Great results with Johnson Paste Wax

[USARO4]

I just finished shooting 300 rds of Lee 124 gr TC, tumble lubed with Johnson's Paste Wax. The gun Was a Uberti-Colt clone. when I started shooting the bore was slightly dirty from shooting Alox lubed bullets, after shooting the wax lubed bullets it was squeaky clean, almost looked like there was a polished layer of wax coating the bore. Absolutely no leading. Anybody else ever get these results?

[felix]

Yes, it is the carnauba wax contained within the JPW. The proportion of carnauba is important in any wax you would make on your own to get what you see. That proportion is unknown until you make up various lube proportions of what you have on the table. ... felix

[Dutch4122]

Yep, I've gotten the same results so far in 3 rifles. A long barreled 8mm Persian Mauser, French MAS 36 7.5x54, and an H&R Ultra rifle in .450 Marlin. In all cases the boolits dropped from the molds at diameters that I didn't want to size down any farther so I could maintain at least a diameter that was .015" over bore size. So, I snapped on the gas checks by hand and dipped them all in melted Johnson's Paste Wax, coating the driving bands while holding them by the nose. Ran them in the 8mm with a 175 grn GC boolit over 16-18 grains of 2400 up to 1850 fps; the 7.5x54 MAS was 18 grns of 2400 with a 190 grn GC boolit well over 1700 fps; and the .450 Marlin with a 500 grn GC boolit and RE-7 up to 1500+ fps. In each case I had a little powder residue in the barrel which I wiped out with a dry patch. After doing so all three bores were bright and shiney with an almost "wet" appearance. No leading and got a lube star on all three as well. Never tried JPW in handguns yet and have only run it up to 2025 FPS in a .444 Marlin (325 grn FNGC boolit) where I did get some slight leading, but I suspect boolit fit to be the culprit there and I will have to work on that load more before passing judgement on JPW's use above 2000 fps.

All loads showed accuracy potential (even the .444 load) and I think its just a matter of tweaking those loads to get best accuracy.

Hope this helps,

[jonk]

Where do you find this, in the cleaner section of a Wal mart, etc.?

[USARO4]

I bought mine at Ace Hardware for about 5 bucks a can. It's the type they use on floors. I remember buffing floors with it back in my Army days.

[montana_charlie]

I would be interested in hearing results of using JPW over black powder charges.
If they are good, I'll put it on my 'list' of lubes to try next...
CM

[Dutch4122]

I would be interested in hearing results of using JPW over black powder charges.
If they are good, I'll put it on my 'list' of lubes to try next...
CM


My gut tells me that it wouldn't be a good idea. I think I read something once that B/P lubes had to be made of all natural ingredients and specifically nothing petroleum based. When heated up in a glass bowl on a hotplate the JPW gives off some "interesting" fumes; and I know from experience in the Army that the stuff is easily lit with a match and lighter. Smells a lot like melted 50/50 beeswax/allox lube. I always make sure to use it in a well ventilated area.

Hope this helps, :)

[jonk]

What would happen if you melted this stuff and poured into a lubrisizer?

Hmmm.....

[357maximum]

What would happen if you melted this stuff and poured into a lubrisizer?

Hmmm.....

Johnsons has a drying solvent agent in it.....I would imagine if it was left in the lube resovior very long at all..you would have a dry rock in your sizer....proably not a good idea...


when I add JPW to a beeswax based lube...I always "cook" it long enough to ensure the solvent goes away....the carnauba in JPW is what I want when using it as an ingredient,,,not the solvent.

as far a tlubing with it I have had good luck with it as well as a 50/50 mix of LLA/JPW up to light rifle velocities.....I use it alot on boolits not requiring sizing...works well

[jonk]

Well if it would harden too much then I won't do THAT, but I don't see the advantage over any other lube if you have to melt it to pan lube with it; I never much liked pan lubing but if I did, how is Johnson's better than any other method? This is why I like LLA for bullets I don't size.

[357maximum]

Well if it would harden too much then I won't do THAT, but I don't see the advantage over any other lube if you have to melt it to pan lube with it; I never much liked pan lubing but if I did, how is Johnson's better than any other method? This is why I like LLA for bullets I don't size.

You use johnsons as a tumblelube and let it dry, just like LLA. I do not melt it for tl'ing, just when it is used as an ingredient in a wax based lube.....


I own several sizers and I still panlube Certain boolits, I get better accuracy on the long skinnies with it over the lubesizers, and that is why....panlubing has it's places...

