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Thread: Bullet weight: before or after lubing/sizing?

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy YoungGun88's Avatar
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    Aug 2023
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    Kalifornistan
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    271

    Bullet weight: before or after lubing/sizing?

    So while using coatings like Hitek or powdercoat has become normal for many, including myself, I still want to traditionally lube/size some boolits. But I was thinking the other day “Does a 230gr round nose cast boolit weigh 230 grains(of the stated alloy that boolit is spec’d for) BEFORE lubing/sizing, or AFTER lubing and sizing?”

    I get that a small deviation in weight +/- due to alloy is one thing, but if a boolit has deep lube grooves and they’re empty due to using hitek coating instead of lube to fill those grooves, does that mean the boolit is lighter as a result? Would this possibly hinder performance in any way?

    This inquiring mind would love to know.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master knitepoet's Avatar
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    Sep 2014
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    west central Bama
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    819
    Personally, I go by the fully "dressed" weight. Since that's what's being accelerated down the bore.

    In the grand scheme of things, there probably isn't enough difference between bare, lubed, lubed and GC'd or PC'd to matter, as long as they're all done the same way.
    We used to give 9mm's to the women and kids. Now that everybody is running 9mm's as their primary, maybe we need to give the women and kids .32's so we can keep feeling manly. -Bigslug

    What you do well,,,,,,,,,,,,, you will do often. - Winger Ed

  3. #3
    Boolit Master memtb's Avatar
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    Sep 2016
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    Winchester,Wy.
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    For what’s it’s worth, using my 45-70 as an example.

    My first attempt at powder coating was abysmal (think speckled puppies) due to a poor choice of powder! The coverage was very uneven, I’m pretty certain that there was “some” weight variation due to this. In spite of that….I was getting 100 yrd. groups right @ 1”!

    I believe that the variation in bullet weight due to alloy fluxing is far more significant than variations by the powder coating! memtb
    You should not use a rifle that will kill an animal when everything goes right; you should use one that will do the job when everything goes wrong." -Bob Hagel

  4. #4
    Boolit Grand Master

    gwpercle's Avatar
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    Sep 2011
    Location
    Baton Rouge, Louisiana
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    10,762
    I have always gone by the weight of the As Cast Boolit ...'
    before lubing and sizing .
    I don't do powder coating .
    It's just my way ... you do it whatever way makes you Happy !
    Gary
    Certified Cajun
    Proud Member of The Basket of Deplorables
    " Let's Go Brandon !"

  5. #5
    Boolit Master SiliconeSword's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2024
    Posts
    520
    I weigh after coating as that's all I do and is how I intend to shoot the boolit. I'll weigh bare sometimes just to see how far off the weight is, for example I have a 130gn mold that drops 140gn and a 247gn that goes up to 256. Haven't weighed enough to have a fair sample size for a before and after but I doubt it's even a 1% gain, a gas check is probably 10X the weight of PC

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check