Lubing question

[jonk]

I have noticed that with the very soft lead needed for minies, if I run them through my lube sizer, just the pressure of the lube dents in the base slightly. I don't know that this impacts accuracy any, but it is annoying. Running 45/45/10 lube- beeswax, crisco, and olive oil. Or variations depending on seasonal temperature.

I can only see two possible solutions to this.

1, a custom made punch for the sizer die, that perfectly fits the base of the minie in question- might be something for moose to consider, i.e. making custom lube sizer dies to go along with their molds, with a flat bottom and conical top.

Second, just give up and do the push through routine after pan lubing.

Any thoughts on this?

[ms3635v]

I have been sizing lubed minies for years and haven't encountered this problem. I am sizing just .001"...maybe that could be the reason. I dip the minies in SPG lube then size.

[Lou Lou Lou]

I size first, then load the tube with powder and nose first bullet. Then use completed round to dip into Len's Lube. It has worked for 30+ years.

Teammates use lubrisizer with no complaints.

[Rich Foster]

I you are using a lubersizer to lube your minnies and the lube has enough pressure to dent or compress in the skirt I would back off on the amount of pressure you use with handle on top. Also where do you get lead that soft? Never seen this happen. If they shoot ok I would not worry about it. Rich

[jonk]

How much I'm sizing them down isn't the issue. Same thing happens whether I'm using my Moose 315-582 sized to .582 for one gun, or sized to .578 for another.

Pressure on the lube isn't the problem. The lube I'm using comes out quite soft, and I use just enough to fill the grooves (any more and it squeezes some into the base too).

The dents occur at four points around the base, lining up perfectly with where the lube holes are, so it's really just that the lead is that soft.

Got the lead from Brian Oster. Dunno if he's still selling lead. To be fair, I finished that batch at the end of last year; the current batch of lead seems indeed slightly harder; while I can still deform the base easily with thumb and forefinger (indicating it is plenty soft) it just seems slightly harder. So maybe it won't be an issue.

I don't like the size, then put in the cartridge routine, because I like to lube my bases and hence load nose first, the bottom groove gets no lube that way, and the lube peels off at the muzzle- while enough stays in the grooves, I don't like a big glob of lube on my muzzle.

Might try a few side by side, push through vs. lube sizer, but I really don't think it's hurting accuracy, it just irks me 'just because.'

[Maillemaker]

I have heard of people having problems if they lube the bullets and then push them through a sizer, but I have not heard of any problems with a Lyman Lubrisizer. Basically what you are saying is the pressure of injecting in the lube is deforming the bullets.

I haven't seen that with my Lyman Lubrisizer, but I haven't examined them that closely after sizing, either.

My Lyman Lubrisizer came with a 110V plug-in heater. Perhaps during the winter months when you are sizing the lube is stiffer? Perhaps heating would help?

Steve

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

I usually glue shut the holes on the sizing dies that I'm not using. I use J.B. Weld to do it. On a longer bullet I usually line up the top of the bullet flush with the top of the die, then figure out which ones are really being used. I do it just to keep things from getting excess lube in the die, but I've never heard of the pressure deforming the bullets.

[Ron/The Old Reb]

I would rather think that there is something wrong with the die. I would take the die apart and clean it good.

[jonk]

I would rather think that there is something wrong with the die. I would take the die apart and clean it good.
If that's true, I have 3 dies from S and S and Lodgewood, so there must be something wrong with each and every die.

Which there isn't. They are simple things. And that lube comes out very tacky and soft, so it isn't a hard lube requiring a lot of pressure type thing.

[Rob FreemanWBR]

I use 4 different RCBS Lubrisizers, with one set up respectively for: musket, carbine, revolver and Henry. Using RCBS dies as well, I've never encounter any issues like those raised by Jonk where the sheep pressure of the lube compresses/deforms the skirt of minies. My lube is basic beeswax and Crisco (no olive oil) - but that minor difference shouldn't matter. I lube all my rounds with their noses pointing up. In the case of musket, I shoot a Hodgson so it's important to make sure that large groove is completely filled w/lube. From there I load the sized/lube musket round nose down in charged tubes.

Jonk - have you changed anything? Dies, lubrisizer settings, lead, bullet??

You note that the lubrisizer is injecting lube as pressures high enough to dent in the skirt of minies in four distinct/consistent places. I'd suggest "field stripping" her, remove the die, wipe out any/all built up lube and examine/clean out the lube channels in the base of your device.

There is one other though/question... Do you store your minies by stacking them, with the nose of the round inside the base/skirt of the layer on top? I had a situation in the past where I found my lower level "layers" of rounds had somehow developed “expanded skirts” due to the weight of the upper layers resting upon them as they sat in storage awaiting use. Near the end of a skirmish year, as I began using the lower levels of my cast minies, I found it harder and harder to set a round into the mouth of the die for sizing, and that the die was actually scrapping off MUCH more than the usual .001 of a "normal" musket round. Now I use wooden "layers" (made of the same material that clip boards are made off) to prevent deformities, esp. in the bottom layers in the ammo can that I use to keep my musket rounds.

IF you ever do track down the issue(s) plaguing your lubriszer, I’d be VERY interested to know what your learned, and how you remedied it…

[Ron/The Old Reb]

Ok! Have you tryed sizing a Minnie with out lubing it to see if the skirt is still dented? It may not be going into the die perfectly square.

[Yancey von Yeast, 8073]

I usually glue shut the holes on the sizing dies that I'm not using. I use J.B. Weld to do it. On a longer bullet I usually line up the top of the bullet flush with the top of the die, then figure out which ones are really being used. I do it just to keep things from getting excess lube in the die, but I've never heard of the pressure deforming the bullets.

Gary says that he does this to keep excess lube out of the die.

He really does this simply to keep from loosing any precious lube. That stuff costs money, you know.

He once claimed to be be unique and frughal but his wife described him quite differently. Just saying.......

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

Yancey von Yeast is a known spendthrift who wastes with wanton abandon. He only washes his cleaning patches five times before throwing them away, and between relays, you’ll find him on the firing line looking for dropped caps.

My favorite lube is bear grease and bees wax, and I have an ample supplies wax from one friend who keeps bees, and bear grease from another friend who hunts bear. I cut patches last year for a few days out of material given to me by another pard, and gave half of them to team mates. I have also been known to go to the local stained glass window shops who give me their scrap lead came (they thank me for saving them a trip to the recycling center.

Yeah, I've elevated frugality to an art form....

[Yancey von Yeast, 8073]

Gary is just jealous because I figured out that you can return dull worn out files to Sears under their tool warranty for nice new sharp ones at no cost. Is there a problem with threadbare cleaning patches? I think not!

[Maillemaker]

Hey I'm all about saving money. I shoot my practice shots into my "bullet bucket" bullet trap to recycle the lead!

Somebody here turned me on to the gauze 2" squares to use as cleaning patches.

200 2"x2" 100% cotton gauze patches for $1.34:

http://www.vitalitymedical.com/12-ply-cotton-gauze-pads-by-medipak.html

They are not quite as nice as cotton flannel patches but way cheaper. They are just as absorptive as the flannel patches but if you run them over a metal burr they tend to pull off lint much more easily than the flannel.

Steve

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

Other than my previously mentioned shortcomings for Yancey, he's fairly well tolerated by the rest of our team. and even his wife thinks he's economical to keep around.

I've never tried gauze pads for cleaning. I actually like the material I'm getting for free better than the military patches I used to use. Regardless of what Yancey tells you, free doesn't always mean good.


Here's another tip from Yancey's workbench - You don't need to buy release agent, Vaseline petroleum jelly works just fine.