[duke76]

Yep, I've gotten the same results so far in 3 rifles. A long barreled 8mm Persian Mauser, French MAS 36 7.5x54, and an H&R Ultra rifle in .450 Marlin. In all cases the boolits dropped from the molds at diameters that I didn't want to size down any farther so I could maintain at least a diameter that was .015" over bore size. So, I snapped on the gas checks by hand and dipped them all in melted Johnson's Paste Wax, coating the driving bands while holding them by the nose. Ran them in the 8mm with a 175 grn GC boolit over 16-18 grains of 2400 up to 1850 fps; the 7.5x54 MAS was 18 grns of 2400 with a 190 grn GC boolit well over 1700 fps; and the .450 Marlin with a 500 grn GC boolit and RE-7 up to 1500+ fps. In each case I had a little powder residue in the barrel which I wiped out with a dry patch. After doing so all three bores were bright and shiney with an almost "wet" appearance. No leading and got a lube star on all three as well. Never tried JPW in handguns yet and have only run it up to 2025 FPS in a .444 Marlin (325 grn FNGC boolit) where I did get some slight leading, but I suspect boolit fit to be the culprit there and I will have to work on that load more before passing judgement on JPW's use above 2000 fps.

All loads showed accuracy potential (even the .444 load) and I think its just a matter of tweaking those loads to get best accuracy.

Hope this helps,



You said you snapped on the gaschecks without running them through the sizer. I didn't know that was possible. I have never tried it but often wondered how I was going to put on gas checks and just figured I would have to have an oversized sizer die made. Does it work well or is it a pain? Are they on just as tight as running them trough a sizer? Is there anything special you have to do to the check?

[Ohio Rusty]

Is the J's paste wax or J's paste wax and beeswax put on thick enough to fill the lube grooves and let dry, or are the bullets just coated all over and the lube grooves aren't full, but have a coasting of the paste wax lube? I'm asking as I can't find a bottle of alox on any gun store locally, and I'm needing to have some lube for the bullets I have cast.
Thanx ......
Ohio Rusty

[Dutch4122]

You said you snapped on the gaschecks without running them through the sizer. I didn't know that was possible. I have never tried it but often wondered how I was going to put on gas checks and just figured I would have to have an oversized sizer die made. Does it work well or is it a pain? Are they on just as tight as running them trough a sizer? Is there anything special you have to do to the check?

I have installed the gas checks several different ways depending on how hard they are to snap on the base shank. 1st method is to hold the boolit upside down between thumb and forfinger and press the check on with the other thumb. However, if this works you'll usually have a very loose fitting gas check that will spin on the shank. I hit these with a small drop of super glue inside the gas check before installing it on the boolit shank. 2nd method is to set a folded doubled over section of kitchen paper towel on the table and then set the gas checks on the paper towel base down; then I just take the boolit and press it into the gas check. Some of these that snap on with the help of the tables hard surface will still spin and if I find that they are then they get the super glue treatment as well. 3rd method I have used is for those where the checks are pretty much impossible to install by hand. I just use a sizer die that is .001" larger than the boolit to seat the checks squarely on the boolit bases. The slight out of roundness encountered with most boolits will provide enough resistance to get the check seated.

Once the gas checks are installed by one of the three above methods then I just fire up the old hotplate (lowest setting) with the small glass bowl of JPW on it. Once the JPW is melted I hold each boolit by the nose and dip it in the bowl of melted JPW for 4-5 seconds with all the driving bands down in the JPW. Then I set them on a sheet of wax paper to dry. When a batch of 50 are done I also wipe the excess JPW off the bases on a sheet of paper towel and let them sit 24 hrs before loading.

Hope this helps,

[garandsrus]

duke76,

I tried seating some .30 cal gas checks by hand and they seated fine. However, without crimping/sizing the gas check, it expanded the case neck as the boolit was seated. If the check went below the case shoulder, the rest of the boolit would fall into the case, so obviously this didn't work for me.

John

[Leftoverdj]

Well if it would harden too much then I won't do THAT, but I don't see the advantage over any other lube if you have to melt it to pan lube with it; I never much liked pan lubing but if I did, how is Johnson's better than any other method? This is why I like LLA for bullets I don't size.

Johnsons is better than LLA in that it does not gum up your seating die as badly, is far more readily available, and is much cheaper.

My method of application is to preheat the bullets, usually in a two pound coffee can on my wood stove, before adding a couple of dollops of JPW and tumbling. The wax coats much more evenly on bullets still cool enough to pick up, but hot enough so you don't want to hold them long. For me, this is as easy as LLA.

I've been very happy with the results in pistols and pistol caliber carbines. It seems to be suitable for any plain base bullet load I use although I'll stick with more normal lubes for GCed bullets.

[Scrounger]

Group Buy On Johnson's Paste Wax???

