I guess this is supposed to be tumble applied in a canister. Does anyone apply it with an applicator?

Don't need very much...certainly not enough to fill the grooves. A thin coat, not unlike what's applied to .22LR ammo, seems to work just fine.

For me, a snap-lid butter container (empty) works fine for 100 bullets at a time.

Yup. Then spread them out on waxed paper to dry (outside if the smell bothers anyone) and in anywhere from overnight to a couple of days, they are ready to load. They tend to be a bit tacky, but a dusting of mica (I swirl them in a second container) and they'll be silky smooth to the touch.

I'll just dust a bit of waxed paper with mica, pluck each bullet out of the butter tub with a long set of tweezers (or a hemostat), and set them base down on the dusted waxed paper. Puts a nicel thin layer of mica on the bullet base, so I'll free to load them after just a few hours of dry time.

Another option, and I take no credit for it, is to use a plastic zip lock bag. Works especially well for smaller quantities (around 50). Put them in the bag, squirt a bit of Lee Liquid Alox, zip shut, and use your hands to gently coat them with the lube. Then I can pour them onto a sheet of wax paper.

"(outside if the smell bothers anyone)"
You mean no one else mixes Lee Alox and Hoppes #9 and uses it for cologne????

Cutting it 50/50 with paint thinner makes it a lot easier to apply.

How much of a bother is it to have the entire bullet coated? My thinking was to find a way not coat the head. This will be very close to my bullet profile once my mold arrives. I want to coat only the shaft that comes in contact with the barrel.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/GuideGun/mcroband.jpg

Cutting it 50/50 with paint thinner makes it a lot easier to apply.

Someone else recommended Coleman fuel.

How much of a bother is it to have the entire bullet coated? My thinking was to find a way not coat the head. This will be very close to my bullet profile once my mold arrives. I want to coat only the shaft that comes in contact with the barrel.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/GuideGun/mcroband.jpg

No problem at all, once the Alox has dried -- at least, far less of a problem than trying to apply it one bullet at a time.

How much of a bother is it to have the entire bullet coated? My thinking was to find a way not coat the head. This will be very close to my bullet profile once my mold arrives. I want to coat only the shaft that comes in contact with the barrel.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/GuideGun/mcroband.jpg

Flashhole,

After I seat/crimp my alox coated bullets in their cases, I just wipe the alox off the exposed part of the bullets with a rag & mineral spirits.

Dan

Depending on your bullet shape and how well your fingers work, you can put some LLA into a bottle cap
( like a gatorade or apple juice cap) and dip the bullets into the stuff. It's slow, but you won't get that messy brown build up in your seating die.

I remember reading that member/moderator ranchdog had a technique for what you are asking flashhole. Can't seem to find it? Perhaps a P.M. would yeild an answer? Or a search on your own?

A light application of the stuff is all that is needed in my experience. The "gumming-up of a seater die problem" can be moderated with abit of oil on the seater stem.

Other than "cosmetic", alox on the nose has caused no ill effect to my handloads.

Cheezywan

Ranchdog shows on his website how he dips his bullets. That's where I saw it. It works great, altho I have to try some different loads, as my rifle made patterns rather than it's usual groups.
Still like Lars carnauba red....

Tom - do you have a link to Ranchdog's website?

http://www.ranchdogmolds.com/

How much of a bother is it to have the entire bullet coated? My thinking was to find a way not coat the head. This will be very close to my bullet profile once my mold arrives. I want to coat only the shaft that comes in contact with the barrel.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/GuideGun/mcroband.jpg

I have found that too much Alox will gum up the reloading dies and cuase you to have to wipe each loaded round off. A pain. My solution was to cut the Alox with mineral spirits so that it just browns the bullet. Plus I don't tumble them. I got an old pan, put the bullets in face up (after sizing) and then pour the Alox in just enough to cover the grooves. Then I pick them out with pair of hemostats, dry the bottoms with a paper towel and place them on some wax paper overnight. This seems to have solved my problems. Its not as much work as it sounds.

Also, wiping the Alox off of the round after its loaded (If it gets smeared with it cause you used too much)with a dry cloth is a pain in the a#$. I found that a papertowel with some mineral spirits does a great job.

Tom - do you have a link to Ranchdog's website?

Here's the URL: http://www.ranchdogmolds.com/forum/index.php

But I can't find the post/thread for this method

The link to his sales page is http://www.ranchdogmolds.com/