Lots of smoke with Alox

H

Huskerguy

New member
Cast some 158 grain SWC and used the complete Lee system including Lee Alox as the lube. I pushed with 3.2 grains of Titegroup.

I have some purchased lead that have been run through a sizer and lube tool and had some smoke but this was pretty impressive. I was shooting these at an indoor range and we have fans.

Is this normal with the Alox system? I have heard people say that TG is bad about smoking because it is such a fast powder, I have no idea if that is true or not. Anyone have some ideas on this?

BTW - they were very accurate.
 
M

Mike / Tx

New member
TXGunNut is right. When I started out I used the straight LLA, and it looked like I was shooting black powder loads. I have since refined my process a bit and now use what is referred to as Recluse lube or simply 45/45/10. Instructions on how to make can be found here,
Tumble Lube Made Easy

Using the 45/45/10, you wil find it dries MUCH faster, and like mentioned when you get it just right, you will only have a sheen on your bullets and not a coating you can actually see. I have seen where some skimp out on the cooking down of the JPW, but personally, I found it actually works a bit better to do as the instructions say. I make up a big batch and store it in a cheap SS locking lid container I got at one of the Dollar stores or similar. I use a popsicle stick with a glob of about 1/4" on the end to do up 50 - 100 bullets. I personally use a heavy duty ziplock freezer bag for mine, but it works equally well in other containers.

If you do a few searches of the shooting forums you will find that some powders DO induce a bit more smoke than others, but if your getting good accuracy with your loads and one powder in particular, I would simply look at adjusting your amount of lube until you find a happy medium.

Myself, I use two coats of it, once before sizing and once after. Between the two I can usually see a little build up in the lube grooves on the boolits but on the actual bearing surfaces there is simply the sheen to be noted. I will also admit that with my 454 loads I don't mind going a bit heavier with it as I would rather it smoke a bit than lead up the barrel with the loads running in the mid to upper 1500fps range. Might work just as well with a tad less lube, but if it ain't broke....

Hope this helps.
 
H

Huskerguy

New member
Recipe

Hey Mike, thanks for the recipe. I looked it over briefly before heading to work but it looks interesting. sounds like he has hit on something the works for him and others as well. I will give it a try. Thanks again

I thought I was being pretty sparing with the Alox but apparently not or else it really doesn't matter.
 
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