[Ohio Rusty]

I stopped by Meijer on the way home, and they had maybe 8 cans of Johnsons Paste wax on the shelf. They have one less now. This seems to be a hard item to get as most stores don't carry it. I assume that is because not too many people use paste wax for floors anymore since most flooring is now maintenance free. I'm looking forward to trying it as that JPW plus the beeswax I have can make me 20 pounds of boolet lube for about 5 or 6 bucks. 20 pounds of Lee Alox would be $487.33......... The paste wax lube sounds like a real winner to me.
Ohio Rusty

[Ricochet]

Rusty, you should've gotten in on the just completed Alox Group Buy.

[35remington]

I apply it almost identically to leftoverdj's method, warming the bullets in a 175 degree oven with the door slightly open in a metal container (old tin can).

To distribute the lube, I use a cut off one gallon plastic milk jug, with a diagonal cut through it that removes the screw on top and about one third of the jug but leaves the handle on.

Dump a dollop of Johnson's in the bottom of the jug. Not too much at first; always easier to add than drain away. Dump warmed bullets on top. Swirl. Observe the sides and bottom of the jug; if there's a light wash of Johnson's on it you're right; you don't want a big pool of wax on the bottom. Dump on waxed paper to dry. That's it.

Excellent for my 25-20 plainbase hunting loads. Lube is sufficient, hard, does not rub off or collect grit. Works on standard lube groove bullets or tumble lube design.

[Ohio Rusty]

As a follow up report to my first experience lubing with a 50/50 mix of JPW and beeswax, it turned out well and I learned a few things. This was done over my coleman stove outside on the lowest heat setting. After 24 hours, the lube has hardened alot more than yesterday. Yesterday it was still soft on the boolets and would wipe off the boolets with the fingers, not so today. Pan lubing was an utter failure as when the bullets would come apart, the lube would pop out of the grooves and not stick well. The best method was to warm the lube to a liquid, put the boolets in the metal pie pan and let the boolets get warm also. If they went in cold, the lube would immediately harden around the bullet in a big chunk. As the bullet warmed, the lube would coat the bullet evenly and set in the lube grooves as expected. It worked out really well doing this with my cast .429 round ball and rolling them around in the pan to get an even coat. All the lead bullets were put on wax paper to dry. I sure am please with the results so far, and I'm grateful to the list for the great advice. I hope to get a chance to load some rounds and fire some of these this weekend. I'm most excited about shooting the round ball and working up a good load for it. I can see me shooting thousands of these RB loads over the summer just for the fun of it. I'll report on that later .....
Ohio Rusty

[WHITETAIL]

Ok boys and girls, here is a no fuss way of lubing with JPW.
Get yourself a small jar. Like a cherry jar.
Then putin your boolets say 50 at a time.
Then add a1/4 spoon full of JPW to the jar.
Set the jar on a heat unit. such as a heater or wood stove.
When the wax melts swirl the boolets around in the jar.
Then take the boolets out with a pair of tweesers.
And place base down on a sheet of wax paper.
Let sit overnight.
Now they are ready to load.

[NSP64]

I bought mine at Ace Hardware for about 5 bucks a can. It's the type they use on floors. I remember buffing floors with it back in my Army days.

Yesssss, those were the days!!! used to bend a coat hanger around them and light them. put the lid on to extinguish, then pour on floor in small puddles. spread with buffer brush, let dry then polish to high shine with cotton towel. mirror shine. Until some idiot had to polish commanders office on the weekend and lit the curtains on fire. Monday, pulled all the JPW out of the building. Floor never looked the same. never thought about shooting it. have to lube some R.E.A.L. boolits and go launch them.:Fire:

[HEAD0001]

It never ceases to amaze me the stuff you guys come up with. This is a fun site. Tom.

[beagle]

These are still the good old days. My conference room had a maroon tile floor and we'd heat and mix Kiwi Cordovan shoe polish in with Johnson's paste wax. Got to watch messing with it as it's flammable as all hell. Then get a good private that knows what he's doing on a buffer and an old towel and he'd make it look like glass.

As sundog says, "The Sergeant Major is awlays right"./beagle


Yesssss, those were the days!!! used to bend a coat hanger around them and light them. put the lid on to extinguish, then pour on floor in small puddles. spread with buffer brush, let dry then polish to high shine with cotton towel. mirror shine. Until some idiot had to polish commanders office on the weekend and lit the curtains on fire. Monday, pulled all the JPW out of the building. Floor never looked the same. never thought about shooting it. have to lube some R.E.A.L. boolits and go launch them.:Fire:

[USARO4]

AAHHH, thanks for the memories Beagle, I had forgotten the towel under the buffer trick. I also remember my first experience as a buffer operator, seems like the thing had a mind of it's own. I remember chasing it all over the Dayroom floor. By the way I too use Leftoverdj's and 35remington's method to apply the JPW to boolits. Its not messy at all and evenly coats the bullet with a thin layer of wax.

