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Casting/Lubing Question

love2shoot
I cast 38-158 gr bullets and lubed them with Lee Alox as per their instructions.  I sized them with a Lee push through sizer and the lands look good, meaning to me they sized OK.  I'm using 3.8 gr of Accurate #2 so it's not a hot load. No gas check. Should they be lubed again?
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12 comments

Date Votes
  • nmyers
    The best solution is to use a lubrisizer, which combines lubing & sizing, & will always give you a perfect bullet.  But, if you do the operations separately, I would prefer to mike my bullets to be sure that the sizer has done it's job, then lube them since most of the lube will be squeezed out.  I'm sure that Alox does a good job of lubing, but I like to see the grooves of every bullet full of lube.
    The critical decision is:  have I correctly sized every bullet?  You don't want to shave lead when you shoot a revolver.  (No, I'm not going to show you the tiny scar on my cheek.)
    And, always do your casting outside, or you could become "mad as a hatter".
    Neal
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  • victorj19
    love2shoot said:
    I cast 38-158 gr bullets and lubed them with Lee Alox as per their instructions.  I sized them with a Lee push through sizer and the lands look good, meaning to me they sized OK.  I'm using 3.8 gr of Accurate #2 so it's not a hot load. No gas check. Should they be lubed again?
    I cast and lube 38 148 gr wad cutters for a friend.  I use the Alox and lee push through sizer.  He's careful to bell the case to avoid shaving.  I don't know what powder, load or primer he uses but it is a light target load.  He has never mentioned any barrel leading.  He would if it was a problem.

    For myself I've cast sized and lubed 95 gr bullets for my 9x18 Makraov using Alox and the Lee sizer and have had leading.  However It is a hotter load but not maximum.

    There are a lot of variables here (e.g. the hardness of the lead).  I noticed the sized wad cutters  showed little evidence of being sized while the 95 gr did.

    My recommendation and to answer your question is shoot a couple of hundred rounds and check closely for barrel leading.  If it is minimal, don't lube the bullets again after sizing, although it would be easy and wouldn't hurt.  If you do have leading, try a harder mix of lead and lube again after sizing.

    Jim


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  • Sam06
    Cast

    Size

    Then Lube.
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  • Wild Turkey
    nmyers said:
    And, always do your casting outside, or you could become "mad as a hatter".
    Neal
    Hatters went mad because of mercury.  "Plumb Crazy" was what happened when plumbers sniffed too much lead fumes. ;)
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  • victorj19
    Sam06 said:
    Cast

    Size

    Then Lube.

    Curious how you'd do that.  Using the Lee sizer it would be hard pushing bullet through without lube using a single stage press.  I have a Lyman 55 also .  


    I once broke a bolt in the Lymans linkage when the lube was too cold..  Trying to imagine the pressure needed to run an unlubed bullet through that might be .002" larger than the die.


    Sam05, care to share how you do it?  I might learn something new and useful.


    Thanks,


    Jim


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  • pulsarnc

    When I was using Alox to lube with I too lubed then sized and the relubed lightly before loading . Several years ago I switched to powder coating . Now I no longer have to lube . Powder coat , size , load and shoot . No mess no fuss . For powder coat instructions join the cast boolits web site

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  • bpost
    I have found a bullt cast then sized .001 over groove diameter gives the best result.  I use a 50/50 bees wax and Alox mix.  Leading is almost never an issue even when driven hard.
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  • chiefr
    For those who like Lees method I suggest keep doing it.
    IMHO, the lubrisizer may be slower, but the exposed part of the bullet is free from lube meaning no transfer of dust dirt, sand, and other crap to stick to the bullets, especially around heat.
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  • Sam06
    I use a lubrisizer Jim.  It does it all in one stroke.  Sorry I just read about the alox, When using it you have to lube then size I believe.  I have never used it before but it seems messy to me and not very consistent. 

    Why has this not been moved to the reloading forum?  I have started a thread with no real political stuff and its away to politics...............


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  • Rocky Raab
    When I cast bullets, I also used Lee push-through dies and Alox. The steps were: cast, lube, size...and then I gave them all a dusting of mica powder. The mica seemed to "seal" the Alox against dirt accumulation, and added another layer of lube.
    I also had complete success just by dipping bullets in melted Johnson Paste Wax and then mica dusting. That makes for a much thicker lube coat - but is not good for rounds you'd carry around in your pocket afield. Okay for the range.
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  • pulsarnc

    Rocky , I frequently went to your reloading pages in the past . Learned a heck of a lot , thank you sir .

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  • Rocky Raab
    How kind of you, sir.
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