Anyone else try an irregular bullet lube?

Maximumbob54

Maximumbob54

Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2010
Messages
7,200
Reaction score
1,927
I've done RCBS, Lyman, WLL BAC, tumbled with LLA and 45/45/10, and I've even tried to make my own blends that ended in me buying more brand name material again. I've tried various alloys for particular hardness levels and when used in the appropriate pressure loads and combined with the correct lube I've had good results with little to no leading. It's not that hard to figure out but it does take work.

Now to dive head first into the irregular...

Lately I've been trying two part epoxy painted bullets and powder coated with epoxy based powder and polyester based powder. There are several threads on the Castboolits Forum and I'm not trying to steal their thunder.

There is also a coating called Hi-Tek that is supposed to work very well.

If you want to know more about powder coating, epoxy painting bullets, or Hi-Tek then please search out those threads as they are jammed full of info and pics.

I've heard and read about people trying to tumble in Future floor polish, dipping bullets in varnish, wrapping teflon tape around bullets, and all sorts of strange things with some very mixed results.

What I'm looking for is more deviation from the normal. What else has anyone tried?
 
I've tried the epoxy paint on a batch of 50. It was just to fragile and didnt adhere well to the lead. If I had extra ovens that were big enough and if I was a big caster I'd use Hi-Tek lube. It's the same stuff Donnie Miculek of Bayou bullets uses, in fact he sells it along with Ferrara Leather (I think they still sell).
 
Try SPG.........formulated for BPCR but works well with all cast bullets for me! That's all I use now and I've been casting my own since 1971!
 
Last edited:
I use home made Emmert's lube on my 45-70 BPCR boolits and BAC on my smokeless 38-55 boolits. I have tried Lee Alox cut with lighter fluid on low velocity 45acp, but it is dirty and smokey. I find Carnuba Red works well on my pistol boolits, to include some hot high velocity 357mag load shot through a Marlin 1894 carbine. Those babies are probably hitting close to 1700-1800 fps.
 
I used Rooster Red for a while, but the heated despensing got old in a hurry. Once, when I was young and learning, I made my own lube from beeswax and alox from an old timer's recipe he left me. Gunky, smokey and greasy, but it seemed to work well with soft alloys and .357 Magnums. These days I use RCBS green when I cast and lube, but I admit it's been a while...
 
I've tried many lubes over the past 35 years or so. Even tried making lube. I could easily get by with two: LBT Blue Soft for higher velocity rifle and handgun bullets and half & half for lower velocity stuff. A bit of experimenting is always in order, but these two adequately cover the field. I suspect Blue Soft would work well even for the lower velocity loads, but I have little experience in this area. And, if bullet fit, alloy, velocity etc. are perfect, half & half is fine for higher velocity loads in rifle or handgun. Some complain about half & half being messy and smoky, but it's still a good lube.

I'm pretty sure some other, newer lubes may work as well, but I know these two work.
 
when I worked for a railroad,we used hotbox lube. this was a more or less solid and in stick form. it was used to put out fires caused by not oiling the old type journal boxes on the wheels of rolling stock. think what we had was made by Texaco.
 
Felix lube [FWFL, and a mix containing ATF and another with 2 cycle sythentic all on natural beeswax bases. I don't keeo them unless thay can stay accurate @ rifle speeds [2400 fps for me max] and 0 F to 100 F temps.
 
+1 on the LBT soft blue. Or the hard blue if you want to warm it up to apply and not have slightly sticky bullets
 
I believe the OP asked if anyone had experience with the new fad of powder coating, epoxy coating, or high-tech coating bullets, and non-wax based stuff as lube...

I used Amasol (sp?) for lubing bullets. Its a spray on metal preserver. I also tried Caterpillar Dry Boom Lube (a spray on graphite based lube for booms, outriggers, etc.). Both worked in low velocity, low pressure hand guns...
 
Last edited:
A buddy of mine is a caster and used Alox and beeswax over the years. Just recently switched over to moly coating. Much nicer after getting the process is nailed down. He sourced the moly coating from Bayou Bullets.
 
mikld said:
I believe the OP asked if anyone had experience with the new fad of powder coating, epoxy coating, or high-tech coating bullets, and non-wax based stuff as lube...

I used Amasol (sp?) for lubing bullets. Its a spray on metal preserver. I also tried Caterpillar Dry Boom Lube (a spray on graphite based lube for booms, outriggers, etc.). Both worked in low velocity, low pressure hand guns...
Click to expand...

Yes, that's exactly what I'm talking about. I had also read about a guy using some thing called Sandstrom that is a spray that I think was moly based but he said it's pricey.

I've been curious about using something like thinned alox or 45/45/10 with something like a moly or graphite dusted on them once coated in something sticky to get the powder to stick as well. I think this may be what the black coating is on some brands of bullets already or something similar. I know from trying to add both moly and graphite to wax lube then you have to stir it as it cools or it sinks to the bottom of the lube when it cools. That was a worthless mess.