[opcon4]

won't the wax eat away at the barrel?

[pdawg_shooter]

Any one try JPW as a lube for paper patches? Most anything seems to work ok, but JPW sounds neat and clean.

[Ricochet]

How would wax eat away at a barrel? Nothing corrosive in it.

Wonder how Cordovan Kiwi Polish would work as a boolit lube? :mrgreen:

[leftiye]

Ric, Nice Color!

[Scrounger]

Wax allows moisture to collect unseen under it. Shooting wax coated bullets is OK, just make sure you clean it good afterwards.

[Bret4207]

I think if moisture in my barrel was a concern I''d either use a moisture displacer like WD-40 or warm the barrel with a blow dryer enough to get it "warm and snuggly" as my 3 year old says. Then once the moistures gone the JPW should seal the bad stuff out.

Ah, floor buffing. A subject dear to the heart of any Marine. There was a time when the best looking floor four weeks in a row got you a 4 day pass. Did you guys know that you can sneak a bit of sand into the floor wax supply? Got to buy your own supply on the sly but it was worth it as there was this girl at the time and she and I .....

[44man]

I found out long ago that water would get between the barrel and stock of my flinters and soak the pan powder. I put gobs of paste wax in the barrel channel and force the excess out when I replace the barrel. Polish it away and the gun is water proof. After years of this bedding, the metal is still like new too. I have used wax on many guns for protection when hunting in the rain. It makes a good release agent for bedding epoxy too and I fill the screw threads with it before tightening down a bedding job.
The stuff has a million uses.

[USARO4]

Does wax allow moisture to collect unseen under it when used on a car's finish? Seems to me it repels water and protects the finish, maybe it has the same effect on a barrel. Anybody have any long term experience in shooting JPW coated bullets and its effect on the barrel?

[Ricochet]

If Johnson's paste wax on boolits collects water under it and rusts barrels, so does the beeswax, paraffin and carnauba wax in just about every other boolit lube formula used by shooters on this board. That's ludicrous.

[Scrounger]

If Johnson's paste wax on boolits collects water under it and rusts barrels, so does the beeswax, paraffin and carnauba wax in just about every other boolit lube formula used by shooters on this board. That's ludicrous.

I suppose you're right. The pressure of the bullet against the barrel, and the heat, would probably disspell any moisture. I was basing that assumption on a fellow who used to wax the outside of his guns; he did get some rust problems there.

[Ricochet]

The problem there is if you wax over existing stuff that'll trap moisture, like salt from perspiration. I'd really worry about that with shooting waxy lubes over corrosive primers, but that's seldom a problem except with mxing cast boolit loads with old milsurp ammo as I often do. I have had rust form in my Colt Walker's chamber mouths when I used Pyrodex (which has potassium perchlorate in it) and greased boolits with automotive grease that was hard to wash out completely and trapped some of the corrosive salt even though I thought I'd thoroughly washed it out with hot soapy water and rinsed it with hot water, dried and oiled it. Wasn't enough.

[rroberts]

JPW is just as good on the outside as it is on the inside. Here in the deep south where humidity and sweat are a constant, many folks put JPW on the outside of the gun. Clean the gun very well, wax it down and wipe it off. It is an excellent rust preventative. It repels perspiration, rain, and make the guns easier to wipe down.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Calling ludicris is a pretty bad rap. He, He!

[44man]

Thats the secret to wax. Clean off everything else before putting it on. Doesn't do any good to try to put it on top of grease, oil, sweat or anything else.

[nelsonted1]

I trotted down to Walmart only to find no JPW BUT there are lots and lots of car waxes. Are they the same? SOme are even liquified. Ace has it for $5.00

[Mallard57]

[QUOTE][I trotted down to Walmart only to find no JPW BUT there are lots and lots of car waxes. Are they the same? SOme are even liquified. Ace has it for $5.00/QUOTE]
Did you look in the home cleaning supplies, I don't think it's with the automotive stuff.
Jeff

[R.M.]

I couldn't find it at WallyWorld either. I did get some from my local Mom'n'Pop hardware store. Haven't tried any yet.

R.M.

[Ricochet]

Look in the housewares section with the soaps and cleaners. Not where the car waxes are.

[nelsonted1]

I even asked! And got answers! In a Walmart! Helps I know several dept heads and the store mgr. They, this store, doesn't carry JPW. I can get it at the local hardware store. I checked.

MY QUESTION: Are any of the common car waxes suitable ie Turtle Wax? What ingredients do I look for? There are no or nearly no ingredients listed on most I looked at so I guess I'd need to look them up online.

