Imperial sizing wax. Has anybody tried making it better ?

[bruce drake]

If you want a generic Imperial Sizing Lube, go buy yourself a tin of Kiwi Minksfoot Oil. At half the price of the little tin of Imperial, you'll get 3 times the amount of Kiwi Minksfoot Oil.

[Tom W.]

I would have bought some minksfoot oil but have yet to use up enough Imperial to tell it's been used. I bought a tin I dunno how many years ago and use it for all of my bottle neck cases.

[FLYCUTTER]

I want to thank ya all for your input. I'm going to try some of these formulas.

[Reverend Al]

I've used Imperial for years and love the stuff. Since I have about 6 or 8 tins of it that I've accumulated over the years (some gifted to me) I'll never run out in my lifetime!

[NavyVet1959]

If you want a generic Imperial Sizing Lube, go buy yourself a tin of Kiwi Minksfoot Oil. At half the price of the little tin of Imperial, you'll get 3 times the amount of Kiwi Minksfoot Oil.

I was up at Wal-Mart today and checked in the section for the shoe polish and it seem that they no longer handle the mink oil paste. I still have plenty, but I was curious what it cost compared to some other alternatives.

[country gent]

IHave seen Mink oil paste, neatsfoot oil, Lanolin based skin softeners ( bag balmn, hand creams ect) hair dressings ( V05 used to be a big one), crisco shortening, stp, and some others all used as sizing lubes. I use and have several tins of Imperial sizing die wax on the bench currently. I apply it with a bath towel. Lay towel out flat and a couple fingers full of lube spread out onto towel. A 1000 cases and grasp each end in each hand rockingthem up and down agitating them in the towel. Once towel is fully impregnated it is very quick and easy. Until care must be taken to not under lube t the cases. this worked well for 223 and 308 military once fired cases for me. I can lube 1000 cases in 5 mins.

[NavyVet1959]

Speaking of the mink oil paste by Kiwi, I ran across this:

Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreens Among Retailers Told to Stop Selling Products

By Serena Ng and Christina Binkley
Updated Nov. 22, 2013 5:18 p.m. ET

Consumer products maker S.C. Johnson & Son Inc. has told U.S. retailers to stop selling its Kiwi-branded products containing mink oil after claims of tampering by anonymous animal rights activists.

A post on the website of the North American Animal Liberation Press Office claimed earlier this month that 263 jars of Kiwi Mink Oil were opened and injected with "cyanic acid" and put back on shelves in Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreens and other retailers' stores across the U.S.

The post, which the site said was "received anonymously," claimed the acid would damage leather products to which the oil is applied. Cyanic acid is a colorless, poisonous liquid.

An S.C. Johnson spokeswoman said the company "took action to remove all Kiwi Mink Oil products from retail shelves as a precautionary measure" and has referred the matter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. An FBI spokesman said the agency doesn't comment on its interactions with private entities that report potential violations, as a matter of policy.

Spokesmen for CVS Caremark Corp. and Walgreen Co. said their stores removed the products last week after being contacted about the matter. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spokeswoman Dianna Gee said the retailer hasn't heard from customers about the issue, "and frankly we have no reason to believe this even took place in our stores." She added, however, that "out of the abundance of caution and at the request of our supplier," the products were removed from all Wal-Mart stores.

Will Hazlitt, a representative of the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, said the anonymous information came from the Animal Liberation Front, an underground group of animal-rights activists, and "it is reasonable to assume this was done in the manner they described it to be."

S.C. Johnson, a privately held company based in Racine, Wis., also makes Ziploc bags, Windex cleaners and Raid insecticides. It acquired the Kiwi shoe-care brand from the former Sara Lee Corp. in 2011, and since then "has been working to align the products with the standards and values" of S.C. Johnson, spokeswoman Jam Stewart said. Those efforts, she said, include a plan to stop using natural mink oil as an ingredient.
The items with mink oil, which represented only a small product line, will no longer be sold and will be replaced with the reformulated versions down the road, Ms. Stewart said.

Mink oil is a byproduct of the mink fur business and is typically used to keep leather products soft. Animal rights and animal welfare activists oppose the captive breeding of minks for their fur and some have illegally released thousands of minks from farm cages in recent months. There were 268 mink farms in the U.S. that produced $291.5 million worth of pelts in 2011, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Kiwi has roughly a 74% share of the shoe polish market, with about $129 million sales last year, according to Euromonitor International.

