simple lube.

[VictimNoMore]

Just mixed up my second batch of Simple Lube. The first batch, I made it with paraffin, as that was all I had to use. It came out okay, kinda' crumbly.

Found beeswax locally this weekend, and made the second batch.

Wow, what a difference the beeswax makes! I pan lubed about 50 .358 125grn RNFPs (Lee mold), and popped them out of the cake when it had cooled to slightly above room temperature. They came out cleanly, unlike the way they did when I used paraffin.

The texture is very nice; the Simple Lube stays in the grooves really, really well.

I doubled the original recipe, and made enough to fill the pan for lubing PLUS I poured two cupcakes extra for future use. In terms of texture, handling and pan lubing, this Simple Lube appears to be a winner. I hope to shoot these RNFPs in the coming week.

Thanks for the recipe, R5R!

[The_Doctor]

the stp has quite a bit of polybutene in it, that is the sticky and the slippery.
polybutene is the big secret in lots of boolit lubes and in case lubes too.
remember the old roller pads and the lube they used?
that was polybutene that gave them the sticky slippery too.

Well. From what I've been reading lately, my "vintage" STP is worth using sparingly.

And a few searches on Google inform me that polybutene is available, being used in
cosmetics (!) and was (perhaps still is!) used as a bird and squirrel repellant!

Who'da guessed!!!

In any event, I'll stick by my slight variation on Simple Lube; hopefully when the weather
warms up I will once again be able to set up the reloading bench in the garage.

I have not sent any lead downrange in FAR too long.


The_Doctor

[runfiverun]

yeah,, those caulk tubes of bird repellant are mostly polybutene.

the parrafin batch might be fixable with more vasoline,or adding in 2 tbs of mineral oil.
one of the batches of mineral oil/sodium stearate[gel] lube i made was with
micro-parrafin and it come out better than the b-wax version.

[SlippShodd]

Thank you, Lamar. The Simple Lube is helping me very nicely in my AR boolit quest.
PM sent.

mike

[runfiverun]

got it.
anytime,,,i'll try and help where i can.

[Patocazador]

runfiverun:

As a newcomer to lubing, will your simple mix work on muzzleloading bullets with velocities as high as 2100 fps?

[outdoorfan]

Gear mentioned that Redline synthetic 2-stroke is really slippery stuff. How might the Redline compare with Amsoil Saber 2-stroke (100-1), which is what I have on hand? Any experience or knowledge with the Amsoil?

[runfiverun]

bob I don't know how the Vaseline will react with black powder.
I use a b-wax Crisco type lube in mine it has worked forever.
if I were going to try and do a designer lube for black powder I would take a hard long look at using some glycerin because of its water gathering property's.

redline and amsoil are pretty similar in their make-up.
they are both napthenic a [solvent type base]
the atf is all the slippery the lube needs, the 2 stroke is there for a different reason.
if you wanna use the 2 stroke you have I would be more inclined to use just it and none of the other ingredients.
something like a 3 part wax and one part oil would be pretty close.
a little Vaseline could be used to modify the final hardness/malleability and add a little tackiness.

[outdoorfan]

If I make this "simple lube", I'll probably go get the stuff in the original instructions rather than trying to make something else work with modification.

[Patocazador]

bob I don't know how the Vaseline will react with black powder.
I use a b-wax Crisco type lube in mine it has worked forever.
if I were going to try and do a designer lube for black powder I would take a hard long look at using some glycerin because of its water gathering property's.

redline and amsoil are pretty similar in their make-up.
they are both napthenic a [solvent type base]
the atf is all the slippery the lube needs, the 2 stroke is there for a different reason.
if you wanna use the 2 stroke you have I would be more inclined to use just it and none of the other ingredients.
something like a 3 part wax and one part oil would be pretty close.
a little Vaseline could be used to modify the final hardness/malleability and add a little tackiness.

Thanks for the response. I have been using a combo of "Black Gold" lube with Crisco but it was real messy.

[runfiverun]

yeah that's the deal with b/p lube it's sole purpose is to hold the fouling in a soft state until it can be pushed back down the barrel.
for as little of it as I shoot I just go with what works.

[geargnasher]

Ditto. I've made about three variants of Emmert's lube (Olive oil, peanut oil, and canola oil) and they all worked fine for me, but I'm not a 1000-yard purist either.

I'm going to recommend folks stick with cheapo two-stroke oil in the Simple Lube, the super-slick ester and PAO oils can throw a monkey wrench in the works if you're not careful.

Gear

[leftiye]

Sounds kinda like maybe the super slicks aren't much good anywhere, though they might could be used in miniscule proportions like they are in speed green. If another lubricant is already in the mix though, it will probly be too much.

[geargnasher]

Super slicks have their place. Speed Green is 25% oil, that's not what I'd call "miniscule". It hasn't worked very well for me in warm/hot weather, purge flyers everywhere and drippy wet lube star on the muzzle.

Gear

[DrCaveman]

I finally got to shoot some boolits lubed with Simple Green. First experience was very promising!

First, mine came out more tan than green. The ATF was bright red, and the 2-stroke was bright blue. Beeswax was pretty orange.

Second, i had a moment of weakness where i said "i want a shiny bore" so i cooked down a bit of JPW and added it to the mix after it was down to about 2 tbsp. Probably shouldnt have done this but i did and it is well mixed so thats that. Guess there is now some paraffin in there. Also went with the lanolin addition for tack. Yeah im an impulsive addict when it comes to this lube making, prob why im no good at developing my own.