CAR WAX PRODUCTS SUITABLE?

[Ricochet]

NO!

They contain abrasive polishes, i.e., diatomaceous earth, kaolin, etc. Might work for fire lapping purposes.

[BAGTIC]

I am the one who started the JPW thread afew years ago. I just tumble lube.

I don't add anything. Don't worry about the grooves not being filled. Lube left in the grooves after firing indicates that it didn't do anything in the first place or else it wouldn't still be there. I suspect that results are based on each shot laying down a thin film of wax that prepares the way for the next shot. Just as target shooters will fire a fouling shot to condition the bore for subsequent shots each bullets preps the bore for its successor.

Think about it. In conventional sizing/lubing the wax is scraped off the very part of the bullet that is left in bore contact. Most leading tends to occur in the bottom of the grooves not on top of the lands.

Ever try soldering, without fluxing, a dirty piece of metal that had even a small film on it. The solder won't stick. If the lead doesn't stick it will be pushed along by the bullet assuming the bullet is a large enough fit to completely seal the bore.

[wire nut]

Hey guy's I have a question.I lubed some boolits this afternoon using leftoverdj's method. How thick a coating of wax would need to be applied.After coating the bullets looked dull and had a very lite coat of wax on them.I guess I am trying to compare to LLA on how thick a coating. Any advice appreciated. Jim

[threett1]

I picked some up at Wally World the other day in the home cleaners section. Now to play!!:drinks:

[shooting on a shoestring]

I too have recently aquired a Lee TL158 SWC for .357/.38s. I've tried LLA, Johnson's Floor Wax, and conventional lube. Seem barely OK for 700 to 750 fps in .38s. I have leaded heavily in .357 at 1100 fps. How fast do you guys push them?

[USARO4]

Wire Nut, My experience is a thin coat is good enough, just enough to to give the bullets a dull finish. I think it's like tumble lubing with Alox, don't over do it, less is better. I had a batch that I put a real heavy coating on, you could see the excess wax congealed along the bottom side of the bullets. It was a golden yellow color. I just rolled them back and forth on the wax paper covered cookie sheet I had dried them on. Even though the wax had dried the rolling seemed to distribute the wax more evenly on the bullets, kind of like buffing your car after the wax dries.

[Ricochet]

The less satisfactory experiences I've had with it, involving the wax flaking off, were when I put it on heavily.

[wire nut]

thanks,I have a very lite coat on them.I will load some tonight in a .357 case 125 gr lee bullet over 5.0 grs reddot.I have had zero leading loading this using LLA.Will report later on results.

[cohutt]

thanks,I have a very lite coat on them.I will load some tonight in a .357 case 125 gr lee bullet over 5.0 grs reddot.I have had zero leading loading this using LLA.Will report later on results.

Lite coat worked for me last nite- smell different than lla but seemed effective enough to keep working with it. 45 300g swc and 44 340g swc at modest velocities.

[Possum]

I finally went and bought a can. I'll give it a try. Should have bought shares in the company when this post was created. They probably will have a record month. :)

[cohutt]

I finally went and bought a can. I'll give it a try. Should have bought shares in the company when this post was created. They probably will have a record month. :)

Private company. A big one too-

http://scjohnson.com/family/default.asp

[Ricochet]

Maybe they'll send Bagtic a Christmas card. :-D

[Whitespider]

:coffeecom Sitting here drinking my morning coffee and rollin’ some stuff around in my head :idea:. I’m thinking about making my own pan lube. When I browse this board, I can’t help but notice that beeswax is used in almost all blends, also lots of comments about Lee Liquid Alox.
:?: Has anyone blended JPW with beeswax and maybe LLA and used it as a pan lube? What proportions? Would it be hard, soft, sticky?
I was thinking of 1 can JPW, 1 LB beeswax, 1 bottle LLA to start with. What non-petroleum product could I use to soften it up if I need to?

[Ohio Rusty]

I have mixed 50/50 Beeswax and JPW. I had poor success pan lubing as the next day when it was harder, it pulled itself out of the lube gooves. I might have to figure out a different way to pan lube to be successful. So far, melting the combo in a pie plate over low heat then tumbling the bullets in the 'sauce' and setting them on wax paper has worked just fine. many of my boolets have a small amount of excess accumulated lube around the bases where when it and the bullet was warm, it ran down the boolet onto the wax paper. It's no problem cleaning off the excess lube from the bottoms. After 24 hours, the coating feels like the consistency of beeswax ... softer than crayon wax but not sticky to the touch..
Ohio Rusty

[Ricochet]

What I've got now is a mixture of completely unknown proportions of JPW, toilet ring wax, beeswax, lanolin, and LLA. Works fine as a dip lube, sort of works as a tumble lube but it's kind of gummy for that. Haven't tried it as a pan lube, but I think it would probably work. Doggone, it sure sticks and won't pull off! It will melt at temperatures encountered by leaving cartridges in a clear plastic container in the sun (which heats them way to hot to hold in the hand and surely way too hot to safely fire.) Don't ask me how I discovered that, but a word to the wise should be sufficient...

