In response to "Is the Lubrisizer dead?"

What cast bullet option (majority) do you use?

  • Cast & Lubrisize (majority)

    Votes: 16 47.1%

  • Cast but tumble-lube w/ ALOX (majority)

    Votes: 1 2.9%

  • Cast but powder coat (majority)

    Votes: 10 29.4%

  • Just BUY the doggone things

    Votes: 7 20.6%
  • Total voters
    34
  • Poll closed .
My lubrisizer has become a sizer. I jumped on the powder coat wagon a few years back. I size after powder coating. I like the non sticky-ness of the powder coating. Here in the Texas heat even the highest temp lubes get soft and sticky. If it ever gets hot enough to melt the powder coat off a coffee can of bullets we have bigger probems than sticky bullets.
 
I still use a Lubsizer for some pistol and pretty much all my rifle bullets. I do some PC as well but it more limited to pistol bullets. Don't really have any Pro's of Con's on why it's just how I like to do it.
 
I powder coat then size everything that isnt going into a revolver. Never had a lubersizer but I have tried tumble lubing and sizing. What a mess!
 
I voted to just buy 'em.

For mainstream calibers, I use a lot of commercial cast bullets. Even at today's inflated prices, they're around 8 cents for big bores, and 5 cents for smaller calibers. I admit I'm a cheapskate at heart (I came by it honestly from hard financial times), but even I have to draw a line somewhere, and realize my time is worth way more than the difference.

Now, I do cast minie balls for my .54 muzzle loader. When they try sellin' ammo by a dozen rounds in a blister pack, I know I can't afford to practice with 'em. I'll go ahead and fire up the melting pot when I'm essentially getting paid $50 to $80 an hour to do it.

I also do have a lubri-sizer, Lee pot, mold, lube, and lead, all sitting in the garage. It came in a box of stuff my dad picked up at an estate auction for a couple bucks somewhere. The panic made me decide to hang onto it all, in case I don't have any other options someday in the future. But it won't see much use until I'm desperate.

For those out there who are proud of how much they save by casting, I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is. I'll take 1000 bullets, 300 (or up to 335) grains, preferably some kind of flat point, sized .452, and your choice of lube/coating. I'll pay $80 delivered (same price I bought 'em for last fall). I'm also interested in 230 grain round nose at $65 per thousand, and .32 pistol bullets at $20-$25 per 500. Let's talk.
 
I have never bought a lead cast bullet. The main reason is that they are almost all what they call hardcast and I don't believe in hardcast. The only reason they are made is to facilitate shipping with out being deformed. So, they got the public believing hardcast is the only way to go. Horse hockey!!!!!

Most of the bullets that I make are 8 BHN to 14 BHN. Sometimes I go straight wheel weights. I taylor the hardness to what I am shooting, and you can't buy that easily.
 
Powder coat - the powder coat comes cheap from a friend, the "mixing bowl" is a re purposed plastic tub with airsoft BBs, and the oven is a $5 toaster oven from Goodwill. I still have a half gallon of LLA somewhere, but as long as the powder stays in supply, it will be unlikely I will need it.
 
I cast and still use a Lyman 450 to lube , size and attach a gas check when needed.
One cycle of the handle and the bullet is complete and ready to load.
Gary
 
I cast .358 BBWC and 160 grain RN; (.38 and .357) .452 200 gr LSWC, 230 gr. LRN and 250 gr. LSWC (.45 ACP and .45 Colt); .451 solid spire point for paper patching, 500 gr. spire point, 500 grain spitzer and 550 grain bore riders (.45-120 Sharps BPCR).

For the .45 and .38 I use a Star lubrisizer, and for the BPCR bullets, I hand lube with SPG, then push them through a .460 sizer to clean off the excess.

The .451 is patched with #8 onionskin to .458 and loaded on 115 - 120 grains of Goex 1F or Swiss 1.5F powder, .030 King's vegetable fiber wads for overpowder and sealer wads, and a grease cookie made from SPG lube.
 
I have two lubrisizers, both Lyman and one is an antique but still useful. Have about 30 molds and cast everything under the sun, including 375 H&H rifle. I really enjoy lube sizing and typically run most of our cast bullets through that process. I prefer it since it fits my needs - low velocity plinkers.

Know this is a poll but the neatest thing is all the variety available to casters today. I also powder coat but only to specific needs. For example, we cast the 175 (.401) by the hundreds. We stay with the cast bullet for 40S&W (low velocities) but powder coat the bullet for use in 10mm (higher velocities). Works great for us (we, us, meaning my Dad).

There is often talk about 'hardness'. Lots of opinions but I say cater to your needs and uses. If you want to shoot 'soft' bullets power to you. We prefer adding a little antimony and tin to each 20 lb pot. For us it has reduced leading in our barrels.

We prefer to use lube if you are going to run the bullet through the sizer die, why not? We tried the alox/tumbling years ago but evolved to lubrisizers and like it better.

Unique to me and my wife, she LOVES to go to the range and gather brass/bullets. Been doing it for years. She removes copper jackets and recycles for money, I take the lead and make ingots, eventually bullets. We've stock piled a ton of ingots. So, each to their own.
 
Once someone decides to cast. A casting furnace/pot is #1 on the list of: must have's. Molds are #2. Ownership of a lube-sizer is the Third most important item on the priory buy list.{or it should be}

My opinon:
Investing a couple hundred plus dollars in a lube-sizer & dies for. It wouldn't benefit a modern bullet caster one-iota too tumble lube or pan lube when a lube-sizer press is available for his use.
 
My opinon:
Investing a couple hundred plus dollars in a lube-sizer & dies for. It wouldn't benefit a modern bullet caster one-iota too tumble lube or pan lube when a lube-sizer press is available for his use.
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There seems to be a trend away from grease lubes in favor of powder coating. While I have found that using my Lyman 450 to size and lube is way faster than shake and baking the powder coat, setting the bullets upright on parchment paper before baking takes a lot of time. And then they still must be sized (which I do in the Lyman 450), but most powder coaters are pushing the cured bullets through the cheaper Lee push-through sizers. While the powder coating process takes longer to produce loading-ready bullets, I doubt that I will go back to using grease lubes in my sizer despite the increased investment in time.
 
PC bullets are just another jacketed bullet.
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Actually they are not. Even with powder coating, one must consider the hardness of the bullet alloy just as with grease lubes. If you shoot a soft powder coated bullet too fast for the alloy, it will distort and accuracy will suffer.
 
I still have my casting stuff including a lubrisizer. It was a pain to get good lead, plus, it is time consuming to cast bullets. Bottom line I buy them now. 70.00 or 80.00 for 1000 good cast .45 bullets delivered to my door. All I gotta do is load them and shoot them. If you've never cast bullets, it take quite a while to cast and lube 1000 good bullets, and that's after you scrounge up lead. Add more time if you powder coat them. Better things to do with my time --LIKE--load and shoot.
 
I lube and size with a Lyman 450. I used a couple of tumble lube molds when I started this adventure, but I haven't used them in a good while. I have never powder coated a boolit. I have had great success with the 450 so i see no need to change what is working.
 
Pete, amen to that one.
I have same, haven't cast in years but have it all, just in case another Barry gets elected, heaven forbid.
 
I cast.... because i like to do it. I like the idea of doing it myself .. still have a lot to learn .. but i read this and cast boolit forums. Great source of information
 
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