• The AGN App is ready! Search "Airgun Nation" in your App store. To compliment this new tech we've assigned the "Threads" Feed & "Dark" Mode. To revert back click HERE.

Anyone ever have performance decline after cleaning and lubing slugs?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
ctshooter

ctshooter

Member
Oct 30, 2018
4,106
1,898
CT, United States
I'm thinking about the NSA .177 12.5 grain slugs shooting out of my Red Wolf. Shooting really well out of the bag yet decided to wash them. Dried and lubed with Pledge. Wow - shooting terrible after waxing. Even after a few mags of pellets the aim won't settle back down. 

I cleaned the barrel. Shot a few mags of pellets. Settled back down during the second mag of pellets. Took some NSA right out of the bag. First mag is better than the lubed one were shooting but not great. Again, settled in during the second mag and shooting great again. 

Wondering what went wrong here. Only thought is the hollow point is so tiny that water got in and not all of it was removed during drying throwing the balance off on the slugs. I imagine this could lead to the slug traveling a bit wonky down the barrel and leaving some lead smears in its path. 
 
I am not sure why you would wash our slugs. Let me explain our procedure we do for production.

After we make the slugs we tumble them to knock off any small amount of lead that develops around the nose or base during production process. Then the slugs are placed in a sonic cleaner to remove anything from the slugs and the lube that was on the them from the production.

Then the slugs are placed on dry racks with fans running over them. Once dry they are placed in another tumbler and lubed. The tumbler gets the lube to be even on the slugs. Once this is done they are bagged and boxed. We are currently using silicone lube which seems to be working very well.

I really see no reason to do anything but put them in your gun and shoot.
 
Upvote 0
I am not sure why you would wash our slugs. Let me explain our procedure we do for production.

After we make the slugs we tumble them to knock off any small amount of lead that develops around the nose or base during production process. Then the slugs are placed in a sonic cleaner to remove anything from the slugs and the lube that was on the them from the production.

Then the slugs are placed on dry racks with fans running over them. Once dry they are placed in another tumbler and lubed. The tumbler gets the lube to be even on the slugs. Once this is done they are bagged and boxed. We are currently using silicone lube which seems to be working very well.

I really see no reason to do anything but put them in your gun and shoot.
Click to expand...

+1. The 12.5's shoot extremely well out of several of my rifles as made. Sometimes we just shoot ourselves in the foot. 
 
Upvote 0
Well, you definitely want to rule out the possibility of trapped water. Going forward, that’s easy to deal with. Simply put them in an oven / toaster oven on 250F so it will steam and evaporate off.

However the Pledge contains components that do not evaporate and may indeed produce the imbalance you described. How are you applying it? Directly or indirectly? Indirect meaning, for example, applying it to foam and rolling the slugs in it?

In other words, is there any chance there was a sufficient amount coming into contact with the slugs that it was able to wick into the cavity and pool up? Once it’s in there, it’s not coming out without a solvent.

On the broader question of whether lube may produce worse results. While yes I have had in happen, it is exceedingly rare. That is, I wouldn’t rule it out as the cause but it wouldn’t be my first pick for why things got worse. If you have the appetite to get to the root cause, strip off the Pledge and make sure they are clean and dry and try some groups. Then perhaps try a batch with a dry lube like graphite powder or a wax-based one (White Lightning or Krytox). And then a batch with a wet lube applied indirectly to avoid pooling.

Note the waxes go on wet but they consist mostly of a fast-evaporating carrier solvent with a very small amount of solids (wax). At one time I ran some calculations that sufficiently convinced me a person couldn’t be careless enough to apply it in such a way as to produce a meaningful imbalance. 
 
Upvote 0
I am not sure why you would wash our slugs. Let me explain our procedure we do for production.

After we make the slugs we tumble them to knock off any small amount of lead that develops around the nose or base during production process. Then the slugs are placed in a sonic cleaner to remove anything from the slugs and the lube that was on the them from the production.

Then the slugs are placed on dry racks with fans running over them. Once dry they are placed in another tumbler and lubed. The tumbler gets the lube to be even on the slugs. Once this is done they are bagged and boxed. We are currently using silicone lube which seems to be working very well.

I really see no reason to do anything but put them in your gun and shoot.
Click to expand...

Nick - THANK YOU! I will no longer do anything but load and shoot. 
 
