Removing bullet lube from a lubrisizer

[Bob Hatfield]

I am getting ready to mold some Lyman .401 bullets and load some 38-40 with black powder. My Lyman 4500 lubrisizer is half full of smokeless lube. My question is how do I get the lube out so I can put the SPG lube stick in?

Bob

[joepb]

I have an old pot that I put the sizer in and cover it water. Place on stove and bring water to boil. The lube will melt and come out. Because this is a mess I keep a pot for cleaning dies and sizer.......Joe

[Chuck 100 yd]

Warm it up and let it run out. A heat gun should get-er-done without burning the paint off. Some guys put it in a large pot of water and boil it out. The lube will float on the top of the water and can be removed in a cake to be used again later. Dry the metal parts real good to prevent rust.

That said, I have dug it out of mine using wooden spatulas and popsicle sticks. I don't like to do that. What a mess that is!

[Hawkeye2]

Disassemble as much of the lubrisizer as you can and then place all the parts in an aluminum turkey roasting pan. put it on the stove or in the oven and bring the temperature up to just under a boil. Leave it there a half hour or more and most of the lube will float to the top. let it cool, take out all the parts, dry and assemble. I just did that to mine a couple of weeks ago. I have tried to clean it out before by digging out the lube but you can't get it all out and traces of the old lube will still show up for hundreds of bullets. The best solution is to buy another lubrisizer dedicated to black powder lube.

[Lefty Dude]

The fastest way is with a heat gun. heat it up holding with a pair of Welders Gloves, and watch the lube run out. A hair drier might work also. I just happen to have a Commercial/ Industrial heat gun that I use for such a task.

[Chuck 100 yd]

I bought a heat gun from Harbor Freight. They are often on sale for about $10. Mine works great!!!

[retmech]

Take the size die out. Run the piston all the way to the bottom and lube will come out of the size die hole. Put the new lube in and run the piston down till new lube comes out size die hole. Replace die.

[Chuck 100 yd]

Take the size die out. Run the piston all the way to the bottom and lube will come out of the size die hole. Put the new lube in and run the piston down till new lube comes out size die hole. Replace die.

OP is wanting to change types and to clean out all of the old smokeless lube out before switching to BP lube. I agree with your method and would do that way before going to all the trouble to completely clean it out. The die chamber area on my RCBS lubrisizer is a pain to clean but heat will get it cleaned out the easiest.

[M. M. Wright]

Yep, I boil mine too.

[Bob Hatfield]

Thanks guys

I have a Harbor freight heat gun. I'll give it a go first.

Bob

[cas]

The easiest and fastest way I found to switch from smokeless lube to SPG was to buy a second lube sizer.

[Griff]

The easiest and fastest way I found to switch from smokeless lube to SPG was to buy a second lube sizer.

Yeppers! By gosh & by golly this IS the easiest method! Since one lubri-sizer is a Lyman and the other is a SAECO, I have to have two dies for each size I lube with BP. Not the least inexpensive option, but the quickest and least messy.

[marlinman93]

Take the size die out. Run the piston all the way to the bottom and lube will come out of the size die hole. Put the new lube in and run the piston down till new lube comes out size die hole. Replace die.

That's exactly how I do it! Simpler, faster, and no mess or smell.

[vancelw]

The easiest and fastest way I found to switch from smokeless lube to SPG was to buy a second lube sizer.

Yes. I do this for hard and soft lubes. Orange Magic needs a heater but SPG doesn't, so I grabbed an used Lyman 450 that uses the same dies and top punches as my Lyman 4500.