Lube questions

I currently cast for 500magnum, 45-70, 35 Remington, and various muzzle loader conicals. I have only used a lox with just ‘ok’ results. I don’t have a lubrisizer and no acces to one. I’d like to get options on pan type lubes that are most effective made with easy to get ingredients and work with black powder subs and smokeless. I also like the idea of bll but now that Johnson’s discontinuing the main ingredient that’s out. I like the idea of a lube that is not tacky when it’s dry for my muzzle loader bullets.

I would imagine the Old NRA lube would match your desires (pan lube-ability and easy to get ingredients) and would probably work "ok" in all your applications.

Old NRA lube formula
1 part Beeswax
1 part Paraffin
1 part Vaseline
All parts by volume


There is lots of info in this thread.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...s-Lube-recipes

Lundmark liquid paste wax is the substitute. http://www.artfulbullet.com/index.ph...quid-wax.1395/

If you are interested in pan lubing there is a link I ran across 4 years ago or so after I had a mould but not a lube sizer. I was sizing with a Lee push thru on a 41 mag and had a bunch of boolits that I could not shoot. Ben had provided a bunch of other information on lubing boolits on the cheap and if you are a little handy you should be able to get there.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...n-t-afford-one

I still pan lube some of my large hand gun bollits even thought I have an RCBS luber now. As for having BP dry lube, check out the Black Powder thread. Mine is just goopy and that's OK with me.;)

Great link. I really get a lot from Ben. The funny thing is the pictures don’t work for me but the info is great. I tried pan lubing a batch of 32 cal maxi balls ( twice). They just break they don’t push though. I suspect it’s because I don’t have enough lube. I found a member here that sells lube on his own website but I’m unsure of what to buy.

I’ve only ever used alox and it’s way way easier then pan lubing is but I’m not getting the performance I think I could be getting with a better lube. I just bought new molds for 35rem 45-70 and 500 mag and they all need better lube then alox

I also had issues with pan lubing.
A Kake Kutter is the answer.

Fastleo keep your eyes open for a used Lyman 450. Garage sales, craigslist, gun shops that sell junk (which are hard to find these days). They are usually pretty grungy but half an hour under a heat lamp and it all melts off, quick wipe with a paper towel and most look like new. The last one I bought was $35 bucks at a gun show with a top punch and die in it. The reason I say this is I remember pan lubing very well. I tried putting them in the freezer before punching the bullets out, a kake cutter, any thing I could think of. You just can't get enough production. Seeing how you have three molds coming make lubing easy on yourself, it will make things a lot more fun.

Look up Dip lubing, you may be able to up your production and cut time. There are a few tricks to it , but very simple and very few tools needed. There are ways to control amount of lube on each bullet, which was a stumbling block for many at one time

The problem that glares at me is the differences in lube requirements between black powder and smokeless loads. One lube will not satisfy both needs. A black powder lube has to keep the fouling soft for the next shot. A lube for smokeless powder needs to seal between the bore and bullet and provide a reliable bore condition for the next shot. A black powder lube should not be made of petroleum products. A simple mix like 50/50 beeswax and unsalted Crisco would suffice for BP. A lube for smokeless loads needs much more but, many recipes are available that are made from easily available products from your neighborhood stores.

I pan lubed for over a year. Using a cake cutter makes it about doable with any lube. Up grading to a lubsizer was awesome. With base line of 80ish bucks you can find a deal on here and Ebay. Just be careful of price gauging on Ebay. You will find the best deals on here.

For pistols I used 50/50 bees wax and vasoline then at 16 oz of each I added about 8ozs of paraffin. I just wanted enough paraffin so it wouldn't turn to putty with the cake cutter. For riffles Bens Red. Once you use the cake cutter you plop new bullets into the empty holes and slide the pan in the even on low to remelt it or just set on the stove eye set to 2 or 3 (don't scorch the lube). Then turn the oven/eye off to let it set. Probably not the brightest way but after spending hours fighting toppling bullets like dominoes that way made it the easiest. That's actually why I hated pan lubing. Using a cake cutter made it quick but I would always spend atlast 2 hours fighting falling bullets and picking them up out of hot molten wax with tweezers cussing with my wife laughing at me. 30 cal bullets weren't so bad, but my .270 and 6.5 bullets had me holding my breath while I watched the wax melt. After that mess for over a year I told the wife I had enough and if she wanted more bullets I need a lubrisizer.

For muzzle loader I just use Bore butter. There is a nifty way to use a T fitting to lube them but I have no issues using my finger to smear it around. I have the empty TC conical cases I just lube and stack my bullets into. There are few recipes that are the supposedly bore butter recipe floating around here. More Lube recipes floating around than you can shake a stick at, but I agree I don't think you will find a lube for BP and Smokless.

Lots to consider.

Thank you all