Inline FabricationLee PrecisionWidenersPBcastco
Titan ReloadingMidSouth Shooters SupplyLoad DataRepackbox
Reloading Everything RotoMetals2
Results 1 to 17 of 17

Thread: Stiffening lube

  1. #1
    Boolit Master

    sutherpride59's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Houston Texas
    Posts
    525

    Stiffening lube

    I have several bricks of lube that my father in law gave me but they are to soft for 45acp. Before you argue I tried with a wide variety powders and I keep getting a build up of grease at the front of the chamber. That being said best I can tell the lube is too soft. It has the consistency of grease when I comes out of the lube sizer.

    so what can I do to harden a small batch of this lube to confirm it is the problem. This lube is a version of bens red it would seem. I figure either adding paraffin, or ivory soap should do the trick but I want to know what y'all think before I waste a bunch of time and lube.

  2. #2
    Banned

    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    soda springs Id.
    Posts
    28,088
    not paraffin that will stiffen the lube but not make the issue go away.
    bees-wax, or carnuba will add a stiffness.
    I'm thinking you have a 50-50 mix of lithium grease and b-wax [popular lube for a while] cut it down by 10% wax, then maybe another 5%.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master

    sutherpride59's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Houston Texas
    Posts
    525
    If the lube is too soft wouldn't adding paraffin do exactly what I need and stiffen it up? The lube is red and smells of ATF so I know it's not 50/50 lithium/beeswax. The main problem was loosing most of the lube early and gumming up the chamber. I haven't had any leading with this lube either.

  4. #4
    Banned

    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    soda springs Id.
    Posts
    28,088
    paraffin will stiffen it up.
    but the paraffin will start flowing as soon as it sees any pressure.
    it also has a tendency to not sop up so much oil [except mineral oils and ATF definitely is not mineral oil based]
    it also adds a crumbly texture to the lube if it isn't plasticized.

    if that's what you have on hand give it a go just don't get too carried away with it.
    if you add it and the lube starts feeling a bit on the grabby side and kind of dry, a little Vaseline will bring it back around again.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master Toymaker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Winterville, Georgia
    Posts
    576
    Add a little stearin. You can find it in a hobby or art & crafts store that sells candle making supplies. Melt the wax and stir it in. A little goes a long way. Do a little at a time. After you've stirred it in, dip a bullet into the melt. It'll cool faster on the bullet than in the pot. That way you can check how well it's sticking to the bullet and how well it feels for stiffness. Like runfiverun says, if you get over zealous a little Vaseline will soften it back up.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    1,199
    I firm up Lyman Super Moly lube by adding Beeswax & Anhydrous Lanolin. Might give Carnuaba wax a try.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master

    sutherpride59's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Houston Texas
    Posts
    525
    I added a teaspoon of ground up dollar store paraffin candle and 1/2 teaspoon of ivory soap. I had both on hand. It formed the lube up a good bit but doesn't feel like too much. I lubed 50 boolits up with the small amount I mixed up and I'm going to shoot them and see before I buy more supplies. If not I'll try the stearin.

  8. #8
    Banned

    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    soda springs Id.
    Posts
    28,088
    ivory is sodium stearate.
    stearates [lithium, aluminum, calcium] are what is used to make grease.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master

    sutherpride59's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Houston Texas
    Posts
    525
    Stearin and stearate are two different things apparently.... ok so adding ivory soap helps to soften the mixture , harden it, or help mix the ingredients better?

