Lubing the crimp groove?

Dennis Horg

New Member
I was wondering if there was any advantage to lubing the crimp groove if the bullet is seated deep in the case in order to achieve the proper Cartridge Over All Length for proper function in a gun?
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
I have a Lee , 100 gr. RN intended for use in the 32 S & W Long.
I routinely lube both the crimp groove and the single lube groove and shoot them out of
my 32 H&R mag.
Doesn't look like it is harming it in the accuracy dept.

Ben






 
9

9.3X62AL

Guest
Using that same bullet in a number of calibers.......I normally fill both grooves with lube. There is no hard-and-fast rule requiring a lube groove to be filled, or for a crimp groove to go unfilled. The only "rule" is to assure that sufficient lube is present to serve the purposes of the lube......which is whole 'nother discussion on its own. Modern lubes frequently enable Loverin designs to work very well with only half of their grooves filled, as an example.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Only two instances I can think of where lubing the crimp groove would not be desirable. One, where the groove is used as intended, particularly with a roll crimp and lube there can cause bulging of the case below the crimp. The other instance is when one is using a lube recipe that is sensitive to excess, as in accuracy suffers if too much is present in the system. Some rifle loads and lube combos require only the space above the gas check be lubed and several other available lube points be left empty.

If the system doesn't care, treat a crimp groove like any other lube groove, I do it all the time.

ETA: Al beat me to it by a minute!
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
My simple test is ..........." Send it down range, look at the target, it either worked or it didn't work."

Now you know if filling the lube ring is a good idea or a bad idea.
This is what I did with my 32 H&R Mag, seemed to me that filling the crimp ring with lube did no harm.

Ben
 

KHornet

Well-Known Member
I used to lube every groove in every bullet including all of the louvern style bullets, cause they just looked good to me that way. However, I now only lube what goes into the case/case neck. Saves lube, and I see no difference in accuracy. Still have a stock of some 6.5s, 375's, and 458's with all the grooves lubed, and they still look kind of cool to me even today. (Red or Blue lubes in particular).
 

Kevin Stenberg

Well-Known Member
Ben what are the signs that the bullet does or doesn't need the extra lube?

Kevin,

I consider this to be all I need to know about that question.

Ben

Send it down range, look at the target, it either worked or it didn't work.
Obviously a single 5 round group could be a " fluke ", however if you shoot 6 - 10 groups like this , you've got the answer to your question.

 
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Ian

Notorious member
Dripping wet lube star on the muzzle, increase in group size compared to fewer grooves lubed and all else same, and the occurrence of cyclic purge flyers compared to fewer grooves lubed and all else the same are all indications of too much lube, too slippery of a lube formula, or a lube formula lacking ingredients that mitigate excessive oil bleed. Too little lube generally causes leading or at least an excess of antimony wash which is generally distributed throughout the bore and accompanied by a dry muzzle and gradually increasing group size throughout a string of fire.
 

KHornet

Well-Known Member
Agree also with Ian! A little trace of a star hurts nothing, but it may be that that is your max lube necessary.
 

Ian

Notorious member
A sidebar: If your bullet lube has enough oil control ingredients and doesn't use oils that become too slippery and erratic, and also is of low enough viscosity to fully jettison at the muzzle, it does not matter how much is used past the bare minimum. Neither will the lube star become excessive.

SL-68.0 and a Loverin bullet: Lube one groove or all, results are the same.
 

JWFilips

Well-Known Member
I pan lube everything and kake cut, since I do not have a lube sizer……... so all recessed areas have lube in them:eek:
 

KHornet

Well-Known Member
Jim, for quite a few years back in the early 60's, I pan lubed and cake cut as well. Then I got a deal on a Lyman 45 lube sizer and never looked back. That said, pan lubing works just fine.
 

JWFilips

Well-Known Member
I really don't mind it to much since it is all I have but on bore riders it gets messy if you mis judge the amount of lube in the pan after the pile of bullets get inserted ( some times way beyond lube & crimp groove)
I have been searching for a used lubrasizer around my area but there aren't many cast shooters around here so I never get lucky.
Anyway, I'm not sure how I will take to one; because most of my pass through dies are hand lapped to non standard sizes & I don't know if commercial lube sizer dies come in all the size flavors I use?
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
They may not come in the sizes you want BUT nothing says you couldn't size and lube in an oversize die then use your existing pass thru sizer to get to final size.
A Star isn't cheap but they are the best.