Hey, .357 maximum, lubes

[357maximum]

To add soap or not to add soap... that is the question. Personally, I don't like adding soap but prefer to add high temp/pressure red racing grease instead...
MJ

...when you added the red racin grease...you added SOAP.

[Marlin Junky]

Yes one can, but if one decides to cook it too near/in the house one can also get his PP whacked by SWMBO'ed.

You've never smelled my wife's cooking.

BTW, I used to make lube all the time in the kitchen but I moved to the garage because I got tired cleaning up after myself. Nevertheless, if the red grease is melted in the hot, liquid paraffin it's not too bad. Then again one could use the general purpose grease that melt at a lower temp... it would be more user friendly but might give up something in the accuracy department when the pressure is applied.

Anyway, I'm done...

MJ

[Marlin Junky]

...when you added the red racin grease...you added SOAP.

Yeah, I know, I meant, I don't like blending it in myself... as in adding Ivory.

MJ

[btroj]

Man, and I just ordered microwax and cetyl alcohol........

I may just make up a batch and see what the hub-bub is about.

Gear, this can't be the final answer. I ain't letting Mike win.

[geargnasher]

It ain't perfect but it's close. I don't care WHO wins, as long as SOMEBODY does and they share the formula!

Gear

[btroj]

:takinWiz:But he is from michigan!

I would rather have a recipe with Alox that this.......

[357maximum]

Lets see

1. I have hung up the ALCHEMIST hat permanently this time.
2. I no longer wake up at 2am with a lube idea, and if I do I can roll over, ignore it and go back to sleep.
3. I shoot for fun now and to test loads/boolits/guns...not lube.

Yup.....good nuff may only be a PERSONAL WIN.......but I am happy......just as happy as I was before the Assemblee Goo thread sucked me back into this craziness momentarily...


........if ALOX is subbed in for part of the Vaseline does Gear still have to eat fried crow?



Seriously...I am sure there is a much better lube out there somewhere to be found......in fact I know there has gotta be........I AM NOT GONNA BE THE MAN THAT FINDS IT HOWEVER. If someone does find the holy grail...I will gladly use it, but for now goodnuf is well.... it is goodnuff and I have two versions of goodnuff and enough goodnuff stuff to make alot of both versions of goodnuff.

I know when I made the early on comment in the QUEST "this thread is about how to make grease not lube" I ruffled some feathers....I hope now someone can see the point I was trying to make.......I was not merely being a d*ck, even thought it apparently came off that way....I swear on a big ol stack of Bibles I was not just being a d*ck and was actually trying to help prevent some of what I had already went through in my original sickness.

Keep up the good fight you big hatted fellas...the truth is out there....or so I hope anyway.

[btroj]

Mike, I appreciate the help you have us. At times I was irritated but I don't think there was ever true ill will.
The fact you revisited an old recipe and modified it is good. Sometimes we forget a forest IS trees!

I plan to make a small batch of Satan soon. I may make a few teaks, sort of like Gears wax ring substitution.

Rest assured, your input was beneficial.

[geargnasher]

I don't know why we can't just follow the recipe. I know I can't, I start gathering ingredients, working them through the scales like a TV cook, and then I stop and ponder. Hmmm.....I just hate that weak, sterile Vaseline. Need to bolster that a bit (glop goes the FM ring). Hey, I have some blended paraffin, maybe throw some of that in and subtract a bit of the Gulf wax. Hmmm.....Carnauba wax...........NOOO......MUST STOP....Wait, that looks weak on liquidy stuff, better get out the bottle of mineral oil.....little dab'l do ya.....THERE. Check that in the morning....Still a little dry.....slice it, got some lumps still, ya.....better remelt and add a titch of mineral oil.....OK now we gots it! Time to go shooting!

Yes, I am completely bat-guano nuts. And I blame Mike.

Gear

[btroj]

Is there a support group for us? A 12 step program?

Hi, my name is Brad and I am a Lube alchemist.......

[357maximum]

Yes, I am completely bat-guano nuts. And I blame Mike.

Gear

Don't blame me the basic answer has been sitting there for our taking since what 1930 or so

[btroj]

Now he tells us.....

[357maximum]

Now he tells us.....

