Lubing bullets

Support for the 1863 shooter. Discussions of powders, loads, bullets, etc.
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dm3280
Posts: 550
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2003 6:11 pm

Lubing bullets

Post by dm3280 »

How do you guys get lube into the bullets for your 63? I have both the ring tail bullet mould and the flat based bullet mould. Both are tapered so I cannot us a normal sizer/luber. I really do not like to dip since it puts a lot of lube over the entire bullet. I thought about pan lubing but what would I use to cut them out of the lube.

Any suggestions would be appreaciated.
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snapcap14
Posts: 279
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 10:07 am

Post by snapcap14 »

I melt my lube then use a acid etching brush tun it around the bullet after the rounds are made up. I also use the dip it in method if i'm in a hurry. again after the rounds are made up.
I use a coffee cup warmer w/ small tin cup. the cup has a t cover for when i am done.
Rich Siegel
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Joined: Thu Sep 26, 2002 7:53 am
Location: Maine

Post by Rich Siegel »

I dip. Works for me.

Rich
Kirk
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Post by Kirk »

When you pan lube, they will pop out with your thumbs, that's the way we did it with Levi when he was dragging a 63 around. When we put the bullet in the paper cartridge we would then dip, this seemed to get plenty of lube for not fouling out.

Kirk
wwpete52
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Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:33 am

Post by wwpete52 »

I wonder how Lee Liquid Alox would work? It's easy to tumble lube a bullet but I've never used it for black powder. Have any of you?
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snapcap14
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Post by snapcap14 »

wwpete52 wrote:I wonder how Lee Liquid Alox would work? It's easy to tumble lube a bullet but I've never used it for black powder. Have any of you?
not w/ black powder
Standing on the ROCK
14th VA. Cav.
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Rich Siegel
Posts: 610
Joined: Thu Sep 26, 2002 7:53 am
Location: Maine

Post by Rich Siegel »

Pete,

Liquid alox will not work. It does not work with black powder. The lube is too hard.

Rich
Jim Mulligan
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Joined: Wed Feb 19, 2003 6:41 pm

Post by Jim Mulligan »

I use an old double boiler for poached eggs, dip assembled cartridge into SPG, works great.
Todd Birch
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Location: Somewhere in the Cariboo ....

Bullet Lube

Post by Todd Birch »

Powder fouling with paper cartridge guns is typical of the breed. It's something you either put up with to enjoy shooting them as they were historically, or you come up with some non-historic method of making it perform to a standard acceptable.
As a result, a '63 is not a gun for everyone. They can be a trial and require meticulous cleaning and maintenance.

I've been hunting with a .50 Farmingdale '63 Military Rifle lately simply because I want to take game with such a rifle. I've taken two bears and a deer with it's twin in 50-70.

In Peter Schiffer's recently released book on Civil War carbines, he made up rounds as authentically as he could.
He did impeccable research, made up original lubes, had custom moulds made and was generally as thorough as you would expect a German to be. The guns he used were originals in good firing condition.

Some of his rounds were fired with NO lube as he could find no historical record of their use, no could he find any traces of it through chemical analysis. Powder fouling was a problem with these rounds.

I emailed him as suggested that perhaps it was because the makers expected the user to lube them. Again, he said that there was no record of this as an expectation.

I suggested that the miserable accuracy he got with some loads was due to the rate of twist being too slow for the weight of the projectile.
He responded by reminding me that some of the best accuracy he got was with such bullet/twist combinations.

I recommend his book for the thoroughness of his experiments, the detailed descriptions of the guns and the results he obtained.
"From birth to the packing house, we travel between the two eternities ....." Robert Duvall in "Broken Trail"
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