Fast curing bullet lube

[jcadwell]

I'm casting for my Marlin 30-30 and my 1911 (45ACP) using lee molds, and lubing with Lee Tumble Alox. While it is certainly easy to lube, I try to keep all my reloading activities in one sitting. Can anyone reccomend a lube that would allow me to lube and reload without waiting overnight for the lube to harden? Thanks.

[grumble]

Try cutting the Liquid Alox about 1:1 or 1:2 with mineral spirits. Use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process in an open pan. If need be, sprinkle some motor mica on the boolits before handling them, to dry them out.

[versifier]

LA works best when left to dry overnight. The more hot & humid it is, the longer it takes to dry. If it's cool and dry, it can harden in a few hours. Haven't tried the mica, but thinning with mineral spirits works well - you might need a second coat if it's too thin. If you are in that much of a hurry, get a conventional lubrisizer as if you rush it, you're going to end up with a mess.

[grumble]

So Versifier, you're saying that in your experience, using a hair dryer SLOWS the drying process? That COOL and dry is faster than WARM and dry to cure Liquid Alox?

[StarMetal]

grumble,

I know from doing alot of wood work and applying various finishes that there are diffferent requirements for finished to dry. Take Min-Wax Polyurethane clear finish for example. I had thought that heat would help it dry or cure it. Well after a phone call to the engineer tech at Min-Wax I found out that was no good that soley air movement around the finish is what drys it. So Versifier may be right about what he was saying.

Joe

[grumble]

Polyurethane is sorta like epoxy in that it is a two-compound material. Alox doesn't use any sort of chemical reaction to dry, it just dries out.

Having used the hair dryer method, I can say with a lot of confidence that it speeds the hell out of the drying process. All it does is force the solvent to evaporate, and that happens a LOT faster with heat and moving air.

[StarMetal]

Heat cures almost all epoxies faster....it doesn't polyurethane finishes...they are different. The solvents for Min-Wax polyurethane is Mineral Spirits or Paint Thinner...that sure doesn't sound like an epoxy type material if those are the thinners and solvents. One solvent for some epoxies is Acetone...alot different stuff then Mineral Spirits. I was only using the polyurethane for an example.

Joe

[grumble]

"...I was only using the polyurethane for an example."

Yep, I realize that. And I'm just saying that I KNOW that a hair dryer speeds up the dry time for Lee Liquid Alox. Heat and moving air make a big difference in Liquid Alox dry time, regardless of what epoxy or polyurethane are made of.

[felix]

Joe, the urethanes are tricky. There are quite a few different formulations, and there is one type that specifically should be used for gun stuff, like stocks. That would be the moisture cure type (air humidity). It dries to a very tough finish that won't show scratches. Gouges, yes, but not scratches. You typically see it on resturant floors, and in the better homes with lots of kids and dogs. If it does not look terribly shiney, I bet it is a moisture cure type. By nature, typical solvents would have to be water soluble for these types. ... felix

[StarMetal]

Felix,

Yeah I used a water based urethane on my hardwook floors. This stuff dried like in 15 to 20 mins too! The polyurethane finish that Min-Wax makes is alot different then that floor urethane. You're sure right that there are alot of them out there.

Joe

[44man]

I just don't know what the attraction of LA is! SPEED? Maybe, but My worst accuracy and worst leading in every revolver was with the junk. (up to 3 coats.)Pro and con, it has more con's then most lubes. Sub velocity plinking stuff---maybe!
Sorry guys, I will stick with Felix lube for everything. You can post 1 million posts but will never convince me that LA it is a good lube. I have bottles of the stuff I will give away. Just come and get it. It came with the sizing dies and sits in a drawer. Maybe it will morph into something else with age.

[grumble]

That's ok, 44man, you don't need to apologize for not being able to use Liquid Alox. Those of us who like the stuff really don't mind that you can't use it.

[sundog]

+1 for can't use LA. I got same results as 44man, several times. For those of y'all what get good results, great. And, yes, I think there's a few bottles never been used.

Maybe I ought to try it one more time. sundog

[9.3X62AL]

I haven't used a lot of the Liquid Alox, and most of that has been to treat paper-patched boolits. It EXCELS at that. When bore riders give me grief, I try dipping the boolit noses into the stuff. That works, too.

[StarMetal]

sundog,

Mix your bottles 50/50 with beeswax and you have Lars45 Beeswax/Alox lube.

Joe

[44man]

Good idea Joe. Must be good for something. Since I shoot all hot hunting loads, the stuff never worked.
Maybe if I tumble lubed and then put my Felix on, it would work.

[StarMetal]

Well 44man, I don't shoot either of those products..Lee's Liquid Alox or Vaseline. I'm just making suggestions that may help those that do.

Joe

[44man]

Joe, I have used every lube on the market, plus many home made ones. Some are good, some suck. Groups at the target and how many shots that can be fired without losing accuracy or leading the bore tell the story.
As far as I am concerned, LA works OK for light loads but the loads would most likely work with no lube too. Smoking the boolits would do as good. WAY over rated and the lazy mans lube!
Watch me get thumped with that statement!
How many guys have posted pictures of groups as good as yours or mine?

[grumble]

"...LA works OK for light loads but the loads would most likely work with no lube too. Smoking the boolits would do as good. WAY over rated and the lazy mans lube!"

Yep, can't argue that. It IS fast and easy. Haven't tried using no lube or smoke, so I can't speak to that, but I have tried using moly and graphite, and I prefer alox. But, moly PLUS alox is about as good as it gets without spending a lot of time.

"Watch me get thumped with that statement!"

thump-thump.

"How many guys have posted pictures of groups as good as yours or mine?"

You may not have noticed, but there aren't a lot of chest-thumpers here. That's one of the nice things about this forum.

[versifier]

So Versifier, you're saying that in your experience, using a hair dryer SLOWS the drying process? That COOL and dry is faster than WARM and dry to cure Liquid Alox?

I never said anything of the sort. Please don't put words in my mouth - my foot usually takes up most of the available room. Go back and read my post. I was referring to air drying them, and they do harden faster in cool dry air compared to warm and humid. Blasting them with hot dry air from a blow dryer ought to work just fine, dry being the operative word here. Humidity is what slows the solvent evaporation. (More water molecules suspended in the air, less room for large volatile organic solvent molecules. Warm air has less density and greater space between gas molecules and can hold more other molecules in suspension than cold air.) It gets more humid around here in warmer weather, so boolits dry faster when it's cooler because the air is dryer.
I have good results using it on handgun and rifle boolits, generally at moderate velocities (up to 1200-1300 with .30, .35, .44, and .45 cal pistol boolits - ww - and around 2000 with .30 cal rifle boolits - lino and 1/2&1/2), with one exception: I can push Lee .30cal soupcans out of a .30-30 at up to 2700fps without any leading. Boolits for it are cast either in lino or 1/2&1/2 lino & pure lead, and all my boolits are lubed with one thick coat of LA that is usually left to dry overnight before sizing.