Boolit LOObe

[jimkim]

I made some homemade bullet lube today. I used beeswax(12oz) paraffin(12oz), White lithium grease(4oz), Ed's Red(2 T), a jumbo red crayon and the carnuba wax from three pieces of baby bel cheese. I added the carnuba because it wasn't hard enough to begin with, and I needed an excuse for eating my daughters cheese. I couldn't find the ingredients I wanted to use, so I threw this together from memory. Do any of you use similar lube? Do you see any problems with this recipe?

I cant find Anhydrous lanolin here in Eastman so the Ed's Red was made without it. I also let the acetone evaporate overnight before I added it. Thanks, Jim

[jonk]

Hmm. Never thought of adding Ed's Red to the mix. I'd think that the volatiles in it, especially any remaining acetone, the odorless mineral spirits, and perhaps some of the Kero would slowly evaporate out of the mix.

I don't see the Carnuba doing much stiffening but it will leave a shiny bore. More wax of any kind, including beeswax or parrafin, will stiffen though.

The grease is what is going to be doing your lubing. The rest is just carrier/stiffener.

My gut tells me it should do fine at handgun velocity but don't know what it will do at rifle speeds; I DO know that petroleum base products such as parrafin leave a nasty brownish gunk in my bore at higher velocity. It melts out with a soaking with bore solvents but just something to be aware of.

[sundog]

Jim, anhydrous lanolin can be had off the internet. First place that comes to mind is The Sage, or Mountain Sage in Utah. Nice folks to order from.

[1Shirt]

Jimkim, You have more energy than I do in making this mix. I go with LAR's as nothing is as cheap, or works as well (at least for me).
1Shirt!

[blackthorn]

For anhydrous lanolin ask your local drugist to order you some.

[44man]

The drug store is way too expensive for lanolin. My last pound cost me $8. Majestic Mountain Sage or From Nature With Love. You should not pay over $12 for a full pound.

[jimkim]

Thanks. How bad are the shipping charges? We don't have a regular drug store anymore. We have a Walmart, a CVS and the prescription shop. I asked the pharmacists to order some. It went over like a lead balloon. Believe it or not I cant find Johnson's Paste wax anywhere in town either. The people at the stores were even shocked they didn't stock it. Is there a key that I can look at to see what the abbreviations stand for on here? LAR's? I know COW and LLE but that is about it.

[44man]

Look right at the bottom here. You will see Lar45's LsStuff. Best lube at the best prices in the world. And one great guy, Glen is one of us. Just go to his site and look. Same with the ones for lanolin, they will show shipping.
Once you buy from Glen you will not bother with anything else anyway.

[uncle joe]

I cant find Anhydrous lanolin here in Eastman so the Ed's Red was made without it. I also let the acetone evaporate overnight before I added it. Thanks, Jim

I found mine on evilbay from a place in Arkansas. 7.95 for a pound plus shipping
JE

[USARO4]

I wonder about the crayon? Is chalk one of the crayon's ingredients? If so is it abrasive?

[Marlin Junky]

Carnauba is the best hardener I've found and it also provides flexibility when mixed in the proper proportions with oil and beeswax. Beeswax and Paraffin (at least the kind of Paraffin that candles are made of) are crumbly and using these waxes for hardening will only produce mediocre lubes. The problem with Carnauba is that people aren't using pure Carnauba... your cheese wrapper included. Also, about 10% pure Carnauba will significantly raise the melting point of your lube, hardening with Beeswax and common Paraffin will not.

When making lube, blend your oils and beeswax together until your lube is somewhat softer than you want the finished product to be. Anhydrous Lanoiln is OK as a lube component but I don't use it anymore because its hardness varies too much over a narrow temperature range. Add 5% pure Carnauba and test the lube's hardness at room temp. After which, each time you add Carnauba, add in 1/4 ounce increments up to about 10%. Test at room temp after each addition of Carnauba so you'll understand what it does to the lube's property. When you test the lube before shooting it, see how it handles. Pour about a half inch of it into a teflon cake pan and let it come to room temp slowly. Then take it out and see how it feels and bends. About 5-10% is about right but I like to add as much as possible so the lube melts at about 150-155F... 'cause I live in the dessert. The amount of oil and beeswax is up to you, but a good place to start is the old NRA formula of 50/50 Alox 2138F and Beeswax. Just adding 10% pure Carnauba to that stuff makes a pretty darn good rifle lube.

MJ

[jimkim]

It is going to be used at a maximum velocity of 1300fps. The reason I mixed it up is because I needed something to lube some 429421's.
I took two different recipes and combined them. One was the equal parts beeswax, paraffin and lithium grease. The other was the equal parts beeswax, paraffin and Hoppes 9 recipe. I didn't have any Hoppes so I used Ed's Red after I let it evaporate over night. I didn't have enough lithium grease so I mixed the two. I read an article that suggested using carnuba wax from cheese so I went with it. I wish I had enough 50/50 beeswax/ alox to lube these bullets but I didn't. An ounce wouldn't have lasted long. Thanks again for all the info.

[targetshootr]

Would it smell like Hoppes? That would be enough of a reason for me to make some of that.

[jimkim]

Hahahaha! You sound like me. A mans house should smell like a mix of Hoppes 9 and Carter Hall pipe tobacco. That is what my cousin Don's house always smelled like. Grandmas house was lye soap, Lysol and moth balls. Man do I ever miss them.