this stuff gets pretty thick in cold temps. do y'all mix anything with it to make it thinner and go farther?
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this stuff gets pretty thick in cold temps. do y'all mix anything with it to make it thinner and go farther?
Mineral spirits.
Warm it up by putting the bottle in hot water. Makes it a lot easier to blend in some mineral spirits. Add a little at a time and blend 'till you get it like you want it.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...=thinning+alox
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...=thinning+alox
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...=thinning+alox
Search function is working...[smilie=1:
I'll heed the advice....thanks for the great responses!!!
There is a recipe calling for 45% Alox, 45% Johnsons Paste Wax and 10% mineral spirits. One advantage of Johnsons Paste Wax and Mineral Spirits is that they can be purchased at your local hardware store.
I used the recommended 50/50 mineral spirits and Lee liquid alox. It works great, but I let a container of it set for a couple of months and when it got cold, (like about 40 degrees in my garage) the 50/50 mix would not come out of the container. I have used a method that I have mentioned on here several times and have never gotten a responce. I put the Lee liquid alox container in the microwave for 10 seconds and repeat that until it gets soft enough to run out. I usually have to do the 10 second thing about 4 times. The only thing to remember is to make sure the spout is open and clear of any lube.
Put a cast bullet in the bottle to act as an agitator and help mixing.
Good idea fecmech. I find the stuff to melt unevenly, with liquid sloshing down below the solid. Or, it would make more sense if the liquid is on top, but that's not how it feels.
Either way, I can't get it to mix with min spirits until it is mostly liquified, and an agitator would help a lot.
Bet it would help with my home brew tumble lube too.
great idea fecmech......thanks
Try the 45-45-10.
You'll never lube with straight Alox again.
I don't favor altering LLA or diluting it to make it "go farther" or in an attempt to "make it more better". More threads have been started about "leading", it seems, when altered LLA has been the lube. I use it straight as per the directions. If cold simply soak the bottle in hot tap water for 10 minutes or so before using. When heated such a little bit of it goes a long ways and a single bottle will lube many thousands of bullets. Failing to read and follow directions is not a failure of the product but LLA alox gets a lot of criticism from many who don't simply follow Lee's instructions. For a TL I find straight LLA to work as directed and have yet to have it fail (within it's useful parameters).
Larry Gibson
I buy Lee size dies and throw the bottle of snot in a drawer hoping someone will pay postage so I can get rid of it free.
Thick, thin, hot, cold, mixed, whatever. I refuse to use it. I did a bunch of .38's for a guy once and he never came back for more.
If it does not lead it means you are doing something else to prevent leading. If you want extreme accuracy, forget it. I call it 7 yard smoke.
Not owning any lube/sizer equipment, I started out using the straight 'mule snot' LLA to tumble-lube my .40 & 30-30 CBs and, like many newbies I'm sure, used WAAYY too much to begin with which left the boolits very tacky even after extended drying times & smoked like crazy when fired. I tried a different liquid/tumble-style lube ('Rooster Jacket') based on some other internet reviews, but wasn't impressed as a standalone lube (though it shows some promise as a PP lube, one of it's marketed purposes). After reading many comments here, I began re-thinking the LLA & tried it again. This time I pre-heated the boolits with a hairdryer on high for a minute or so (they were hot enough they were uncomfortable to handle with bare hands), heated the LLA in the microwave for about 40 seconds in 10 sec. increments (be sure to remove the foil-lined seal under the lid if it's a new bottle and you're gonna use the microwave!) and used a Zip-Lok bag to tumble them instead of a more rigid container as instructed via Lee's directions. Not only did it result in a thinner, more even coating, but they also dried much faster, were MUCH less tacky when handling, smoked less, & still no discernible leading. While the smell was also a bit less intense, it still stunk pretty bad - especially while the boolits/lube were still hot!
Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to try any other types of lube yet though, so can't really make any meaningful comparisons; any general recommendations for mid-range 30-30 loads? I've been thinking about trying some pan or dip lubing, but not at all sure I want to invest that kind of additional time unless there's likely to be a noticeable improvement in accuracy, but only one way to tell I s'pose...
44Man, I imagine I could come up with some postage if you're serious about getting rid of the LLA you've got... Shoot me a PM if you're interested.
Just shows you can never please all of the people all of the time.
For a number of years I cast sized,lubed, loaded, shot, sold over 5,000 of those sorry snot lubed Boolites a month. I had so many wanting my 125RN,135 SWC 9MM and 200 SWC 45 that I had that carpital tendium sydrone stuff before most knew what it was. I still have some o that ammo loaded 30 years ago and it is still doing just great.
I now have two quarts of Xlox on order from
LsStuff@aol.com as I just started casting again and my gallons of Lee Lube were stolen along with alloy,powder,primers, cast sized and lubed bullets during my move 7 years ago. Yes believe it or not I convienced Lee to sell my their lube by the 4 gallon. case. It was fairly new back then and I guess they appreciated the business and the free promoting.
Done, glad to be rid of it.Quote:
Originally Posted by YunGun