Pan Lubing

[Old Time Hunter]

Anyone have a clean, easy way of pan lubing without making a mess and getting good coverage?

Especially with SPG, never seem to get it right. End up hand rubbing each bullet after the hardened SPG falls off as I pull them from the tray.

Is your final step running them through the sizer again?

[BrentD]

Are you shooting black or smokeless. If the latter, try liquid Alox and forget about pan lubing.

I do a lot of bp shooting however and so I do panlube for the odd groover I shoot. When lubing with SPG, line my bullets up in a 9x9 square, metal, cake pan - about 100-121 bullets in rows of 10 or 11 bullets so you get an idea for spacing.

Poor in lube to just above the top groove and let sit until the lube is solid and cool enough that it has started to pull away from the sides of the pan. If you go too soon when the lube is still a bit too warm, you will have trouble. if you wait too long and the lube gets too cold, it will also be a problem.

turn the pan over and let the cake with bullets fall into your hand. If it doesn't have someone push on the back of the pan with their thumbs while removing the pan for you.

Then with the cake in your hands, push the bullets through one at a time with your thumbs. Yes, they may get a bit sore after a bit. when all the bullets are put of the cake you can fill the holes that are left in the cake with more bullets and then heat the pan in a shallow frying pan of water or similar and repeat as needed. This is easier than standing up the bullets one at a time in rows and columns as you must do the first time.

The lead wax will be just a little bit warm when you push out the bullets, but not too warm. Experimentation is required but watch for the cake to pull from the sides of the pan. That is my cue.

Brent

[Chuck 100 yd]

I stand the bullets on their bases in a couple very small stainless saucers and melt the SPG slowly until completely melted. Pour in around the bullets until the lube grooves are just covered. Let set to harden and I usually put them in the freezer for half an hour. Pop the cake of lube and bullets out of the saucer and just press on the bullets noses one at a time. They will pop right out of the lube cake and be filled with lube. I then push them through a push through sizer of the size wanted.

[Old Time Hunter]

I must be letting them cool too long. When I try and pop them out of the cake, the lube flakes off the grooves leaving voids.

Do either of you warm the bullets up first? Friend says that is the key for him.

[BrentD]

No, I do not. They are room temp in my kitchen.

[mikld]

Some lubes just won't "punch out" of the lube cake for me. I switched to a "cookie cutter" to remove bullets from the cake. I made mine from stainless steel tubing reamed a few thousandths larger than bullet diameter, tapered one end of the 6" piece of tubing.

[Ray Newman]

I have better results when I warm the bullets with a hair dryer.

Also, melt the SPG or any lube in a double boiler to prevent overheating and ruining its lubricating properties.

I load and shoot the bullets as cast. Found no need to run them through the lubri-sizer.

My routine follows how Brent pan lubes.

[Chuck 100 yd]

If you size those bullets first,you will have to remove any lube that is on the bullets before pan lubing.
For some reason,the SPG dont want to stick to a bullet that has any other kind of goop on it. Wash them in Dawn dish soap and dry first.

[perry owens]

With SPG costing $10 a stick here in the UK I make my own from beeswax, Crisco and Canola oil. I use the technique described by Brent but I find that adding 5% of anhydrous lanolin to the mix makes it stick to the grooves better. Lanolin is the stuff that waterproofs sheep - you can buy it from DIY cosmetic suppliers.

Perry Owens

[w30wcf]

I find the best thing for me is to first put the bullets into a 50 round plastic cartridge tray and then place them in the lube pan.
Once the lube is still slightly warm to the touch, I place the tray over the bulletsand flip the pan upside down.

The bullets are then pushed out of the lub and back into the tray. The tray provides additional support during the bullet removal.

w30wcf

[BrentD]

Interesting idea W30- Thanks.

[gundownunder]

My lube is a 3 part mix of beeswax, lithium grease, and liquid alox. I've used this mix from 32f to 110f and my 1894cb 357 can push over 100 rounds of 175gr bullets down range at 1750 fps without any signs of leading.

I use a 9" cake tin. First time, I stand the bullets up in the tin and add the melted lube. After that I use a cutter to remove them and all subsequent batches are done by standing the bullets up in the holes left by the previous batch and only adding enough melted lube to get the level correct. Once all the bullets are in place I use a hot air paint stripper gun to melt the lube and heat the bullets, which seems to aid in adhesion of lube to bullet. My bullet cutter is made from a piece of tube cut from a metal golf club but a cartridge case works well too. I add a wooden disk at the top of the cutter so I can push down on it without hurting my hand, and drop a bolt through the tube to pop the bullets back out the bottom of the tube, this will involve drilling a hole through the primer pocket if you use a cartridge case.

Some people just keep cutting one after another and take the bullets off the top of the stack, but I find that by popping them back out the way they came stops the lube smearing all over the front of the bullet where it isn't needed or wanted. I size before I lube. A 2 second squirt from a can of pressurized olive oil on 500 bullets is more than enough lube for the sizer die. If I'm adding a PB gas check to my 357 bullets I will add that after lubing by running them again through the sizing die butt first, otherwise the cutter tends to hang up on the gas check during lubing.

[JReed]

I use a fired case with the spent primer left in it as a cookie cutter. The air being compressed in the case is enough to push the bullet back out of the case no mess no fuss.

[vancelw]

I use a fired case with the spent primer left in it as a cookie cutter. The air being compressed in the case is enough to push the bullet back out of the case no mess no fuss.

See, I wouldn't have thought to leave the primer in....Hope I can remember that if I ever try pan lubing....better write it down....somewhere

[JReed]

Yep. I figured out when first trying pan with my 45-70 made life easy.