Baking on the two part epoxy paint worked pretty well and it stuck to the lead well enough during sizing that I went ahead and tried shooting them. In .38 special loads they worked just fine. But when I tried to let them air dry for a week it didn't work at all. Strange as the Klass Kote that I used is an air drying epoxy.

The powder coating actually works very well but is messy to apply very even. I've seen where guys make racks to use nails or such to pin the top and bottom of bullets to get an even spray coating and someone figured out you can break down the powder with acetone or lacquer thinner and tumble them in the goop. You then pour them over a piece of hardware cloth to minimize surface contact and bake them. If you get that right it works but it's easy to have too much goop lay on too thick and if they are touching when baking then you just made strange looking art that needs to be melted back down.

So yes, I know some of these strange ideas actually work as I've tried a few of them. The European shooters have been doing this for a while now as many of their ranges ban lead exposed bullets and the Australians as well. An AU guy runs the Hi Tek coating business and imports it here. The way I see it we are behind the curve on this.
 
Want the simplest, easiest to apply, and one of the most efficient bullet lubes for cast bullets available? Go to your local auto parts store and buy a tube of pure white lithium grease.

Put a dab on your fingertips and apply it directly to the lube grooves. A little bit goes a long way (I've been using the same 8 oz. tube for many years and many hundreds of rounds).

Effective up to 2,000 FPS or so. I use this method exclusively for .45 Sharps Express, .405 Winchester, and several other large caliber rifles for which I can't get dies for my lubri-sizer. I would not hesitate to use lithium grease for any handgun caliber.

Very effective lubrication. No smoke or gunk. Even with large charges of black powder, bore cleaning is easy.

No kidding, it really works.
 
The author of a magazine article I read recently mentioned using
Johnson's paste wax applied to the grooves with fingertips as with the
Lithium grease technique described above.
 
The Johnson's paste wax sounds good assuming you let it dry thoroughly, but will probably get you vastly more lube than you really want, and most of it in the wrong place (the grooves - convenient for low melting point wax but not for the hard stuff). What about tumbling the bullets in powdered pure Carnauba wax? I've been meaning to try that for ages.

Epoxy goes through all sorts of transformations as it heats up, and it ultimately becomes hard Carbon char. I would not go there.
 
pokute said:
The Johnson's paste wax sounds good assuming you let it dry thoroughly, but will probably get you vastly more lube than you really want, and most of it in the wrong place (the grooves - convenient for low melting point wax but not for the hard stuff). What about tumbling the bullets in powdered pure Carnauba wax? I've been meaning to try that for ages.

Epoxy goes through all sorts of transformations as it heats up, and it ultimately becomes hard Carbon char. I would not go there.
Click to expand...

Before you dismiss epoxy coated, it's worked like a charm for standard pressure everything I've tried it in with a handgun. I have some .30-30 to load with 2400 for some bunny fart rifle but should still scoot and some 255gr .44 magnum that I plan to load to a light magnum before loading up with 2400. The few recovered bullets I've seen that were powder coated and the expoxy coated held up just fine if they were done right.

Bullets don't take a heck of a lot of heat. If they did then the paper patched rifle and card wad of shotguns would burst into flames. Heck, all the powder doesn't even burn in many loads.

Interesting with the lithium grease but everyone is still talking more typical lubes still. Think outside the box... ;)

Teaser pic of 158gr .358" before sizing:



They sized with zero epoxy loss and these will be loaded to light magnum specs for further testing....

EDIT: I forgot I already loaded some for testing with Accurate #9. It's not a heavy load but I plan on working everything up. Besides, it's not easy finding powder on the shelf right now... :(

TBC...
 
Last edited:
Half tea spoon part A + half tea spoon part B =

Klass Kote "Battleship Gray" with satin catalyst but looks like Haze Gray to this sailor:



Air dry to touch then bake in oven for 15-20 minutes at 200-215 rather rinse repeat and done.

These are pretty easy to do and I can do a bunch of them. Run them through the Lee push through sizer after the second coat and they are ready for loading.

The next phase involves seeing if they work in the Hornady bullet feeder...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R
seeking soft bullet lube
2
Replies
29
Views
1K
Iowa Fox
I
THREEDFLYER
Wax Bullet Shooting - Anyone else doing/done it?
2 3
Replies
47
Views
2K
THREEDFLYER
THREEDFLYER
S
ID of bullet and Do I lube this bullet or not?
Replies
18
Views
1K
stansdds
S
F
pc'd bullets vs traditional/lubed bullet velocities
Replies
6
Views
702
Forrest r
F
elpac3
Alox lube question
2
Replies
32
Views
1K
pmhayden
pmhayden

Latest posts

Back
Top