lubing jackets

[LC Smith]

Im looking for a way to do a nice, even lube on the jackets. I do not have a tumbler. Are there any other methods that do a nice job?

[rbt50]

how about a lube pad ,i have used them from to time.

[reed1911]

depending on what you are lubing them for; I use Hornady one-shot on them for sizing down and pinch trimming. For CS and PF I just keep my thumb and forefinger lightly lubed and roll them between the two as I pick them up and put them into the press.
For the one-shot I just lay them out on newspaper spray them down, roll them around and spray them again.

[dr71749]

been several years when we made br bullets, but seemd like we used a mixture of hydrous lanolin and Vasaline, melted it then soaked it up in a bed sheet. fold the sheet to make a trough and then roll the jackets back and forth a few times. just took a few minutes to do a thousand or so. treatment on the sheet would do many thousands before you needed to retreat.
Don

[Al Nyhus]

Im looking for a way to do a nice, even lube on the jackets. I do not have a tumbler. Are there any other methods that do a nice job?

Honestly.....you really need a tumbler for lubing the jackets. Uniform lube is critical for maintaining consistent dimensions, especially in the point up step.

I use a Thumblers Tumbler 12 lb. model....works great.

[LC Smith]

Ok, one of my kids have a Lortone tumbler they used to polish rocks. I am going to see if I can get a new tub for it.

[Al Nyhus]

Ok, one of my kids have a Lortone tumbler they used to polish rocks. I am going to see if I can get a new tub for it.

You don't need an additional tub for it....just find a glass jar with a tight fitting lid that fits inside the tub you have. Add the lube amount you need for the number of jackets/cores you're doing to the inside of the jar in a thin line along the length of the jar, screw the lid on and tumble.

You don't want the jar to be centered in the tub or you won't get any tumbling action. If the inside of your tumbler tub is round, jam some foam rubber, etc. between the inside of the tub and the jar to 'off center' the jar in the tub. My Thumblers tumbler tub (jeez...what a mouthful:D ) is six-sided so I don't need to do this....the glass jar just flops around in there....which is the whole point.

I use a cheap hair dryer to warm up the lube and the jar before putting the jackets in. When putting the jackets in the jar, I rotate the jar so the thin line of lube is 'up' @ the 12:00 position and then pour the jackets in @ the 6:00 'down' side of the jar...this will prevent any of the lube for the 'lube line' from getting into the mouth of any of the jackets.

Just one way to do it. -Al

[LC Smith]

Al,

Outstanding post. That sounds like the method I will use. Thank you.

Randy

[Al Nyhus]

Randy...I probably should have put this in my earlier post:

-Don't fill the glass jar more than about 2/3rds. full. Too many jackets won't let them tumble enough to properly distribute the lube.

-Use different jars for cores and jackets, obviously.

-Clean the inside of the jars regularly to eliminate lube buildup that will cause changes in how much lube gets transfered to the jackets. Cheap old rubbing alcohol works fine.

-When you're first tinkering with how much lube to use, lube jackets in batches of 100 and see how they measure and eject from the dies. If the lube amt. isn't right, just degrease the jackets.

-Run 2-3 well lubed jackets into the dies first before going to the 'real thing' jackets.

-For weighing lube, take a small square of waxed paper and weigh it on a digital scale. Then add lube to the waxed paper and reweigh, subtracting the difference of what the waxed paper initally weighed. Add/subtract lube to the waxed paper and repeat until you have the correct amount.

- Clean, clean, clean, clean, clean...................;)

- Consistent, consistent, consistent, consistent.....;)

Just one opinion. :) -Al

[LC Smith]

Great post. Im doing my bullets in lots of 100 now. Getting my methods down. Have already realized how important "clean" is. Also is amazing how little lube is actually needed. I do dread the day, however, when I have not used enough. Thanks for all your help, Al.

[Crooked Creek]

The method I have used for lubing 7MM and 30 Cal. jackets is to weigh out the lanolin lube on a piece of waxed paper on a powder scale (zeroed with the waxed paper first), about 25 grains, as I recall. Then I hold the [lubed] waxed paper in my hand and apply the lube to the inside of a lidded Tupperware bowl. This deposits a very thin film of lube on the inside of the bowl. I put about 500 cleaned jackets into the bowl, put the lid on, and start rotating the bowl with my hands in a random tumbling fashion until all jackets have acquired a very thin even coat of lube. When seating the cores, I place the lubed jackets on the inverted lid of the bowl and place the core seated jackets back into the bowl as I seat them. Thus, when I am finished core seating, I put the lid back on the bowl and "re-tumble" the core seated jackets to evenly re-distribute the residual lube, without adding more lube, and then move on to the point up process. When that is complete, I place the bullets in a bath towel and gently tumble them by holding each end of the towel in each hand and moving my hands up and down, in a sort of an inverted "shoe shine" motion. This "wipes" all the lube from the bullets and puts a very nice shine finish on them. I've used this method since the 1980's for my own bench rest bullets and it has worked very well for me. If I were doing large quantities for sale, it may be a different story. I does keep from getting lube on the inside of the jackets. Best of luck.