Just the facts: Lube recipes

[357maximum]

K.I.S.S-Modified Lithi-bee



will cover 95% of what anyone could want from a lube. It can be as easy as the following:

by weight:
4.5 to 5 ounces (cheap caramel colored lithium grease)
1/2 to 1 ounce grated ivory soap
10 to 15 ounces of good ol yeller American beeswax for an NRA50/50 like consistency or up to 20 ounces for an Orange Majic consistency........ (adjust to you and your guns liking)

Melt the grease over direct heat, when it is fully liquid and smoking a bit add the ivory soap slowly until it is all gone.....remove from the heat and let it cool a bit. When it is starting to look like grease again put it back on LOW heat and add the beeswax till that is gone........thats it and you are done. If this was too complicated you can always skip the Ivory soap as it is not 100% required, but it does help with accuracy/handling and raises the melt temp slightly.

[357maximum]

Was diggin and sorting stuff under my bench from my lube spear-a-menting a few years back while moving to a newly made bench and found another good recipe along with it's test targets and lube sample in a baggie. This was a good lube and was accurate in my rifles and ss pistols at normal and normal plus castboolit velocity. I am calling it "Satans Mix" because of the way the balance of the ingredients worked out to get me where I wanted to go. I was trying for a semi soft yet flexible lube that did not need the microwax that most my lubes contain and the ingredients shook out in a balanced yet evil way. Lube is about the hardness and texture of NRA 50/50 or maybe just a touch stiffer.

Melt the vaseline/paraffin and add the ivory soap flakes into it til fully dissolved, remove from heat for a bit and then add the beeswax last.

EDIT 3/14/14...It is very important that you melt the ivory into the vaseline/paraffin mixture as a whole....If you melt it into just the vaseline and then add the paraffin the temp change will cause the ivory to precipitate out of suspension and cause you some grief getting it back into the mix.

6oz vaseline
6oz paraffin
6oz beeswax
1 oz dried ivory flakes (foodprocessor)

[Marlin Junky]

Was diggin and sorting stuff under my bench from my lube spear-a-menting a few years back while moving to a newly made bench and found another good recipe along with it's test targets and lube sample in a baggie. This was a good lube and was accurate in my rifles and ss pistols at normal and normal plus castboolit velocity. I am calling it "Satans Mix" because of the way the balance of the ingredients worked out to get me where I wanted to go. I was trying for a semi soft yet flexible lube that did not need the microwax that most my lubes contain and the ingredients shook out in a balanced yet evil way. Lube is about the hardness and texture of NRA 50/50 or maybe just a touch stiffer.


Melt the vaseline and add the ivory soap flakes into it til fully dissolved, then add the paraffin, remove from heat and then add the beeswax last.

6oz vaseline
6oz paraffin
6oz beeswax
1 oz dried ivory flakes (foodprocessor)

Thanks Mike...

This is kinda what I'm going for except I want to lower the Vaseline and paraffin a couple ounces and add Dexron VI. I was also thinking about adding the soap to a solution of Dexron, Vaseline and paraffin (I found the Gulf Brand canning paraffin at Wally World this week).

MJ

[357maximum]

Thanks Mike...

This is kinda what I'm going for except I want to lower the Vaseline and paraffin a couple ounces and add Dexron VI. I was also thinking about adding the soap to a solution of Dexron, Vaseline and paraffin (I found the Gulf Brand canning paraffin at Wally World this week).

MJ

Don
No problemo...I knew I had that recipe stashed away somewhere so that those that did not wish to buy microwax could still make a good flexible yet accurate lube, I just could not find it for you in my green lube binders awhile back when I was looking for it for ya before I sent your care package. As luck would have it I never took care of that recipe, targets, sample and results....somehow in my clutter it got lost to the nether regions of my old loading bench, in a gallon zipperlock buried under all the other baggies and ovaltine jars full of boolits and other assorted shhhh---stuff. I am a slob, but I am trying to fix that flaw....slowly but surely. I had no work today so made another batch just to make sure all was well and it was repeatable...good news...it worked as good as the original batch and I actually shot some through a few guns this afternoon. It was a bit gusty but all is well on the target board. The recipe could use some colored dye though....it looks like somewhat albino SPG without color added to it. ...mental note...go buy some more dye mister.

The nicest thing about recipes like this one and the ones like you posted is that they can be adjusted to meet their makers needs and wants, and they are still re-meltable and pan-lube-able for those that wish to do it that way. Soap is good...to a certain point and then it becomes a liability.


Have fun,
Mike

[Smokepole50]

Wow, I am amazed at all the different types of home made bullet lubes. I can see there being a basic old time lube for black powder and a few others for modern cast boolits but there must be 30 different versions of lube here. Bee's wax seems to be the base material but what are the added benifits of the various other ingredents?

I see I should have read above first. I will read this other thread about bullet lubes to see if my answer is there.

[kdiver58]

Has anyone thought to break these down into separate categories ie. Black powder, heater needed , no heater needed , LOW smoke, high bullet speeds, long shelf life lubes that have no perishable organics (tallow , lanolin) ? just a thought ..
I'm looking to modify the lube I used years ago with more modern ingredients , my old mix was Paraffin was , lithium grease and lanolin , I'd like to get rid of the lanolin. Just a thought .

