Lubricating jacketed bullets?

John W
[subject]
Sunday, November 21, 2021, 08:17 (1720 days ago)

I recall an article written by either Mr. Taylor or Mr. Paco Kelly on the matter. The gist is that a jacketed bullet can benefit from some type of lubricant.

I believe that the lubricant used for the jacketed bullets was liquid ALOX which was allowed to dry for 24 hours.

In the past I had a bottle of Rooster bullet lube. Over time this solidified thus was thrown out. Thus, I do not have any liquid bullet lubricant in the house. Along with the great dearth in reloading components, at least here in the Northeast, I was wondering if this would work in it's place?

I have a large quantity of homemade lubricant/leather preservative. This hardened lubricant is made of three equal parts of olive oil, deer tallow and beeswax.

I was thinking of melting some in a double boiler on the stove and tossing in a box of .458 300 grain JHP bullets for my 45-70. After they are thoroughly coated, drain them and let them dry on some tinfoil.

Ironically the plan sounds almost like a recipe.

So. What do you think? Will it work? Will it cause problems? Is it wasting time?

I do appreciate all answers. Thank you.

The only way to tell is to test it.

Jim Taylor
[subject]
Sunday, November 21, 2021, 08:29 (1720 days ago) @ John W

I got the idea of lubricating jacketed bullets from the old Winchester Silvertip .45 Colts. I pulled some of the factory bullets and found they had a grease groove with lube in it.

I only tested heavy jacketed bullets in the .45 Colt and the 454 Casull so I cannot say that lubing them helps in all calibers and bullets types. It did show improvement in velocity and accuracy in the two guns I tested.

This is one of those things that a person would have to do and see how it works.

Lubing jacketed bullets

backroads rambler
[subject]
Sunday, November 21, 2021, 10:23 (1720 days ago) @ John W

Like Jim Taylor, I tried this sometime ago (twenty+ years) and it was surprisingly worthwhile. Had a retired aircraft mechanic living next door and after listening to me he suggested I really scrub the bore clean and then swab it with a saturated patch in addition to what was loaded in the cartridges. Worked like the proverbial charm! Statistically significant improvements as they like to say!! Wouldn't do it for everyday shooting but it sure gave confidence when a shot really counted. That thumper became my favorite meat-getter...

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