.45 bullets drying. Nothing special.

blacksmithden

blacksmithden

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Nothing special in particular.
Just finished the final lube on some home cast .45 bullets.
Thought I'd share a pic.

April202008113.jpg
 
Looks like a big mess to me, doesn't that stuff get all over your hands and inside your dies? What about powder contamination? What about dirt clinging to bullets in the field and going down your barrel? Can you put loaded ammo in your pocket when hunting?
 
ben hunchak said:
Looks like a big mess to me, doesn't that stuff get all over your hands and inside your dies? What about powder contamination? What about dirt clinging to bullets in the field and going down your barrel? Can you put loaded ammo in your pocket when hunting?
Click to expand...

It's 45... it will likely be used in a handgun.
 
ben hunchak said:
Looks like a big mess to me, doesn't that stuff get all over your hands and inside your dies? What about powder contamination? What about dirt clinging to bullets in the field and going down your barrel? Can you put loaded ammo in your pocket when hunting?
Click to expand...

Looks like Lee liquid alox lube, it dries like a hard varnish on the bullets, not sticky at all once dry.
 
Last edited:
ben hunchak said:
Looks like a big mess to me, doesn't that stuff get all over your hands and inside your dies? What about powder contamination? What about dirt clinging to bullets in the field and going down your barrel? Can you put loaded ammo in your pocket when hunting?
Click to expand...

It gets inside the sizing die since the bullets are lubed before they go through.

Yes, it gets on my hands. Of course, since I'm in heavy equipment maintenance, I get a heck of a lot worse than that on me.

As per the previous post. It dries...thus the title of the thread...bullets drying.

Dirt doesn't stick to them once they're dry unless you throw them on the ground.

I use them in a 1911, so hunting North of the 49th parallel is kind of frowned upon.

Any more questions???? :D

Oh, and I cast for 2 reasons. I like making up my own stuff. It's a pride thing I guess. Second, it's dirt cheap....one step away from free when you cast your own.
 
Lee Alox is wonderful - allowing us to speed up loads and still have no leading. I use far less Alox than Blacksmith does though - experimenting convinced me that only a very very light coat is necessary before sizing and another very light coat after sizing does very well. One difference though - I use Lee tumble-lube moulds. I've recovered a lot of the wax-lube bullets with the wax still on them - showing to me that the wax doesn't get out onto the rifling even on hot loads.

"A pride thing?" Sure it is - feels just fine to have your own lead making holes that you can see from the bench.

I recently calculated my .45 acp cost per box of 50 at a little less than 2 bucks - My .22s don't get much use anymore.

It would be nice to have a little more chatter here about casting.
 
Actually John, I just finished doing some shooting with a bunch of .310-180 grain stuff I made up for my 30-30. I put gas checks on them and gave them one coat of Lee bullet lube before sizing, and one after.

I used the same powder load as I do for my jacketed bullets. I was a little worried about leading the barrel, and really thought twice about the load. In the end, I thought to heck with it.

I was really amazed that there was absolutly no leading. A little nitro solvent and a few run throughs with a brush, then a couple of patches and the barrel looked like new. I guess the claim that their bullet lube stops leading might have some truth to it. Of course, the gas checks didn't hurt either I'm sure.
 
Yes, you can, as long as you don't shoot too much, get away with one coat, i've done it too. Where I ran into difficulty was an extended range session I did with my 44-40. The patterns began to spray all over. I checked the bore, and could barely see the rifling. Granted these were Plain base bullets, but it was quite a chore to get clean. I'm sure the pressure must have been rising too, although with the loads I was using, I was in no danger.
 
Adriel: Those two sizes sound like .45 sizes - I cast .45 TLFP and like them better than the RN. The flat point punches a hole in the paper rather than tearing a hole like a round nose. I lube a little, then size with a lee sizer, then relube. A taper crimp then assures perfect feeding. If you want to try some (if you do shoot .45,) send me your address. My 230 grain mould throws a 236 grain bullet.
 
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