How to Pan-lube Cast Bullets for Black Powder

[bamboomaster]

How to Pan-lube Cast Bullets for Black Powder
By “bamboomaster”
Date: July 9, 2016

Although I have had the luxury of operating multiple commercial casting and lubing machines whose through-put is usually in the range of 2,000 – 3,000 bullets per hour, those folks who shoot black powder are usually looking for not only different bullets but also a softer lube.

In search for an answer this spring and summer, I left my smokeless loads behind and worked exclusively on making every mistake I possibly could in casting and lubing bullets for black powder loads. All bullets were cast with 100% pure lead which provided a BHN of 5.

Yes, that is indeed a soft bullet. Softer bullets can be problematic for many reasons but in this process, I discovered a new one – if you drop it, you’ll dent it!

The bullets I cast and lubed included projectiles for the .45 Creedmoor Match (480 gr, 7 lube grooves), the .577/.450 Martini Henry (480 gr, 4 lube grooves), the .58 Minnie Ball (505 gr, 3 lube grooves) and even the pedestrian .577 Parker-Hale Enfield (535 gr, 3 lube grooves). After working through this process with a few hundred rounds for each rifle – it made me wish I had a larger casting pot and a few six-gang molds!

Two of the bullets required specific resizing (the .45 Creedmoor Match to .452 and the .577 Parker-Hale Enfield to .577). Both were resized AFTER lubing.


Here is the equipment I used for pan-lubing:

1. An old coil electric burner
2. A small pot with a large metal insert that I could use as a double boiler
3. A flat salad plate-sized metal plate with edges about 1” high
4. Safety glasses, gloves, and a set of Channnel-Locks
5. A chopstick
6. My favorite lube recipe

The Lube Recipe.

There are a wide variety of lube recipes available on-line and for the most part, are “tuned” to a combination of temperature, the bullet, the velocity, the rifle, and the black powder load. Some recipes are as simple as “Triple tumble in Lee Alox”. Traditional ones call for 50% beeswax and 50% lard (yes, we have lard in our refrigerator). Others include normal household ingredients (50% beeswax and 50% Vaseline). Colder temperatures usually require less beeswax and more “fat”.

Here’s the one that I put together:

45% beeswax
45% Bore Butter
10% EVOO
Heavy dash of graphite

I can’t tell you definitively if it works any better than the other recipes, but it filled the lube grooves completely without being tacky or sticky after application, was easy to use, and did keep the black powder fouling soft – which among other things, is what a lube for BP is supposed to do.


Let’s Get Started.

Fill your double boiler with only enough water that once your 2nd container is inside, the water only rises to about 1” up its side. Add contents and turn on.

Since beeswax melts at the relatively low temperature of 144-147 degrees (on an intemperate summer day, the interior of my car feels hotter), a few hints about the melting process:

1. Bring the water to boiling (about one-two minutes for my rig) and then turn off for about three minutes. The water will still boil for a few minutes and the heat will still continue to melt the contents. I usually cycle through this step two or three times to ensure that the mixture is homogenous. If you insist on stirring, use a single chopstick.

2. Avoid water boiling over to the interior pot/lube mix. This is usually caused by too much water in the pot, too high a temperature, an interior container that is too small, or walking away from the process to get your lunch out of the refrigerator.

3. Make a batch sufficiently large to fill (but not overflow!) the interior of the container in your double boiler. In addition, be sure it is an amount sufficient to fill the pan (with the bullets) to a level above the highest lube groove. You'll figure out what volumentric measurements work for you. The attached picture of the double boiler shows a nearly EMPTY interior container.

While the contents are melting, take that metal salad plate-sized dish with the 1” sides, be sure that it is on a level surface, and arrange your bullets base down about 3/8” – ½” apart. Some of these bullets are real lube-hogs and any closer distance will affect the migration of the melted lube around each bullet.

Depending on the caliber, I usually fit 30-33 bullets inside. I always leave an area at the edge free of a bullet or two so I don’t make the mistake of pouring the lube over the nose of a few bullets.

Once your bullets are arranged, grasp the edge of the pan firmly with Channel-Locks and slowly pour the mix into your bullet pan to just above the top of the highest lube groove. If you’ve planned correctly, there will still be some left – just set it back inside the pot.

It usually takes the mix about 10-15 minutes to “set-up” after which I move it to a concrete floor for about another 30 minutes to facilitate cooling. If you are doing this in cold weather, do not leave on the floor for a few hours – you’ll need a mallet to knock the bullets out and some of your lube bands will be cracked!


You’re Almost Finished.

Now it’s time to see how you’ve done…

With a set of nitrile gloves, turn the pan over and catch the “pancake”. Simply push the noses of the bullets through the lube and stand them up like good little soldiers. I usually push them all out first (takes about a minute) and then wipe off the noses, sides, and bases with an alcohol-saturated 3x3” patch (takes about another 5 minutes). They usually come out perfect, but if I find any with a partially lubed band, I just finger-lube the area, wipe it down, and call it good!

Be sure to break up the lube pancake (which now looks like Swiss cheese) and return it to double boiler for your next batch. I usually do three or four batches at a time and find myself adding more of the same lube ingredients if I think that the next pour will be running low (aka not enough quantity to cover the top lube groove).

