Pan Lube -this is my way-

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rmrix posted this 21 December 2010

I have a few pictures I want to post that might help show the ease of pan lubbing some types of bullets. It is not the only way to get it done nor the best for all designs and needs. It is just another way to do it.

I am going to add to this post a little at a time until I get it the way I want it. ...so hang in there while it builds.

Might be kind of long.

Sorry, but these first two pic's are out of order. I will try to move them as I can.

 

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rmrix posted this 21 December 2010

After you get the bullets standing up in bread pans or what ever you use fill the pan to just cover the grooves with melted lube plus a little.  

EDIT- For problems with incomplete lube fill in the grooves:  Some lube types fill just fine. Others have trouble and need some help. Bullet design has something to do with this too.

In addition to just filling the pan with room temp bullets, heating the bullets once they are placed in the pan can help completely fill the GG's with lube. How much problem voids are is somewhat dependent on the kind of lube you use. With some lube types, small voids or air bubbles show as missing lube in segments of the groove. That does not help accuracy. By heating the bullets in the pan up to 135F-175F fully filled in GG and happy bullets are produced.

For voids caused be lube pull out when the bullets are removed (pushed out of the lube cake) try removing them when it is colder or warmer.....  ...in other words try a different temp than what is not working now.  Sometimes this can help.

For tough lube release from the pan, stick it in the freezer for 15 or 30 minutes.

Generally, heat the bullets a little before pouring the melted lube in the pan and chill for release when wanting to get the lube cake out of the pan. Then allow to warm to room temp.    

 

C:Documents and SettingsrmrixMy DocumentsMy Pictures2010 Summer, fall&panLube 074.jpg

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rmrix posted this 21 December 2010

I like to use an old coffee maker to melt and store the lube. Keeps it clean and safe from dirt when not in use and safely melts the lube before each use by using the heating plate (warmer) element. This gets hot enough with out getting too hot and changing the lube in some way. 

 

C:Documents and SettingsrmrixMy DocumentsMy Pictures2010 Summer, fall&panLube 070.jpg

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rmrix posted this 21 December 2010

Some of this is a little out of order but in the far leftt hand side you can see the coffee pot full of lube being poured into the bread pan full of unlubed bullets.  

C:Documents and SettingsrmrixMy DocumentsMy Pictures2010 Summer, fall&panLube 071.jpg

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rmrix posted this 21 December 2010

After the melted lube cools and hardens up you can remove the whole cake, bullets and all, and place it over the edge of a table and press out the bullets. They come out filled even better than using a lube/sizer and less work too. If you are working with bullets having more than one diameter or what might be called tapered, then pan lubing is the only real way to do it. And, the lube ends up only where it is needed and not all over the place. 

IF with your lube you can not get the lube cake to come out of the pan, try spraying the pan with Pam cooking oil (or some brand), before putting in the bullets and pouring in the melted lube. OR put the ofending pan in the freezer for 15-30 min. and then try getting it out. Then let the lube cake warm up. Most bullets come out with full lube grooves when the cake is about skin temp..... about 90 to 100 F not that your lube will not work at some other temp. C:Documents and SettingsrmrixMy DocumentsMy Pictures2010 Summer, fall&panLube 076.jpg

By sliding the cake over the edge of the table, one row of bullets can be pushed out. Then the next row and the next... and then they can be stored in a tray of some kind until loading.

C:Documents and SettingsrmrixMy DocumentsMy Pictures2010 Summer, fall&panLube 078 (2).jpg

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DAMRON G posted this 21 December 2010

I like the coffee maker idea.Thanks for the tip.

George

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rmrix posted this 22 December 2010

George,

I would like to be a fly on the wall when you load.

I think that if we all could just see what others do at the loading bench we would learn a lot. I bet most all of us have these little tricks that could be of great help if we could pass them on.    And then, Pictures realy are worth a thousand words.

The completed tapered bullet ready to load.

C:\Documents and Settings\rmrix\My Documents\My Pictures\2010 Summer, fall&panLube 079.jpg

This is a pan of 45 ACP bullets. The lube is much thiner in the pan due to the short bullets. More care is needed to handle them. Lube brand counts as some lube works better than others in applying the pan lube.

C:Documents and SettingsrmrixMy DocumentsMy Pictures2010 Summer, fall&panLube 116 (2).jpg

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Ed Harris posted this 22 December 2010

I use a 9-inch square cornbread pan and stack .30 cal. to 8mm bullets nose-down into plastic 9mm or .38 wadcutter trays. Or use ..44 Mag or 45 ACP trays for larger calibers. Invert pan over the bullet trays and holding bullet bases against pan bottom carefully upright the pan, reposition trays to provide equal space around the pan edges and carefully remove the bullet trays to leave nice little ranks of bullets in proper marching order to pour lube around them. Let cool slowly at room temperature for a few hours first before placing pan in the frig as slower cooling reduces cracking of the lube.

When solid I remove from frig and let stand at room temperature for an hour before punching out the bullets with my thumbs over a table edge.

Favorite lube for doing this is 1 part of Dexron ATF to 4 parts of beeswax. For softer lube use 3 parts of beeswax. For blackpowder use I blend 1 part of Crisco, 3 parts beeswax and 1 ATF by liquid volume.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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gunarea posted this 22 December 2010

Thanks rmrix

   Very nice job of show and tell. A helping hand such as you have presented will be an invaluable aid for many of us. Information like this some forty years ago would have saved me being banished from doing ANY kind of reloading activity in the house. 

                                                                                                                             Roy

Shoot often, Shoot well

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JetMech posted this 23 December 2010

DAMRON G wrote: I like the coffee maker idea.Thanks for the tip.

George

I'll second that! Much easier than a double boiler.

Good tips from Ed, also. Patience is a virtue.

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4060may posted this 23 December 2010

Another way, use the 100rnd ammo box insert

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frank l jr posted this 24 December 2010

boy, when i remember45 yrs ago, fighting this kind of stuff, it is so great to see info being passed on to others, freely and with pictures to boot. absolutly great show and tell. congrats!!!!!

se ya frank l jr

:D:}

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frank l jr posted this 24 December 2010

P S the coffee pot is the best thing since rolled up toilet paper. great idea!!

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codarnall posted this 24 December 2010

He's got to be a bachelor.

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jppr26 posted this 24 December 2010

great info and may i say those are some really nice looking bullets, nice and shiny

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rmrix posted this 24 December 2010

codarnall wrote: He's got to be a bachelor.

Not hardly.    :D

 I am 56 now, had my oldest at 46 and my boy at 49.

Started loading lead in highschool in 1971 and it has been my hobby ever since.

In 1982 I found the CBA.  Best regards, Michael Rix

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bushranch posted this 24 December 2010

Keep the wax after you remove the bullets. Next time you cast sit the bullets hot from the mold into the holes and the heat of the bullets does the next melt. Works well on 400 grain .45 cal. Have not tried this method with lighter cals.Start at one end and fill side by each as you go.

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rwjshooter posted this 05 January 2011

Hi Mike

thanks for sharing your procedure my pan lubing has been not too great all sorts of problems

and would need a hammer to get them out

question? what lube do you use 

I like the coffee pot idea 

 

thanks

have a nice day

Ray

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Ed Harris posted this 05 January 2011

The beeswax-ATF mix works really well, is easy to make and relatively cheap.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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rwjshooter posted this 05 January 2011

thanks ed I will try it apprieciate the replie

Ray

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jppr26 posted this 10 January 2011

im using a hammer to get them broke loose but then they just push right out my lube is somewhat soft it is a mix of bees wax, parafin, 2-stroke oil and some old miss. lube

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