Lube bullets by hand?

CScott · Dec 1, 2014

I recently got about 200 .357" wad cutters in a trade along with some other reloading components. They look good to use up but they have not been lubed. Is there a way I can hand lube these? I do not have access to a sizer/lubricater and I don't want to invest in one to do just 200 bullets.
Thanks, Scott

Engineer1911 · Dec 1, 2014

Buy a small bottle of Lee Liquid Alox, place bullets in small Cool Whip tub, give a teaspoon squirt of liquid Alox, swirl around in tub until covered, and Alox is gone. Dry on a piece of wax paper over night, repeat the process a second time.

You will have well lubed bullets that will not lead your barrel at 38 spl velocity. These are greatly simplified directions because you are going to lube 1 batch of bullets. This is a definite case of keeping things simple. Good luck and happy shooting.

boatbum101 · Dec 1, 2014

+ 1 on alox tumble lube . I use White Label which is 45% alox , 45% Johnsons Paste wax & 10% mineral spirts pre mixed & much cheaper than Lee's alox .

Mike SC Hunter · Dec 1, 2014

Where do you get the "white label" stuff? And what is the cost?

venomballistics · Dec 1, 2014

you could melt some lube in a tuna can and dip lube them too.
a Lee size die is fairly cheap, fits a standard press, and usualy ships with Alox as an option.
but then ... while your ordering that ... you could get a lead pot and a mold too ...
and while your surfing the web .. you could also get a toaster oven and some Hi Tek bullet coating .....
well ... you could say its your calling to the altar of molten lead.
worse things can happen

Clovishound · Dec 1, 2014

You can also pan lube them.

Stand them up in a shallow pan. Heat your lube wax until it melts. Pour it in the pan until it comes to the level of the top of the highest lube groove. Allow to cool. Peel the wax out, then push the bullets out from the wax.

Alox is easier. I like the results of wax lube better. I use a mixture of bees wax, lithium grease and ATF.

venomballistics · Dec 1, 2014

Clovishound said:
You can also pan lube them.

Stand them up in a shallow pan. Heat your lube wax until it melts. Pour it in the pan until it comes to the level of the top of the highest lube groove. Allow to cool. Peel the wax out, then push the bullets out from the wax.

Alox is easier. I like the results of wax lube better. I use a mixture of bees wax, lithium grease and ATF.

Never cared much for Alox myself.
it does work if your into bee fart loads. it's when you want some of the the gun you paid for that it drops the plot.

Wax based we are all familiar with, and you can get good and serious with it.

Coatings ... these are godsends.
equipment is almost always justifiable if you cast at all, and the end result does not seem to care how you use it.

CScott · Dec 2, 2014

Might as well get melting!

venomballistics said:
you could melt some lube in a tuna can and dip lube them too.
a Lee size die is fairly cheap, fits a standard press, and usualy ships with Alox as an option.
but then ... while your ordering that ... you could get a lead pot and a mold too ...
and while your surfing the web .. you could also get a toaster oven and some Hi Tek bullet coating .....
well ... you could say its your calling to the altar of molten lead.
worse things can happen

This reply really made me laugh because I know good and well that I am heading in this direction sooner or later. Truth is, if I could find an affordable lead source I would dive in. But buying new lead makes casting more expensive than buying finished bullets. . . (Like this ever made a difference with other reloading gear before).

Thank you all for the good ideas.

Scott

rwsmith · Dec 2, 2014

Are they....

Are they soft swaged bullets with full hollow base? If they are the bullet would have to be grossly oversized not to conform to the barrel in the forcing cone. You may not need to resize them at all. Got a caliper or even better for this application a micrometer? You gotta slug your barrel too in order to compare dimensions. If you don't want to a gunsmith can take the measurement easy.

zelda · Dec 2, 2014

Scott. Dad gets his lead from a friend that runs a tire shop

mikld · Dec 2, 2014

You can "finger lube" bullets quite easily with some "wax bases" lubes. Roll the lube around in your fingers to soften it then press it into the lube groove. No big deal. A better way to pan lube is to place bullets and lube in a shallow pan and place in an oven at 175-200 degrees (just enough to melt). Pan lubing works quite well when the bullets and the lube reach the same temperature. Some lubes will allow you to push the bullet out of the lube, but many need to be "cut out" with a "cookie cutter" of some sort (I made some out of plain old seamless tubing, of appropriate size, with a bevel on one end). One lube I used early on in my casting was bees wax softened with Marvels Mystery Oil (but vegetable oil, and olive oil are often used too).

I do a lot of "dip lubing" with 45-45-10 on my 45 ACP and .44 Magnum Ranch Dog home cast bullets.

