Lubricating Bullets?

[fredj338]

I enjoy casting more than reloading. Today coatings are all the rage & for good reason, They work. If you get into casting, consider Hitek or powder coating. Then you only need cheap lee suzing die kits. Which btw, come with a bottle of alox.

 

[mikld]

A good start to lubing/sizing your home cast bullets is the Lee system. Inexpensive, push through sizing dies work well with pan lubed and tumble lubed bullets. I have been using (and customizing) them since I started casting in '90. At first I didn't want to spend $$ on extra equipment (lubersizer and dies and nose punches for each bullet shape I cast) and found the Lee dies to work quite well. I still haven't purchased a lubersizer. I have developed a pan lubing method that works well for me and dip lube with alox and 45-45-10...

 

[boatbum101]

If you're going to order , go to Ebay look for whitelabelube he'll sell a qt. of 45-45-10 for $14 + 6.50 shipping . Much cheaper & a qt will last a very very long time . 45% Alox , 45% wax , 10% Mineral Spirits easier to work with & less messy .

 

[reloader7.62]

I second the 45-45-10 if you make it yourself or buy some of Glenn's over at White Label Lube. I used to make my own an used it for years an once dry the bullets are not tacky at all. Just a light golden sheen is all you need, slightly warm bullets and warm lube makes coating them easier and more evenly with no clumps. Although I still use a RCBS Lube A Matic on some occasions I pretty much powder coat all my pistol bullets and some rifle bullets. I can coat and cure around 300 to 400 bullets an hour, once cool I can size and load at my leisure.

 

[smoothshooter]

Stop by your local auto parts store and pick up a small tube of pure white lithium grease. You can apply it to the bullets using your fingertips, probably do over 150 per hour while watching the evening news. Nothing provides better performance with cast bullets up to 2000-plus FPS. Only drawback is that it won't work in lubricator-sizer machines because of its thin consistency, otherwise lithium grease would have become the standard 50 years ago.

For small batches, like you have (500 pistol bullets), nothing is better or easier. Shouldn't cost more than $4 or $5, and you'll have enough left over for another 10,000 or more.

After applying let the bullets sit on newspaper or paper towels to air dry for a day or so, then they can be handled without mess or fuss or muss. I use lithium grease all the time for lubing bullets intended for my antique rifles, for which there are no common lube-sizer dies, etc. Couple of hundred at a time takes very little effort, and the lubrication is excellent.

Question: Does the lithium tend to get runny in very hot weather to where it might contaminate the powder charge?

 

[smoothshooter]

No, it does not dry, but it does become tacky enough to handle during the loading process and the lube will not leach out into the powder charge.

What about leaching in hot weather ( 100+ degree temperatures ) like in a closed up car in August?