Well I hate to be "that guy", but seeing as how my bladder woke me up and I cannot go back to sleep right this minute............................if you go and look at post #142 in the lube recipe thread.....A post I made April 5th of LAST YEAR........you will see where I told you much sooner than what Jim has brought to the forefront today.

The recipe was originally made by me about 3 years before that, but I somehow ignored the targets till a little bit before I posted the recipe in the lube section.....I was so engrossed in trying other things at the time I originally tried it ,that I simply passed over the targets and stuffed them in a baggie that got stapled to the lube sample/recipe baggie.......so engrossed in trying things to see WHAT IF I simply skipped on by...sound familiar????......like I said....LUBE ALCHEMY it is a serious illness. About that same time I requested Gears addy, but was ignored. I did not dare post it in that other thread as everytime I poked a toe in that thread the door got slammed on it and I was weary of that sooooooo. Basically it is not my fault that you are just now absorbing the info I guess.


If you put a clementine in a baggie and call it a cutie....it is still a clementine.....I am sure I am not the first one to drop some soap into the old pre alox NRA mix either.......not my fault basically is what I am saying....not exotic, not sexy, just plain works...not sure what else to say. Make a batch and torture test it in your favorite rifle......relax.....and smile.....good night.

[44man]

I told Carol long ago I needed paraffin. She came home with a huge round, must have weighed 20#, she paid $2 for it. I have no idea where she found it.
Anyway, I never wanted to add it to Felix, not enough oils and don't want it real hard for anything.
Must be the beeswax smell, so lovely!
I made a huge mistake long ago for BPCR. I made all kinds of lubes and none were right so I melted them all together to find the best lube ever. Yeah, no way to duplicate it. I had the recipes for most but the quantity of each was all over the place, I just tossed all in a double boiler.
I have tested lubes in my revolvers for so long I can't remember. Found huge differences in accuracy. I never found any commercial lube except some of Glen's, like CR, etc, that worked. I bought some very expensive stuff that was a joke and I could not even give it away, one was black, gritty and just broke but melted on my fingers.
Either way, I keep no records of anything unless it works, all else is tossed so I forget a lot.
My memory is bad, always was. Never give me a phone number and I will forget your name when I am shaking your hand. I will remember important stuff forever and can remember every single shot.
I forget how to take some guns apart or put them back together unless I work on them a lot. Others are easy.
Lube is the same. If it fails, it is tossed never to be visited again.
I put Satan's lube in my book.

[bhn22]

Is there a support group for us? A 12 step program?

Hi, my name is Brad and I am a Lube alchemist.......

Too much alchemy at your day job. After a while, it just becomes a blur. You have alchemy all day, and alchemy all night. Things are likely to get confusing at times... Merlin.
Attachment 97948

[Eutectic]

Part of my testing this morning was with "Mikey's Ivory"... what I call his 6,6,6, & 1 lube..

I had fouled the Hornet only 2 rounds yesterday through a thoroughly cleaned bore. I'm using the little 38gr NOE 225107 boolit cast only 11bhn and am pushing it 2950fps.

This morning I shot 5 rounds on my 85 yard target with the Hornet and this load..... Yes.... I'm pussyfooting along here. I've had a lube fail with this hot load before and I don't like cleaning lead! Yes, I did think this lube could fail! (I think the 'new type' Vasoline is not as good as the old stuff either as Ian does) But... Too good could mean Too bad I am learning... Not to worry though.... The five went into 7/8"!!! The bore is a 'little' dry the last 4 or 5 inches... Slight Sb wash.... "Just Perfect!" if it holds running this lean. This little boolit only has one small lube groove!!!

Actually, I think the Hornet's bore is just fouled nicely now. I'll see if I can shrink the group size tomorrow morning if we don't get rain.... Huh??? What happen to the white stuff?

Good job Mike!

Eutectic

[357maximum]

Eutectic

That is about 130fps faster than I have had it actually...nice test, thank you.

The load may settle down a bit better after 20 more shots or so, then again.....maybe not?

It is indeed a dryer lube, even though it is soft)ish)...if it is too dry I believe you could proably borrow a chunk out of the rest of Gears toilet ring......personally I find my best 2400FPS+ luck when a lube...JUUUUST gets the job done, but none of this is a paint by numbers thing.

I have basically gave up on the 22's...my fat fingers, tic-tacs and 22 gaschecks just do not like each other....almost ready to declare a 7mm+ rule in fact......the more I play with the bigger cals the better them sausages hooked to my hands seem to work.

