Some questions on Ben's Red

[crabo]

I made up a batch of Ben's Red. I have some questions.

1. The texture is very soft. It seems like it has a lot of air in it. When I compare it to CRed and TAC1, it is much softer. TAC1 is firmer and CRed is harder yet. What should the texture be?

2. I assume this lube needs no heat. Correct?

3. It has a very strong petroleum smell to it, which I guess is because that basically is what it is made of. Does yours smell fairly strong? I lube in the house.

Thanks,

[35 shooter]

Ben's Red is a soft lube for sure, but that's one of the things i like about it.
It will get into every crevice of your bbl. and flings off the boolit quickly upon firing.
It's a great lube.

Mine has the same grease smell you describe, but i don't notice it in the house or loading room...only on my fingers after i lube and size. Quick hand washing and gone!
It will have to get mighty cold in your loading room to have to use heat when lubing and sizing with Ben's Red.
I coat the bore with atf oil after a range session, then run a dry patch through before shooting or hunting and my first shots are always in the group from my rifle!

[crabo]

35, thanks for the info. That is what I wanted to know.

[Bigslug]

Even firmed up with 5% extra beeswax, you won't need to heat it.

It is a bit stinky on firing. I can't recommend it for handguns on an indoor range - definitely don't want to be breathing the stuff. No issues as far as lubing indoors though.

I don't know if anyone has scienced out a low-and-slow cookout of the various solvents in Ben's Red to see how it behaves. . .

[Toymaker]

The "stickiness" was something of a bother to me because it'd get on my fingers and then on anything I touched. So I started dipping the bullets in Ben's Liquid Lube after sizing, lubing and wiping the nose and bottom. I'd line them up on a plate of glass and let them dry. Vola!! A nice shell formed. It would take overnight in the basement but now that summer's here I can put them outside and they're dry in just a couple of hours. I don't get sticky fingers while loading. After seating the bullet I can wipe the nose again if there's still a trace of any excess Ben's Red. AND there has been no difference in accuracy or clean-up.

For black powder loads I pan lube with SPG. After I pop the bullets out of the cake I dip them in Ben's Liquid Lube too. Again, it eliminates the stickiness and has made no difference in accuracy or clean-up.

Granted, an extra step but it keeps the lube off my powder pan, cases, etc. and accomplishes what I want. It also keeps me from wiping my fingers on my pants all the time.

[35 shooter]

Toymaker, i had the same results when using an overcoat of BLL. It locked the Ben's Red in the grooves and eliminated the sticky feel (which i really don't mind) and no change in accuracy.
Even more important for me...no change in impact. Glad to see your results were the same.

Bigslug, I've never noticed any smell upon firing Ben's Red at the range except the gun powder itself.
I did over cook the red n tacky the first time i made it and got a bit of a grease smell...i learned not to over heat it when making up a batch very quickly. Lol other than that it smells like tight groups at the range to me!!

[Geezer in NH]

Great idea I will try that with my 50-70