Upvote 0
By the way, now seeing Nick’s input that they were lubed with silicone, that poses an interesting question. Perhaps you know how difficult it is to remove silicone from a surface. Painters, for example, certainly have an appreciation of how tenacious it is. It laughs at water and soap/detergent. Most common solvents don’t remove it so much as emulsify with it and smear all around. Kinda makes me wonder what sort of sauce you get from Pledge mixed with silicone :)
 
Upvote 0
When I got my first batch of lubed slugs from NSA, they looked archaic compared to previous batches. I didn’t know that they started lubing them. I cleaned them in acetone then lubed them with my normal silicone regimen. Lubes do make a difference. I did a side by side same day shooting session comparison of FP-10 and silicone. In that particular barrel, a TJ, the silicone shot better. In the OP’s case, it may have just been an accumulation of too much stuff on the slugs. Who knows. I lube pellets with furniture polish, but not slugs.
 
Upvote 0
I wasted two tins of 25 cal grizzled by washing and pledging them. They shot great out of my condor ss and figured it would be better after that. I should have done twenty or so but like an idiot I did two tins. They grouped like bird shot. Learned my lesson. By the way I bought the NSA 29.5 grain hp slugs. They are really nice and clean.
 
Upvote 0
I think it is outstanding that the owner of a company is not only a member here but actually monitors the chat and jumps in to answer questions and give advice about his products.

I shoot the Nielsen .22 slugs in my Impact and they are terrific all the way out to 200 yards.

Kenny
Click to expand...



+1 😊



Matthias
 
Upvote 0
I am not sure why you would wash our slugs. Let me explain our procedure we do for production.

After we make the slugs we tumble them to knock off any small amount of lead that develops around the nose or base during production process. Then the slugs are placed in a sonic cleaner to remove anything from the slugs and the lube that was on the them from the production.

Then the slugs are placed on dry racks with fans running over them. Once dry they are placed in another tumbler and lubed. The tumbler gets the lube to be even on the slugs. Once this is done they are bagged and boxed. We are currently using silicone lube which seems to be working very well.

I really see no reason to do anything but put them in your gun and shoot.
Click to expand...

They always shoot perfect for me. Though, I am sure our wives think it is funny that we are cleaning/sorting pellets at 1pm in the morning.

Thanks NSA
 
Upvote 0
Same for me, I waisted a lot of time and slugs pre lubing a lot of my NSA’s, they definitely shot better out of the box. But I’m thinking they have changed their process a little and maybe Nick can speak to this? But the first ones I was buying in the spring of 2019 before RMAC were dark and dry? Shooting better with lube for me? A year or so later when I added a little lube a white paste would start to form and the results went the other direction? Anywho, I’m good now out of the box👍🏻 And thanks Nick for giving us some process insight.


 
Upvote 0
I recently got an EvoL hps. First thing I did was lube all of the slugs. Mistake, it was a lot. Just a habit I got into with pellets. This is my first slug air rifle. The accuracy was rough with several slugs. I did some research, washed the wax off of them all and then put a thin coat of silicone oil on them. Big difference. Nothing but a waist of time.
 
Upvote 0
Same for me, I waisted a lot of time and slugs pre lubing a lot of my NSA’s, they definitely shot better out of the box. But I’m thinking they have changed their process a little and maybe Nick can speak to this? 

Click to expand...

We are constantly changing our process to make improvements and getting more efficient. We used to wash in a different solution that over time would turn dark and we were using a different lube. Some people like those best, wanted us to go back to it. Others like what we have now. What we have now looks better visually.

We have changed all that, both our washing solution and lube. This adds a lot of time and expense to our process but we want clean slugs that are ready to shoot out the box with no sorting required. My goal is to have the best value for your money with many options. We have more designs, sizes and weights that will be coming. It takes time to develop all this but we come out with something new every other month or so.
 
Upvote 0
Same for me, I waisted a lot of time and slugs pre lubing a lot of my NSA’s, they definitely shot better out of the box. But I’m thinking they have changed their process a little and maybe Nick can speak to this? 

Click to expand...

We are constantly changing our process to make improvements and getting more efficient. We used to wash in a different solution that over time would turn dark and we were using a different lube. Some people like those best, wanted us to go back to it. Others like what we have now. What we have now looks better visually.

We have changed all that, both our washing solution and lube. This adds a lot of time and expense to our process but we want clean slugs that are ready to shoot out the box with no sorting required. My goal is to have the best value for your money with many options. We have more designs, sizes and weights that will be coming. It takes time to develop all this but we come out with something new every other month or so.
Click to expand...

Thanks Nick! Continuous improvement, love to hear that!👍🏻
 
Upvote 0
I use a variety of NSAs, but I still shoot some silicone into the bags of the 20.2gr for my single shot Leshiy(s). It helps seat them in the bore just right with less effort. I did a light chamber ream specifically for this ammo (to all 3 of my 22cal Leshiy barrels), but in the winter months they're a pain in the thumb to load lol
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Home
Forums
Resources
Menu