Anyway, this lube is great to work with! Dip lubing, then push through sizing produced perfectly lubed boolits, the lube is nice and hard and doesnt fall out when jostled. You guys werent kidding about letting this set up overnight, it has hardened significantly. The lube that gets on my fingers cleans off easily and doesnt stain my skin or pants. Odor while cooking/melting is pretty pleasant.

Shooting was a treat. I dont think any of my loads (30-30, 45-70, 357 mag rifle) produced any smoke that i noticed. This compared to Darr lube, the Darr smoked a lot for me. Maybe my sparing usage of the Simple Green helped account for this.

My barrels had all been cleaned pretty thoroughly prior to the shooting, so i was expecting a few 'purge flyers' or whatever as the barrel gets cured. I didnt see this in the 357 rifle, first four shots produced a 1" group at 50 yds. It was hard to tell with the 45-70 and 30-30 which only have iron sights. I went ahead and shot a few cans before trying for groups.

The only 'lube showdown' i set up involved a snappy load with the 45-70. 48 gr varget under a 405 gr pill. Chrono showed just under 1600 fps average. Loaded 10 using lithi-bee and 10 using Simple Green. As far as i could tell the Simple Green shot a little lower. Group size seemed equal. Lithi bee smoked more. Speeds were the same using either lube, at least within my powder charge variation.

Ive lost confidence measuring groups with irons. Dunno, maybe my vision is deteriorating too but i am only 33 so it shouldnt be too far gone. Never used any vision correction, last eye test (in high school, for military purposes) showed 20-25 vision. In any case i dont believe ill ever shoot a 1" group at 50 yds with any irons i own. Ive been looking into peep sights.

Conclusion: nice job run! This lube is great to work with, easy to make, and performs within my level of precision. Thanks for coming up with it and sharing.

You are probably all at church right now. Happy easter!

[runfiverun]

well this is a base lube for experimenters.
it does take additions quite well and I am even working on a substitution for the Vaseline.
I think I have one that's readily available in most auto parts stores [or can be ordered at them].
I am just getting a bit behind on stuff.

try that lithi-bee test again in the heat of summer when it's about 90 or so.
i'd like to hear those results.

[fecmech]

Made a mix of the "simple" lube substituting green tranny goo for the vaseline hoping to get a less sticky mix as I lube and bulk store bullets( it wasn't). I had excellent accuracy results with the basic simple lube in my .357 rifle. The load is not too demanding from a lube stand point (130 gr PB @1250 fps) but very accurate. The simple goo strung diagonally vertical when shot for group. My test procedure is start with a clean barrel,fire 3 fouling shots and then go for 10 shot group. After I fired the foulers the first group shot went high left and the group started 2" below that and strung diagonally for about 2"(these were weighed bullets). Using the standard simple lube I get nice round 1-1 1/4" 10 shot groups @ 50 yds. My mix of CR and Magma hard lubes seems to go vertical(about 2") in this 45 deg. weather I've been testing in. BTW the Beta (soap/goo/no oils) lube from the "Ultimate" thread does the nice round 1" groups also. I need to cast some more bullets and see how my "real" mag loads fare with these lubes.

[runfiverun]

excellent thanks fecmech.
that saves me a lot of time.
this is showing the goo is lowering the wet point of the lube.
did you notice a lube star with the green goo mix?
generally a slippery/wet lube will accompany a big lube star just about the time the accuracy starts to go off.
but your test does give me a direction to go.
if you are inclined making a mix without the poe's [atf/2 stroke] might be worthwhile.

[cga]

With a 1895CW, 26" in 45-70, I get a little leading. I added 1/8 teaspoon of lanolin (bag balm) and it seemed to help some. At about 24" the cleaning patch gets a lot tighter. This is with the Lyman 457122. (.458/.459 dia.) Perhaps this bullet does not carry enough lube for a 26'' barrel.

With the RCBS 405g. this mix with the lanolin only gets a couple of very small specks of lead. With or without the gas checks. With out the lanolin, there was a few more lead specks.(.461 dia.)

Bullets were hand dipped and shot as cast. No lube star, and I have not tried it on paper yet. The load for both was 26.5 g. SR 4759.

This was wheel weights, with enough tin based babbitt added to bring the weight down to 405g., from 420g. Same mix for the 457122.

The chamber slug measures just a wisker over both .452 x .458

All in all, not too bad.

[taco650]

Made a mix of the "simple" lube substituting green tranny goo for the vaseline hoping to get a less sticky mix as I lube and bulk store bullets( it wasn't). I had excellent accuracy results with the basic simple lube in my .357 rifle. The load is not too demanding from a lube stand point (130 gr PB @1250 fps) but very accurate. The simple goo strung diagonally vertical when shot for group. My test procedure is start with a clean barrel,fire 3 fouling shots and then go for 10 shot group. After I fired the foulers the first group shot went high left and the group started 2" below that and strung diagonally for about 2"(these were weighed bullets). Using the standard simple lube I get nice round 1-1 1/4" 10 shot groups @ 50 yds. My mix of CR and Magma hard lubes seems to go vertical(about 2") in this 45 deg. weather I've been testing in. BTW the Beta (soap/goo/no oils) lube from the "Ultimate" thread does the nice round 1" groups also. I need to cast some more bullets and see how my "real" mag loads fare with these lubes.

Link to this "ultimate" thread for a recipe?