Pan Lubing, a Piece of Cake

Dale53

Active Member
With all of the interest shown about pan lubing, I thought there might be some interest in an article I wrote for a magazine some years ago:

http://castpics.net/dpl/index.php/the-library/bullet-lubes/313-pan-lubing-piece-of-cake

I have a Star lube/sizer and an RCBS lube/sizer. Even with those fine tools, I have often found pan lubing to work quite well. I competed in Black Powder Cartridge Silhouette matches for fifteen years and pan lubed all of my bullets with excellent results.

Just a thought or two...

Dale53
 

.22-5-40

Member
Nice article. For years, I have used commercial lube..mostly Micro Lube..since I got a good deal on the stuff from closing gun shop, for .38 Spec. Last year, I mixed up some beeswax based lube with anhydrous lanolin, castor oil, and Carnuba wax I bought from Randy Rat. This is a litttle softer than the commercial..and not wanting to tie up a lubsizer with something that might not work..I pan lubed some Ideal 360344 wadcutters. off a rest at 25 yds., the homemade concoction shot a little better than commercial..and no leading whatsoever.
 
F

freebullet

Guest
After finally getting a star set up I would probably finger smear lube before going back to the pan. I just don't like it.
 
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KHornet

Well-Known Member
I, every once in awhile will pan lube some just for nostalgia reasons. Will also once in a great while, dip a few long 375's and 45's, and run them thru sizer (an alternative to pan lubing and cake cutting). Kind of fun to do 20-or 30 like that, but that is enough to scratch my itch for another year or two, or three or whatever.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Very good article, probably the best one I've read on the subject. However, I'm still solidly in the same corner as Freebullet. All the lube testing got me right talented at finger-lubing.
 

Volume One

New Member
Is the 666-1 Lube a finger lube?

And, is there a recommended final step for a finger luber who doesn't size?

This is an great site. Some of the lube recipes are entirely new to me.
 

Dale53

Active Member
Thanks for the kind words, folks. The pictures were done by a fellow enthusiast. Unfortunately, I have lost his name all of these years later. It's a shame as he deserves the photo credit. The magazine editor, in error, neglected to give him credit when the article was printed. Dern shame, as the pictures were/are excellent.

Dale53
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
For someone on a limited budget , this is still a very effective way to size and lube .30 cal. cast rifle bullets ( and by using a " parent " case like a 35 Rem, for .35 cal. cast bullets, or a 444 Marlin Case for a .44 pistol bullet the system can easily be adapted to many other calibers other than .30 cal ) . Assuming you already have a .30 cal. mold, some bullet lube, and some gas checks, this equipment cost the sum total of $23.00.

Mis-alignment of the nose punch and the sizing die has ruined many hundreds of groups for me until I really began to understand what a concentric bullet was. In my opinion , the nose 1st system of bullet sizing is " THE WAY "to size bullets concentrically .

Let's assume you're wanting to pan lube some .30 cal. .310 dia. cast bullets.
You'll need a FIRED 30 / 30 empty cartridge case that is a snug fit over your .310 bullet. Take a 16 penny nail and turn the head of the nail to about .295 dia. I then cut a piece of wood dowel and make me a " push rod " to eject the lubed bullet from the solidified lube. Drill out the flash hole in the 30 / 30 cartridge case so that the 16 penny nail will slide freely through the hole.


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The business end of the home made Kake cutter :


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The $10 Elect. Hot Plate


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The lube is melted in the metal pan and the bullets that have already been sized to .310 are placed in the pan of liquid lube :


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Here is the finished product ready to load and shoot :


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Here is what the bullets look like when they are removed from the cooled , solidified bullet lube with the " Kake Cutter " :


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Next question is , will they shoot ? ?


I have a Custom Hvy. Barrel , A & B, F-54 contour , stainless fluted , VZ 24 Mauser bench rifle chambered in .308 Win. that really likes the Lee 155 gr. , CE Harris bullet sized .310 , with 17.5 grs. of 2400 and a Fed 210 primer. The bullet is seated into the lands so that light engraving occurs upon chambering . This group was fired at 50 yards with the bullets that you see , 5 shots with a .22 rim fire case for size comparison purposes :


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oscarflytyer

Well-Known Member
I like to pan lube my Lee 405HB .460 bullets for the Marlin 45-70. use the cutter method above, but like your article method better!