Lee Alox alternative

41 414gates 4 years ago

I was down to my last bottle of Lee Alox this week, and it seemed the price of those litle bottles is quite high which put me off ordering more. I use it for sizing cast bullets. Even though I powder coat, it still needs some lube to go through the sizer.

I was at Relaible Bolt and I saw a can of Tectyl amber spray on the shelf there.Tectyl 506 is supposed to be very similar to Lee Alox. For R190 and a 500ml spray can. I took a chance.

Application is much simpler and so much faster than the alox liquid. I put a couple hundred bullets in a tub with a lid, lift the lid enough for a one or two second spray inside, then close it, and shake for a few seconds.

I dump the bullets onto a tray to dry, and after about 30 minutes come back to touch-dry bullets.

It smells exactly like Lee Alox.

I sized around five hundred .38, 9mm and .44 today using this. No complaints.

2

Replies 7

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OA oafpatroll

That's a win. A 500ml can should have a lot of 1 second sprays in it.

OA oafpatroll

Takealot has it.

Tectyl Takealot

That's why the stuff sounded so familiar. Used it on vehicles I restored. Underbody and high pressure mist sprayed into box sections for rust prevention. Seemed to work well.

22 223

414gates. Do you size before or after powder coating?

If after, you can also try Silicone spray.

If before, how on earth do you get that sticky stuff off again?

OA oafpatroll

I don't lube my powder coated bullets for sizing at all. I did use silicone spray when I started with them but after forgetting to lube a batch I found they worked fine without. I guess that may differ depending on the type of PC and how much squeeze you need to put on them.

41 414gates OP

414gates. Do you size before or after powder coating?

I size after.

For the handgun calibers, there is not much resistance, they could be sized without. My rifle moulds drop oversize, those have to be lubed for sizing.

I tried sizing using case lube / lanolin, what I didn't like is the coating doesn't dry at all. The Lee Alox dried to a soft wax consistency. This tectyl spray seems to dry quicker, and the dried film on the bullets is harder. I much prefer something that dries, and tectyl spray is dry in 30 minutes - the alox took a few days before it wasn't tacky anymore.

With the alox or lanolin, I was rubbing it with my fingers on every bullet.

The tectyl spray into a container and shake is a paradigm shift for my process.

TR Treeman

I don't lube my powder coated bullets for sizing at all. I did use silicone spray when I started with them but after forgetting to lube a batch I found they worked fine without. I guess that may differ depending on the type of PC and how much squeeze you need to put on them.

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I did the same, also ended up running dry.