my new home-made lube.

alright, the final recipe is as follows:
1lb Randy's beeswax
Ping-Pong ball size glob of lanolin
1 tub white petrolatum (dollar store Vaseline)
3 tbsp 2-stroke oil
2 tbsp 5w40 oil
1 tbsp. Gear oil
ok! The recipe above is good! I have used it in my 38 and my 45-70. no smoke with those! I still need to try it with my mosin nagant to see if it smokes at higher (+1400, what I get with my 45-70) velocities. As soon as I do I will let you all know the results, but I foresee no problems.Well, just wanted to let you guys know, I should probably throw this in. USE THISE RECIPE AT YOUR OWN RISK, I AM NOT LIABLE FOR ANYTHING YOU DO!. L0L ok now that I go that over with, have a good day! Travis

By the way, it does stick very well in the lube grooves, and doesn't need heat in a lubri-sizer, maybe below 40 degrees, not sure about that yet, but if it becomes a problem, that's what your wife's blow-dryer is for, just don't get caught!

any critiques? questions, or comments? any tips or improvements I could make?

I would have used a little less lanolin but I think your alright.
your using a modified form of my simple lube recipe with just with a titch more mineral oil.
everything you added [except the lanolin] is mineral oil based so you could easily add some paraffin to increase your flow speed and to reduce [take up] some of the oil content if you wanted to.

Quote:

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3 tbsp 2-stroke oil

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I surely don't have the knowledge and experience that R5R has, but the little experience I do have, I can offer this advice.
If your 2-stroke oil is a full synth variety, specifically if it's PAO based (like Amsoil is), then 3 tblsp (3 oz?) may be too much (especially with your other oils), as PAO is a very "Slick" oil, and may cause purge flyers...meaning: about one out of every 4 or 5 shots will be a few inches away from a nice 1 inch 10 shot grouping.

The link below was a recipe I tried, I first started at 3 parts beeswax to 1 part 2 cycle oil...and that was way too much 2 cyc oil. I then tried less and added lanolin and JPW. It worked better in my preliminary tests, but that recipe was never fully wrung out, as I switched to something quite different shortly thereafter. (SL68B, which is what I use now)
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...=1#post1191534


Edit: I'll add one other little tip. Be sure to keep real good notes of exactly what ingredients you used and exactly what amounts...and all details of cooking/blending. So you can easily re-create it a year later when the memory of what you did is gone.

Run I might try some paraffin, although I do like how it works now, JonB 3tblsp was not 3 ounces, it might have been an ounce at the most, I would need to check a measuring spoon/cup thing, but it wasn't that much. and when you say , they never fully wrung out, do you mean the lube spinning out of the grooves after leaving the muzzle? if that's what you mean mine does. my old lube would still be in somme grooves after going through all kinds of stuff, but it looks like this new lube separates mid-air. thaks for your tips, and let me know if I understood what you meant. I have nothing but respect for you guys! but at the same time, if it works it works. Run what would the paraffin help most? I mean what do you mean by flow speed and take-up? thanks a lot, look forward to hearing your explanation. Travis

okay this might get long winded. [i'll try to keep it brief]
your Vaseline is nothing more than paraffin wax with lots of mineral oil added to it to make it into what it is.
adding more paraffin would take up the gap of the extra mineral oil and it also has smaller pores than the beeswax. so it will release smaller amounts of the oil in theory.
the paraffin wax however goes from a solid to a liquid under pressure with no more than room temp heat added to it that's your instant flow.
it also drags the bees wax down into a flow state with it so you get the thicker tougher lube and still maintain the wet flow you have now.
you have different base oils to work with pao,poe,pag,pao, and different waxes to work with.
beeswax is a ester alcohol based, 2- stroke oil is also ester alcohol based but with carbon chains added to it. [amongst other additives]
so the 2 are compatible but only until the wax is full of the oil.
it actually mixes with the wax and moves it molecules apart.
a mineral oil [pao] is pulled into the miniature pores in the wax filling them up and are only released as the wax flows or the wax is worn away releasing those oils.
so you have to wait for that to happen then the oil is dumped bit by bit.

adding a paraffin to the bees wax changes how that happens the mineral oil is compatible with the P-wax like the atf is with the B-wax so it [the mineral oil] breaks it down and plasticizes it making it more like a thicker higher melt point Vaseline.
this in turn influences the bees-wax and paraffin wax into becoming a mixed base and a more homogenized single entity lube instead of a carrier and oils the small amount of paraffin in the Vaseline is helping you some here but your just thinning it down more and more with the other additive oils.
adding the paraffin brings that back into a balance.

ok I get what you are saying,i think I have 1 1/2 lb +- of this lube, how much paraffin u think? an ounce? I don't want to alter its consistency now because it is pretty perfect, but I don't wan my powder getting oil in it either. it is clingy enough to take an oz or so I think, without changing it too much.

just a small amount is enough.
1 oz will change it without mucking up your viscosity
try a small amount like a 2 oz stick worth of lube and add in under 10% of the paraffin.
you'll see how small of an amount it really is but will see quite a difference in the lube.
all you'll need is to take your pocket knife and scrape the edge of the paraffin block.

adding too much paraffin will add a dry and crumbly texture to the lube and make it not want to stay in the lube grooves.

"JonB 3tblsp was not 3 ounces, it might have been an ounce at the most"
my bad, I was thinking 3 tblsp was 3 oz. I quick google conversion for cooking oil, converts 3 tblsp of canola oil as 1.45oz That's probably a close enough comparison for your 2 cyc oil and probably a real good amount if it's a full synth oil.


"they never fully wrung out"
this was slang, in reference to the amount of testing I did. I don't think I fully tested my recipe, before I moved onto the next lube, meaning it may still have some problems. I got a couple jars of it lying around, that'll probably never get used. Now as to lube in the grooves, I want any remaining lube to "fling off" as it exits the barrel.


"but at the same time, if it works it works"
Truer words have never been spoken, but in regard to boolit lubes, most anything will work in some conditions, but many fail in severe conditions...it all depends on how many varied conditions your lube will see and what temperature range you may shoot in? if you have more questions about that comment, have you read my thread about SL68B and all the conditions it's been tested in?

Reinventing the wheel.

1lb bee's wax
1lb lard
8oz STP oil treatment.

jonb, you gotta stop using that slang, I ain't down with that, but you roll how you roll and i'll do mine!

lol, I have never felt more white than just then

I could only read it that way too. :lol:

Hey guys. I've been pretty busy these last few days so I haven't gotten to the lube yet, but when I add some paraffin, per run5's suggestion, I will test and let you guys know how it went. I think it will only improve it, maybe make handling a little easier, though it's not nearly as sticky as you would think. thanks for all your help and support, wish me luck for deer season, deer gun starts Saturday!

wish I could accompany you, our deer season is long over. [almost a month now]
got plenty of snow though.