I don't THINK I did this wrong, but...

[armoredman]

When I "pan lubed" my 200 gr 45 Colt boolits for the black powder loads in SPG tropic, and yes, that is a cat food can...



I discovered when using the wonderful cookie cutter LAGS made for me, that sometimes the lube would not stay in the groove all the way around.



So, not wanting to go through heating the can up again on the hot plate, I just took some pieces of lube and smooshed them into the groove, cleaned up the boolit, and then ran them through the sizer, which I am guessing compacted the lube into the groove. Long painstaking process I might add, but I have been powder coating for years, and haven't pan lubed in a LONG time, and never with this stuff.
They loaded up OK with the fully lubed groove.



So, the question is, as stupid as it may sound - no problem doing it that way? Suggestions for the future? Do I really NEED the entire ring lubed - guessing yes on this due to the nature of the Holy Black. Or should I just should I just smear myself with lime jello and run down the street at 2AM screaming "The British are coming!"

[Winger Ed.]

Just a guess, but I'd think the lube melts/flows at too low of a temp.
If it was 'harder' and melted at a bit higher temp. it shouldn't do that.

I'm not a big BP guy, but when I loaded up a bunch of .45-70s with holy black--
I used Lyman's lube for black powder.
I ran it through the RCBS sizer like I did everything else, but without using the heater.
It did fine. It's softer/creamier than say Orange Magic, but it didn't fall off either.

[barrabruce]

Or should I just should I just smear myself with lime jello and run down the street at 2AM screaming "The British are coming!"

Yes you should, regardless if the way you lubed the bullet works or not.

[CastingFool]

Or should I just should I just smear myself with lime jello and run down the street at 2AM screaming "The British are coming!"

Yes you should, regardless if the way you lubed the bullet works or not.

Make sure you video it, otherwise it didn't happen

[Froogal]

I experimented with several combinations of homemade bullet lube, using the pan lube system. Some of the bullets came out OK, but most came out with large gaps in the lube groove. I thought it had to be the lube I was using so I bought some SPG. Again with the pan lubing method. The results were pretty much the same as with the homemade lube. So I invested in an RCBS lubri-sizer. Problem solved.

[challenger_i]

Odd... I guess I have been exceedingly lucky, as I have never encountered an issue when pan lubing.

That is a SPIFFY cookie cutter ya have there!

[gwpercle]

Odd... I guess I have been exceedingly lucky, as I have never encountered an issue when pan lubing.

That is a SPIFFY cookie cutter ya have there!

NEVER ... Never ... then you ain't doing it long enough ... or ...

Liar , liar pants on fire , nose as long as a telephone wire !

Gary

[elmacgyver0]

How about setting the pan in the freezer or fridge for a while before you cut them out with that fancy gadget.
Also, if the boolits are hot, not melting of course, the lube may stick better after they get cold in the fridge.
Just a thought.

[challenger_i]

/\/\/\ that!/\/\/\

[elmacgyver0]

/\/\/\ that!/\/\/\

Yep, even a broken clock is right two times a day.

[country gent]

several things may help with adhesion to the bullet.
1) heat the bullets in a double boiler type set up, this allows a cook time to warm bullets to tempo also helping lube to fill grooves and adhere better.
2) heavily chamfer or bell the case mouth on the cutter to help push the lube into the groove when cutting it out.
3)Refrigerate the bullets before cutting to stiffen the lube.

I use either SPG or emmerts to pan lube. My pans hold 250 bullets roughly. After the lube melts I let them "cook" for 10-15 mins to warm the bullets up this helps air get out of the grooves and the grooves to fill. My cookie cutters are push thrus and made from .030 walled tubing, the end is sharpened only on the inside of the tube to a sharp edge.This pushes the lube into the groove.My trys are to big for the freezer or fridge so I let them cool for an hour or better. replacing the water in the outer pan with Ice water works also.

What you should see when the lube cools is a slight ridge around every bullet were the lube has shrunk as it cooled keeping the groove filled.

Getting the bullets warmed up makes a big difference in how the grooves fill and the lube adheres. On the hot plate the lube will scorch before the bullets actually warm much. In the double boiler you can easily hold the pan at temp with out over heating the lube.

[Gobeyond]

Maybe degrease the boolits. Streaker!

[armoredman]

Boolits have no grease on them. Cat food can was scrubbed very clean before I started this.
No fridge anywhere near where I have this setup located. Heating element is a hot plate, same one I use to warm molds when casting.


I really don't want to invest in a lubrisizer for just one boolit and for just one load. All my other cast boolits are powder coated. I am also cheap.



Some very good ideas here, thank you very much!
BTW, didja know WinCo refuses to sell me Jello anymore? No idea why...

[Delkal]

I don't think you need the groove fully lubed since the wax doesn't just sit there. When fired the hot gas blowby is going to instantly melt / extrude the wax so who knows where the lube actually goes.

[country gent]

With BP you need more lube as it isnt just to reduce leading but keeps the fouling soft. A lot of modern designs are minimal on lube for BP. The only real way to know is to shoot them and see how the fouling is. My 45-90 with a 34" barrel usually requires a .060 lube cookie to keep fouling soft and greasy all the way thru the barrel, Same bullet is fine in the 45 70 with 30" barrel. This can and doess vary with weather conditions a humid day helps a hot dry day and you may have problems.

I dont think you need to go to a lube sizer, just refine your technique a little more.

Setting the bullets pan on a spacer in a pan of water so you can "cook" them a little longer should help. Like filling a cold mould cold bullets will keep lube from filling grooves and adhering.

[greybuff]

I think even though it's SPG's "tropic" lube it ain't made for those of us in Az. When I was pan lubing I used bees wax and lanolin and had good results in my 45-70 shooting out to 1000 yards....

[Lead pot]

Just use your thumb pressing the bullets from the lube. You will get a lot better results.
Just let the lube cool to room temperature and use your thumb pressing on the nose. They will pop out clean.
Using a hot plate or nuke oven melting lube is not the best. You smoke the lube, you ruined it. The oftener you do it to the same lube the worse it gets.
Heat the lube in a container sitting in a pot of water.
You can even use that cat food plastic bowel sitting in that pan of water

[Soundguy]

I think even though it's SPG's "tropic" lube it ain't made for those of us in Az. When I was pan lubing I used bees wax and lanolin and had good results in my 45-70 shooting out to 1000 yards....

Agreed..if he adds more beeswax..it will probably bee ( haha ) fine. It's too soft right now. We in florida have that same issue.. a lil extra beeswax helps..

[mike salyards]

I normally use a pie plate or a container without a rim after I filled to the top of the Lube groove I let the container take a light set, then place it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. upon inspection the Lube usually recedes from the pan which then I'm able to turn the pan over and push the bullets out of the Lube. very very seldom do I have Lube come out of the Lube grooves.

[SSGOldfart]

I heat the lube in a bowl then pour it into the pan with the bullets, it's hot enough in Texas, I don't have to heat the bullets, just melt the lube in a pan of hot water double boiler kind of set-up. so you don't scorch the lube