LBT Blue Removal

[Hawk]

I've got 300 bullets in 9mm sized and lubed with LBT Blue lube.

I want to load them for my daughter for long term storage and am afraid they will oxidize, so I decided to melt the LBT Blue off and PC them.

Cooked them in an oven on paper towels for 30 minutes to melt the lube off, soaked them in denatured alcohol and then in acetone.

Still has a white substance that appears to be soap caked in the grooves.

Wiped this out with a paper towel, but I know there is still some residue left. I probably couldn't get it all out of the corners of the lube groove and I know it probably still has a thin layer on the lube groove.

I should have just thrown them back in the pot, but I'm on a mission now and am determined to get them clean.

My wife says I'm hard headed. Can't imagine where she gets that idea!

I'm not trying to expose anyone's proprietary formula for commercial lube, just looking for an answer to getting these bullets clean enough to PC.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to get this last bit of white substance off these bullets?

 

[fiver]

it's in the lube grooves and ain't gonna matter.
try P/Cing one or two to see where the powder sticks and where it don't.

my guess is his lube is blue due to a calcium based marine type grease being used as part of the lube.
the white stuff your seeing could just be calcium deposits.

 

[Ian]

It's not all calcium. He adds the blue. LBT lube will handle the heat, that's one of its features. Would have been better just to have loaded them.

The white stuff can be removed with plain water.

 

[Hawk]

Yep soaked them in water and it softened them up a little, but didn't remove the white stuff.

Wiped them all down and really worked the lube grooves with a paper towel. Three hours in acetone and shake and baked with black PC from Smoke.

They're in the toaster oven now, cooking.

I'll do a smash test on a few and load the rest.

I like the LBT Blue and still have three sticks left.

I'm gonna go back to work on the 7.62x40WT with cast for pigs. Had some health issues and retired, so it got put on hold for a while.

Will the LBT Blue handle the 7.62x40 or should I make something like Satan's Lube or the 4Q revised recipe?

I've got the same weather as you, Ian within a couple of degrees and mostly hunt south of Nacogdoches.

 

[Ian]

LBT Blue is one of the best cast bullet lubricants on the planet, in my not so humble opinion of lubes. It will handle anything you can throw at it.

 

[Hawk]

That's high praise coming from one of the three Amigos and good enough for me.

I'm PC'ing most all handgun ammo now, because it solves a lot of problems like oxidation and handling raw lead when handling the loaded ammo. Trying to make everything as user friendly as possible for my daughter, brothers and friends.

That said, I may have better results with conventional lube with the rifle.

 

[John]

The white stuff that comes off with plain water referred to is the oxidization.

 

[Pistolero]

I've had really good results with LBT Soft Blue, really like it.

Bill

 

[fiver]

the soft is basically the hard with some Vaseline added to it.
you'd really have to look far and wide to beat LBT's lube.

 

[Hawk]

Passed the smash test with flying colors.

Boy, those bullets sure get hot when smashed with a 10 lb. sledge.

 

[freebullet]

Well, glad it worked for you.

I would have just loaded them.
I have lubed lead been loaded over 5 yr still goes off every time.

Never bought lube sticks, if I was guna sounds like lbt blue might be worth a shot.

 

[Rick]

I've been using LBT Blue for 20-25 years exclusively. Several years ago when I was doing lube tests I used LBT as the standard for others to equal, none did. I have never had any issue with my loads that I could say was lube issue and have never seen any reason to change from LBT Blue. As for the cast bullets oxidizing, I've loads at least 20 years old with zero oxidation and they are as good as the day I loaded them. A week ago I fired a couple of boxes of 45 ACP at least 12 years old and all bullets looked freshly cast. No big secret to that, just store them in closed ammo boxes in a reasonably dry area.

 

[Hawk]

I don't know if you can see this, but it is Sierra 125 grain bullets from about 15 years ago that have oxidized to the point of being nearly white. I don't know if firing these will put oxidized lead in the air or not.

