My first little babies :D
- Thread starter Super Sneaky Steve
- Start date
Rangefinder
New member
First pic looks like a 105mm... Emplacement or tow-behind? 
Looking good! Now you have to back this up with a range report.
Looking good! Now you have to back this up with a range report.
Those bullets look pretty darn good...
I can see the rough base, caused by the strange Lee mold.
I believe if I had received a brand new mold that had that kind of damage, I'd have sent it back. The base of the bullet is pretty critical for good accuracy.
However, you never know how a bullet will work, until you fling a few downrange.
If you don't want to send it back, you might see if you could find someone with access to a lathe and a 4 jaw chuck to see if he could dress the roughness out of each cavity. I'm assuming this mold was supposed to be a bevel base type? If that's the case, it should be fairly easy to turn it into a plain flat base bullet. I had a single cavity Lee mold for the .375 Winchester that I turned the bevel out of the base. It made a really nice plain based bullet.
I can see the rough base, caused by the strange Lee mold.
I believe if I had received a brand new mold that had that kind of damage, I'd have sent it back. The base of the bullet is pretty critical for good accuracy.
However, you never know how a bullet will work, until you fling a few downrange.
If you don't want to send it back, you might see if you could find someone with access to a lathe and a 4 jaw chuck to see if he could dress the roughness out of each cavity. I'm assuming this mold was supposed to be a bevel base type? If that's the case, it should be fairly easy to turn it into a plain flat base bullet. I had a single cavity Lee mold for the .375 Winchester that I turned the bevel out of the base. It made a really nice plain based bullet.
Super Sneaky Steve
New member
Yes it's .45 Colt and yes my Lee molds have some crappy burs near the bottom. I'm hoping they will straiten out after sizing.
My first attempt at pan lubing was total fail. I used two parts beeswax and one part vasiline. I think I need to make it more of a 50/50 mix to get it to stick.
It was too hard and didn't stick in the little lube rings.
I ended up tumbling this first batch out of frustration but I'll try pan lubing again soon.
Range report to come!
My first attempt at pan lubing was total fail. I used two parts beeswax and one part vasiline. I think I need to make it more of a 50/50 mix to get it to stick.
It was too hard and didn't stick in the little lube rings.
I ended up tumbling this first batch out of frustration but I'll try pan lubing again soon.
Range report to come!
I understand your wanting to "do it all".. but I've never had the urge to make my own lube. I just buy the sticks of Alox, either Lee's or Javelina. It melts down real easy over LOW heat, and solidifies pretty quickly.
If you are set on making your own lube, there are LOTS of recipes out there, but probably the best (by consensus) is called Felix Lube. Felix spent a long time working out the correct ingredients, and the technique for blending it.
S'posed to be really good stuff...
If you are set on making your own lube, there are LOTS of recipes out there, but probably the best (by consensus) is called Felix Lube. Felix spent a long time working out the correct ingredients, and the technique for blending it.
S'posed to be really good stuff...
I'm feeling generous... here's a link to the webpage that has the recipe for Felix Lube.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=543
Castboolits is probably the best forum for those interested in bullet casting. There are some seriously genius level folks over there, and they are willing to help, if you're willing to listen and learn.
Use it as an extra resource, but there are quite a few expert level folks on THIS forum as well...
Two of my favorite forums..
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=543
Castboolits is probably the best forum for those interested in bullet casting. There are some seriously genius level folks over there, and they are willing to help, if you're willing to listen and learn.
Use it as an extra resource, but there are quite a few expert level folks on THIS forum as well...
Two of my favorite forums..
FrankenMauser
New member
Skip the other brands and the Alox. Alox was never intended to be a lubricant. It was designed as a corrosion prevention coating (a sealant). It just happens to have qualities that make it acceptable (not suitable, just acceptable) as a bullet protectant. (I won't call it a lubricant, because it isn't.)
Try some White Label Lubes. http://www.lsstuff.com/lube/
You may find that you can buy White Label sticks/tubes for less than you can mix up your own lube.
(You're looking at $1.65 per stick/tube, rather than the $5-7 charged for the 'name brand' sticks/tubes.)
Last week, I spent a little over $20, and got enough White Label Lube for about 7,500 .44 Mag bullets (you can nearly triple that for .30 and .32 caliber bullets). At that price, I have absolutely no plans to start mixing my own.
Try some White Label Lubes. http://www.lsstuff.com/lube/
You may find that you can buy White Label sticks/tubes for less than you can mix up your own lube.
(You're looking at $1.65 per stick/tube, rather than the $5-7 charged for the 'name brand' sticks/tubes.)
Last week, I spent a little over $20, and got enough White Label Lube for about 7,500 .44 Mag bullets (you can nearly triple that for .30 and .32 caliber bullets). At that price, I have absolutely no plans to start mixing my own.
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Triple S, DAR lube is 50/50 vaseline/parafin with just a smidge of STP. I skip the STP but throw in a crayon to make it purty. I'm told this is what Steve Garbe sells as SPG Lube. I've pan lube with it and it works fine for me, and you don't have to go looking for any eye of newt type ingrediants. If its too tacky for your use, drop a little of that beeswax in to tighten it up
Edward429451
Moderator
I believe your trouble with pan lubing and not sticking would be due to trying to lube cold boolits. I experienced this also and found that if I warmed up the boolits then the lube stuck real good.
The easiest way I found to do it was to pan lube over a candle to get everything the same temp, and then let them cool there in place. Sticks good then.
The easiest way I found to do it was to pan lube over a candle to get everything the same temp, and then let them cool there in place. Sticks good then.
Castboolits is probably the best forum for those interested in bullet casting. There are some seriously genius level folks over there, and they are willing to help, if you're willing to listen and learn.
Use it as an extra resource, but there are quite a few expert level folks on THIS forum as well...
Two of my favorite forums.. hornetguy
Couldn't agree more, awesome resource in the stickies and members there. There's a dozen or better folks over there w/ PhD's in Boolitology. First few weeks over there I read stickies for a few hours most nights. Wide variety of backgrounds, difficult to imagine a serious CB question that couldn't get an accurate answer there.
I like it around here, too. I still dabble with J-bullets and hanging out in the reloading area.
Use it as an extra resource, but there are quite a few expert level folks on THIS forum as well...
Two of my favorite forums.. hornetguy
Couldn't agree more, awesome resource in the stickies and members there. There's a dozen or better folks over there w/ PhD's in Boolitology. First few weeks over there I read stickies for a few hours most nights. Wide variety of backgrounds, difficult to imagine a serious CB question that couldn't get an accurate answer there.
I like it around here, too. I still dabble with J-bullets and hanging out in the reloading area.
Well, if Alox isn't a lube, it sure works for me in my 45 Colt and 44Mag Blackhawks.
I lube my bullets with Alox, run them thru my Lee push thru sizer, put two more light coats of Alox on them and ready to go, no leading what so ever.
My Star and Lyman sizers are on the shelf, all my cast bullets are from Lee molds.
I lube my bullets with Alox, run them thru my Lee push thru sizer, put two more light coats of Alox on them and ready to go, no leading what so ever.
My Star and Lyman sizers are on the shelf, all my cast bullets are from Lee molds.