L Alox When to Lube ?

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  • Last Post 11 December 2016
mrbill2 posted this 07 December 2016

I just started to use L Alox to lube my bullets. My question is: Do you lube before gas checking and sizing or after sizing and checking ? I was wondering if lube under the gas check would be good or bad.

Mr. Bill2

mrbill2

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R. Dupraz posted this 07 December 2016

I shoot both PB in pistols and GC in some rifles and lub after. Don't know if it really matters but then the Alox isn't scraped off during sizing and there is a uniform coat over the entire bullet upon launch. Works fine for me.

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shootcast posted this 10 December 2016

Hey Bill, whatever you have been doing seems to work. When I used liquid alox Lee sujested tumble then gas check and size ( Lee push type tool ) also a second coat for rifle loads. Seemed to work about as good as anything else. But be careful handling them. That stuff stays sticky. Good dirt magnet. 

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mrbill2 posted this 10 December 2016

What I was wondering if the lube on the rifle bullet when seated would be good or bad. If neck tension doesn't mater all that much, lube between the bullet and the neck should work OK.  After I lube and size I have been running the bullets through the die a second time to remove as much lube from the part of the bullet that's inside the neck. Don't know if that's just wasting my time or not?

I'll have to wait till the planet tips and the solar vortex moves north before I can get any shooting done.

Chilly Willy

aka mrbill2

mrbill2

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OU812 posted this 10 December 2016

I like sizing and seating dry. Sizing and seating Gas Checks without alox will add more resistance to square the gas check best, but too much resistance may also distort gas check if your Lee sizing stem is not perfectly flat and more wide at the tip. So keep a close eye on seated checks. You may have to size in two steps to prevent gas check distortion. Gas check shape and trueness is very important for better rifle accuracy.

I then lube after sizing and seating to prevent getting  Alox between gas check and bullet shank (checks need to stay on during flight). I am sure someone will disagree...these are just my opinions.

NOE sells sizing stems that are more flat and broader at tip of stem. With LEE you may get a good stem or you may not.

 

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John Alexander posted this 11 December 2016

mrbill,

I think the evidence (something we don't have on every CB question) is very strong that worrying about shot to shot variations in neck tension is a waste of time.  My opinion is that, as you suspect, you are wasting your time running the bullet through the sizing die to remove the LLA.

John

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David Reiss posted this 11 December 2016

Can't say if this is fact or voodoo guessing, but the tacky Alox might help as sort of an adhesive to help gas checks stay on. I know it keeps plinking bullets stuck together pretty good when stored in bulk. 

David Reiss - NRA Life Member & PSC Range Member Retired Police Firearms Instructor/Armorer
-Services: Wars Fought, Uprisings Quelled, Bars Emptied, Revolutions Started, Tigers Tamed, Assassinations Plotted, Women Seduced, Governments Run, Gun Appraisals, Lost Treasure Found.
- Also deal in: Land, Banjos, Nails, Firearms, Manure, Fly Swatters, Used Cars, Whisky, Racing Forms, Rare Antiquities, Lead, Used Keyboard Keys, Good Dogs, Pith Helmets & Zulu Headdresses. .

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onondaga posted this 11 December 2016

taking the lube off in a die is just that...taking off lube. The Lee instructions are good, one coat for bullets that are loaded unsized/unchecked. Sized/checked bullets are tumble lubed once before and once after size/check, but bullets loaded to rifle load levels are tumble lubed twice at finish size. Yes, that actually means a total of 3 times for rifle bullets that are sized/checked.

Application of tumble lube correctly is the biggest hurdle for many. Warmed bullets and warmed tumble lube that has been thinned to Hershey syrup viscosity correctly works well when the lightest complete coat of lube that does not drip is applied.to the tumble. The amount of slop in your tumble container when you dump or drainage from your bullets indicates your amount of error.

 

Gary

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onondaga posted this 11 December 2016

Lube under the gas check that you asked about is of no consequence, however if your bullet as cast size and then sized/checked size really don't cause your checks to be swaged onto your bullets then you have a problem. This occurs when either the bullet shank size is undersize or the check material thickness is insufficient to take a swage for the amount of sizing you do. You can feel this going on when the check/size operation takes too little effort. You can feel it if the bullet and check pass too easily through the size/check die.

This is not hopeless, the casting mold, if aluminum, is easily honed with a cast hex slug and abrasive to make only the bullet shank bigger, or custom checks can be made with tools you can obtain to your specification for a particular check material thickness..

Don't convince yourself that lube somewhere somewhere along the line effects the fit or retention of gas checks. Gas checks that fit the bullet shank and match your needs for your size/check die do put checks on so tight you can't pull them off by hand no matter how they were lubed.

 

Gary

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mrbill2 posted this 11 December 2016

Thanks for all the replies. I will take all those into account as soon as I can and see what happens on the next time I head to the range.

Thanks mrbill2

PS. the Web page is coming along and getting better. Thanks to you guys for all the hard work !!!

Till next time

mrbill2

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David Reiss posted this 11 December 2016

Just moving the thread back to the latest.

David Reiss - NRA Life Member & PSC Range Member Retired Police Firearms Instructor/Armorer
-Services: Wars Fought, Uprisings Quelled, Bars Emptied, Revolutions Started, Tigers Tamed, Assassinations Plotted, Women Seduced, Governments Run, Gun Appraisals, Lost Treasure Found.
- Also deal in: Land, Banjos, Nails, Firearms, Manure, Fly Swatters, Used Cars, Whisky, Racing Forms, Rare Antiquities, Lead, Used Keyboard Keys, Good Dogs, Pith Helmets & Zulu Headdresses. .

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