Once cooled down, the wiped bullets go in rows in either a metal bulk 35mm film canister or a cigar box with rows are separated by cardboard dividers so I don’t have these bullets spilling everywhere and denting skirts or fracturing any lube.

I also store all the equipment for this process in a small box so that getting things together for the next lubing session is as easy as remembering where I last put the box!

Hmmm. Now where did I put that box???

Double boiler set up.jpg

Lubed bullets and Swiss cheese.jpg

[Tim Ault]

Great post on pan lubing ! I don't shoot any black powder but I still do pan lube all my cast bullets I shoot mainly 30 and 35 cal rifle bullets . Been doing it for quite a while now and I have learned a few tricks to help make things easier for me anyways . First one is after your first lube melt I pour into a pie pan as you did a trick I learned is the lube will stick in the grooves a lot better if the bullets are warm too . The second part of my process is since I already have the lube cake with the holes in it after the first batch I simply insert new bullets in the holes and place in a toaster oven for about 10 min on 150-160 degrees , Open the door and let cool ,depending on the lube you use you have three choices on how to remove the bullets . First do as you explained and push them out from the bottom , second is use a cake cutter and third is how I normally do it I let cool till pan and lube is solid but still warm I lightly grab the nose of the bullet with a small set of needle nose pliers and pull straight up and out of the lube . Works Great and grooves are always full .

[cephas]

Very good indeed. Graphite, ingenious. Where'd you come up with that from?
Like Tim I warm the bullets in the pan on a hot plate and pour the melted lube around them. Push the bullets when the lube (4:1 bees wax-atf + tsp lanolin) cools and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan.
How about some tips on casting pure lead. Only did it a couple times but I bet there's a few tricks to it.

[DucatiRon]

Being in the bullet business myself I would love to try out using Hy-Tek bullet coating for black powder guns. Since it eliminates the need to grease bullets for smokeless I wonder if it would work the same in black powder.

If your willing to give it a try Bamboo I'd be more than happy to coat some for ya if you want to mail me some.

[Gunsnwater]

Being in the bullet business myself I would love to try out using Hy-Tek bullet coating for black powder guns. Since it eliminates the need to grease bullets for smokeless I wonder if it would work the same in black powder.

If your willing to give it a try Bamboo I'd be more than happy to coat some for ya if you want to mail me some.

I really doubt that stuff will keep the fowling soft.

O.P. pure lead is for round balls. You can add some tin for bullets. Keep hollow base minis soft for expansion. I use those tin range covers for lube pans. You know the covers for stove burners.

[Tim Ault]

I really doubt that stuff will keep the fowling soft.

O.P. pure lead is for round balls. You can add some tin for bullets. Keep hollow base minis soft for expansion. I use those tin range covers for lube pans. You know the covers for stove burners.

I have to agree PC would eliminate leading but would do nothing to keep the powder fouling soft . Also +1 on adding just a touch of tin to pure lead ,I use the same alloy mix for RB and when casting maxi balls or the Lee real bullets probably 50:1 ratio or less

[DucatiRon]

OK. didn't understand or realize the powder fouling aspect of BP. I don't really know enough about BP so that's why I was asking.

And yes just a touch of tin in pure lead helps the lead flow and fill in the molds better. Just a bit doesn't really effect hardness enough to worry about. That's why old solder was mostly tin. (60/40) and new solder has even more tin in it. It makes the lead flow so thin it would fill the gap between the pipes.

[Gunsnwater]

Black powder fowling is a ton of crud compared to smokeless. My colt dragoon has to have the center pin greased heavy for a day at the range. I end up having to turn the cylinder by hand when cocking. And shoving bullets down the pipe would get very hard without something to keep it soft or brushing it out. It's one of the reasons some people slide back to modern guns. They are so easy to deal with.

[bamboomaster]

The second part of my process is since I already have the lube cake with the holes in it after the first batch I simply insert new bullets in the holes and place in a toaster oven for about 10 min on 150-160 degrees....

I thought about doing that but I didn't have the toaster oven...

Very good indeed. Graphite, ingenious. Where'd you come up with that from?

Had a huge bottle of graphite staring me in the face on my reloading bench and decided it wouldn't hurt to go "green" (aka recycle, reuse, repurpose).

If your willing to give it a try Bamboo I'd be more than happy to coat some for ya if you want to mail me some.

Hell yeah! PM on the way after I post this reply...

I use those tin range covers for lube pans. You know the covers for stove burners.

Dang! I should have gone to The Dollar Store instead of Salvation Army. Now I know where to look for replacements...

Since all of these loads are for BP, regarding using pure lead - two of the bullets in the test have thin skirts - and I can't argue with the way they obdurate - or the lack of leading. The third one (for the Creedmoor) specified lead bullets, so I just followed instructions (have yet to shoot those yet). The Martini-Henry is a more complicated cartridge to reload and requires a number of wads and a 3/16" grease cookie for lubrication.

But I'll think about adding a touch of tin for the next casting - just wanted to keep everything uniform for this test and didn't want to otherwise contaminate what was in the pot. Many thanks for the suggestion...

The reason I frequent these threads is from the wisdom of folks like all of you. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone what a fine bunch of "bullet-smiths" you are...

[DucatiRon]

Bamboo,
2 pm's sent back. I forgot to include a mailing address in the first one hehe.