How much lube is enough (in tumble lube grooves)?

[John in WI]

I cast a bunch of boolits with my new Lee 158gr SWC mold. They came out nice, great mold fillout, only a couple of stinkers in the lot.

I tumble lubed them using a basic lube mix (it's paraffin, bees wax, petroleum jelly, JPW and a splash of chainsaw bar oil and Mobile red grease). The mix has worked well when I pan lubed my other GC 158grs. I think the lube itself is reliable (at .38/.357 pressure and velocity at least).

I don't have a lot of tumble lube experience, but I used about 1tsp to about 75 boolits. I warmed everything up with a heat gun, and tumbled them. You have to look very closely in the grooves to see the lube. It's a light red (from crayons). I'm wondering, exactly how much lube is needed in the grooves? My web search has told me everything from the lightest film being enough, to the lube grooves need to be entirely full.

Is a very thin film enough to lubricate the boolit? In Fryxell's book, he mentioned that if there is leading near the muzzle that it's probably lube failure rather than running out of lube.

I think the components are good--beeswax, vaseline, JPW, bar oil and paraffin are all very common ingredients used to good effect by a lot of people. I'm just not exactly sure how much one needs. A thin film, or packed full?

[15meter]

My only tumble lube experience is with Lee's original tumble lube, which I used WAY too much through inexperience.

I then landed on Ben's Liquid Lube. In the directions for BLL, Ben gives a great tutorial on how much lube to use. I don't know about your mix but less seems to be better in most instances.

[randyrat]

Try them and let us know. I bet it works if all else in in order

[Soundguy]

I know for alox, 2 thin coats that barely give the bullets a bronze hue is plenty. for your recipe, you may just have to experiment.

[Dantiff2]

I have very limited experience with tumble lube since I changed to powder coating early, when it was just becoming popular. I used the 45/45/10 mix and just a very small amount was more than enough for my 45 acp. I just didn't like the lube getting on everything including my fingers while loading mags. Smoked a litte, but never had any leading.

[Larry Gibson]

I know for alox, 2 thin coats that barely give the bullets a bronze hue is plenty. for your recipe, you may just have to experiment.

Concur. I've used Lee's liquid alox [LLA] since it came out. Like most I used way too much and ended up with a gooey mess on the bullets. I quickly learned to apply one very thin coat on most cast bullets used for velocities upwards of 1000 fps. That one coat will give a light golden hue. For higher velocities I use two coats as Soundguy mentions. after two coats have dried thoroughly, they then have the bronze hue. Key is to let the first coat dry thoroughly before applying the second coat then let that coat dry before loading.

I've found the Lee TL358-158-SWC to be an excellent 38 SPL bullet with just the one coat of LLA applies. After drying I run them through a .358 Lee sizer before loading. For higher +P or 357 Magnum level loads I apply the second coat after sizing, let thoroughly dry and then load.

Since learning how to properly apply LLA I've not found the need to use any other tumble lube.

With your recipe, as mentioned, you''ll have to experiment a bit yourself to find out what is "enough".

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I think you could improve your tumble lube if there was some Alox in the mix, but with that said, your mix might work fine for your application. Let us know.

[hoodat]

AND -- I was reading something the other day that pointed out a consideration that we might not consider.

After your bullets are lubed, or when you are lubing them, if you contaminate them with anything like dirt, grit, or any other abrasive pollutant, that is what will be scrubbing your bore when you shoot them.

So keep things clean as you work, and with the containers you work with. Tumblelubes are like glue for grit, even after they're cured. jd

[WashingMike]

The first goal with tumble lube is to have just enough to do the job. Second goal is to have it dry quickly and not sticky. The third goal is to be easy to apply. The above posters are spot on in my experience.

[Soundguy]

Concur. I've used Lee's liquid alox [LLA] since it came out. Like most I used way too much and ended up with a gooey mess on the bullets. I quickly learned to apply one very thin coat on most cast bullets used for velocities upwards of 1000 fps. That one coat will give a light golden hue. For higher velocities I use two coats as Soundguy mentions. after two coats have dried thoroughly, they then have the bronze hue. Key is to let the first coat dry thoroughly before applying the second coat then let that coat dry before loading.

I've found the Lee TL358-158-SWC to be an excellent 38 SPL bullet with just the one coat of LLA applies. After drying I run them through a .358 Lee sizer before loading. For higher +P or 357 Magnum level loads I apply the second coat after sizing, let thoroughly dry and then load.

Since learning how to properly apply LLA I've not found the need to use any other tumble lube.

With your recipe, as mentioned, you''ll have to experiment a bit yourself to find out what is "enough".

Agreed 100% As usual, Larry gave a much more detailed explanation. I do the exact same as larry. if I need two coats, I do the first thin coat, let it dry and then size and then do another thin coating afterwards.And then let it dry. no sticky bullets.

[243winxb]

A Lube Star tells me everything is ok. 357 mag in photo.

[gwpercle]

A lot depends on how good the lube is and how hard the boolit is .
There be only one way to tell ... Choot 'Em !
If one light coat doesn't get the job done ... try two light coats , let lube dry between coats ... Two light coats beats one heavy coat in my book .
If two coats on't work ... change lubes !
There is no other way to tell ... Make some Gunsmoke and let us know how things work out .
Gary

[Shiloh]

A thin, lite coat of TL is plenty. Thin coats will dry. Too thick, it remains a bit tacky. Also, in humid climates, Central TX, anything but a light coat
stays tacky.

Shiloh