Bullet lube nightmare

[chassisman]

I was gifted a RCBS lube a matic. I bought RCBS lube and proceeded to lube 500 148gr HBWCs. I used a heater to bring the temp up, but not enough to melt it.
What a mess! There was so much lube on the outside of the bullet that it ended up on the cartridge case after bullet insertion. the die and punch are the correct size.

Where did I go wrong?

 

[K22]

Are you making Hollow Base Wadcutters?

The reason I ask is that I have never heard or seen of casing Hollow Base Wadcutters. All the one I have ever used and seen are factory made swaged. If you are swaging them then I understand the post but can't offer any solution to the problem cited.

If these are factory Hollow Base Wadcutters then they should already be lubed and there is no need to lube them and if fact they should not be lubed.

 

[rockhound78]

Sounds like your size die might be larger than the boolits and when you ran the boolit into the lube/sizer, lube migrated to the surface of the boolit, Possibly you turned the lube feed wrench too much and had too much lube pressure. Depending on the lube you are using, its possible to get the lube too warm. Not to where it melts, but where it flows quite easily. Warm the sizer to where the lube flows well and turn off the heater. If it gets to where you have to crank down on the lube wrench to fill the lube grooves, turn the heater back on for a bit. The heater might have an adjustment to control temperature.

I think NOE makes a HB wadcutter mould. If not them, then MiHa precision might make one

 

[PhilC]

Sounds like your size die might be larger than the boolits and when you ran the boolit into the lube/sizer, lube migrated to the surface of the boolit, Possibly you turned the lube feed wrench too much and had too much lube pressure. Depending on the lube you are using, its possible to get the lube too warm. Not to where it melts, but where it flows quite easily. Warm the sizer to where the lube flows well and turn off the heater. If it gets to where you have to crank down on the lube wrench to fill the lube grooves, turn the heater back on for a bit. The heater might have an adjustment to control temperature.

Good points!

My questions for chassisman...

Which lube die did you use, what number is stamped on the die?

You don't need to heat most lubes much at all. In winter I set my lube heater so it's just warm to my hand, maybe 100deg. If room temp is around 70 or so, you'll only need a small amount of heat, don't overdo it. Run a bullet into the die and lightly turn handle to push lube into the die. If the grooves aren't full, turn a little more until they are.

I use White Label 2500+ for everything, pistol to rifle, and it works just fine. I drive gas checked cast rifle bullets to 2000+fps with no leading.

 

[rockhound78]

Second a recommendation for White Lable lubes. I use Caranuba Blue lube from them, but have used 2500+ too.

 

[243winxb]

the die and punch are the correct size.

The bullet needs to be larger in diameter then the die.
Only crank the handle a tiny bit . To much pressure makes lube flow every where.

Heat, to much? I use RCBS Pistol lube and air temperature of 70 to 80 degrees F works well. No heater.
IN winter, basement is 60f, then i wrap an old heating pad around my Lyman 450 sizer.

 

[DirtySteve]

Possibly too much pressure on the lube.. Cranking it down to fast. The softer the lube the less pressure for it to flow.

 

[PhilC]

Possibly too much pressure on the lube.. Cranking it down to fast. The softer the lube the less pressure for it to flow.

Too much pressure, bullet diameter too small for die, or lube too soft.

 

[chassisman]

The bullet needs to be larger in diameter then the die.
Only crank the handle a tiny bit . To much pressure makes lube flow every where.

Heat, to much? I use RCBS Pistol lube and air temperature of 70 to 80 degrees F works well. No heater.
IN winter, basement is 60f, then i wrap an old heating pad around my Lyman 450 sizer.
View attachment 1658694

My heater is set at 110F

 

[DShortt]

My heater is set at 110F

110 is probably at least 20° too much unless it's a stiff lube to begin with.

First, run a bullet through the sizing die and don't worry about the lube at all. If the sides aren't shiny, either your sizing die is too big, your bullets are too small, or both.

If your bullets are, in fact, shiny on the sides, you *may* need heat if the lube is of a stiff consistency. I still think 110° is too much unless it's a lube designed for velocities above 2,000fps. Start out at about 90° if it's a high-velocity lube. Put some pressure on the lubesizer stem. Not like you're torquing a bolt! Just enough to tell pressure is being applied. Then run the bullet through the sizer and see if the lube is evenly applied in the lube grooves. You may also have adjustment issues. If you run the bullet in too far, then lube will be all over the nose. Not far enough and you'll never get all the grooves filled.

If you don't have a manual, find it, buy/download it and read completely through it.

Good luck. It's not particularly difficult, but the first time or two around it can be confusing.

 

[chassisman]

110 is probably at least 20° too much unless it's a stiff lube to begin with.

First, run a bullet through the sizing die and don't worry about the lube at all. If the sides aren't shiny, either your sizing die is too big, your bullets are too small, or both.

If your bullets are, in fact, shiny on the sides, you *may* need heat if the lube is of a stiff consistency. I still think 110° is too much unless it's a lube designed for velocities above 2,000fps. Start out at about 90° if it's a high-velocity lube. Put some pressure on the lubesizer stem. Not like you're torquing a bolt! Just enough to tell pressure is being applied. Then run the bullet through the sizer and see if the lube is evenly applied in the lube grooves. You may also have adjustment issues. If you run the bullet in too far, then lube will be all over the nose. Not far enough and you'll never get all the grooves filled.

If you don't have a manual, find it, buy/download it and read completely through it.

Good luck. It's not particularly difficult, but the first time or two around it can be confusing.

At 110F, the lube is still pretty solid. I think maybe the bullets are undersized.

 

[243winxb]

My heater is set at 110F

To high. Dont want to melt the lube.

 

[Fire Dog]

It's many years ago now that I was sizing and lubing with my STAR lube-er/sizer and most of the stick lubes needed a bit of warming up to flow correctly and that was accomplished by just putting a goose neck table lamp {remember when light bulbs were hot due to having tungsten filaments?} on its side and letting the heat warm up the sizer and lube till it flowed into the grooves of the bullet.
You could control the heat by simply bringing the lamp closer or further away to keep a "Just Right:" consistency in the lube.
The best lube had a bit of bees wax and smelled great!
The bees wax once cooled stayed put and did not make such a mess as the softer lubes.
I do cringe and keep my fingers crossed for my health remembering a blue lube that existed for a while in the mid 60's that had asbestos fiber in it....! It was supposed to aid heat resistance/lubricity to the fired projectile. It was trash and one use had all of us going back to the bees wax fortified lube even though it was a bit more expensive.

 

[PhilC]

If you have calipers measure the "as cast" diameter in 2 or 3 spots on 5 - 6 bullets. If the average is smaller than your lube sizing die...

Ideally, you want cast bullets to be .0015" - .002" larger than bore diameter. For example, 44 Rem Mag bore diameter is .429", cast bullets should be sized .431" - .432" to ensure full groove contact.

If your cast bullets are undersize you will have poor accuracy and leading.