Removing smokeless lube

[Bristow Kid]

Pards,

I just got a great deal on some unfired brass and bullets.  Only bad thing is the bullets are lubed for smokeless   Is there a way to remove the smokeless lube so I can relube them with a BP lube?  Is it even worth the trouble?  Thanks for any help and advice.

Bristow Kid

[Wills Point Pete]

 Removing smokeless lube is easy. Buy a cheap cookie sheet, warning, do not use your wife's favorite kitchenware. Line the bottom with a couple of layers of paper towels and then drop the bullets onto the sheet. Place in the oven at about 250-300 degrees F. The lube will melt and be absorbed by the paper towels.
Please note that very few bullets designed for smokeless carry enough lube for rifle barrels, some don't even carry enough lube for extended shooting in handguns. This is not really a tragedy, though, it is easy to put a grease cookie under each bullet. Slow, but easy.

[Wills Point Pete]

 Oooh, you probably already know but if you need remiinding, once you use any kind of pan or tray or other kitchen utensil for lead alloy bullets it is forever not to be used for food. While I firmly believe one could clean it off enough to be safe, it isn't worth the risk.

[Bristow Kid]

Pete,
Thanks a bunch for the info and warning.  I was hoping there was a way to do this cause I really didn't wanna load 500 rds of heathen powder in them.  grease cookies I can do thats easy.  On my single stage press its slow loading anyway.  Thanks again.

Bristow Kid

P.S.  SHould the bullets be cleaned after removing the smokeless lube?

[Dick Dastardly]

Howdy Kid,

I like to save those bullets for when I need flux in my melter.  I dump some in and the heathen lube makes good flux.  Then when I cast 'em they turn into Big Lube™ bullets with huge lube groves just right for shootn' Holy Black. . .

All  kidding aside, the smokeless bullets don't carry enough lube to get the job done.  As stated above, a lube cookie can be inserted below the bullet but be sure to put a barrier between the lube cookie and the powder.  Also, I'd not compress the powder with the lube cookie because it would smush down into the powder and make a mess.  Do the compression first.

Good luck.

DD-DLoS

[Adirondack Jack]

Pard, if ya got a large number of bullets, ya MIGHT wanna consider buying a can or two of 777 or APP  to use with them and save the aggravation.  Then go back to the nice smelling stuff when yer done.

[44caliberkid]

Bristo, you don't have to "clean" the bullets, they will be clean after the lube melts off.  I don't use papertowels, I just let the lube puddle on the tray (I use an aluminum pizza pan) then I save the heathen lube for some date in the future when I may shoot some smokeless powder again.  Or you can add it to vegetable shortening (Crisco, et al) at about 75% shortening, 25% heathen lube, and have a fresh batch of BP compatible lube.
  Actually, I like Adirondak Jack's idea best, shoot them as is with APP.

[River City John]

One of the advantages is that I can use the same Meister bullet with the blue lube for either smokeless or the 777 cartridges.

[Abilene]

Howdy Kid,
When melting off the smokeless lube in the oven, the bullets need to be laying on their side, not upright.  That way the paper towels (I use a section of newspaper instead) wicks the lube away and it works much quicker.  Stay close to the stove and pull them out as soon as the lube is melted out or that lube can start smoking and stink up the kitchen.

By the way, the sections of newspaper with the lube melted into them make great firestarters in the fireplace.  That wax burns good!

Abilene

[Bristow Kid]

Thanks everyone for the advice.  I am not sure what I will do with them but since I don't cast my own bullets yet I am leaning toward the use of some APP.  Thanks again.

Bristow Kid

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Howdy, BK!

Along with the "lack of big enough groove size for proper BP lube" suggestions from the others, here's another tip:  if those bullets are HARD-CAST, and you use real BP (Goex 2 or 3F, KIK, Elephant, Swiss, etc.), BE SURE to use the grease cookie you mentioned.  Without special preparations, hard-cast bullets and real BP should NOT  be used.  (It'll gum up and terribly foul your guns - even to the point of seizing up.)  With APP or 777, hard cast is OK.  For real BP, ONLY soft, pure, or nearly pure lead (you can gouge it with your fingernail - which you can't do with hard lead alloys) - should be shot.  Wheelweight lead is about the hardest of the softer lead alloys that can be sucessfully used.

There is another trick that can be done, but I don't want to take the chance of making it public as you must decide whether it is OK for you.  If you're interested, PM me and I'll give you my phone # and I'll explain all of the ins-and-outs of this method.  It's no huge secret - it HAS been safely done before; you just need to know all the possabilities.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I did it that way for years. Lay them on their sides on a piece of paper towel on a cookie sheet in the oven. You don't have to set the oven very high, I always set it to about 200 degrees.

The Smokeless lube will not wick off 100%, there will be a very thin skim of it left, but it really doesn't matter. If you pan lube your bullets, the tiny amount of Smokeless lube will melt into your BP lube and not be a problem. I used to shoot bullets like this all the time. I never bothered with cookies, they were more trouble than they were worth. A pan lubed hard cast bullet usually carries just about enough BP lube to get away with shooting in revolvers. It is the rifle where you'll have a problem. The bullets will probably run out of lube about 6" from the muzzle and hard fouling will start building. A quick swab of the barrel with your favorite water based BP solvent will usually return accuracy to your rifle. You will have to experiment to learn how often you need to swab out your barrel.