Low Smoke Bullet Lube

[WhoKnowsWho]

Are any better than others? I don't cast my own, so if anyone knows of a manufacturer who uses low smoke lube, it would be nice to try. I am tempted to just start using plated only, since if I try any long strings of fire, I have to wait for the smoke to clear. I guess the air movement in the indoor range isn't as great as I hoped.

 

[Jim Watson]

Precision coated bullets are the only cast bullets I know that smoke enough less than common wax-lubed to help.
http://www.precisionbullets.com

There are some other moly coated bullets on the market that might do as well but I have tried only the Ranger and don't know if they are still made.

A 9mm Precision smokes more than a .45. I guess it is the higher pressure and larger ratio of powder charge to bullet base area that just burns the coating.

Penn Bullets advertises non-smoking Teflon based bullet lube; and they very kindly sent me a free sample to try. But they smoked as much as any other commercial cast bullet I had on hand. Good looking bullets, though; fine for outdoors.

 

[Guy B. Meredith]

You don't mention what sort of bullets you need.

I shoot copper plated bullets exclusively. No lube, no leading, no dirt. My favorite is West Coast bullets. Great prices and excellent service. Check and you may find their prices are not as far off from lead and lube as you might expect.

 

[MoNsTeR]

bullets similar to the Precision "black bullet" are also made by
Bear Creek ( www.pathfindersports.com )
and Master Blaster ( www.masterblastersbullets.com )

 

[dickwholliday]

i'm beginning to wonder if the lube has that much to do with the smoke.....for the most part i don't think that the red rooster and blue stuff burns anyway....you can always find bullets laying around the range and the lube is still in the groove...now my Lee tumble lube is another matter...it's all over the base and everywhere else.....i think it's the lead bullet....i bought an old heavy barrel smith practical pistol a while back and was shooting off a barricade .....i was shooting it with my pointer finger wrapped around the barrel and the flash gap on the barrel was eating my wrist up well i finally put on a glove and that helped but anyway when i got through shooting i noticed a portion of my watchband looked as if it had been painted gray....my first though was it had blown the finish off the rubber Casio band....then i started scratching on it and guess what??? It was lead....so i think the moral of the story is that the smoke ain't as much smoke as you may think....there's a lot of lead in that smoke.....Dick

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

there's a lot of lead in that smoke.....

Oh, nasty thought... good I have a Lead Level Test coming up in a few months just for safety's sake. Too bad lead isn't attracted to a magnet, or I would stick a strong one up and watch it get covered!

Maybe someone could try putting some lube around the front of a FMJ and see if the smoke increases?

If only Rainier and West Coast was $2 or so more expensive than plain lead!

 

[dickwholliday]

i know i guy who lived in an apartment made from a single car garage....in there he ate, drank, slept.....and here's the good part....he had two automatic bullet casting machines and several lyman type furnaces that he used for hand casting with high volumn molds....there was no ventilation that i remember, and when i'd go by to pick up some bullets the air in their was always smokey from fluxing lead........as far as i know this guy is still doing well and shows no ill effects from it......i definitely wouldn't do what he did (anymore)....the biggest problems i hear of with lead these days is indoor range employees that are in the range all the time.......DICK