Oh yeah, that's smart!
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Oh yeah, that's smart!
Gotta love the K.I.S.S. method.
charlie
I always use LLA now, but it took some learning (what doesn't ?). I don't know at what temp it melts, but I have tried to soften it back up once it has hardened by using the microwave, and I wouldn't call it a success. The stuff sticks inside the tub I use to tumble the bullets in. Being thrifty, I thought there had to be a way to use the lube that sticks there. I nuked it on high for several minutes, and then tumble lubed some bullets. The LLA got tacky, and did stick to my bullets. In fact, too much stuck to the bullets, which made loading a pain. It kept accumulating inside the seating die and seating bullets deeper and deeper. I had to clean the die (brake cleaner works great !) several times. Then, I had to wipe off the exposed noses of the loaded bullets to keep lube from getting all over me and my rifle. The re-heated lube never seemed to really dry. Now I don't try to reclaim the small anount left in the tub. Like many things in reloading, being too cheap ends up costing you. I have learned the trick is to lube lightly, and let it dry thoroughly. Lee TL (tumble lube) bullets seem to work best due to the many lube grooves. Sizing removes the lube from the driving bands, and the lube on the nose never touches the bore, so it doesn't lube anything at all. Conventional bullets work as long as they have several lube grooves.
I use the same tube over. It's a margerine tub and I put the lid on to keep clean. Then when I do the next batch it mixes with the new batch so I'm not really waisting none. If you want to avoild lubing the whole bullet pu a small amount on a piece of wax paper and roll it back and forth with something like a ruler, then pick up and set on the base to dry. I've been kind of switching to JPW. Less messy and seems to work as well.
I use a plastic sandwich baggie to lube when I use LLA. This way I can smoosh it all over with my hands then I just throw the baggie away.
to read all the posts on LLA. Normally instant gratification is not quick enough for me. Some of you are on the right track and others are trying to make things too dificult. This example is with Ranch Dog 265 .44 boolits.
I have had perfect results, no leading and great accuracy using this method. The bore looks as though I just cleaned it! Twenty grains of H110. .44 Mag.
Using WW + 10 - 20 percent lino. The boolits are in a pile on the towel that I drop them on. I put on the check and size them dry in the Lee sizer. If I find that it is taking a lot of effort to size them I give the pile of boolits a spray or two of Oneshot case lube.
I have thined the LLA to the consistency of Half & Half such as you put in your coffee. Pour about a hundred in a baggie along with a couple of teaspoons of LLA.
Massage for a minute, pour them onto a paper on a cookie sheet. Stand them up on their bases. You should only have to wipe off two fingers.
This is the technical part. Using the HEAT gun,[ like a hair dryer on steroids], heat the boolits till you can't hold them, probably 300 - 400 degrees. When they are cool enough to handle, a fan helps here, knock them over on their sides and pour them into a tub. Add a tablespoon of paste wax. I use a thin plastic tray that gets soft when I apply the heat. This softness facilitates the rolling around of the boolits while heating them. Heat till they start to smoke.
pour them out on the cookie sheet. Cool and load. I do about a hundred at a time. Takes about 45 minutes after the boolits are cast.
I realize not PC but in past filled 357 barrels with mercury when I pushed too hard. Works fine with no wear and tear on barrel. Just dump mercury back in jar and push patch through bore once. Bright and clean.
DID NONE OF YOU SEE THE PICTURE lee has of heating the lubed bullet,and the bullet melted before the tumble lube.
Me I just tumble and leave over night,load and shoot.dont you think the barrel sizes them??at the speed 1690 fps they dont need gas checks.:coffee:[smilie=1:
In the past I have had to clean lead out of my bores. Mercury is good for that.
Since using LLA and JPW. even on regular grease groove boolits I have completely eliminated that chore. I am still amazed at how clean the bores are after what used to be bore leading velocities with cast.
I keep a five pound jar of mercury on hand, though don't use it much anymore.
Maybe I'll go gold mining one of these days.
In the past year or so I have converted nearly totally to liquid alox for all my cast boolits. I now use Ranch Dog moulds in .45 rifle .44 rifle and pistol and .35 in the rifle. Also use the .50 caliber in the S&W big gun. R.D. got it right.
Life is good
I have not been around long enough to be familiar with the various abreviations used here on the forum. Can someone please help me out by listing abreviations and their meanings?
Thanks KennethF
Kenneth,
Lee Liquid Alox and Johnson's Paste Wax
I tried the JPW with my LLA for the first time today, after reading about it here. The wax seemed to thin the LLA a little, but it stuck to the bullets quite well. I also tried something else for the first time that I learned here, after tumble-lubing, I stood the bullets on end on the waxpaper-covered cookie sheet. I gave myself a little "DUH!" that I didn't think of it before...but it eliminates the uneven side to side lube I had before. I don't know how it's going to work, so many variables here : new lube, new rifle, new mold, no sizing die yet, and no gas checks. The worst day shooting beats the best day working though...
Life is simple and good: Thin with mnineral spirits 25-30% LLA or LARS lube, lube (once) as cast, load shoot...That's it.
For .45 colt and ACP, (and any .38s) up to 900fps over a load of Unique it's the only thing in life that at once easy, cheap, and fast...and NO leading in Smith and Ruger revolvers, Colt, Springfield or Auto Ordinance.
Same for 45-70 in 300-340 grain boolits of RCBS, Lee, or Ranch Dog designs up to 1200-1300FPS pushed by "about"14 grains Unique in Marlins, NEF's, or various Pedersolis, especially with a dacron wad. Very accurate to 100 yards, NO leading and a beautiful bore.
In the brush where I slip up on pigs you rarely see more than 30 yards, and with pistols I hunt from bow blinds.
All pigs and deer hit with the above .45 caliber loads are very dead right now, and the loads won't contribute to detatched retinas and sore shoulders or wrists.
Granted, for target work work at longer ranges more care is required to get your desired accuracy, but for "minute of pig" accuracy at my ranges, these can't be beat for speed simplicity, plain functionality. No Need for speed when low and slow works fine.
Fort Worth
This place is just full of information. Thanks
You guys are soooooo picky! I use LLA exclusively, Put a hand full of boolets in a butter cup and drop on a few drops of LLA and swirl around for a while. Dump on a saran wrap sheet and let dry outside for "over Night". I don't bother standing them up, just make sure they are separated. Size and check then once again into the butter cup with a few drops of LLA and back on to the saran wrap sheet. I get no r little leading even in my 100 year old pitted Krag barrel. LLA works better warmed slightly. In the summer i just put the tube out in the sun for an hour and have at it. In winter I warm in the microwave for 15 sec at a time, otherwise you can melt the bottle. Hot water works too.
When I first started, I was using too much and talked to a guy at the range who used a lot less and cut back on my usage a lot and still had good luck.