[newfie bullet]

I just cast some lee 430-240 -swc to try in my 1894 sporter 44 mag. I'm planing on shooting them less than 1000 fps . Wondering can I just tumble lube them a couple ties is enough or should i dip them the second coat like Ranch Dog suggest?
Also can those micro grove bullet be sized and lubed in my 450 lyman sizer luber?
I am planning on buying a couple of ranch dog moulds 454-290- gc and the 44-265-gc and I like the 450 sizer lubing tenique a little better than the LLA.
alan

 

[edk]

Tumble lubing should suffice. I use RANCH DOG's method because the the TLC 432 265 is used for rifles mostly...or to de-lead a revolver barrel. I tried the RD's with conventional lube and they didn't clean the barrel like the dip lubed boolits did. I'll try dip lubed in a non gas check boolit next time I cast.

LLA is messy, but for the financially challenged beginner it is the best thing going. I dip lube several designs and then run them through my STAR lubricator/sizer to clean them up a bit.

If you size them very much, the micro-grooves tend to disappear...aren't real accurate that way either.

 

[janott]

I have ran micro grove bullets through my 450 sizer before. You will know how much to turn the handle when applying lube and get then lubed properly.

 

[Kart29]

So what is Ranch Dog's method?

 

[janott]

Those types of bullets are a shoot as cast so I would guess that he pan lubes, but sizing in a lube sizer doesn't mean that your sizing them because you can use a sizer a tad larger than the bullet and just lube the bullet, and in this case a 44 magnum, .429 so using a .430 or larger would do the same without the mess.

 

[imashooter2]

So what is Ranch Dog's method?

Way too much trouble if you are asking me, but it certainly does work well for Ranch Dog.

http://www.marlinowners.com/forums/index.php/topic,27079.0.html

 

[Pard]

and they say pan lubing is messy.

Sure glad I miss out on all that fun

 

[Ranch Dog]

So what is Ranch Dog's method?

I dip all my bullets. I have refined my technique a bit reference the link to "Dipping Alox" that ima posted, one day I will try to update it. Now I fit my gas checks on the bullets I cast and size them pretty quick. I just spray them with WD40 for the pass. Using a small crock pot, I dip the body of the bullet in hot Alox and set them on cookie sheets to dry. I control the consistency of the Alox in my pot to provide the desired, one dip, volume in the Micro-Bands. Usually, when I start a session the Alox in my pot is very thick from sitting. I cut it to the desired consistency with oder-less mineral spirits. On very small bullets, like my 100-grain 380 Auto bullet, I pick them up by the nose with a small channel lock plier. I pick them up, dip them, and set them down very quickly. They dry in about two hours and then are passed through the sizer again at my convenience.

I've gotten where I do 1K of bullets in about 2 hours start to finish. So, looking at what I shoot each year I probably invest about 40 hours in this process over my casting season which runs the first six months of the year. Compared to the time I devote to casting, reloading and shooting, that is a drop in the bucket for up to 20K worth of bullets. For me, it is the alox that I want to shoot as it has filled my needs extremely well pushing lead to jacketed velocity.

 

[newfie bullet]

Ranch dog .
do this post mean you have updated you technique , by only dipping them once instead of tumbling them let dry and dip them after?
Can I use my 450 lyman sizer to size and lube your bullet mould instead of using the LLA?
alan

 

[Ranch Dog]

Ranch dog .
do this post mean you have updated you technique , by only dipping them once instead of tumbling them let dry and dip them after?
Can I use my 450 lyman sizer to size and lube your bullet mould instead of using the LLA?
alan

Yeap, I've eliminated the tumble before the dip. Yes, you can use your Lyman lube-sizer with traditional lubes.

What happens with the crock pot I store my Alox in is as it sits, the mineral spirits evaporate off and it thickens. As it gets time to work with bullets again, I thin it out to get the consistency I need.