Lube help/advise

[johnho]

Being new to casting I have tried to lube my new bullets. I have a Star Lubrisizer that came with the Javelina NRA soft lube. I didn't like the sticky stuff so I bought some Magma lube. I am having a lot of trouble getting the stuff to either flow or it's too mushy and gets all over everything, nose and base of bullet. No temperature adjustments seem to be right but I can go from too cold to too hot with the smallest of adjustment.

I prefer the hard lube but am considering going back to the soft stuff. Is there something I'm doing wrong or is there a better flowing hard lube I should try?

Thanks for any replys.

[drinks]

There are a bunch of lubes and ways to apply them.
I shall speak only about what I use and find satisfactory.
Lee liquid alox , applied tumble lube style works fine for me up to 2300fps, as fast as I have tried so far, LBT soft blue lube applied in what I call sardine can method also works good, but does leave a little too much lube on bullets.
The method is to melt a stick of LBS soft blue in a sardine can, or better, a flat bottomed miniature loaf pan, over a cheap[ garage sale] hot plate, get it hot enough to keep the lube liquid but not smoking.
Place a bullet in the pan, on it's base [I use 6" forceps], watch, the lube will be depressed at the bullet, then it will suddenly climb up the side of the bullet, at this time, remove the bullet, shake off the last drop of lube and put the bullet down in a flat pan to cool.
I then use a sizer if I need a specific diameter or am crimping on gas checks, most cast bullets shoot better as cast , so try that first before buying a sizer.
The only sizer I use is the Lee bottom push, no nose punches needed, and I can make a special sizer die in a few minutes if I need one.
A friend is trying case lube on bullets, can be applied with just the fingers, it will be interesting to hear how it works for him.
Don

[Willbird]

I have not tried the Magma Lube,

do you have a heated base for the Star ?

I found mine refused to work without a touch of heat from the lead light even with javalina.....I broke down and bought the heated base from magma, it works great.

I have some LBT Blue on order, and I made a batch of Felix Lube, I am going to compare the two and see which I like better, and then stick with that.

Are you getting good results shooting the boolits lubed with magma lube ?? I would let that be my final decision maker, if YES then it is worth making the lubesizer work better with it, if NO then seek other options.

I have no desire to play with extremely hard lubes, I have only heard a very few folks have good results with them.

Bill

[fecmech]

AnthonyB sent me what I believe to be Magma lube(AKA Greenbugger lube) and for me it works fine in handguns, target thru magnums and .357 rifle to 1600fps. It does require heat the same as all the other hard lubes. I set my star lubrisizer on a peice of 1/8 aluminum plate and set an iron on the plate and regulate the heat that way.

[slughammer]

I have a Star Lubrisizer
Is there something I'm doing wrong or is there a better flowing hard lube I should try?

Like Fecmech I use my Star on an aluminum plate with a clothes iron. My plate is 1/4" think and about 8" deep and 12" wide. The Star is mounted to the fwd LH corner and I locate the iron on the aft RH corner.

Try lowering the temp and upping the pressure in the reservoir. Don't bounce at the bottom of the stroke, pause slightly at the bottom until your left hand is there with the next boolit.

Lowering the temp will make the stuff harder and keep it off the noses. Upping the pressure and a 1/2 second pause will give it time to FLOW and fill the groove(s).

[BOOM BOOM]

Hi,
I have used the lyman dark soft stick lube (brownish) & like it. I've used the RCBS rife bullet lube which is a soft stick lube (brownish) & like it. I've used the RCBS bullet lube (green) hard stick lube & don't like it. All in a Lyman 450 lube/sizer. Heated the RCBS bullet lube (green type) would be ok, but unheated it broke my pressure screw/stem out of my sizer.

[rbwillnj]

I use Magma Blue in both of my Stars with no problems, but there are a few tricks which mostly amount to getting the feel of the system. I don't know what you are using for heat, but I have a Lyman heater base. I plug it in and walk away for about 30-40 minutes. Then I start sizing.

With a Star, you have to watch that the pressure on the Lube reservoir is not to great. Use only enough pressure on the Lube reservoir to keep the lube pump primed. Unlike other sizers, the pressure on the lube reservior is not what puts the lube in the bullet. If this preassure is too great, lube will leak out the holes in the die and fowl the top and bottom of the bullet as it passes through the die.

The lube pump provides the pressure. You can pretty much feel if the lube pump is primed. If it doesn't feel like it is primed, or if you start seeing bullets come out with gaps in the lube, turn the screw on the Lube reservoir one turn.

If you just keep sizing, the lube will be maintained at the right temperature. If you stop sizing, unplug the heater or the lube will get too hot. If the lube is coming out the set screw for the sizing die, its way too hot.

Of course the one other essential thing is to make certian that the holes in the sizing die exatly match the lube grooves in your bullet, and that the extra holes are plugged with lead shot. The top punch must be set so when the bullet is pushed into the die, and the bullet stops, the grooves are lined up with the holes. (This is pretty obvious stuff, but if you got the Star from someone else and didn't get the instructions, you might not know this as Stars work in a completely different manner than other sizers)

You can find a set of the original instructions at http://www.starreloaders.com/manuals...html#Downloads

[johnho]

RBWILLNJ, thanks for the info on the Star. I have their heating base. Maybe I have set the die improperly. I set the bullet in the die so the punch rests on top of the bullet and the arm still is touching the arm that trusts the pump. Should I set the punch at the full down stroke of the arm that pushes the punch? I wondered if that was right as when I actuate the pump with further pushing the bullet goes further through the die before the pump pumps. I maybe didn't fully understand the instructions. I bought it new so it had the directions. Mine does not have a set screw for the die however, I think that was a change they made.Where in NW NJ are you? I used to work in Sussex County.

John

[rbwillnj]

The bullet will stop its downward movement a little bit before the handle is fully down, at which point further movement of the handle actuates the lube pump. At the point at which bullet stops, the lube grooves must be lined up with the holes in the die which you have not sealed with lead shot. You have to adjust the position of the top punch to achieve this result.

[Willbird]

I guess in watching mine work I figuire the boolit IS moving while the lube pump gets worked (mine is a magma-star) but very slowly, and that to super tune the setup I would have the lube hole centered over the groove or maybe at it's rear edge when all motion is finished and lube is pumped, mine has not been real finicky about the exact setting with javalina and the heated base set right where magma sets them temp wise.

Bill