Muzzleloading Projectiles - Lubing your conical bullets the easy way

First thing, we need  to take a look at the bullet lube you plan to use.

How hard or soft is it?

A lot of folks use Bore Butter for this process. I personally find it way to soft and runny in warm weather and no longer use it. If you do use it, add small amount of beeswax to thicken it a bit.

Folks often resort back to animal fat and beeswax. Crisco and beeswax makes a decent bullet lube, but with beeswax, it can get pretty hard and difficult to clean out at the end of the day. I've also found that it can leave behind a sticky tar like feel in the bore where the projectile sits on top of the powder charge.

Looking at todays prices for TC Maxi balls, I was amazed to find that our local Big R store had them for $24 for a package of 20! $24!! I remember a handful of years ago when they were in the $12 range!

Those of us that reload and cast our own ammo, balk at the idea of paying well over $120 for a Lyman mould and handles. Well, at $24 for 20 bullets, those handles and bullet moulds now seem like the cheap way to go!

Now looking back at all the times you've spend money on the TC Maxi balls or even the Hornady great plains bullets, do you remember opening the package only to find the lube on the bullets in a nasty dried out state  that crumbled off the bullets easily? I remember those days, and always swore at the makers for using such a hard beeswax or paraffin wax and it not sticking to the bullets. Plus the poor lubrication it offered while sliding down the bore.

So how do we go about lubing our conical bullets the easy way, with the lube of our choice?

First, figure out if your lube is right for conicals. A simple Crisco/Beeswax combo mixed 60-40 or even 50-50 will do the job for starters.

For my bullets I use Frontier's Anti-Rust & Patch lube. This lube is mainly used for wiping rifles down inside and out to prevent rust, and used for shooting patches with round balls. It is however, firm enough to be used for conical bullets and is a lube that will NOT dry out and fall off once the bullets have been lubed. It also does not contain paraffin wax or even beeswax. Full melting point is a little over 100 degrees which means you can hunt without fear of the bullet lube melting and contaminating your powder charge.

I first start out finding a container large enough to hold all the bullets I plan on lubing that day.

I place those bullets into the container, leaving enough space in between to cut them out.

Next, I take my preferred lube, melt it down to a liquid state and carefully pour the lube into the bullet container and fill it up to the last loading band. A little extra never hurts as the cutting process will remove most of it.

Once the lube has been poured, you can either place the container into the Fridge or just allow them 24 hours to cure in the open air.

 Now, lets look back to your lube... Is it going to get HARD or will it be semi hard? If its a hard mix lube, cut the bullets out of the lube while its in a semi hard state, otherwise, you will have to melt the bullets/lube and start over again.

To cut the bullets out cleanly, I used a .50cal Thompson Center QuickShot loading tool. Most of us ball them speed loaders. These, have a nice narrow end that slips over the nose of the bullet and easily cuts through lube and bullets the bullet right out. The QuickSot Loading tool Holds premeasured powder charge, projectile and priming in a waterproof container. Can be used with patch and ball, Maxi-Ball or Maxi-Hunter or any other conical bullet. Note the top flap on the speed loader. It can hold either a 209 primer, #11 percussion cap or even a small amount of 4fg priming powder for you flintlock! Very handy little gadget that speeds up the reloading process in the field.

Align the speed loader over the top of the bullet and press down straight to cut the bullet free of the lube.

 Once you pull the bullet out of the lube, use a old rag or paper towel and wipe the base of the bullet clean and then use a short starter to push the bullet out of the speed loader. It is that easy! Your bullets are now lubed with your choice of lube!

If you have a supply of store bought bullets  and do not like what they are lubed with, you can place those bullets into a pan and place it over a heat source and allow it to gently melt off. Pluck the bullets out once  they are free of lube, and start the lubing process with a lube you can count on!