[victor3ranger]

Has anyone ever tried just plain candle wax and Dextron trans fluid for pan lubing 45ACP??

[357maximum]

VICTOR3RANGER..........The 45ACP is not "DEMANDING" and can be lubed with almost anything that is waxy with some "SLICKUM". I used 60/40 Beeswax/Petroleum jelly in almost all my 45ACP/45Colt loadings and was very happy.

The lube you are thinking about above would lack "body" and be difficult to handle, but it would "work" if a balance of wax/oil was perfected. Beeswax is a lot better at adding flex/handling characteristics than straight paraffin would get you. If you insist on not using beeswax a mix of vaseline/paraffin would likely serve you better as the vaseline can induce some flex and improve the handling qualities as well as contributing some "slickum" in the process.

[victor3ranger]

I put 2 oz of Dextron into the candle wax melt just to see how well it would harden back up when cool. Seems to have a little bit of a softer feel to it and does feel slick. I think I will add 2 table spoons full of vaseline and see how it does.

[Dale in Louisiana]

You all are wondering what the weight by volume is with pure beeswax here you go.
"A PINT IS A POUND THE WORLD AROUND" 16 OZ is slightly less than a pound.
I don't recall where i seen or read that, but it is kinda catchy.

Sixteen fluid ounces (a pint) of water is close enough to a pound for most purposes here.

Further, most of the ingredients are very close to the specific gravity of water, which is by definition 1.0. For instance, beeswax is in the 0.96 range, oils are in the 0.92-0.94 range (they float, okay) so if you take all that into account, then within a few percentage points, volume equals weight.

No, we're not talking about laboratory accuracy, but face it, most of us are mixing random ingredients on the stove here. Close counts.

dale in Louisiana

[Dale in Louisiana]

too bad that jingle won't work for Imperial measure. up here a pint is a pound and a quarter

Imperial? Gahhhh!

I can do metric, though: A liter's a kilogram...

dale in Louisiana

[timberhawk]

I just read all 8 pages of this thread. Wow, so many recipes to choose from.

I'm looking for a recipe that doesn't smoke too much for regular and magnum handgun loads.

I'm currently using a commercial lube with Unigue powder that produces more smoke than I want, especially with reduced loads.

Can anyone recommend a good lube that works with both low and high end loads that doesn't smoke so much.

Thanks in advance.

[timberhawk]

I just read all 8 pages of this thread. Wow, so many recipes to choose from.

I'm looking for a recipe that doesn't smoke too much for regular and magnum handgun loads.

I'm currently using a commercial lube with Unigue powder that produces more smoke than I want, especially with reduced loads.

Can anyone recommend a good lube that works with both low and high end loads that doesn't smoke so much.

Thanks in advance.

Okay, nevermind. I'm going to load up on caffeine and start a marathon reading of the "Quest" thread. (Hope I live long enough to finish it!)

[jsheyn]

1 lb beeswax
1 lb paraffin
1 tablespoon TSP
2 tablespoon petroleum jelly
1/4 lb colored wax for color (usually crayons or candles)

Melt it all together an mix....finished!!!

I currently use it on 41mag,40sw,9mm,45acp.... seems good up to 1000fps

[303Guy]

Castor oil makes a beeswax/carnauba wax with other oils, sticky and softens a hard mix. It softens the mix more than Vaseline.

[meeesterpaul]

Warf's Pistol Lube:

Beeswax & Virgin Olive oil.

Melt 8 oz. of bees wax then add 8oz. of Olive oil. Stir for apox. 2mins on low heat.

This mix runs threw a Star without a heat supply.
You can also use this mix as lip balm.


Warf

How about some coconut oil to give it a little tropical scent? and a little SPFXX for sunblock?

[eljefeoz]

I get nose bleeds some times, reading the cornucopia that Ian/Lamar and the gang post.Esp the lubes.

I read, takes me a couple of days to undersand, more time to find references, make sense ( a little bit) and I am back, lurking the threads. Using a little mish mash of "...a little knowledge is a dangerous thing..."

I made up my first, independent lube-
BW -150grams
Olive oil -10ml
Graphite powder-5g
Ichthammol- (a shale oil derivative I believe) 15g
I even stole the kids crayons to make it a zombie green, dip lubed, sized my .285/145 gr RCBS Sil and am awaiting trials.This time ,planning to push some hard cast loads over 2200fps

[runfiverun]

elJefe.
that's why I done the simple lube recipe.
melt stir use, adjust if needed to suit your bees-wax.

[eljefeoz]

Absolutely, R5R.
Want to see how the ' need for speed' can be fulfilled too.
I am happy with the performance at 1700-1900fps, Now I want to see the other side of the coin. Oven treat the next batch, PP a few-So much to do...

[runfiverun]

a little umm thicker lube generally does better with the quicker boolit speeds.

a squishy malleable slightly sticky playdough type lube that takes a little heat to flow in a
65-f room and has a little bit of glide when you run your finger over it, seems to be the better all round lube that holds up to velocity rather well over a broad range of temps.