  10. #10
    Banned

    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    soda springs Id.
    Posts
    28,088
    stirring it in just adds another lube ingredient, it doesn't help sop any of the oils.
    stearates need heat to actually break down and gel up the oils into a grease.
    unfortunately the temperature needed [350-450f] is far above the scorch temp of beeswax [most all waxes actually] and is close to it's auto ignition temperature.

    that's why when we make a soap lube there are steps to follow and temperatures to observe.
    stearine is stearic acid and can do the same thing as ivory soap but it does it in a slightly different way.

    on a side note:
    I have been running a test with my 9mm's doing basically what your doing here.
    I made 3 different batches of the same lube
    1. super soft and wet.
    2. same thing with more wax.
    3 same again but with even more wax.
    there is also a 1-a, A 2-a, and a 3-a, which all have a wax step in between 1-2&3.
    3-a is almost dry with poor feathering ability and a low oil content.
    I have been shooting them on paper since late summer 2015 working through the different mixes.
    the too wet ones [1] shot fairly well since I worked the load to them.
    1-a shot better and 2 shot even better 2-a seems about right.
    3 and 3-a I haven't got to yet and might not even make it that far but I can just mix 3/3-a and 1/1-a together to get somewhere between 2 and 2-a.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master


    randyrat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    North West Wisconsin
    Posts
    2,651
    I do have some pure Stearic acid on hand if you need/try it. It has worked to stiffen lube up and is easier to melt and mix/blend than soaps

  12. #12
    Boolit Master
    Elkins45's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Northern KY
    Posts
    2,414
    There seems to be a continuum with ease of handling on one side and performance in the gun on the other. Super hard lubes like the commercial crayon lubes handle great, but they are not good performers. Super gloppy lubes generally perform well but you can't store bullets in bulk. One of the major appeals of slack wax (like toilet bowl rings) is that it adds good clinginess to a lube without ruining performance.

    has anyone ever tried printer's layout wax? I wonder if they even sell it anymore? In the days before pages were output directly to a typesetter, copy was "pasted up" onto a layout sheet. Every newspaper in the country had a machine called a waxer that heated up sticky wax and applied it via rollers to the back of printed articles. You stuck the articles to the layout sheet and rolled them down with a brayer. It was tough stuff, but you could reposition an article if you needed to. I'll bet that stuff would be a great lube base.
    NRA Endowment Member

    Armed people don't march into gas chambers.

  13. #13
    Boolit Grand Master
    Shiloh's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Upper Midwest
    Posts
    6,763
    I have to go with the carnauba or stearin approach to get your lube more stiff. I got my carnauba wax flakes on E-Bay. Stearic acid is available on E-bay as well.

    Shiloh
    Je suis Charlie

    "A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves."
    Bertrand de Jouvenel

    “Any government that does not trust its citizens with firearms is either a tyranny, or planning to become one.” – Joseph P. Martino

    “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert , in five years there would be a shortage of sand.” – Milton Friedman

    "Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns; why should we let them have ideas?" - J. Stalin

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Western PA
    Posts
    1,286
    Talking about lube, blue commercial lube any good what be a fair price. Can these lube be mixed, to thicken thin, or just switching in sizer/luber ??

  15. #15
    Boolit Master

    sutherpride59's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Houston Texas
    Posts
    525
    Got some beeswax and I added about 20% beeswax by volume to this lube. lets lube some boolits and see how that goes.

  16. #16
    Boolit Master


    randyrat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    North West Wisconsin
    Posts
    2,651
    Shiloh, Ebay for Carnauba flakes, that's Devil talk! I sell Carnauba at a reasonable price at any amounts...Example 1/4 lb = $4 sipped for about $2-3

  17. #17
    Banned

    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    soda springs Id.
    Posts
    28,088
    Teddie I totally missed your post until now.
    there are a few different commercial lubes that are Blue.

    1 is the magma lube tinted blue it's the same as their green, red, and clear [actually a yellowish color from the carnuba]
    it is micro-wax, carnuba and the candle coloring [mentioned above] of your choice when you order it.

    2 is the new carnuba [red] in blue, it is a bit softer than the red.
    it is made up of 7 different waxes [carnuba being one of them] with a modifier to soften it up.

    3 is Veral's blue and comes in soft and hard.
    the soft is basically the hard modified similar to how the carnuba blue is.
    it is a bees wax and grease type lube.
    the grease is what gives it it's blue color.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check