Bens Red Again

[Ben]

Bigslug

Yes, I made my last batch of Ben's Red with some near white / very light yellow beeswax, it came out a soft pink/red like the interior of a medium steak.

I've also made batches of Ben's Red in the past with dark Beeswax and it turned out a brown / burgundy color.

As you've mentioned, the color of the lube will have zero effect on the lube's performance.

Ben

[grampa243]

mine came out pink but shoots great

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...=1#post2232507

[Ted]

I'm in the process of "harvesting" the ingredients to make a full sized batch (ie 1 complete tube of Red&Tacky). Two questions have come up.

1) So far both Auto Parts stores that I have checked out (small town, I'll have to check some of the stores in the next county) have failed to have Dexron II or III fluid in stock. VI and, I think V, yes but no II or III. Can that be substituted or would I be venturing into the black realm of witchcraft with that substitution?

2) Give that the specific gravity of beeswax runs around .960 - .972 (per the internet) has anyone just gone ahead and made a batch using 1.5 lb (actually 1.5037 but that is getting a little picky?
http://www.aqua-calc.com/calculate/volume-to-weight

[Ben]

Make a pound or so of Ben's Red with your " alternate Dexron ". Others have substituted it without a problem. Hopefully it would work ok. Report back to us with your progress.

Ben

[grampa243]

here is a good thread on the your Dexron question. we've been hashing this one over for a little while

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...=1#post2235448

i use syn moter oil once in bens red and it worked for me.(didn't have dexron that day )

[41 mag fan]

I've been using Dexron VI. I don't think you can find II or III, but I might be wrong

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Where has the Dextron II or III gone. I've been working off my stash as I use the dextron for Ed's Red.

Did bozo take it?

BvT

[Smokepole50]

One word of caution when mixing Ben's Red in the second method where you melt the R&T first and then add in the JPW and other ingredents. I decided it would be best to make my second batch outside as the kitchen fan could not contain all the smoke from the first batch, yes I have a older house and the stove exhaust fan blows into the atic, anyway the smell was gone before the wife came home and that's all that matters. So in my second batch I decided to go outside and use the Colman camping stove to first melt the R&T. It smoked a lot as it became liquid but it did finally melted so I thought it is time to add the JPW, you probably know where this is going, JPW is VERY flamable when it goes into a 400+ degree pot. The solvents did not have far to go to get an ignition source if they needed one. It scared the P**S out of me and I almost turned over the pot jerking my hand away to keep it from burning in the erupting flames. So now while your laughing at my stupid mistake, please remember this because 400+ degree grease will burn you badly. I was blessed and the liquid R&T and JPW that remained on my stirring wisk as I pulled it from the flames just splashed on the carport floor and did not get on me. Oh.........a pot with a lid is also a good idea so you can put out the fire..........

[41 mag fan]

Smoke...it might sound funny to read...but it's good you put that warning out on the flammability for all to read and heed the warning. I'm glad you wasn't burned though.

[41 mag fan]

Where has the Dextron II or III gone. I've been working off my stash as I use the dextron for Ed's Red.

Did bozo take it?

BvT

I think they keep improving or adding new ingredients to it or something...but when I went into Autozone a couple years ago, they told me they don't make Dexron II anymore. I just took it at their word

[MattOrgan]

Made my first batch of Ben's Red last week. Only heated the Red n Tacky to the point it "slumped"
and became much less viscous, wasn't a liquid, didnt get it hot enough to smoke. Added the Johnson's paste wax,got some "smoke" , but the mix at that point became very thin and runny. Added the Dextron II (have an old case of this stuff) and STP and it got thinner yet. Took it off my old Ward's hot plate and added my beeswax and stirred until it melted (maybe 6-8 minutes) the mix was smooth with no lumps and appeared well mixed. Poured some of it into my lube stick molds and the rest into a plastic food container that I set in my quench bucket after it appeared to be melting the container. The container floated in the water as I filled it. Put the container in the freezer for a couple of hours. Popped it out and cut through it. No separation of ingredients and no lumps. Pushed the sticks out of the mold and there was no separation of ingredients and no visible lumps. Sticks were easy to handle, a little softer than beeswax/alox, more like LBT soft.

Bottom line is I don't think you need a lot of heat over a long time to get this to work. My color is a reddish orange color.

Didn't want to re melt and recast sticks, so I formed a "turd" of the lube from my container on the pressure screw and put it in my lubrisizer. Wow, effortless feeding, very sticky, stayed in the lube grooves. Sized/lubed a bunch of 45 caliber 280 gr WFN LBT bullets. These bullets always leave an un changing light wash of lead in my Ruger BH at a little over 1100 fps. After the first six shots the bore was bright, a little lube at the muzzle, same accuracy as before ( with 50/50 beeswax/alox or LBT soft) Next I will try my .35 Remington load at about 1800 fps with the RCBS 200 gr FP.

