NEW ! ! T/L Liquid Lube

[geargnasher]

Well, I tested in two .38 revolvers today, some good some not so good. Both guns were cleaned and had bores prepped with a super-faint haze of the lube and wiped out again. Both guns shot very accurately with the lube, as good or better than with anything else benched at 15 yards, so I'm happy with that. Put 18 through one and 12 though the other, very low smoke, happy with that. What I'm NOT happy with is the lead wash on my cylinder faces and the lead crusties that accumulated quickly on the land origins in the forcing cones of both revolvers, that never occurs with regular lubes and these same bullets/load. Virtually no lead further down the bores, though, strange. There was more powder residue than normal in there as well. Also, and I was a little surprised by this, there was a grey, oily, waxy film all over the outside of the cylinder and around the frame opening and crane, even after the first cylinder, so the VERY faint haze of BLL I put on the bullets (four drops did 30 WCs) is certainly doing a plenty good job of "lubing". Normally I use my SL-68 or 68.1 which is a very dry-shooting sodium soap/microwax/paraffin oil lube and get no leading whatsoever and virtually no powder or lube residue on the frames, cylinders, or even muzzle and the bores wipe clean with one dry patch. Obviously I'm getting some blowby in the throats and would need to size the bullets about a thousandth larger and probably go to a SWC or RFN design that reaches out and plugs up the cylinder throats sooner if I'm going to use this lube. Probably not going to mess with changing bullets and reworking the loads right now, but it was worth a go. Very likely I will try this with some TL designs at a later date, and I'm going to give it a thorough go in my 1911s since I really like that Lee 452-230TC design and this lube makes feeding slick as....what was said? "Slick as a used-car salesman".

I'll say this stuff is far more user-friendly than any other "tumble lube" I've ever tried, and shoots better with less smoke than either straight LLA or Recluse's lube in my .38 Specials (they lead with either of those, too, so really no surprise), and I can see a lot of uses for it as a supplemental lube, sealant, and bore-rider lube as Ben has already demonstrated. Good job, Ben, I think this stuff is just dandy and will continue to test it now that I have a good feel for what it does and what it needs (good static fit and immediate obturation to prevent blowby).

Gear

[Ben]

Thanks Gear,

I see it no differently than some other lubes.
Works very well in " some " applications but possibly not all.

I guess that can be said for almost any lube.

Ben

[btroj]

I would think his would make an excellent "overlube" for sticky lubes. Quick drying I like.

[Budzilla 19]

Attachment 132514Attachment 132512Here's one picture for sure. Ben, these are to show the amount of BLL that is on these particular slugs!! I tl'ed them 4 times till there was some in the lube grooves! Not too sloppy for my first try at cast rifle bullets, for sure!! BTW, these were shot at fifty yards from a bench rest. I have been casting and reloading pistol bullets for thirty plus years, and this is the best lube yet. I will post more as we get deeper into this discipline of cast rifle bullets. Again, thank you for this discovery!

[geargnasher]

Thanks Gear,

I see it no differently than some other lubes.
Works very well in " some " applications but possibly not all.

I guess that can be said for almost any lube.

Ben

Well, it's like anything else, the system needs to be optimized for the components used in order for things to work the way we'd like them to. I "get away" with a lot using SL-68, for one thing it's stiff enough to make a pretty good stop-leak, and gives enough friction to help the powder burn a bit better. I'd likely need to size TO the cylinder throat dimension instead of a thousandth under, load the bullets longer to cork the throats, and up the powder charge with BLL and then it might work just fine.

This reminds me of some friction another member and I had over one of my lube formulas he tested. He was getting very poor accuracy, unburned powder, and IIRC maybe some sooty cases with my lube. While I don't pretend to know more about his gun and load than he does, it did seem pretty obvious that the lube changed the whole pressure curve of the powder and would dictate a re-work to get both the accuracy and proper function back. When you tune a system to a 'sweet spot' for accuracy and function, something like a major lube change can easily throw it back into a not-so-sweet spot. The difference is obvious with the high-soap lubes when you compare chronograph readings. I think the BLL is very slick and reduces 'bullet pull' a bit, necessitating a bump in powder (possibly) or smaller expander spud. I'm just saying that all systems need to be tuned and it's unrealistic to expect the same results when changing a major component. I just wanted to see what would happen, and I did.

Gear

[Love Life]

I like a coat of this lube on my Hornady Swaged SWC in 45 ACP.

[Ben]

Well, it's like anything else, the system needs to be optimized for the components used in order for things to work the way we'd like them to. I "get away" with a lot using SL-68, for one thing it's stiff enough to make a pretty good stop-leak, and gives enough friction to help the powder burn a bit better. I'd likely need to size TO the cylinder throat dimension instead of a thousandth under, load the bullets longer to cork the throats, and up the powder charge with BLL and then it might work just fine.

