LUBE

[SHARPPOINT]

Anyone have a homemade potion to take lube off of cast bullets?

Like to try my hand a powder coating...

Thanks

[noylj]

Easiest to shoot what you have. You can order as-cast, non-lubed bullets (if you aren't going to cast your own) and save some money you can put to the powder coating.

Never tried, but Mineral spirits, turpentine, Simple Green and such will dissolve it--but not quickly. Heat and soak or, maybe, you could tumble (but most wet tumblers could be attacked by the solvents). Heat them up slowly in toaster oven and allow the lube to melt.

[Jct1911]

Boil them

[xsubsailor]

47 minutes ago, Jct1911 said:

Boil them

^^^^^^This ^^^^^^^

[SHARPPOINT]

Boiling them, will the lube float? or how would I separate the Lead/Lube

"You can order as-cast, non-lubed bullets" Yes But I have so many that I have bought over the years I would like to use these. 

"Mineral spirits" I've herd this... How long is the soaking?

I have a homemade wet tumbler made out of C900 PVC. I would not be afraid to try if I knew the right solvent??

Thanks

[Jct1911]

Floats to top, skim off. 

[Dolomite_supafly]

How many do you have?

The reason I ask is most bullet manufacturers will sell their bullets without lube.

What powder are you planning on using? Harbor Freight powders should be avoided for a couple of reasons. First, they just don't work well and second some Harbor Freight powders may have abrasives in them. I know of a few people who have claimed their Harbor Freight powder ruined their barrels when the rifling went missing. I have tried Harbor Freight powders, every one of them, and they just were not worth it. I have ruined more bullets trying to use Harbor Freight powder than it is worth.

The best powder to use is Powder Buy The Pound powder. I use the TGIC polyester with a 400 degree baking temperature. You can buy it by the pound or by the ounce and is very affordable to try different colors.

How are you planning on applying the powder coat? I have tried every single method out there and the end result can vary widely depending on the powder and how it is applied.

I apply dry powder using a vibratory tumbler. I put the bullets in first and let them run for a couple of minutes to prepare the surface for the coating. Next I slowly add in the powder while the tumbler is running until there is a nice even coat on all the bullets, usually 3-5 minutes. I pour them into a sieve and shake off the excess while using high pressure air to remove any thick coating. Be careful using air around powder coating powder, it is considered a cancer causing agent in California until it is baked. I do not arrange them, I just tumble them with the powder, pour them into a wire basket, shake off the excess and bake. I set my oven at 350 and bake them for ~20 minutes depending on the batch size.

The coating does not need to look perfect to work perfect either. I have had some that were less than 50% coated and they still worked fine. The thinner the coating the better because if the coating is a little thick on one side it can cause the bullet to become unstable or inaccurate. The reason is when you size the bullet the thick coating moves the lead causing the bullet to become out of balance. Depending on the twist rate the bullet can become very inaccurate.

What caliber is this for?

And if you need any help I can PM my number so you can call.

[SHARPPOINT]

70,000

[SHARPPOINT]

Dolomite, Thanks for all the info. I have so many 125gr 9's and really don't care much about cleaning that lead out of the barrel... If I can get the lube off to try PC I'm going to take you up on your offer of help. Thanks again