These folks have great products at great prices and are great to deal with (3 greats?). LsStuff-White Label Lube - Cast Bullet Lube

CScott · Dec 2, 2014

rwsmith said:
Are they soft swaged bullets with full hollow base? If they are the bullet would have to be grossly oversized not to conform to the barrel in the forcing cone. You may not need to resize them at all. Got a caliper or even better for this application a micrometer? You gotta slug your barrel too in order to compare dimensions. If you don't want to a gunsmith can take the measurement easy.

They have flat bases with 4 grooves. I miked them OK. The ones I measured are all right at .357" so I'm not planning to re-size them. I don't know how hard they are but I'm sure they will be fine for light loads.

Scott

CScott · Dec 2, 2014

zelda said:
Scott. Dad gets his lead from a friend that runs a tire shop

I actually sell supplies including wheel weights to auto repair shops. The problem is, weights these days are not lead but are zinc or steel. The lead weights in the scrap barrel are fewer and fewer. Furthermore, the shops usually sell what they have to scrap yards because they get good money for it.

Scott

riversalmon · Dec 2, 2014

Fast lubing

Here's what I have used successfully for years. Take a regular old can of Johnson's paste wax,[ that's right the kind for your car ,not rubbing compound non abrasive] just the soft paste wax and rub it on the bullets then let dry. For 700-800fps can tippin' loads works wonderful, and one can will last for years. GOOD SHOOTIN

NotObvious · Dec 2, 2014

Pan lubing is not hard... but it can get messy

Clovishound said:
You can also pan lube them.

Stand them up in a shallow pan. Heat your lube wax until it melts. Pour it in the pan until it comes to the level of the top of the highest lube groove. Allow to cool. Peel the wax out, then push the bullets out from the wax.

Alox is easier. I like the results of wax lube better. I use a mixture of bees wax, lithium grease and ATF.

Lots of recipes for pan lubing. It tends to work a bit easier with black powder (i.e. soft lube) vs high speed pistol and rifle lubes.

The pan lube I use for most cast bullets is pretty simple:
1- ring of bol-wax from the hardware store w/o the rubber gasket
1- block of crisco from one of the 3-packs of shorting
1- cup of muphy's oil soap
1- stick of canning wax (they come 3 or 4 to a pack from the store)

I will add the wax seal from a bottle of Maker's Mark if I remember to save it from time to time.

Melt bol-wax first, then add the canning wax, then the crisco, and then carefully add the oil soap, but don't let it bubble... might need to reduce the temp. As it starts to cool, stir carefully and then laddle it into your mold(s) for pan lubing.

Will easily be good for bullets going 1150fps or slower.

Plenty of videos on pan lubing on youtube.

varmint243 · Dec 2, 2014

Just take the plunge and start casting

Now that you will have lube stuff, you might as well get the rest of it too.
I started with a little lead pot and a dipper + a used mould and tumble lubed them for a while.
Casting is an interesting hobby in it's own.

powerglide01 · Dec 3, 2014

CScott said:
I recently got about 200 .357" wad cutters in a trade along with some other reloading components. They look good to use up but they have not been lubed. Is there a way I can hand lube these? I do not have access to a sizer/lubricater and I don't want to invest in one to do just 200 bullets.
Thanks, Scott

Well as a reloader for 45 plus years i can identify with your befuddlement, so, what I do is use an old grease called Alemite to do small batches.Heck, even larger batches it works also! I got lucky and grandad left some large containers of Alemite in the barn. It works and is cheap!

mikld · Dec 3, 2014

FWIW; toilet bowl wax is no longer made of bees wax, it's usually the cheapest, lowest grade result of refining oil. Quality of bowl wax varies greatly from batch to batch.

Pan lubing is a method of lubing bullets and depending on the lube used, you can pan lube for 600 fps target ammo or 1800 fps rifle bullets. Done both, ran some .44 magnum bullets with my "Caranauba Red" to about 1100 fps, and 7.62X54r to mebbe 1800 fps. An easy lube is bees wax softened with Marvels Mystery oil, or bees wax with 2 cycle motor oil (3 parts wax to 1 part oil). These have worked in all my handgun ammo...

CScott · Dec 4, 2014

Thank you all very much. Lots of good ideas here. I can get these bullets lubed and loaded and then I will be getting the Lyman Cast Bullet manual later this week.
Have a great holiday season!
Scott

LoboGunLeather · Dec 4, 2014

For a small batch like you have I would pick up a small tube of white lithium grease, available at most auto parts stores. It can be applied by hand pretty quickly and easily, and it is one of the most efficient lubes for cast bullets. I use it frequently in .45-70, .45-90, and a .45 Sharps Express pushing bullets from 350 grains to 500 grains at velocities up to around 1500 FPS with outstanding accuracy. Shouldn't have any trouble handling .38 wadcutters at 750 FPS or so.

Lube bullets by hand?

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