This reminds me of some friction another member and I had over one of my lube formulas he tested. He was getting very poor accuracy, unburned powder, and IIRC maybe some sooty cases with my lube. While I don't pretend to know more about his gun and load than he does, it did seem pretty obvious that the lube changed the whole pressure curve of the powder and would dictate a re-work to get both the accuracy and proper function back. When you tune a system to a 'sweet spot' for accuracy and function, something like a major lube change can easily throw it back into a not-so-sweet spot. The difference is obvious with the high-soap lubes when you compare chronograph readings. I think the BLL is very slick and reduces 'bullet pull' a bit, necessitating a bump in powder (possibly) or smaller expander spud. I'm just saying that all systems need to be tuned and it's unrealistic to expect the same results when changing a major component. I just wanted to see what would happen, and I did.

Gear

Well spoken Gear !

[Ben]

Attachment 132514Attachment 132512Here's one picture for sure. Ben, these are to show the amount of BLL that is on these particular slugs!! I tl'ed them 4 times till there was some in the lube grooves! Not too sloppy for my first try at cast rifle bullets, for sure!! BTW, these were shot at fifty yards from a bench rest. I have been casting and reloading pistol bullets for thirty plus years, and this is the best lube yet. I will post more as we get deeper into this discipline of cast rifle bullets. Again, thank you for this discovery!

Glad it is working well for you.

Ben

[35 shooter]

Got some 298 gr. lee minie ball boolits coated and ready to load for my 45/410 bond arms derringer. Can't wait to try the BLL lube along with a few gr. of red dot....hopefully this weekend!

btroj yes it does work great as an overcoat. I used it over Ben's Red for the whelen and it worked really well. Should be just the ticket for long term storage for boolits with soft lube in the grooves. I still tend to use straight Ben's Red for the rifle without the overcoat just because i'm used to doing that way, but it did work great both ways.

[GRid.1569]

What a sad life I must have.... On holiday in Orlando and couldn't wait to get to Home Depot to get a can of liquid wax... $6.48 plus tax. Looks enough to last for years.... Now if I could find some Alox.....

[geargnasher]

What a sad life I must have.... On holiday in Orlando and couldn't wait to get to Home Depot to get a can of liquid wax... $6.48 plus tax. Looks enough to last for years.... Now if I could find some Alox.....

Just curious, how are you going to get that liquid wax home?

Gear

[Ben]

Just curious, how are you going to get that liquid wax home?

UUmmm, Now that's a good question ? ?

[geargnasher]

Princess Cruise lines? They do transatlantic vacations.

Gear

[btroj]

Princess Cruise lines? They do transatlantic vacations.

Gear

You've researched these?



Do any more testing with this Gear? I may need to break down and give it a shot. A hard shell over lube sounds like a good idea for some soft lubes.

[geargnasher]

Mom travels a lot and the food/beds/bathrooms are a lot better on ships than aircraft. Orlando to Dublin and on to England is one trip, Madrid and back is one, another ends up where you took your wife last year.

I don't like the idea of sealing up lube in the grooves, I go to a great deal of trouble to make sure it can get OUT of them quickly, but that's just me. Now, dipping the noses of loaded rounds, like I've done for years with either thinned LLA or more recently 45/45/10, NuFinish, FA mould release spray (not bad, actually), and good old Turtle wax, would likely be MUCH better, easier, and more yummy with Ben's LL formula. The real reason I made some up Ben already knows about, I asked his opinion on it a few weeks back, has to do with assisting feeding in SA rifles and pistols that tend to buggar the noses...and also another thing relating to that latest project of mine involving the reduction of engraving pressure, to be tested if this damn Texas weather will cooperate on one of my days off. A little BLL on the noses and a little a Q-tip and applied to a feed ramp never hurt anything, now did it?

Gear

[btroj]

What about a quick tumble before lubing with traditional lube? Would be pretty easy and wouldn't interfere with the lube at all.

More than one way to exfoliate a feline.

As for cruises, not for me. I prefer a plane. Get there, do my thing, come home. Oh, we have a different trip planned this year. More art, just a different language of love.

[Ben]

A little BLL on the noses and a little a Q-tip and applied to a feed ramp never hurt anything, now did it?


A little dab will do ya ! !

[GRid.1569]

Just curious, how are you going to get that liquid wax home?

UUmmm, Now that's a good question ? ?

In the checked in luggage.... It's not like it's Gas Checks...��

[geargnasher]

I'm not familiar with the regulations, but if 4 oz of pasty liquid Alox has to ship by ground due to air freight regs, I doubt TSA will let Johnson's liquid wax on the plane considering it's mostly petroleum Naptha and the cork might not be rated for 30K feet.

Gear

[SSGOldfart]

Yep TL before sizing with the 450 hey Ben have you tried it in freezing temperatures yet I'm going to run a couple hundred in the morning should be around the mid 20s which is cold in East Texas