I still have plenty of snow if you feel you need some more....when it melts here my range will be absolutely out of commission for awhile, so feel free to take all this white **** you want.....I have had enough winter for one year.

[geargnasher]

Soap shines as a boundary lubricant.....right up to the point it dries out that last tiny bit and burns on the bore.

The Fluidmaster ring wax seems to fill in some gaps in the hydrocarbon spectrum, adds a little glide, and gives more body to the Vaseline. I felt like my version subbing in some for the Vaseline made the overall lube too dry and almost crumbly, so I added just a dash of mineral oil from the pharmacy to wet things without making it slippery.

Pete, it does seem to take a few shots to season the bore, same as Felix and Starmetal lube do, especially in more, err, "textured" barrels. But once it's there, it's rock-solid on cold-barrel shots, at least at 35-80F. We'll see how she does this summer....you're already doing some really great cold-spectrum testing. I suspect it will do just fine in extreme heat, all except for the storage thing. This stuff essentially melts at 140F, so my quest continues event though I'll be wringing this out more for a while just like I did with FWFL, SG, BAC, CR, LBT, 50/50, SM, and a few others so I can form my own, complete opinion of it.

Gear

[Wingnutt]

Part of my testing this morning was with "Mikey's Ivory"... what I call his 6,6,6, & 1 lube..

I had fouled the Hornet only 2 rounds yesterday through a thoroughly cleaned bore. I'm using the little 38gr NOE 225107 boolit cast only 11bhn and am pushing it 2950fps.

This morning I shot 5 rounds on my 85 yard target with the Hornet and this load..... Yes.... I'm pussyfooting along here. I've had a lube fail with this hot load before and I don't like cleaning lead! Yes, I did think this lube could fail! (I think the 'new type' Vasoline is not as good as the old stuff either as Ian does) But... Too good could mean Too bad I am learning... Not to worry though.... The five went into 7/8"!!! The bore is a 'little' dry the last 4 or 5 inches... Slight Sb wash.... "Just Perfect!" if it holds running this lean. This little boolit only has one small lube groove!!!

Actually, I think the Hornet's bore is just fouled nicely now. I'll see if I can shrink the group size tomorrow morning if we don't get rain.... Huh??? What happen to the white stuff?

Good job Mike!

Eutectic

Maybe just a touch of Carnuba wax or possibly JPW . Carnuba wax always helped carry my dry thin lubes to the full length of the barrel.....

[44man]

I don't have a heat problem where I store my boolits, the basement. Even in summer it stays around 60*. On the range I use MTM boxes. I never have a problem with lube running in revolver loads, must be the case tension.
Most test loads I make have the lube applied with my fingers then run through a Lee to remove excess and seat any GC's. That is a problem with a hard lube for me, CR gave me a blister! I hate the lube sizer. Main reason I went to the original Felix recipe, softer in the cold.
It takes me forever to prepare boolits, clean the bases and remove any lube from crimp grooves, the Lee dies sure get lube all over. But they keep boolits more round.
My 330 gr actually is too small, .430" to .431" for .4324" throats and .430 bore but is the boolit that did 1-5/16" at 200 yards. Normal 50 yard groups average 3/4". The groups I have been shooting with Satan's and Felix are at the gun's limit. I did shoot a group of 3/4" at 100 off hand once.
The SRH I had and my friends SBH Hunter will do 1/2" at 50. So the only .44 I have left is the old SBH that has exceeded 72,000 heavy loads and uncounted light loads. I just can't part with the gun, it is the one that I shot 79 out of 80 IHMSA at Ohio state. (My fault with the last ram.) It has killed a ton of deer.
Some guns grow on a guy, even the brass. Some of my brass has been shot 45 times. I finally had one split a little at the crimp! Yeah, I am crazy and cheap!
When you see around 3/4" groups, it is about the best the gun does at 50 yards so it is easy to test a lube. I don't "season" at all, just move from lube to lube. Cold and warm barrel must work the same. I don't shoot deer with a warm barrel. Only one shot from a clean barrel is enough but I almost never clean a bore. Never, ever hunt or go to a shoot with a clean bore. Attachment 98014
This is what I mean, I went directly from LBT hard blue to Felix, HB on the left.