Thanks Ben for sharing this recipe, its easy to make and so far seems to work better than others I've tried. The real test will be with my .308, but it will have to wait for a couple months, I have way too many bullets lubed and sized that I need to shoot up before I test Ben's in my most accurate cast bullet gun.

[Ben]

Thanks Ben for sharing this recipe, its easy to make and so far seems to work better than others I've tried. The real test will be with my .308, but it will have to wait for a couple months, I have way too many bullets lubed and sized that I need to shoot up before I test Ben's in my most accurate cast bullet gun.

Glad you were successful!
Keep us posted with more feedback on your continued testing with Ben's Red.

[41 mag fan]

Bottom line is I don't think you need a lot of heat over a long time to get this to work. My color is a reddish orange color.

No high heat is not needed for this lube, unless you're achieving full melt of the R&T Question I've got is after making 6-7 batches, with the first 4 being double batches, I've made it pretty much every way you can.
With the last batch, melting the R&T to full melt, I still had unmelted peices of R&T in the bottom of my pot.
It was very little, but enough to me to warrant straining.
You didn't have little bits of R&T in your pot?
What'd you do different that i haven't done?
Reason for the questions, is I'd like to see it or find a way where the straining is no more.

[MattOrgan]

Just went to the shop and checked my "pot", an old 1 lb coffee can, and it just has the thin coating of lube, no lumps or separation. After reading everything about making this lube I'm wondering if trying to "melt" the R&T is causing the lumps, scorching it? The order I added things was simply by chance, but adding the JPW first really made the mix go liquid. I was concerned about burning the beeswax and wanted to use the least heat possible. Could the lumps be burnt beeswax? I'm now hoping I can replicate the lube in my next batch.

[retread]

Here is a pic of my first attempt at Ben's Red. I am realy pleased with the results. I did not encounter the lumps that required screening that was talked about by others.
I kept my temperatures low, I did not get the LRT hot enough to seperate. I added to it the STP and Dexron and continued to keep on low heat while I melted the JPW. I let the JPW cook at bit after becoming liquid, which boiled off some of the solvents. Again the heat was not high. I then added it to the other mixture and whisked. I left this second mix on low heat while I melted the Beeswax (got great quality stuff from Randyrat). I heated the beeswax on low heat until fully liquid then poured to into the mix and used a wisk to blend it. Looked like tomato soup! I did add a couple red crayons for more color. When thoroughly mixed I poured it into plastic Yorgurt containers that my wife buys(yuk). The next day I heated one of them up in the micro wave and poured the lube sticks in the picture.

[OLPDon]

Retread
Looks good enough to eat! Nice Job well done. Makes me want to brew another batch! I guess I will just reheat what I have and maybe add some red candle dye to it. Yours sure do look purty.
Don

[Ben]

I'm with Don, that is some nice looking Ben's Red.

My compliments.

Ben

[41 mag fan]

Here is a pic of my first attempt at Ben's Red. I am realy pleased with the results. I did not encounter the lumps that required screening that was talked about by others.
I kept my temperatures low, I did not get the LRT hot enough to seperate. I added to it the STP and Dexron and continued to keep on low heat while I melted the JPW. I let the JPW cook at bit after becoming liquid, which boiled off some of the solvents. Again the heat was not high. I then added it to the other mixture and whisked. I left this second mix on low heat while I melted the Beeswax (got great quality stuff from Randyrat). I heated the beeswax on low heat until fully liquid then poured to into the mix and used a wisk to blend it. Looked like tomato soup! I did add a couple red crayons for more color. When thoroughly mixed I poured it into plastic Yorgurt containers that my wife buys(yuk). The next day I heated one of them up in the micro wave and poured the lube sticks in the picture.

You wont see the lumps till you pour it thru a tee shirt. I've made Bens Red every way possible, from throwing all the ingredients together and heating up and melting, to complete separation of R&T first thru total melting of it, and adding everything else step by step after being melted individually.
Only thru straining will you see there's still R&T that's bonded together, and hasn't been melted down.

The lube sticks do look good though!

[41 mag fan]

Just went to the shop and checked my "pot", an old 1 lb coffee can, and it just has the thin coating of lube, no lumps or separation. After reading everything about making this lube I'm wondering if trying to "melt" the R&T is causing the lumps, scorching it? The order I added things was simply by chance, but adding the JPW first really made the mix go liquid. I was concerned about burning the beeswax and wanted to use the least heat possible. Could the lumps be burnt beeswax? I'm now hoping I can replicate the lube in my next batch.

reheat some of it and strain it thru a tee shirt...only then will you be able to see the lumps.

[retread]

Thanks for the comments. Before I pour my next sticks I will do the straining and see what comes to light. I was looking for lumps when mixing so I thought I was good to go.
Cleaned my 450 today and charged it with the Red. Sized and lubed about 300 .429 for the 44. Worked well in the sizer, lube groove were nicely filled. It is thin enough that I still feel a stickiness to it even unheated. I am presuming this is normal. Any coments?