[montana_charlie]

After coating the bullets looked dull
Good thing you aren't loading military ammunition.

Some Sergeant Major would take one look at those dull bullets...and you would spend your weekend learning to run the world's smallest buffer.
CM

[Ricochet]

LOL!

How true.

[clintsfolly]

hi gang after reading this thread i tumbled lube some 45rn in JPW shot at 800fps was 30min cleaning lead out of my barrel thanks but no thanks clint

[Ricochet]

And yet I've shot 2000 FPS gaschecked boolits lubed with JPW out of my K-31 Swiss and .300 Weatherby Magnum Vanguard without leading. Boolit fit, alloy, bore condition, all the usual suspects come into play as well as lube. JPW's not the all-purpose lube for everything, though.

[clintsfolly]

casting acww . .452 nice smooth bore boolit drops .4525 clint

[USARO4]

Ditto what Ricochet said. Clints folly what alloy were using and what was its BHN?

[clintsfolly]

do not bhn air cooled ww can just mark with thumbnail clint

[BAGTIC]

Is the J's paste wax or J's paste wax and beeswax put on thick enough to fill the lube grooves and let dry, or are the bullets just coated all over and the lube grooves aren't full, but have a coasting of the paste wax lube? I'm asking as I can't find a bottle of alox on any gun store locally, and I'm needing to have some lube for the bullets I have cast.
Thanx ......
Ohio Rusty

You don't need lube in the bottom of the grooves as they don't touch metal anyway.

Strange isn't it that people lube bullets and then push them through a sizer that scrapes most of the lube off the bearing surface of the bullet where it is needed most.

[Scrounger]

You don't need lube in the bottom of the grooves as they don't touch metal anyway.

Strange isn't it that people lube bullets and then push them through a sizer that scrapes most of the lube off the bearing surface of the bullet where it is needed most.

Not so strange. In the conventionally lube bullets, when fired, the bullet compresses a bit and forces lube out of the groove. And the instructions with the Lee tumble lubed sizer tell you to lube, size, and lube again.

[drmeece]

Hi guys I'm a new member and new to casting and reloading...I've been reading the board for awhile now and have learned a lot...Thank you...
I would like to know what you guys think about using a small deep fryer set at a low temp say 150 to 200 degrees f with JPW put a couple hundred boolits in the basket put it in the now melted wax. Leave it in the wax for a couple of minutes so the boolits can warm up enough for an even thin coat..Then dump on wax paper... The fryer I'm thinking of using has an airtight sealable lid so I could just leave the wax in it and use it as needed...What do you think?????Thanks Daryl

[leftiye]

I know you guys like tumble lubing, but has anyone cooked out the solvents and made a lubrisizer lube out of this? Maybe soften it with boolplatelube?

[drmeece]

Update on the deep fryer....It works great..The temp setting might be off alittle but I set it on 300 covered the bottom of the basket with boolits 165 of them (45acp) and set them in the fryer for about two mins. Lifted the basket and let drain took the boolits out with my fingers they were warm but not too hot to handle..Put a nice coat on the boolits...The only down side is the vapors...Very strong but I'm thinking ( hopeing) the solvents will bake off...By the way I got the jpw at Lowes for $4.85 a can. I bought four cans put two in the fryer it should last a long time..

[BluesBear]

Now you've gotten me thinking...

I wonder if a Crockpot would get hot enough to do the same job with JPW?

[Ricochet]

Way, way, way more than hot enough.

[KevMT]

Realize that I am dragging up a farly old post here. But I wanted to put in my $.02 in favor of JPW. For my low velocity plinking loads in 41 mag I have been doing the LLA/size/more LLA route. But this time I went with LLA/Size/JPW. This gun tends to lead up at and just in front of the forcing cone. Although still present, it was substaintially reduced with the JPW. For the record I was ACTUALLY using an old can of "TREWAX" that came with the house when I bought it. But I am pretty sure they are both simply carnauba based floor waxes. Kev

[Ricochet]

JPW has a little carnauba wax in it, true. But the solid stuff in it's mostly microcrystalline paraffin wax, and about 80% of it's mineral spirits. Trewax has a lot more carnauba.

