Hornady spray lube for cast bullets before sizing?

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Rigger28
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Hornady spray lube for cast bullets before sizing?

Post by Rigger28 » Mon Nov 28, 2016 7:45 pm

I have been using Lee LA for lubing my cast bullets both for sizing and shooting but it's nasty to handle and filthy to shoot. I'm going to start using a recipe I found online with johnsons paste wax and a few other ingredients for my final bullet lube but I'm wondering if I can use Hornady spray lube on my bullets before I run them through my Lee sizing die? I would clean them off with mineral spirits before applying my final lube. Does anyone see any issues with this plan? Thanks.

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Re: Hornady spray lube for cast bullets before sizing?

Post by Lanyard » Mon Nov 28, 2016 8:41 pm

Are you talking about lubing Lee Tumble Lube type bullets? I have tried the TL bullet and I do not like them. Too messy for me. I use a luber-sizer for all of my bullets. I even make my own lube.

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Re: Hornady spray lube for cast bullets before sizing?

Post by Rigger28 » Mon Nov 28, 2016 8:57 pm

Lanyard wrote:Are you talking about lubing Lee Tumble Lube type bullets? I have tried the TL bullet and I do not like them. Too messy for me. I use a luber-sizer for all of my bullets. I even make my own lube.
Yes, on Saturday I casted about 500 of the .358" 158gr Lee TL bullet. I've casted quite a few of them in the past and haven't had an issue with them other than the messy Lee liquid alox. I make my own muzzle loader lube (for pan lubing) but I haven't made the leap into buying a lube press for pistol/rifle bullets. Any advice on the Hornady One Shot spray lube for sizing cast bullets? Thanks.

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Re: Hornady spray lube for cast bullets before sizing?

Post by scrappy » Tue Nov 29, 2016 1:07 am

Well you can sure try a handful and see what happens. It is an intriguing idea. I've cast untold thousands of the same bullet you are making. Loaded about half without sizing at all lubed with alox. The rest were a mix of sized and alox lube and sized on my Lyman press with Lyman lube. All have worked great.
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Re: Hornady spray lube for cast bullets before sizing?

Post by Rigger28 » Wed Nov 30, 2016 12:51 pm

scrappy wrote:Well you can sure try a handful and see what happens. It is an intriguing idea. I've cast untold thousands of the same bullet you are making. Loaded about half without sizing at all lubed with alox. The rest were a mix of sized and alox lube and sized on my Lyman press with Lyman lube. All have worked great.
I will give her a whirl and post a report....

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Re: Hornady spray lube for cast bullets before sizing?

Post by ron » Thu Dec 01, 2016 6:23 pm

I'll be surprised If Hornady spray-on case lube works as well as a conventional bullet lube, but you never know until you try.

A friend of mine a few years ago tested different bullet lubes by using a scale that was capable of accurately measuring the weight a 4" barrel from a 1911 colt commander. Then after finding out the weight of the clean barrel he would shoot 50 rounds of cast bullet reloads loaded with cast bullets with a hard Blue or red lube and then Lee liquid Alox and each time he would weigh the barrel after shooting each type of bullet with the two different types of lube. That way he could tell the amount of leading left in the barrel with each type of lube.

At first he wasn't sure there was much difference so he did the experiment again this time firing 100 round of each reload and this time the barrel that had fired bullets lubed with Lee liquid Alox definitely weighed less.

For hard lubes I like Lyman's Orange magic and I've never useg SPG in a lubrisizer but I've hand lubed bullets with it and think it is a good lube. I tried making my own lube with Vaseline, paraffin and Liquid Break-free with Teflon and it was ok but I really like the smell of break free so I liked it for that reason. The key to eliminating the stickiness and messiness of Lee liquid Alox ids using it with other ingredient that make it stiffer so you can use it in a lubrisizer, My friend who did the lube experiment lives in Arizona and did that because the liquid Alox was even stickier in Hot Arizona summers. But these days he powder coats all his bullets.

