LBT Blue (hard version)

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  • Last Post 27 November 2017
OU812 posted this 20 October 2017

I thought I would give the harder LBT lube a try since my bullet does not carry much lube. Harder may work better in my case and carry lube farther down barrel.

RCBS's new adjustable lube heater.

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John Alexander posted this 20 October 2017

Looks like a slick gadget.

I have used the hard LBT stuff for years. Too lazy to change lubes. But am trying others now. I heat with a 150 Watt heat lamp in an adjustable light.  Cheap and does the job well and not too slow. Adjustments by how far from the sizer.  Also keeps your hands warm in a cold shop.

John

 

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lotech posted this 20 October 2017

I've used the LBT hard and soft versions for about as long as they have been available. Both require some heat to move through my SAECO lubrisizer. Has anyone been able to tell any difference in performance between the two?  

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OU812 posted this 20 October 2017

Looks like a slick gadget.

I heat with a 150 Watt heat lamp in an adjustable light.  Cheap and does the job well and not too slow. Adjustments by how far from the sizer.  Also keeps your hands warm in a cold shop.

John

 And helps see things better ...Thanks !    That sounds better than snuff and isn't half as dusty.

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 20 October 2017

john a. ::

your idea should be in our forum bulb...

truly a bright idea ...

"" ve haf rays to soften you up "" ...

ken

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vmwilson posted this 20 October 2017

At $74.95 I don't see em' flying off the shelves!  Hopefully my old Midway heater holds on at least as long as I do.  Mines PID controlled and I still don't have that much cash tied up in it.

Mike

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David Reiss posted this 20 October 2017

Actually about $55 at Midway right now. 

David Reiss - NRA Life Member & PSC Range Member Retired Police Firearms Instructor/Armorer
-Services: Wars Fought, Uprisings Quelled, Bars Emptied, Revolutions Started, Tigers Tamed, Assassinations Plotted, Women Seduced, Governments Run, Gun Appraisals, Lost Treasure Found.
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mrbill2 posted this 21 October 2017

Here's the old iron and al plate setup. Aluminum plate under the lube and sizer Iron the the plate. Set iron on low .It may be best to do this when your home alone.

mrbill2

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OU812 posted this 29 October 2017

mrbill2,

your iron method works great and does not heat up my laundry room-reloading room.

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BigMan54 posted this 29 October 2017

Looks pretty good.

I've used the old LYMAN one since they came out. Works really well on those cold winter nights when I usually do my lubing/sizing.

Long time Caster/Reloader, Getting back into it after almost 10yrs. Life Member NRA 40+yrs, Life S.A.S.S. #375. Does this mean a description of me as a fumble-fingered knuckle-draggin' baboon. I also drool in my sleep. I firmly believe that true happiness is a warm gun. Did I mention how much I HATE auto-correct on this blasted tablet.

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GP Idaho posted this 29 October 2017

I use the same set up as MrBill. Both the iron and the aluminum plate were free so at least the price was right. I'm looking at the junk stores for one of those small travel irons as my large iron is just a little too much heat even on low. Gp

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Ken T posted this 30 October 2017

I just checked the Midway and Graf's websites.Neither have the RCBS heater.They have both types of Lyman.I normally use a heat lamp set close to the lube sizer.I have the heater for my Lyman 4500 but I've never taken it out of the box.I have five Lyman lube sizers and and C clamp whichever one i want to use to the workbench so the heat lamp is more convenient.

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Eutectic posted this 03 November 2017

Cartridge heaters are available from MSC supply for ~25$, you want one about 30 watts. Here is one on a SAECO sizer. I bet there is a cartridge heater in the RCBS unit. 

A soldering  pencil is just a cartridge heater with a copper tip. You can pick one up at yard sales for a dollar. Here is an old Weller on a Lyman sizer.

For regulation, a light dimmer switch gives very good control. I mounted mine in a box with an outlet and pilot light so I can use it on anything in the shop.  If I did it again I would use a  GFI outlet for additional safety.

Steve Hurst

SAECO heater

 

Lyman heater

 

Power Controller

 

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OU812 posted this 09 November 2017

White Label Lube has two new lubes out called Commercial 160 and 190. These are much like their Carnuba Red, just harder. Maybe a harder lube will work better in my bullet's shallow single lube groove.

 

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OU812 posted this 16 November 2017

Trying out Carnuba Red. The hot iron resting on the back edge of my RCBS mounting plate heated lube very easily. I set iron on high 30 minutes then shut off. Lubing was very easy with the standard Carnuba Red.

Next I changed lubes to Carnuba Red 190. This harder lube required hot iron to be on during lubing. My infrared thermometer showed a temp of 115 degrees at front of Lube a matic.

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Dale53 posted this 17 November 2017

I have used the old Lyman Flat heater for many, many years for my Lyman 450, my RCBS, And, mostly, for my Star lube/sizer. However, it needs a controller for best results. I happened to have a Dremel tool speed control and it works perfectly. If I hadn’t had the Dremel control I would have definitely built one like Steve Hurst’s. The components are readily availble at the home improvement stores for small change if you are comfortable building your own.

I just pre-heat my lube sizer at a pre-determined setting, leaving it on, at the minimum necessary heat, and size away! I have long used a rather hard lube (Carnauba Red or LBT hard blue) after a bad experience with leaving loaded rounds in the sun during extremely hot weather (that melted the lube I was using and killing the loaded rounds).

FWIW,

Dale53

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OU812 posted this 20 November 2017

Lyman sells a plug in heating element. You can drill a hole in your sizer housing base or piece of metal and use heat sink compound for best heat transfer.

I removed paint off bottom of Lube-A-Matic and applied "Radio Shack heat sink compound" for better heat transfer using wifes iron.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/144640/lyman-4500-lube-sizer-heating-element-110-volt

 

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OU812 posted this 20 November 2017

Recent Fouling Shot magazine had a good article of what lube worked best with his bullet and rifle, but worked best with his bullet/ rifle combination (deep multi grooves) may not work in yours. So this type of test may be void if you have less lube groove capacity frown 

Seems to me that harder lubes would work better in all weather conditions...hot or cold? Less change of viscosity when temps change...with my bullet and it's shallow single groove?

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OU812 posted this 27 November 2017

Lube star is easier to see on crown of silver barrel, not so easy to see on Black barrel.

Recently I have been testing a new 223 Remington Shilen short chambered barrel from Brownells. Barrel is chrome moly (uncoated) with 1/9 twist. So far I cannot see much of a difference between hard vs. soft lube, but hard lube may leave bigger lube star. More testing needed.

Any 4198 continues to be the best performing powder in either the 1/12 or 1/9 twist barrels. I was surprised to see that 4759 did poorly in the 1/9 twist barrel.

The new Shilen barrel with 5.56 NATO throat will shoot consistent 1/4" groups using Sierra 52 gr Match bullets, 23 grains n133, Rem 7 1/2 primer, Lapua cases. So I know the rifle will shoot accurately. I shot 1/2" groups using 80 gr NOE 223 LINO BUMPED bullet, Winchester SR primer and 12.5 grains of H4198.

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