Maybe that is why we don't see it anymore?

Damn eco-terrorists!

I wonder how well oil made from eco-terrorists would work as a resizing lube...

[bruce drake]

That's funny? I've bought tins of Mink-Oil shoe dressing at my local Wal-Mart since 2013. They must have found the eco-terrorists.

[Hardcast416taylor]

The other neat things you get when you use `Bag Balm` is softer skin and a real neat empty can for `stuff`.Robert

[paul h]

I don't grouse about the cost of Imperial, that said what I do not like is that it's difficult to keep from applying too much and getting dents on shoulders.

So I am testing the Hornady Unique lube and it's working great thus far! I am kind of hustling along as I have been full length sizing a few thousand .223 and 5.56 cases lately.

It cost $3.95 and there is probably six times more material in the tub and it's a harder base so it's easy to keep the amount going onto each case thinner so to keep shoulders from getting much lube on them. About the only complaint I have with the Hornady product is that the plastic tub is too fragile, mine cracked whilst I fought the lid off ......... LOL!

I guess after 40 years of farming my old mitts are just a bit too agressive for the softer Imperial lube?

Three 44s

I wear disposable medical exam gloves to keep reloading grime off my hands and also to apply Imperial sizing die wax. I dab the tip of my finger in the wax, rub it across the palm of my hand and roll 5-10 cases across my palms. You don't even need to redab your palm every time, a little goes a looooong way.

[NavyVet1959]

That's funny? I've bought tins of Mink-Oil shoe dressing at my local Wal-Mart since 2013. They must have found the eco-terrorists.

I received this from an email I sent to Kiwi:

[quote]
Thank you for your email. Mink oil is no longer used in Kiwi® brand products. Previously, mink oil was used in some shoe care products we acquired from Sara Lee. Following any acquisition, SC Johnson works to align the acquired products with our own standards and values. This included the decision in 2013 to discontinue the use of natural mink oil as an ingredient. Additionally, there were tampering claims made by a third-party organization, no evidence of tampering were found during the investigation.
[quote]

In other words, they succumbed to the eco-terrorist threats.

[PbHurler]

Not to worry

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categ...132/1/MINK-OIL

I love it for patches. Used as a case lube, a 6oz tin would probably be a lifetimes quantity

[M-Tecs]

http://www.mermacminkoil.com/index.htm

[bruce drake]

Stuff still works.

[QUOTE=NavyVet1959;3868179]I received this from an email I sent to Kiwi:

[quote]
Thank you for your email. Mink oil is no longer used in Kiwi® brand products. Previously, mink oil was used in some shoe care products we acquired from Sara Lee. Following any acquisition, SC Johnson works to align the acquired products with our own standards and values. This included the decision in 2013 to discontinue the use of natural mink oil as an ingredient. Additionally, there were tampering claims made by a third-party organization, no evidence of tampering were found during the investigation.

In other words, they succumbed to the eco-terrorist threats.

[runfiverun]

I wonder if the eco-terrorists know where the substitute is coming from.
or maybe it is really modified sunlight.

[bruce drake]

modified sunlight and unicorn tears squeezed out through a vice on their gonads....

[leadhead]

I've been using Bag Balm for years and see no need to change.
Makes your hands nice and soft too.
Denny

[Budzilla 19]

I found Mink oil paste at my local western store sold under the Scout boot care label.$4.00 for a 3 oz. tin, boy,is that stuff slick! Bought one for me and one for my reloading partner! M&F western was the parent company. Thanks for the suggestions,guys!

[Fernando]

You guys must size a whole lot of brass - I have two bottles of RCBS and 2 tins of Imperial.
I only bought one of the tins of Imp.
I just use my fingers with the wax and have 2 pads for the rcbs that also came in deals.
Going on 30yrs with these and should be able hand a little down.
Do it by feel and toss in the vibrator to clean them up.
Think I've only dented a couple shoulders (RCBS) Forming though.
Stuck one a couple decades ago 06' with (RCBS) squeak stop oh ****
But I don't shoot one of the mattel things anymore - most volume would be dog guns.
Now if you find a water soluble lube that I could just use a damp rag to clean off??

[runfiverun]

that's the LEE stuff it's washable.