45-45-10 really need to be tumble lubed twice or is it just a habit because it works?

Doesn't need to be.
Everyone has there favorite technique that works for them.
LLA and/or 45-45-10 needs to be a thin coat.
I like to use Heat (heatgun) during the two coats I apply, because it dries faster with a non-tacky finish, mine are dry and non-tacky when bullet cools to room temp.