22lr Bullet/Case Lube: Why?

[uda123cat]

Please forgive the ignorance. I am interested in pursuing the Cutting Edge concept of handloading 22lr rounds with their new line of upcoming solid copper bullets. After reading quite a few forums I became completely confused regarding bullet/case lube. 1) One area of discussion seems to suggest the entire case must be lubed so as to prevent sticking of the case in the chamber. 2) Another area of discussion seems to suggest that the bullet itself and not so much the case needs to be lubed to prevent "leading". 3) Then there is the vague but consistent statement that lubing the bullet/round is absolutely necessary to obtain the most accuracy out of the round. Clearly ammunition from Lapua, Eley, Wolf are very well lubricated entirely with one substance or another. So, I have three questions: 1) should the entire round or just the bullet be lubed?, 2) How, or what does the lube do to improve accuracy, and 3) why not just use any of the case lubes commercially available from various manufacturers used in reloading dies, like Hornady spray, royal jelly, RCBS, etc. ?

Thank you

 

[DirtySteve]

Just the bearing surface of the bullet would need lube. The lube prevent or at least slows down any leading in the barrel. Never heard of Royal Jelly. Hornday spray (One Shot) would not work I would think. I don't think you could get a thick enough coating. The lube must last until the bullet exits the barrel other wise it will lead up very quickly. The lube acts as a lubricant. I would think, No actual experience with lubing 22 ammo, that Thompson Blue Angel(or even one of their softer lubes) or Red Rooster lube would work.

 

[JMA]

Just the bearing surface of the bullet would need lube. The lube prevent or at least slows down any leading in the barrel. Never heard of Royal Jelly. Hornday spray (One Shot) would not work I would think. I don't think you could get a thick enough coating. The lube must last until the bullet exits the barrel other wise it will lead up very quickly. The lube acts as a lubricant. I would think, No actual experience with lubing 22 ammo, that Thompson Blue Angel(or even one of their softer lubes) or Red Rooster lube would work.

Cutting Edge .22 LR bullets are monolithic, solid copper, lathe turned.
No leading

 

[DirtySteve]

Cutting Edge .22 LR bullets are monolithic, solid copper, lathe turned.
No leading

Well that changes things.

 

[uda123cat]

Ah, OK, so the thought then, is that if the CE bullets are solid copper lathe turned (and they are), then there is no reason to worry about leading, and no need to coat them. As a result then, the entire issue of coating the bullets goes away and they should act more like center fire copper solids/copper jacketed bullets. Great. Thank you for all the help.

Dan