Removing old lube

[Monochrome]

Want to remove old lube from my remaining factory bullets. Have been reading some interesting variations on how to do it.

1. boil in pot on stove, skim off what floats to top. Finish with a soak in acetone/mineral spirits

2. boil in pot of vegetable oil. Pull bullets out after 20-30 min, rinse in acetone/mineral spirits

3. stand on tray, use heat gun to melt. rinse with soapy water then acetone.

4. use a tooth pick, then rinse down in soapy water then acetone...


Any reliable method that is "more universal"

 

[Dusty Bannister]

By "Factory Bullets" are we to assume that you have commercial cast bullets with the hard wax lube? Rather than the monkey motion, if the bullets are clean and dust free, just tumble lube and go have fun. If the bullets are undersized, as can be frequently found, then perhaps apply a second coat. Replacing the lube in undersized bullets will not get you to lead free shooting.

 

[Winelover]

Spread the bullets out on an old cookie sheet, lined with paper towels. I use a hair dryer/ heat gun on high, to melt the lube. Then I run them through the LAM or Star to re-lube.

 

[Dusty Bannister]

If the OP intends to powder coat the bullets, he will still need the acetone rinse or the powder will not stick when baked. Always nice to know where the train of thought is headed before jumping on.

 

[JonB]

Heat gun.

 

[Brad]

I use a turkey fryer and Dutch oven. A match will ignite the molten lube as the bullets melt. Gives me nice, clean ingots to make into what I want.

 

[Jeff H]

100% what Brad said.

I've tried other messes, er... methods and the expenditure of resources wasn't worth the it, plus I can make whatever bullet I want from the ingots.

 

[fiver]

yeah, but god that much wax can sure make a mess on the sides of the pot.

i'm more the add 5-6 here and 5-6 there to a half full pot guy while stirring and maintaining a little fire type.

 

[Monochrome]

By "Factory Bullets" are we to assume that you have commercial cast bullets with the hard wax lube? Rather than the monkey motion, if the bullets are clean and dust free, just tumble lube and go have fun. If the bullets are undersized, as can be frequently found, then perhaps apply a second coat. Replacing the lube in undersized bullets will not get you to lead free shooting.

matts bullets . I want to get the lube he uses off. I think the lube is crap, and I want to get a test of the Lyman Alox lube.

note of interest, with matts 240 swc in my 44 magnum i have two styles of leading. If i use bullseye, red dot, green dot, 2400, 4227, I get a ring of lead around the start of the riflieng. If i use Unique 8.5 and 10 grains, i do NOT get leading at the start of the rifling. I get it in the last 4 inches of my 5 inch 629. But with unique i get a faint lube ring on the muzzle.

 

[Brad]

yeah, but god that much wax can sure make a mess on the sides of the pot.

i'm more the add 5-6 here and 5-6 there to a half full pot guy while stirring and maintaining a little fire type.

Add a handful of sawdust. Hold the lube some and it keeps the mess down some.

i will be adding a couple handfuls to each pot of range scrap when I melt down more. Kinda a free fluxing? It does help get the lead to not stick to jackets.

 

[fiver]

the wax sure sucks junk out when it rises up from the bottom.
not sure if it's a true flux or not, but it does seem to get the alloy clean.

 

[358156 hp]

I boil my recycling in a Goodwill saucepan. I'll stir the bullets around for awhile with a stick as they boil, then shut off the heat and come back when everything is cool, often overnight. This leaves a nice lube cookie on the surface suitable for use when fluxing.

 

[Mitty38]

I have powder coated factory bullets with the Blue lube.
I boiled them in water. Let the wax come to the top. Then soaked all night in white wine vinegar. Washed with Dawn. Let dry.Then powder coated, no problem.

I have also just swirled them in MEK. But the stuff is kind of harsh and not at all cheep anymore.

 

[Monochrome]

I have powder coated factory bullets with the Blue lube.
I boiled them in water. Let the wax come to the top. Then soaked all night in white wine vinegar. Washed with Dawn. Let dry.Then powder coated, no problem.

I have also just swirled them in MEK. But the stuff is kind of harsh and not at all cheep anymore.

Oh god, you willingly use MEK? I have nightmares from that stuff. It could DISSOLVE latex gloves, or were they vinyl? simply in the length of time it took to dip my finger in and out of 3" of that crap. Didnt help that the glue we were cleaning off the brushes was 40% MEK itself,

If you want a giggle and have a little bit of MEK left over, put 3" of water in a styrofoam cup, about a .5 oz bottle of testors model paint worth of MEK in. wait 10 minutes and lift the cup up.

 

[RicinYakima]

That is the reason MEK exists, it dissolves many plastics.

 

[4060MAY]

I worked on the engineering for a Sub Station, power control, for Belle WV Plant,Diamond Shamrock corp. about 1980, at the time, ground was so nasty, the Ground rods were encased in concrete, always wondered about the life expectancy there

 

[Mitty38]

That is the reason MEK exists, it dissolves many plastics.

Yep if it is petroleum based. M E K totally dissolves it.

 

[Monochrome]

I used a 1500 watt heat gun got the bullets hot enough a large amount of the lube turned to smoke.

Funny thing is, the wax ended up being like kool aid, and I tried to set it on fire. Every match i tossed it went OUT the minute it hit the hot lube.

ended up using lighter fluid in a rag to get the heat resistant portions of lube. The bullets are really shiny now, but have a sticky varnish of carnauba red now.. shouldnt hurt relube application.

Funny thing is, on the 429360, the bullets have odd defects to them. Some have nicks and cuts to the driving band. Some have FLAT spots on the top band, despite the entire thing being nice and shiny from making full contact with the sizing process.

 

[Brad]

The lube doesn’t catch fire like that. Set a match in the wax then light the match with another ignition source. The wax needs to vaporize from heat to burn. This is why a candle takes a bit of time to light, need to melt some wax and get it hot.

 

[Monochrome]

The lube doesn’t catch fire like that. Set a match in the wax then light the match with another ignition source. The wax needs to vaporize from heat to burn. This is why a candle takes a bit of time to light, need to melt some wax and get it hot.

The wax was completely liqoud, rolling around the metal pan like kool aid or mountain dew would. First match just fizzled out, second match i dropped on a dry spot and when the stick was burning well i rolled the pan around and the wax put it out again. Third stick had same results.
The entire pan was still too hot to touch. And the bulles were to hot to take out by hand.