I have several hundred HBWC's from Star Reloading that I bought 30 years ago. I'm going to load these with HP38 for light target work out to 25 yards, shooting in various revolvers.

Question: is the factory lube on these bullets likely to be as effective today as when the bullets were new? If not, will rolling them in diluted Lee Liquid Alox improve their journey through the barrel?

The factory lube is a slightly sticky black substance that partially fills one of the three lube grooves.

Look forward to your comments.

I think a tumble in some diluted Lee alox lube would be an excellent idea! You only want a barely visible coat. Dilute with mineral spirits.

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Old paratrooper in NC

If it retains a slightly greasy/creamy texture and has remained in the lube groove(s), it should work fine as is. If it has dried out and/or come out of the groove(s), it probably won't work well.

I'm not a fan of liquid alox, but without a sizer lubricator, the liquid alox may be the only way to salvage your bullets if the original lube appears to be ineffective as described above.

If the lube on the bullets is black it is probably the original Lyman lube, and it wasn't worth a damn when it was fresh. Unless you have a lubri-sizer the best you can do is coat the bullets with Lee Liquid Alox. I would use it per Lee's instructions.

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Gunsmithing since 1961

Most of the HBWC bullets I've seen marketed in the US are swaged, not cast. No lube grooves, just a knurling of the bearing surfaces; not very much lubricant can be applied or retained. Even at very modest load levels I have found that some leading is to be expected.

I have run the HBWC's through a .358" lubri-sizer die with NRA-Alox formula lubricant, resulting in some improvement.

I have also applied white lithium grease to the bearing surfaces using a dab of grease on my fingers, just prior to seating. This works quite well, but it is a bit tedious when loading more than 50 or 100 rounds at a time.

Go with the Alox tumble lube cheep insurance. Or you could load a few and fire test with a clean bore. Old lubes use to have a lot on paraffin wax Bees wax was more cost so you never know. Still sticky I'm leaning towards a little newer lube recipe.

I loaded a few thousand of the Star HBWC's over the years, and were some of the best. 2.7 gr. Bullseye or 3.0 gr. 231 would shoot one hole at 25 yards from a good gun (52 or 14, etc.). At these velocities you shouldn't get any leading with no lube. I would just load them and shoot them.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Id recommend a tumble in the alox regardless. I don't think a mid range load really .38 needs it, but my 1000fps 44mag loads leaves zero leading.

I found 3000 3 years ago & they do not lead. A lead bullet without lube will lead the barrel in a few shots. On a bullet with three lube rings you can get by with lubing one if you dont go over 800 or so. I lubed the front two grooves on this one.

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You mentioned "...partially fill one of three lube grooves", so I would figger it has dried out enough to fall out of the lube groove. Alox will work (I even tried some Johnson's Paste Wax, tumble lubed on some lightly loaded wadcutters in my .38 Special with no leading...).

I have pistols that shoot .358-.357-& .356 in 38 special. For that reason I like to buy my wad cutters not lubed when I can so I can size & lube for a perfect fit with the lube of my choice. Other than that I cast my own. I do fill at least one groove. I use Jakes 50-50 lube which is messy and smokes a little but it works for me. A lot of lead bullets have only one lube groove. Alox works but I dont use it and I do have some. Lots of lubes work.

The best lube I have used is White Label (brand name) Carnuba Wax. The last I bought was years ago at $1.65 a stick.

A few years back someone gave me a couple hundred soft cast .430, 240 grain SWC's, un-lubed. Normally, I would have run them thru the "lubrisizer" to apply my preferred LBT lube, but I tried something different.

I had a tube of black powder "Bore Butter", and applied that by hand prior to bullet seating. Yea, kind of messy. Loaded them up to 850 fps, and shot them out of a 6 inch model 29. Accurate, and no leading, though a little smoky. So, that's an option as well if you are a BP shooter.

Larry

I know of some bullets that may have 3 lube grooves, but only one is filled, but I figgered is some fell out of the "partially filled" groove it would be too dry to use...

Thanks for all the response. LoboGL, I stand corrected on grooves. Yes, these are swaged HBWC's and they have the knurled rings you mention.

I decided to load 50 rounds using a DA Lithium Grease smeared with a toothpick around the front third of the bullet. Will see what happens at the range.

I was always pleased with the Star bullets when I shot them 25 years ago. At that time they were much less expensive than comparable bullets.