[KevMT]

JPW has a little carnauba wax in it, true. But the solid stuff in it's mostly microcrystalline paraffin wax, and about 80% of it's mineral spirits. Trewax has a lot more carnauba.

Interesting!

It would seem that the carnauba being vegetable based would be superior to paraffin based JPW for a lube.

I may have to try a test soon.

Kev

[Jim]

After reading through this thread, I'll be going out Friday(my day off) to find some JPW.

[MT Gianni]

The old, old can of trewax I have says over 50% carnauba. i add a small amount to my fwfl. Gianni

[fiberoptik]

Jarheads know how to buff a floor with JPW. The key is to cover the brush with a clean toilet seat cover after buffing the wax in. Done a few times, ya can see yer mug in the floor. Also, if you give a spray of Pledge for the final buffing, the OIC will land on his doofus after walking into the room.....![smilie=1: [smilie=1: [smilie=1: [smilie=1: :drinks:

[swoter]

Last week I cast about 500 240 grain rn for my 44 and tumble lubed with JPW. Have shot about 200 so far with no leading at all, barrel looked nice and clean afterwards. These were light loads, used about 8 grains Unique

[OeldeWolf]

Ok, I have used JPW on floors and furniture and cars for decades. Looks like I will have to try it in new ways, now.

I am relatively new to casting, having only cast plain lead round ball for the BP pistols I have. A question: Should I be coating/lubing the RB ad well? This weekend I am scheduled to cast and lube the first batches of bullets for the 44 and the 38.

OeldeWolf
who may yet get kicked out of the Republik of Kalifornia for owning too many firearms.

[Ricochet]

If you're talking about a cap and ball revolver, it doesn't help to coat your balls. The chamber shaves off the side, and what's left contacting the chamber and bore walls is fresh bare lead. JPW straight out of the can would work for glopping over the balls after loading them. (A plastic table knife works great for this purpose.) I do that with a custom lube mix I made that started off as a partial can of JPW, with various other waxes, liquid Alox and lanolin added, and it works better than anything I've tried.

[OeldeWolf]

Thanks, Ricochet.
That is what I was thinking.

OeldeWolf

[John Boy]

I think I read something once that B/P lubes had to be made of all natural ingredients and specifically nothing petroleum based.
Dutch: One of Harry Pope's favorite lube recipe contained steam cylinder oil, plus beeswax and Acheson graphite using his famous 33-40 (barrel #154) rifle

[hivoltfl]

Fellas I have never tumble lubed anything, this thread is very interesting and going on the theory the only stupid question is one unasked, when its all said and done, bullets have set 24 hours on wax paper and are ready to load, you take that bullet and press it in a case that has a small bell on the mouth, does not the .002 to .003 press fit into the case wipe all the lube off the bearing surfaces?

Be gentle fellas I really have never done this, but I might...

Rick

[BAGTIC]

"Not so strange. In the conventionally lube bullets, when fired, the bullet compresses a bit and forces lube out of the groove. And the instructions with the Lee tumble lubed sizer tell you to lube, size, and lube again."

Then explain why when you go behind the target frames and sart picking up fired bullets you find all these cast bullets with the grooves still packed full of lube. That lube did not contribute anything to lubing the bore. What makes me wonder is the bullets with lube mising from one groove but not the others or a chunk missing from one side. Did it come off at impact or did centrifugal force cause it to depart in flight? If so I wonder what effect the resultant imbalance would have been on accuracy.

[BAGTIC]

won't the wax eat away at the barrel?

Not only will the wax not eat away at the barrel for many years an application of paste wax to the outside of a gun has been a recommended way to to reducing rusting in rainy weather.

[BAGTIC]

If you're talking about a cap and ball revolver, it doesn't help to coat your balls. The chamber shaves off the side, and what's left contacting the chamber and bore walls is fresh bare lead. JPW straight out of the can would work for glopping over the balls after loading them. (A plastic table knife works great for this purpose.) I do that with a custom lube mix I made that started off as a partial can of JPW, with various other waxes, liquid Alox and lanolin added, and it works better than anything I've tried.

I don't have a cap and ball but I do shoot a lot of round balls from singleshot rifles. I JPW them too. Can't prove if it does any good but it doesn't hurt. Most round ball loads are fairly low velocity as as I use HTWW for everything it is possible they would not lead regardless, even if shot bare. The bore does stay slick and shiney though.

[BAGTIC]

hi gang after reading this thread i tumbled lube some 45rn in JPW shot at 800fps was 30min cleaning lead out of my barrel thanks but no thanks clint

Was you bore clean to begin with or did it already have some fouling?

I regularly shoot several calibers in pistols and revolvers at 1200+ fps and have never had any problem even after having fired as many as 500 consecutive rounds without cleaning.

