Gulf Canning Wax?

[Blackwater]

I don't get to this segment of the board very often, so I know it's been discussed previously, but I was wondering if any of you have used Gulf canning wax for lube? It seems to have a fairly high melting point, which could potentially be good for a hot weather lube. I posted a recent thread asking about just that. I know I've read somewhere before that it tends to be "smoky," but I haven't really heard much bad about it, or at least that I recall (dang that CRS disease!). Was wondering specifically, if liquid alox mixed with GCW might make a good hot weather lube.
Any comments/experience with it are appreciated here. Will get to reading archives ASAP, also. Great to have so many knowledgeable and experienced heads here. I don't get to experiment nearly as much as I used to, but still find it intriguing when I can.

[nagantguy]

Good question I know it does have a million uses. Might not be ideal but mixing it with alox jpw or something and I don't see why it couldn't be used in a pinch. I'll grab a turkey sandwich and check back to see what the experts here think. "Yes honey I bought 1 ton of canning wax, we can enough for three families and now I can use it fee boolit lube!"

[pworley1]

I have used it in many different lube recipes, but never as a major ingredient. I don't see why it would not work as you mentioned.

[Springfield]

Why not, it's just paraffin.

[bangerjim]

Raw paraffin (gulfwax) is too brittle as the ONLY thing in your lube. Mixed with other ingredients such as various oils and beeswax will make it more pliable. And sticky. Back when I was grease-lubing, I used paraffin wax as a component in most lubes.

bangerjim

[John Boy]

wondering if any of you have used Gulf canning wax for lube?

Gulf Canningwax is the alkane paraffin. I mix it with mutton tallow & beeswax for an excellent lube

[Elkins45]

I haven't seen much discussion of an Alox/paraffin mix. I do know there is a mix called Barry Darr's lube that is 50/50 paraffin and Vaseline with a tiny dribble of STP added. I have used it for pistol rounds before and it seemed to work fine.

[alamogunr]

Gulf Canningwax is the alkane paraffin. I mix it with mutton tallow & beeswax for an excellent lube

The recipe I use for lubing over-powder wads for my Ruger Old Army uses these ingredients as well.

[Outpost75]

CCI .22LR ammunition was lubricated for many years with 160° melting point parafin.

If not used in a hot-dip process paraffin requires a plasticizer.

For a simple home-made lube for many years I have used equal parts by melted volume of Gulf wax and Vaseline, adding 2 fluid ozs. per pound of Dexron ATF. This is similar to Darr lube substituting the ATF for the RCBS case lube.

For blackpowder cartridge lube I use equal parts by melted volume of Gulf wax,Vaseline and Crisco with a bit of oil of peppermint added as a "skunker" to fool the mall ninjas. Performs similar to SPG.

[geargnasher]

Gulf canning paraffin melts and oozes out of the box like lava just sitting on a shelf in my garage. I don't think it got more than 110F in there this summer. There are far better paraffins to use in hot-weather bullet lube, and I'm finding that paraffin DOES have a place there when tiny groups are the goal. I say that with part of a size 10 sticking out of my mouth.

Gear

[Ben]

I've been reading and watching this one.

I'm with Gear, - - - Gulf Wax wouldn't be on my list of " go to components " if I wanted to make some bullet lube.

Ben

[geargnasher]

I just can't get over how consistent the old NRA lube is, and how well Darr lube shoots in mild weather and up to medium rifle velocities. Both contain a large portion of paraffin wax. Both are a little smokey, if that happens to be bothersome. Extremely high velocity, heat, and rapid fire shooting seem to be the Achilles' heel of paraffin, but there are ways to make it work without losing its positive attributes.

Gear

[Airman Basic]

For years, I've used equal parts of Vaseline, paraffin and beeswax, with a judicious squirt or three of LLA. Works fine poured in the lubesizer.

[John Allen]

Gulf (paraffin) wax, mutton tallow, beeswax, a little lanolin and you got yourself a great blackpowder lube.

[Reg]

For years, I've used equal parts of Vaseline, paraffin and beeswax, with a judicious squirt or three of LLA. Works fine poured in the lubesizer.

Have used the above but with two tablespoons of black graphite for years in everything from .22 Hornet to 45-70. I bet the added LLA would be a good mix.

[Blackwater]

Hey, Gear, you and most others here are way ahead of me on knowledge of the various things we might want to make lubes out of, or at least try. Have you got a recommendation for some other parafins that might work better? And your comment about parafins having a place in very accurate loads. Would you care to comment on that observation? I'm very intrigued, because I've always tried to concentrate on accuracy, and loads that wouldn't perform in that respect were swiftly dropped and something else tried. I have a .44 Special that I want to get a load for with Lee's 200 RNFP bullet. Want a good, accurate lube that'll shoot lights out in that gun, and as light a charge as I can get by with and still get really good groups. It's already shown that it has the ability with the Keith loads of Unique and the 240-250 gr. SWC's, but I don't want to shoot that heavy a load in it all the time. It would be nice if it also performed in my Marlin '94 carbine, too - a one load for most anything I'm likely to encounter a need to shoot locally. Got any lube recommendations there?

[geargnasher]

The secret to making an "accurate" bullet lube is to make one that is ballistically transparent, i.e. doesn't detract from the accuracy potential of the system. This is achieved by shot-to-shot consistency of the bore condition, meaning friction characteristics as seen by the bullet through the whole firing event.

Paraffin waxes and oils, chemically unbranched by definition, seem to provide the most consistent bore surface through a wide variety of shooting scenarios and different gun/load/bullet/alloy combinations. Don't ask me why.

I like Yaley's 'Premium wax' paraffin with a 148F melt point as opposed to Gulf canning paraffin, but either will work in bullet lube.

Recommendations? There are so many good ones for pistol work that it's tough to say. Felix lube is usually a "ringer" in the accuracy department unless it is too hard/stiff for the particular situation, in which case you can soften it with Vaseline. Beeswax and Vaseline is tough to beat 95% of the time, as is the old NRA formula. If you start demanding a lot of your lube, as in going past the liquid film lube stage and pushing into the boundary lubrication stage, you will need some extremely high-performance film lubricants like castor bean or polyolester oil, but those come with some caveats as they are finicky and difficult to make consistent. At the top end of things, as in extremely high velocity/pressure rifle loads, boundary lubrication is the name of the game and metal soaps (sodium or lithium) are very helpful there. Traditional boundary lubricants such as moly disulfide, graphite, and organic zinc compounds can also be helpful, but again are a double-edged sword when it comes to maintaining consistent shot-to-shot bore friction.

Bottom line, the straight wax/oil lubes are the best for bore condition, but they have their limits in high-velocity rifle applications. They have to be bolstered with other stuff to do the job on the high end, and that is a balancing act. If you aren't pushing your lube to the limits, then you are better served by a simple wax/oil concoction, particularly one just containing beeswax, microcrystalline wax, and a paraffin plasticizer like Vaseline or a straight mineral oil. Did I help or confuse?

Gear

[MostlyOnThePaper]

I'm finding that paraffin DOES have a place there when tiny groups are the goal. I say that with part of a size 10 sticking out of my mouth.

Gear

After almost 300 mind numbing pages perhaps someone could find a place less well lit for another size 10?

[badgeredd]

Odd that paraffin now has a place in lube along with microwax and lithium grease...yes indeed odd it is.

[BABore]

Almost like the ghost of some unnamed, banned, lube - maker helped insert them size 10's.