Alox lube question

[venomballistics]

No criticism intended as many of you seem to like the Lee liquid lube process. I tried it years ago; too messy for me. I don't know what a lubrisizer costs these days, but if you cast and do much shooting, it may be well worth the expense because of the convenience if for no other reason.

I've yet to find a need or see any advantage to going to coated bullets as conventional sizing and lubing work so well for my purposes. Good luck with sizing and lubing bullets, however you do it.

I've used it as well. Along with your observations, it never got me to where I wanted to go.
I just don't do what some would call target loads.
I tend towards my primary loads being more general purpose. Alox would never seem to get me there before it failed.
Traditional lube would get me to that butter zone and I've used it for many years.
Then powder coating came along.
Not only would it achieve any yield I desired, I no longer had to scrape lube from my dies or endure any of the other liabilities of traditional lube.

 

[reddog81]

I tried alox in 38 and 45 a handful of times before giving up and moving on to powder coating. It must work for some people but it always left me with lead fouled barrels. I’ve since acquired lubesizers, which are quicker than PC but not as fool proof. However the lubesizers are much better than alox IMO.

 

[BC38]

Lot of good reading there, but the various lube mixtures and can be a bit mind blowing. I'm getting ready to try the Alox and paste wax mixture listed there on some old lead bullets that have lost a lot of their lube.

Ben's Liquid Lube BLL.
Alox 35%
Liquid paste (floor) wax 35%
Mineral spirits 30%
Or just simplify and mix these 3 ingredients in equal amounts 1/3 & 1/3 & 1/3
Tumble lube & let dry (dries quickly).
Works great!

 

[GypsmJim]

I tried alox in 38 and 45 a handful of times before giving up and moving on to powder coating. It must work for some people but it always left me with lead fouled barrels. I’ve since acquired lubesizers, which are quicker than PC but not as fool proof. However the lubesizers are much better than alox IMO.

In my early years with lead bullets I had leading. The store bought bullets I used were on the soft side. Then I started casting my own. I guess I would have to call them "hard cast" (Lyman #2).

About the same time I switched to Lee liquid alox. I can honestly say that I have not had to clean a leaded barrel in 40 years.

To me, a Lee Micro Band bullet (needs no sizing) and liquid alox is the easiest peasiest method. No toaster oven, no extra time, no lubrisizer, or extra expense AND NO HASSLE. Squirt once in a butter dish and done.

Now, I admit that the caveat for this is for informal target shooting.

 

[diyj98]

Ben's Liquid Lube BLL.
Alox 35%
Liquid paste (floor) wax 35%
Mineral spirits 30%
Or just simplify and mix these 3 ingredients in equal amounts 1/3 & 1/3 & 1/3
Tumble lube & let dry (dries quickly).
Works great!

I plan to try the KISS method under that same castboolets thread. Just wax and Alox with no mineral spirits.

 

[BC38]

I plan to try the KISS method under that same castboolets thread. Just wax and Alox with no mineral spirits.

Nothing wrong with that approach.
FWIW, the benefit of the mineral spirits is that it thins the mixture - allowing for a thinner coating AND faster drying.
What I like about the original recipe is that it dries so quickly, leaving a thin, but effective lube.
Let us know how the wax/Alox mixture works for you.

 

[glowe]

I am a big fan of thinning Alox. For my purposes I think straight Alox is too thick. Thinning it with paint thinner is an easy way to keep the coating light. I start by sizing the bullets, then place them in a plastic bowl with cover, Pour in Alox and hand tumble for a couple minutes. Dump on newspaper to dry. I store all my reloads in standard plastic ammo boxes, so they never pick up dirt before shooting.

 

[max503]

Powder coating in a toaster oven is also a good method. But its more cumbersome and provides no improvement.

I still lube some boolits, BUT --- If you go from shooting powder coated to lubed, you really notice the smoke and smell you get from shooting lubed.

When powder coating for my bulk shooting, I've begun dumping them on the tray instead of standing them up. Takes away a lot of the tediousness of the operation and I see very little difference in the results.

 

[GypsmJim]

I still lube some boolits, BUT --- If you go from shooting powder coated to lubed, you really notice the smoke and smell you get from shooting lubed.

When powder coating for my bulk shooting, I've begun dumping them on the tray instead of standing them up. Takes away a lot of the tediousness of the operation and I see very little difference in the results.

Shooting lubed bullets seems "normal" to me. It smells the same as it did 50 years ago. The powder coated bullets smell sweet. I don't like that smell at all.

As far as thinning the alox, I heat the bottle in hot water straight out of the tap and that thins it to my liking. This year was my first attempt at using spirits. I had an old half full bottle and it had thickened considerably. Heating would not thin it. Trying to dilute it in the bottle was a PITA.

 

[The Norseman]

Alox and Wax

Very good discussion in this thread.

Below is what I use to Tumble Lube
my Lead Bullets; Alox, Liquid Floor
Wax, and a Butter/Whip cream container.

Unfortunately the Johnson Liquid Floor
Wax has been discontinued. I’m always
on the lookout for it, but have been
unsuccessful.

I do have the Johnson Paste Floor Wax
but read on Cast Boolits about usage.

What’s worked best for me is;
1/2 Alox, about 1/2 Liquid wax, and
a little goes a long ways when tumbling.

 

[venomballistics]

way way way back when Lee Ioccoa was trying to destroy Chrysler, I found that naptha would dissolve wax.
I probably should have exploited that discovery to see what other things i could add to that base solution. I probably should have seen if bees wax would play nice with it as well.
another semi traditional component is a very hard to find wax called montan wax.
Where most waxes melt in the temp range of 120 - 140 F ... montan wax remains solid to about 220. This was the stuff behind products like Rooster Red high temp rifle lube.
Somewhere in this data purge might be a good dip, tumble or spray lube to those wanting to take up the yoke

 

[BC38]

Very good discussion in this thread.

Below is what I use to Tumble Lube
my Lead Bullets; Alox, Liquid Floor
Wax, and a Butter/Whip cream container.

Unfortunately the Johnson Liquid Floor
Wax has been discontinued. I’m always
on the lookout for it, but have been
unsuccessful.

I do have the Johnson Paste Floor Wax
but read on Cast Boolits about usage.

What’s worked best for me is;
1/2 Alox, about 1/2 Liquid wax, and
a little goes a long ways when tumbling.

A lot of us use Lundmark liquid paste wax as a substitutefor the Johnsons since it is no longer available.
Seems to work just as well.

 

[pmhayden]

Tumble lube, dip, or cookie cutter - each have their place. I like tumble lube because it seems simple, and works fine, at least for target speed loads and loads under 950 fps. I started using Lee L.A. and JPW diluted in mineral spirits. But even JPW (or Min-wax) works fine by itself, diluted, and tumbled, if the bullets are sized to the barrel.

But what I wanted to say is that I like tumble lube for the simple, low tech methodology. Its pretty much fool proof, and works well for low volume reloading. But two thin coats, one before sizing and one after sizing, are better than one thick coat. If the bullets look brown on top, you need to thin the mixture more. But even brown bullets shoot. You can clean them off - there is lube in the lube groove. Even when you do it wrong, tumble lubing works fine.

I also tumble lube store bought bullets - swagged or cast - as well as my own cast bullets. The hard lube on store-bought bullets is worthless.

Powder coated bullets work well, and I often pick those if I buy bullets. But I don’t want to powder coat my own. Too much technology. The benefit of tumble lubing is its simplicity and lack of expensive equipment. It’s probably the most fun you can have with an empty peanut butter jar in your garage.