Pan lube recipe before sizing?

[Fox]

My 25 Stevens Intermediate testing has sped up a bit, another member here was nice enough to cast some 65gr bullets for me and make up a sizing die.

I have been looking at sizing though and to go down 7-8 thou I have read you need to lube the bullets first so that the lube groove sticks around in the sizing process.

I will be using BP for this job, can anyone pass along a simple hard lube recipe that works well for pan lubing with BP?

Thanks

 

[vagrantviking]

There's a few fairly current threads on this that should be easy to find.

After years of trying to reinvent the wheel I just bought a bunch from dragon lube.
Most simple bp recipes are bees wax and then various amounts of natural oil. Crisco and olive oilare favourites. Start with 50/50 and then adjadjust to the hardness you want.

 

[Fox]

I think the BP and being a harder lube is what I am looking at, it seems as though all the pan lube recipes (hard lube) that I have found are not designed for BP. I did some digging at lunch though and most people say now to use 50/50 beeswax and crisco and then adjust for the consistency you want.

I guess as long as the lube does not flow too much it should stay in the lube grooves and stop the crushing of the lube grooves in the soft lead bullets.

 

[freire]

BP loves soft lube, you got to keep your lube as soft as possible for for black powder.
My recipe is 50% beeswax 40% crisco and 10% olive oil , this makes a nice soft lube for bp and you can also pan lube with this recipe.

 

[Fox]

BP loves soft lube, you got to keep your lube as soft as possible for for black powder.
My recipe is 50% beeswax 40% crisco and 10% olive oil , this makes a nice soft lube for bp and you can also pan lube with this recipe.

All by volume or weight?

I just want it to keep the lube grooves from squishing down, I will be going from .258 to .251/.250 and I was told to lube first and then size to keep the lube grooves there.

I have seen some guys just dunk the bullets but they were not sizing, the pan lube that I have seen looked to be more like a wax ring type consistency, is that what you are looking for when it comes to BP?

 

[sawzall]

Lube doesn't have to be hard to prevent the lube grooves from disappearing. As long as it stays in the grooves prior to sizing it will stay in the grooves during sizing. I've tumble lubed Lee TL356-95-RF bullets coated with liquid Alex form .358 down to .329 and the lube grooves were still visible and had lube in them. And these were tumble lube grooves so very small to start with. And they shot just fine in my 8mm French Ordnance Revolver without leading.

 

[jethunter]

Lube doesn't have to be hard to prevent the lube grooves from disappearing. As long as it stays in the grooves prior to sizing it will stay in the grooves during sizing. I've tumble lubed Lee TL356-95-RF bullets coated with liquid Alex form .358 down to .329 and the lube grooves were still visible and had lube in them. And these were tumble lube grooves so very small to start with. And they shot just fine in my 8mm French Ordnance Revolver without leading.

This.

The strength or rigidity required of the lube in this application is a hydraulic property, not a stand-alone structural property. You need the lube to be hard enough that it stays in the groove and that should be fine.

 

[Fox]

Both of you answered my exact question, perfect.

Thanks a lot, I am sourcing beeswax and when I get the bullets that I am testing with I will have another update on here, maybe in the reloading section though.

The 25 Stevens Intermediate is moving ahead again