I'm not suggesting that you do this, and I don't think you need to fire that many rounds, maybe just 25 rounds or so to determine accuracy with the same bullets compare to other lubes you've used before and how hard it is to clean your barrel after shooting the Hornady spray lubed bullets.
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Re: Hornady spray lube for cast bullets before sizing?

Post by Rigger28 » Fri Dec 02, 2016 7:54 am

ron wrote:I'll be surprised If Hornady spray-on case lube works as well as a conventional bullet lube, but you never know until you try.

A friend of mine a few years ago tested different bullet lubes by using a scale that was capable of accurately measuring the weight a 4" barrel from a 1911 colt commander. Then after finding out the weight of the clean barrel he would shoot 50 rounds of cast bullet reloads loaded with cast bullets with a hard Blue or red lube and then Lee liquid Alox and each time he would weigh the barrel after shooting each type of bullet with the two different types of lube. That way he could tell the amount of leading left in the barrel with each type of lube.

At first he wasn't sure there was much difference so he did the experiment again this time firing 100 round of each reload and this time the barrel that had fired bullets lubed with Lee liquid Alox definitely weighed less.

For hard lubes I like Lyman's Orange magic and I've never useg SPG in a lubrisizer but I've hand lubed bullets with it and think it is a good lube. I tried making my own lube with Vaseline, paraffin and Liquid Break-free with Teflon and it was ok but I really like the smell of break free so I liked it for that reason. The key to eliminating the stickiness and messiness of Lee liquid Alox ids using it with other ingredient that make it stiffer so you can use it in a lubrisizer, My friend who did the lube experiment lives in Arizona and did that because the liquid Alox was even stickier in Hot Arizona summers. But these days he powder coats all his bullets.

I'm not suggesting that you do this, and I don't think you need to fire that many rounds, maybe just 25 rounds or so to determine accuracy with the same bullets compare to other lubes you've used before and how hard it is to clean your barrel after shooting the Hornady spray lubed bullets.
Ronco,

I'm not talking about using spray lube as a shooting lubricant, I'm talking about using it as a sizing lubricant when I run my cast bullets through a lee sizing die. Thanks, Paul.

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Re: Hornady spray lube for cast bullets before sizing?

Post by ron » Fri Dec 02, 2016 9:51 am

Rigger28 wrote:
ron wrote:I'll be surprised If Hornady spray-on case lube works as well as a conventional bullet lube, but you never know until you try.

Ronco,

I'm not talking about using spray lube as a shooting lubricant, I'm talking about using it as a sizing lubricant when I run my cast bullets through a lee sizing die. Thanks, Paul.
Sorry, I misunderstood. Thanks for the clarification. One thing I've tried is tumble-lubing before sizing but that removes a lot of the Lube from the bearing surface of the tumble-lubed bullet, so most times I feel compelled to tumble- lube them again. But I've also tried shooting both the once and twice lubed bullets and comparing the results and most times the once-lubed bullets seem to actually work fairly well, but the other thing is that the tumble lubed bullets are meant to be shot As-Cast and actually they usually work pretty good like that way.

You might want to try that, shooting them as-cast and compare your results to the sized bullets. If they shoot OK in your guns, then you can skip sizing all together.

All this experimentation uses up a lot of ammo, but as long as you're focusing on your marksmanship skills you're putting that ammo to good use.
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Re: Hornady spray lube for cast bullets before sizing?

Post by Rigger28 » Fri Dec 02, 2016 10:27 am

ron wrote:
Rigger28 wrote:
ron wrote:I'll be surprised If Hornady spray-on case lube works as well as a conventional bullet lube, but you never know until you try.

Ronco,

I'm not talking about using spray lube as a shooting lubricant, I'm talking about using it as a sizing lubricant when I run my cast bullets through a lee sizing die. Thanks, Paul.
Sorry, I misunderstood. Thanks for the clarification. One thing I've tried is tumble-lubing before sizing but that removes a lot of the Lube from the bearing surface of the tumble-lubed bullet, so most times I feel compelled to tumble- lube them again. But I've also tried shooting both the once and twice lubed bullets and comparing the results and most times the once-lubed bullets seem to actually work fairly well, but the other thing is that the tumble lubed bullets are meant to be shot As-Cast and actually they usually work pretty good like that way.