They have been stored in a plastic ammo box in an ammo can with a good seal and plenty of desiccant.

This is the reason I wanted to PC the cast bullets. They're for long term storage in case the SHTF.

Maybe wheel weight lead stores differently.

Anyway, this is what prompted the removal of the LTB.

Always liked LBT. The problem seemed to be with the boolits, not the lube.

 

[Rick]

Gotta be a high humidity area. Lead kept dry does not do that. Dunno Hawk, maybe they had gotten wet before loading. Best answer I have for you is that mine doesn't do that. I have ingots out in the garage for several years and that is a high humidity area and while they do have some oxidation it's nothing like your bullets show.

 

[Hawk]

I'm not arguing with any points. I can't explain it.

They were in a plastic box, in an ammo can with desiccant, in a closet, in a house that has had full time climate control the entire time (air conditioning). I've got 200 rounds like this.

Before loading they were in the same house in a reloading bench cabinet.

They original box didn't show signs of water damage, or I wouldn't have loaded them.

Do u think they're safe to shoot or should I pull them down with a non-inertia type bullet puller?

Anyway, this is what started this entire exercise.

 

[Rick]

Were it me I would shoot them and not worry about it. It's only surface oxidation on the exposed lead and won't hurt anything. A light wiping with fine steel wool will remove it quickly and easily. Guess I could be wrong but I just don't see it as a problem.

 

[Ian]

There's a lot going on when you put lead, copper, and brass together in an enclosed, static-charged, fume-outgassing plastic box and coop it all up with oxygen.

 

[KHornet]

Every since Ben developed BLL, I have been using at least one coat of it on everything
I cast. I could be wrong, but I believe that BLL puts a coating over all of the bullet, that
is in effect an enncapsulant (sp), which not allowing air to get to the exposed alloy prevents
the potential or possibility of oxidation. Could be wrong, but time will tell.

Bll has not
been available for long enough to determine if my theory is correct. Many, many years
ago, I remember someone writing about or telling me about dipping loaded cast bullets
(handgun I think ) into hot wax, or using a thin coat of clear nail polish on the noses of
loaded handgun rounds for long term storage.

I also remember hearing, or reading about
not storing loaded cast ammo in wooden or paper boxes, as they were contributors being
stored that way to the promotion of oxidation. Might be a reason for that.

Paul

 

[Eutectic]

There's a lot going on when you put lead, copper, and brass together in an enclosed, static-charged, fume-outgassing plastic box and coop it all up with oxygen.

Like Ian says......

Oxidation is one thing..... But lubes are not perfect either! To think any lube is totally non-corrosive could be dangerous thinking.

How about Javalina???? Most of us have used it before. I mean ol' Alox 2138F and Beeswax.... Gotta be good huh? Heck! Some Alox formulas are even undercoatings (like Alox 606) But....

I had a hundred rounds of .44 Magnum probably loaded for 30 years. I was shooting it up and noticed a 'ring' inside the case neck..... Matched the Keith bullet lube groove. I cleaned the case inside and the etching was cleaner but still there. I pulled the bullets on the remaining rounds. The Javalina looked perfect; the bullet likewise... But the brass was definitely etched from three decades of kissing that lube.

Something to think about....

Pete

 

[fiver]

I have pulled brand new bullets from the box with that little bit of oxidization on the exposed lead.
I wouldn't worry about it, it is on the nose and not exposed to any hot flames or anything.
you'll get more lead from the primer.

one thing I have noticed from alox coated bullets is the stuff starts to act like a glue of sorts over time [like that black sealant they used to put in the necks on military 30-06 rounds]

I think for long term storage something between the bullet [both types] and the case is a good idea.
it will prevent that welding affect from taking place.
but it needs to be something that is an actual physical barrier and not a promoter.
I have seen some carefully crafted ammo shoot groups worse than slop after a few years of storage and I believe the 'weld' [electrolysis] is the problem.
that and the previously fired cases age harden over time.