Removing Lee Alox

Ruger007

Ruger007

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I have a big pile of sized and lubed 45 230gr cast bullets. I lubed them with the Lee Alox. I have been playing with powder coating and would like to some how remove the alox so i can coat them.

Anyone had any luck getting this crap off?

Thanks
 
I don't recall doing any with Alox on them but have cleaned/removed the wax lube off lots of commercially bought hard cast for powder coating. I put 50 or so slugs in an old stove pot the wife doesn't use anymore...at least she doesn't now...and add water so they are completely submersed and now boil them vigorously for 10 or more minutes, stirring a bit helps separate the wax from the lube grooves. Now let it cool and the wax skim on the surface above the slugs...remove the wax before you dump the slugs otherwise you will just be pouring them thru the wax film.

Some wax's require a second boiling (usually BB does but Cactus Plains don't). After I'm finished boiling I always give them a swish in a bit of Meth. Hydrate (gas line antifreeze) or paint thinner and their done.

It might seem like a lot of messing around to some but to me it's a lot more financially viable to buy a few commercial slugs and clean them than buying a mold for every slug I might want to try out.
 
Mineral spirits or paint thinner as mentioned is the best solvent.
Alox is pretty sticky and persistent though. Might have to use acetone to do a final degreasing afterwards.
I would personally use them up as is and powder coat a new batch.
 
I have not tried a sample as is. Just figured wouldn't be very good with grease on it. I will probably just shoot them as is. Next time I cast i will powder coat them. Thought that maybe there was a easy way that I didn't know about. Solvents sound like a smelly PITA.
 
You know that mixed gas you left in your outboard tank that was left over from that last fishing trip last fall that you "think" you may have not added fuel stabilizer to? That. That right there works perfectly for removing ALOX. And after you're done doing that, you can still use it to wash engine or gun parts, start your bush pile to burning, &c.

Happy Easter.
 
Ruger007 said:
I have not tried a sample as is. Just figured wouldn't be very good with grease on it. I will probably just shoot them as is. Next time I cast i will powder coat them. Thought that maybe there was a easy way that I didn't know about. Solvents sound like a smelly PITA.
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Without trying it I can tell you it will be a waste of time, The powder might stick to the Alox but during the cook the alox will just slump to thee pan and leave the slugs sitting in a puddle.
 
easyrider604 said:
After studying PC, I'm staying with Alox. Way faster and less messier. Varsol or mineral spirits as mentioned many times above removes Alox instantly. Also great for thinning out thickened alox.
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Admittedly I spent a little money up front ($25 for a used 2 shelf convection oven, $5 for a couple of metal trays) but with the oven I purchased plus a single shelf oven I got for free I can PC about 700 bullets per hour and that's standing them up one at a time. If I went with the 'dump 'em all in a tray & bake' method I could probably do double that. Not quite as fast as liquid aloxing them but the results produce a much less smokey, cleaner to handle bullet.
 
I'm not into the powder coating for much either. Old $14.99 toaster oven from VV. Free powder from the local shop. Was wrong color.
 
The "economy of motion" principle comes into vogue here. Extra effort wrought into each bullet is wasted effort.

Removing nasty alox from a small quantity, say 150 cast bullets might be okay. Larger quantities are a waste of time. Load & shoot them, trade them, or re-melt them.

Alox never dries, befouls all the internals of your reloading die setup, & is not the lazy mans way, just the unenlightened.

Powder coating beats alox on every front, creates a super hard exterior, & fully encapsulates the bullet base. Encapsulated bullet bases means that there is no lead vaporization upon firing, unlike the difficult alox. The big ammo manufacturers never use alox, but they are now powder coating.
 
hatman1793 said:
Alox never dries, befouls all the internals of your reloading die setup, & is not the lazy mans way, just the unenlightened.
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LOL! The above is true if you are unenlightened. Honestly I was, until I figured out that Alox is best used minimally. I used to have to clean the bullet seating dies every few hundred rounds, excdessive Alox causing the bullets to seat deeper and deeper resulting in shorter cartridge OAL, because as you said, the internals were befouled.

As well, Alox gets thick over time. Thinning out with mineral spirits or Varsol, to viscosity of new, 10W - 30 Weight Motor Oil in the summer, will allow a few drops (5 drops +-) of Alox to coat two hundred 124 grn 9mm bullets and reasonably dry and lubed enough to re-size. The trick to distribute thinly and evenly is not to shake, but to roll the bullets/alox in a small margarine tub a couple of dozen times.

The thicker the viscosity, the thicker the coating and the wetter the lube remains, and vice-versa.

After re-sizing, re-coat with another few drops (5 drops +-) and let dry. Anyways, over-aloxing will cause the snot buildup in your dies. As well, over-aloxing with unthinned alox, will leave your bullets sticky.

A little goes a long long way. You will figure out just the right amount by experience. Hardly any lead fouling too.

Anyways, that is if you still want to improve your tumble lubing technique.
 
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hatman1793 said:
Powder coating beats alox on every front, creates a super hard exterior, & fully encapsulates the bullet base. Encapsulated bullet bases means that there is no lead vaporization upon firing, unlike the difficult alox. The big ammo manufacturers never use alox, but they are now powder coating.
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Will try PC one of these days when I retire.
 
I find 45/45/10 Alox / JPW (carnuba) / mineral spirits to be the easiest, quickest, and most effective. I’ve been running my 308 Bullets up to 2800 FPS without leading. The accuracy hasn’t been great over 2200 FPS but that’s not the lubes failure. The bore has always been shiney after shooting.

In all pistol rounds including full house 357 without gas check at 1500fps I haven’t had a need to go back to powder coating. The trick is light coat sizing them properly for your bore, then one more light coat. The 45/45/10 dries perfect and doesn’t foul your dies.

I prepare large batches when I do make bullets and the time it takes to cook them in batches is just too much for the benefit. The best difference I found from powder coating is they smoke less than the Tumble Lube stuff. That said the 45/45/10 doesn’t smoke all that much and is worth the time savings for me.
 
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