An Afternoon of BLL

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Yes, either too much lube or a lube that isn't thinned properly will really slow down drying time. Glad you have things going your way now. You may still want to try a small fan, it really accelerates drying time.

Ben
 

Uncle Grinch

Active Member
I must have lucked up. My BLL seems to dry very nicely. I did notice some slight tackiness on the third coating that I tried on my 311-188 Hunter boolits. I may have added a bit too much on this third coating. They did eventually dry however.
 

Ian

Notorious member
One coat ought to do it unless you're sizing, then just wave the bottle at the container for the first coat to get something on the bands (three drops for 100 bullets or so), then size, then coat with a little more.
 
After almost 2 weeks the ones that had bens red first and then bll are still a bit sticky. Do they need to dry a bit before the bll? Seems the mineral spirits in the bll is dissolving some of the bens red and leaving them sticky.
 
I can mix another batch. Should it dry nornally directly over freshly lubed bullets or do they need to age a bit before the bll is applied?
 
Ok, made a new batch, 3oz landmark, 3 ox Xlox, and 4 oz Naphtha to see if it will dry quicker. Got a batch of 41 cal bullets for the first test, about 35 bullets. See how these dry and then on to lubed bullets tomorrow.
 
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Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
XBox? I would suggest PS4 myself but hey, your gaming system.:p

If done right they should dry pretty quick with a fan blowing across them. Certainly overnight.
 

Uncle Grinch

Active Member
Got some good help stacking those coated boolits..... my Loadmaster 13 year old granddaughter .
 

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35 shooter

Well-Known Member
BLL has made a tumble lube junky out of me lol. I was fortunate enough to stock up on the original JLW before they discontinued it.

What really sold me on it was the fact that it shot the same loads I had developed with Ben’s Red with the same accuracy.
I’ve used it as an overcoat on already lubed bullets, but most of the time I use it as a stand alone lube. 1 to 2 coats for handguns and 3 coats for rifle.
I’ve shot up to 2600fps. In both 30 and 35 cal. rifles with zero leading with just the 3 coats. Of course i’ve done the same thing with Ben’s Red.

Ben really hit a home run when he came up with BLL.
Quick and easy to make and shoots just as well(some say even better accuracy) as Ben’s Red.For me...they are at least equal to each other in my loads and interchangeable with the same loads.
That’s a hard combo to beat!
 

popper

Well-Known Member
I've been comparing 2x BLL with Smokes red PC. 145gr GC cast, NO lube groove and 50/50 alloy - pushed >2100 fps. Accurate, clean, no leading with either. No cooking needed with BLL, no oversized nose. More testing but so far winner - winner. I have NOT had luck with HV PB and BLL.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Well that's pretty cool. I would have predicted a leading and accuracy disaster.
 

popper

Well-Known Member
So did I. 20-30 rnds in each of 2 outings, OK. Cheap borescope says it OK. Haven't tried it in the 308 yet.
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Unfortunately in most everyone's early attempts to use BLL , they often think " more is better ." Not necessarily so. If you use too much BLL it gums up your dies, slows down drying time, really doesn't work any better as a lube.

For handgun, if it is hard to even see on your bullets, you probably have everything RIGHT. Rifle bullets will benefit from 2 good coats.
 
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popper

Well-Known Member
Cleaned to BO carbine tonite. No leading! PB PC coated, GC BLL, jacketed - probably 500 rnds. Even some that didn't make it all the way to the target! Dirty patches (ed's red kerosine/atf) and I didn't scrub it out completely to metal - still darn clean. Just a few (very few) sparkles under a magnifier. Bolt under the gas key had a bunch of thick grunge but wiped off easily. Congrats Ben, good stuff. Oh last shots I fired, 150 G.D. ~ 1850 both touching @ 100. Just verifying my trigger ability.