It has been a long time coming, but I finally bought a serious bullet lubrisizer, and I could not be happier. I’m kicking myself for not taking the plunge sooner.
I started lubing my own bullets back about 2014. I went the cheap route. I picked tumble lubing. That is, I’d put the cast bullets in an empty sherbet tube, squirt in some lube, and swish it around. That was fine while I was doing small batches with a single-stage press. However, when I started working with my Hornady LNL Auto-Progressive, I had to stop way too often, clean lube out of the bullet seating die, and go back and re-calibrate it each time. If I did not, the buildup of lube would quickly change the seating depth of the bullet. That could get dangerous with a short round like 9mm where a difference of a couple thousandths can radically alter pressure.
About a year or so ago, I started pan-lubing. That reduced but did not eliminate the problem. Some folks have an easy time popping bullets out of their waxy matrix. I made a mess of it on two attempts and put everything aside while I contemplated a solution.
The advent of the Rossi M92 in 44 Mag got me thinking again. I had a Lee C429-240-SWC mold and a pile of gas checks, but I was going to have to buy a different sizer die to fit the generous dimensions of the Rossi’s bore. I decided to look for something different. A used RCBS Lube-a-matic was on EBAY at a steal of price and I snagged it.
I collected up all the bullets I had from some of my previous lubing experiments. My biggest batch was over 300 from my Lee 358-125-RF mold that I use for 357 Mag and 9mm. Some were sized and lubed. Some were not. Some were still stuck in the matrix of lube while I figured out a new way to extract them. My solution was simple: boil the whole lot in water and free the bullets from the waxy lube. Once all the lube had floated to the top, let things cool. Once cool, peel the layer of lube off the top of the pan and retrieve the cleaned bullets.
This worked great. The lube I was using was a homebrew that was 50% Beeswax and 50% Paraffin. Once I had it collected, I could remelt it and pour it in the Lub-a-matic. What I ended up with was kind of a zebra-striped hybrid that took on the black stripes of the RCBS lube that was still in the barrel. Once that is used up, I bought some White Label 50/50 sticks. It is the original NRA formula in hollow 1-inch sticks , and I can order those cheaper on Ebay than I can make them myself.
I ordered a heater, which although not necessary, is handy. You can give the Lube-a-Matic a softer lube that will dispense without heat, but I wanted a wax that stayed hard at ambient temperature.
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