[Jimmydaux]

great thread, very informative

[1Shirt]

Don't really need any lube as I have enough Larsons to last me for a few years, but have to admit that this JWax is interesting. So just to satisfy myself, will probably have to try the stuff, at least in handguns, And, Beagle is very right on the towel and mixed with shoe polish on dark floors. My office floor looked like a million bucks in the a.m. with a brown tile floor. Troops even took pride in making it look that way!
1Shirt!:coffee:

[Dutch4122]

Don't really need any lube................ but have to admit that this JWax is interesting. So just to satisfy myself, will probably have to try the stuff, at least in handguns....................

Where I have found the JPW most useful is for boolits that I don't want to size down any farther. Example would be my H&R Single Shot in .450 Marlin and the Lee C459-500-RF. The boolits drop from the mold at .459" and the rifles bore slugs at .4575"

I apply a drop of super glue inside the gas check cup, and snap the checks on by hand; then I dip lube them in a hot glass bowl of melted JPW sitting on a hot plate set on low. I set them on wax paper to dry overnight and wipe the excess JPW off the base before loading.

So far I have had this combo up above 1500 fps in the .450 Marlin with the 500+ grn boolit and you would not believe the bore condition. No leading and one pass of a dry cloth after 50 rounds produced a shiney bore that almost looked "wet."

I've also used this method with 8mm Mauser out of a 29" barrel and 7.5x55 French Mas 36 with velocity both in the mid-1800's and the same results.

Hope his helps,

[jrinne0430]

Not sure if it is already addressed...does JP foul/affect any of the powders used?

[Tom W.]

When I first read the original post, some time ago, I found an old plastic Speer bullet box, put in some cast ,sized and gas ,checked 30 cal. boolits and added about two tablespoons of JPW and set it in the hot Alabama sun for a while. It didn't take lng for it to melt, then I just tumbled them around, and treated them like I would using LLA. I loaded the boolits in my 30/06 and fired them with no ill effects. I'll more than likely do it again to make fireforming loads, as I had the rifle rechambered for 30/06 A.I. and I'll load some up in my 30-30, too.

[Ricochet]

Just to go back and address jrinne's question, no, it doesn't, as long as you let the wax dry on the bullets before loading.

[jrinne0430]

Thanks Ricochet!

[codarnall]

I just finished shooting 300 rds of Lee 124 gr TC, tumble lubed with Johnson's Paste Wax. The gun Was a Uberti-Colt clone. when I started shooting the bore was slightly dirty from shooting Alox lubed bullets, after shooting the wax lubed bullets it was squeaky clean, almost looked like there was a polished layer of wax coating the bore. Absolutely no leading. Anybody else ever get these results?
I have tried Crisco to Johnsons wax, you're doing something else right. In other words, with your metal concoction you probably wouldn't lead up with no lube.

[KevMT]

Last night I was cruising the thrift store and found one of those potpourri heaters that you put wax in to girly up the house. It looks like a miniature crock pot. It's going to be just the ticket for melting JPW for dip lubing. Set me back a whole $1

[Cloudpeak]

I just shot 50 rounds of 124 grain Lee lead roundnose bullets through my M&P 9mm lubed with JPW. It didn't work well. Much harder to get barrel clean than when using LLA. I think part of the problem is with the barrel. It has the roughest bore of any gun I've ever owned. You can feel the roughness when running patches through. Perhaps some JB bore paste is in order.

Cloudpeak

[mto7464]

Or some Tubb's Final Finish or like.

[WyrTwister]

Where do you find this, in the cleaner section of a Wal mart, etc.?


I bought some today at Lowes , the cleaning supplies aisle .

I tumble lubed 5 different batches of bullets a little while ago .

Poured them out on Walley World plastic sacks and have a box fan blowing on them .

The box fan works with LLA to accelerate " drying " ( LLA never really dries 100% , seems to always stay sticky ) .

I figure the fan will also help with the JPW ?

God bless
Wyr

[Beaverhunter2]

I found my JPW today at Meier's. Had to look close, though. It was on a shelf behind a column. $5.19/can.

I dipped 30 water-quenched and 20 air-cooled .476-400s. I figure this should be enough to test it out. I'm sure glad this post was here! Midsouth is out of LLA and I was going nuts waiting for the backorder. If I hadn't found this thread, I probably would have had to have a Lube-Sizer overnighted to me. :lol: I can't wait to send some of my own cast boolits down range!

I think I'm getting hooked!

John

[calsite]

I would guess that the petroleum distillates in the JPW would foul your powder charge unless you shot them right away. Anyone have any experience with this happening. I've had it happen in a cap and ball that was left loaded through most of deer season. I was using a 50/50 mix of petroleum jelly and bees wax