Jim Taylor
LUBRICATING JACKETED BULLETS
Monday, May 06, 2024, 08:19

All bullets need lubrication, some more than others. I know it is commonly taken that jacketed bullets do not need lube. If that were the case however we would not use oil in the bearings on our cars. Fire a few thousand jacketed bullets through your barrel and watch it turn copper-colored in the rifling and then tell me jacketed bullets don't need lube. They do, however, need it far less than lead bullets.

Some years ago I ran a test - lubricating jacketed bullets. I did this after I pulled some early Winchester .45 Silver Tip bullets and found that they had a grease groove in the jacket!! Hmm....does Winchester know something I don't? I thought. So I gave it try.

Fired in a Ruger .45 Colt Blackhawk 7 1/2" - using WW cases with CCI LP primers - 22 gr. H-110 and the Speer 300 gr. PSP bullet. The bullet was seated out of the case as far as possible, crimping into the bottom crimp groove.
NO LUBE
Load #1 - 974 fps
Load #2 - 815 fps
Load #3 - 1003 fps
Load #4 - 993 fps
Load #5 - 987 fps
Load #6 - 896 fps
Average of all shots - 944 fps

SAME LOAD AS ABOVE EXCEPT THE BULLETS WERE LUBED WITH LEE LIQUID ALOX AND ALLOWED TO DRY 24 HRS. BEFORE LOADING AND FIRING THEM.
Load #1 - 1027 fps
Load #2 - 1075 fps
Load #3 - 1063 fps
Load #4 - 1062 fps
Load #5 - 1055 fps
Load #6 - 1000 fps
Average of all shots - 1046 fps

Next I fired the 7 1/2" .454 Casull with the same bullet loaded over 30 gr. H-110, using CCI #400 Small Rifle Primers.
NO LUBE - average velocity 1698 fps
LUBED WITH LEE LIQUID ALOX (dried 24 hrs. before loading and firing) - average velocity 1775 fps

FIRED FOR ACCURACY AT 25 YARDS FROM A REST
Bullets without Lube - 2" average
Bullets with Lube - 1.75" average

What did it prove? Bullets going down a bore have friction. Something we all know. Often we do not think about jacketed bullets and barrel friction though. What little testing I have done leads me to believe that you can have too much of a good thing. Accuracy is not always enhanced by better lubrication. Bullets apparently need some "drag". But this is a subject that could use more testing. I just have never followed through with it because accuracy with jacketed bullets has always been more than “good enough.”