You might want to try that, shooting them as-cast and compare your results to the sized bullets. If they shoot OK in your guns, then you can skip sizing all together.

All this experimentation uses up a lot of ammo, but as long as you're focusing on your marksmanship skills you're putting that ammo to good use.
Good advice Ron, thanks. I would shoot them as cast but the sprue plate on my Lee mold seems to be slightly warped so the top bullet in the block has a very slight fin on its tail. I was hoping that sizing them would eliminate that fin. Thanks again.

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Re: Hornady spray lube for cast bullets before sizing?

Post by reloader762 » Sun Dec 11, 2016 6:52 pm

I've use Alox or Xlox tumble lube an Lee sizers for years before I bough a RCBS Lube A Matic but I still use the Alox/JPW lube from time to time when I just want to keep things simple an not have to change out the lubesizer die or heat up the toaster over to powder coat some bullets for sub sonic loads.

For sizing purposes if you don't want to use the Alox or Xlox which is White Labels version of Alox about anything is fine that is slick I've use Imperial Sizing Wax in the past,Hornady Unique case lube,WD-40 or KIWI Mink Oil paste will all do just fine. NOE makes a Bullet Base Chamfer Tool that can be used to remove any fins on the bullets base or give it a slight bevel to help with seating gas check.

The biggest problem I find individuals have using the Alox type tumble lube is they use way to much. They also use it straight without thinning it with mineral spirits an warming it up before use an often time will apply it to cold bullets. If you want to use it straight mix about 1 oz. of MS to a 4 oz. bottle of the Alox an warm it up in a cup of hot water and shake well before applying it. If you place your bullets in a pan an warm them to the touch not hot before applying the lube you will get a nice even coat on all the bullets without any clumps and your bullets will be less tacky or not at all,the addition of the Johnson's Paste Wax will remove the tackiness completely. For about 50 158 gr. pistol bullets I apply an amount of lube in the shape of a Z after a sufficient amount of shaking you can add a few more drops of lube if needed. It's much easier to add more lube if needed than having to much to start with an have a big sticky mess.

When I use the Alox tumble lube I apply two light coats once before sizing and adding the gas check if needed then another light coat afterwards. The bullet should only have a light golden sheen appearance to them. If you don't want to mess with mixing your own 45/45/10 lube,White Label Lubes has already done the work for you an it's available in 16 and 32 oz. containers premixed,it's where I buy all my stick lube for my RCBS as well http://lsstuff.com/store/index.php?main ... ex&cPath=2
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Re: Hornady spray lube for cast bullets before sizing?

Post by Downeaster » Sun Feb 19, 2017 10:26 am

Have u tried Hi Tek bullet lube? Heres a link to the thread on cast boolits.http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthr ... ek-coating
No one i know thats tried it has gone back to traditional lubes. Plus u can do hundreds at a time, your just limited by the size of your oven and tray.
Good luck, Nathan

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Re: Hornady spray lube for cast bullets before sizing?

Post by reloader762 » Sun Feb 19, 2017 4:12 pm

Downeaster wrote:Have u tried Hi Tek bullet lube? Heres a link to the thread on cast boolits.http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthr ... ek-coating
No one i know thats tried it has gone back to traditional lubes. Plus u can do hundreds at a time, your just limited by the size of your oven and tray.
Good luck, Nathan
Not sure if the question was directed at me or not but no I haven't used the Hi Tek lube and probably want. Not that it isn't a good product but I have my shake and bake process down pretty well using powder coat and I have enough to last me a good long time. I want be giving up my Alox / JPW tumble lube or my lubsizer either as I find that some loads actually shoot better accuracy and velocity wise with traditional lubes plus the process requires no electricity to lube and cure the bullets.
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Re: Hornady spray lube for cast bullets before sizing?

Post by Downeaster » Sun Feb 19, 2017 7:21 pm

It was for you, but no worries. Was just trying to provide another option if you werent aware of it.
Good luck

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