Lubes

[yukondog]

I'm starting to get into the world of casting and have a couple of questions about lubes, I use Lee alox now but don't care for the mess and stickiness of it and would like to use a harder lube [I think] the molds I have are Lee's 240 gr swchp/gc,300 wfn/gc and 45 300 wfn/gc both with Lee's sizing die.I'll be shooting these from 1894's and was wondering do I need a harder lube? I've tried dusting them with baby powder for tackiness and it works pretty good but don't know if it will hurt the bore or if it makes any difference or not,thanks for any and all help.

[bulletstuffer]

I've been using the lbt blue soft that Veral makes and have been very happy with it.  I use it in a rcbs lube sizer and do not need to add any heat to make it work.  Read through the ask Veral Smith forum under this forum and it will help answer your questions.  He is a great guy to work with. 


I have no idea about the baby powder.


Good luck,


Bulletstuffer

[yukondog]

Thanks for the quick reply bulletstuffer, I'll check it out.

[Nobade]

Since you have Lee tumble lube already, try using some of it to make 45-45-10. I think you will like that a lot better. I sure do.

I'll let Recluse tell you all about it here:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?67654-Tumble-Lubing-Made-Easy-amp-Mess-Free

[mdi]

I too use the 45-45-10 on my 240 and 265 gr. Ranch Dog bullets. I have used alox for quite some time and it's only as messy/sticky as I am.  I've noticed new users of alox use way too much on their bullets getting messy, sticky, smokey bullets. I thin the alox with mineral spirits when I'm not mixing it with anything and "dip lube" ala Ranch Dog. For me a consistency of about heavy cream is thick enough and I like the bullets and lube to be just warm, not hot to the touch. I dip 'e and set 'em on a sheet of alum foil base down. Clean nose, not sticky.

I also pan lube with my concoctions and lube from White Label Lubes. Some of the lubes are too sticky to punch out of the lube cake so I made some "cookie cutters" out of stainless steel tubing reamed/drilled out to a few thousandths over bullet diameter. I also usee Lee push through dies and my lube methods seems to work in all my guns shooting cast lead...

[yukondog]

I tried making the 45-45-10 but got it wrong as it's still soft and wont harden even if I put it in the refrigerator, the way I did it was I weighed equal amounts of JPW and alox and mixed with 10% of that weight of mineral spirits, how are you measuring the mixture?

[JustaShooter]

For what it's worth, I saw this in the link for the 45/45/10 mixture instructions:

For the record and per many repeated questions, I measure by volume AFTER the JPW is cooked. Be very careful not to add MORE than 10% mineral spirits or your viscosity will be too thin. Ten percent is the max and works well for cold weather/cold-weather climates and conditions.

Hope this helps.

Just a Shooter

[Lloyd Smale]

http://www.lsstuff.com/lsstuff-stuff  I use alot of his carnduba lube. Its half the price of other premium lubes and works just as well.

[yukondog]

Thanks for the replys, I'll try making another batch but this time measuring the JPW melted, another thing I think I did wrong is I may have gotten the mix to hot. Lloyd I e-mailed lsstuff and will try some of the red lube, I think I will still try and make my own as I enjoy making my own stuff and I'm cheap.

[ButlerFord45]

Another fan of White Label Lube. 

[Tom W.]

I tried making my own too, and couldn't make it as cheap as I could buy it from White Lable Lubes..

[mdi]

I tried making the 45-45-10 but got it wrong as it's still soft and wont harden even if I put it in the refrigerator, the way I did it was I weighed equal amounts of JPW and alox and mixed with 10% of that weight of mineral spirits, how are you measuring the mixture?

Yep, it'll stay semi-liquid 'cause it's a tumble lube.

[tlmkr38]

For what  it's worth I have played with different combinations and so far a combo of about 30% alox and 60 % bees wax has worked real good for pretty much everything I shoot. Mostly pistol but some 30 cal rifle also

[kbstenberg]

When making 45/45/10 reduce the JPW by half before measuring the quantity to mix.
With both the Lee lube and the 45/45/10 only put on enough to LIGHTLY coat the bullet. You should only put it on Sparingly.

[Lloyd Smale]

the red is his carnduba lube and its a great lube. I used to make all my own too and still will fool occasionaly with it but lars lubes can be bought as cheap as you can make it yourself if your buying beeswax and his lubes work as well as any ive tried including the concoctions ive brewed up and this way i can spend more time casting and loading and shooting.

Thanks for the replys, I'll try making another batch but this time measuring the JPW melted, another thing I think I did wrong is I may have gotten the mix to hot. Lloyd I e-mailed lsstuff and will try some of the red lube, I think I will still try and make my own as I enjoy making my own stuff and I'm cheap.

[wncchester]

" I think I will still try and make my own as I enjoy making my own stuff and I'm cheap."
 
I too enjoy tinkering and saving money when I can; that led into casting in '65.  I've been using the NRA 50:50 beeswax-alox lube in my old Lyman 45 with complete satisfaction with bullets flying up to 1950 fps.  It's not very expensive but is a bit 'soft' and sticky.  It works in my unheated lubrasizer very well and I never found the slight sticklyness to be a problem.  That said, it works so good that I have long wondered of the adviseabilty of making or buying anything else.
 
Why do some people really not like conventional Alox lube and what's supposed to be the advantages of other lubes?
 
(I recently bought a tumble lube mold and will be using Lee's alox stuff with it.)