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Thread: Hot weather lube?

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy Lead Freak's Avatar
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    Hot weather lube?

    Has anyone come up with a good formula for a hot weather lube that will hold up to higher temps? I live in Florida and have had issues with melting lube at the range.

  2. #2
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  3. #3
    Boolit Master

    Rcmaveric's Avatar
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    I too live in Florida. I second the SL-68B. I just started using it. Bens Red will hold up pretty good also until starts geting over 80*. It wont lead, but it will throw some flyers. Not so bad in the 6.5mm to .270 cal i shoot. You will just think you pulled the shot. In the 30 cals you will get the distinctive lube purge pattern.

    Two coats of 45/45/10 might also do the trick. One coat worked in the 380 but failed my 357. I dont have any unlubed 9mm to tumble (good a reason as any to fire up the pot) to test. Two coats worked yesterday at 99 degrees in my 30-30 and Grendel plinking loads.

    There is also an SL-71 that i havent had a chance to cook up. Still slowely implementing the SL-68B into all my bullets.

    It was so hot sunday it made my Simple Lubed bullets fail. I could also add some Charnoba wax and parafin to it to make it stand the heat better. But for us southern swamp hunters i think the soap lubes will be best. It wont get cold enough to cause problems but it has to be able to good enough in the heat to develope a load that still works come hunting season.

    Sent from my SM-G925T using Tapatalk
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  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    What is - “the distinctive lube purge pattern“.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master


    nagantguy's Avatar
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    Powder Coat,’cold hot or
    Humid it matters not.

  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master
    bangerjim's Avatar
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    Yes.......powder coating.......hot, cold.......no difference.

    No leading & no grease shooting smoke.

    Only way to go, especially in hot sticky FL!

    Even works in “surface of the sun” Arizona.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master

    Rcmaveric's Avatar
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    I have tried powder coating. Works in some guns and not others. It has its own peculiarities and its not without its own effort and hard work. I find it easier and quicker to tumble lube or traditionally lube bullets. SL-68B is pretty easy to make and will serve you well.

    A lube purge group: You will get a few shots that group nicely and normal. Then the next shot will go 4 inches out side the group. It will do it consistently. So if it does it every 4th shot. and you take 16 shots. Then you will have two nice and normal groups that are 4 inches out. One with 4 shots (mine were 4 inches high and an inch left) and the 12 shots at your normal POA. My 30-30 is notorious for it and the reason why i started following the lube quests.
    "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."
    ~Theodore Roosevelt~

  8. #8
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rcmaveric View Post
    I have tried powder coating. Works in some guns and not others. It has its own peculiarities and its not without its own effort and hard work. I find it easier and quicker to tumble lube or traditionally lube bullets. SL-68B is pretty easy to make and will serve you well.

    A lube purge group: You will get a few shots that group nicely and normal. Then the next shot will go 4 inches out side the group. It will do it consistently. So if it does it every 4th shot. and you take 16 shots. Then you will have two nice and normal groups that are 4 inches out. One with 4 shots (mine were 4 inches high and an inch left) and the 12 shots at your normal POA. My 30-30 is notorious for it and the reason why i started following the lube quests.
    Not sure what guns you are using, but I have 10 different cals for dozens of different long and short guns/revolvers/semi’s and PC works perfectly in ALL of them. Never found a gun that did not like PC.

    I DID find several of them that hated old greasy lubes. And I hated them for the shooting smoke and leading that occurred with the greasy lube melted off or thinned out in hot weather.

    Use whatever works for your needs. PC fills all my needs 100%.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master 35 shooter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rcmaveric View Post
    I too live in Florida. I second the SL-68B. I just started using it. Bens Red will hold up pretty good also until starts geting over 80*. It wont lead, but it will throw some flyers. Not so bad in the 6.5mm to .270 cal i shoot. You will just think you pulled the shot. In the 30 cals you will get the distinctive lube purge pattern.

    Two coats of 45/45/10 might also do the trick. One coat worked in the 380 but failed my 357. I dont have any unlubed 9mm to tumble (good a reason as any to fire up the pot) to test. Two coats worked yesterday at 99 degrees in my 30-30 and Grendel plinking loads.

    There is also an SL-71 that i havent had a chance to cook up. Still slowely implementing the SL-68B into all my bullets.

    It was so hot sunday it made my Simple Lubed bullets fail. I could also add some Charnoba wax and parafin to it to make it stand the heat better. But for us southern swamp hunters i think the soap lubes will be best. It wont get cold enough to cause problems but it has to be able to good enough in the heat to develope a load that still works come hunting season.

    Sent from my SM-G925T using Tapatalk
    Not to doubt your results with Ben's Red, but that's the first I've heard of heat problems with it.
    I've used it for years with zero problems in heat or cold.

    I've shot it in 95 to 100 degree temps with the heat index at 105 to 112 degrees with the same tight groups as usual and have never seen it purge. I know of one person that has used it down to about -20 degrees with no problem on that end either.

    Again, not doubting your results, but since I've had just the opposite results with it, I felt I should post those results just as I have in the past.
    The extreme temp range and total lack of purge shots is why I've stuck Ben's Red and also BLL for years now.
    Hope the SL series lubes work out great for you!!

  10. #10
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Randy’s Tac X holds up to inside vehicle temps in 100/100 GA.

  11. #11
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    I don't know of too many places that are hotter than it is during our Louisiana Summers. I use Carnuba Flakes added to my standard homemade lube. It works wonders and helps keep my gun barrels much cleaner. Later David
    Shooter of the "HOLY BLACK" SASS 81802 AKA FAIRSHAKE; NRA ; BOLD; WARTHOG;Deadwood Marshal;Bayou Bounty Hunter; So That his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat; 44 WCF filled to the top, 210 gr. bullet

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy
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    I'm in the Pensacola area and use White Labels BAC lube (Carnuba Red & 50/50). It requires a heater to apply. My boolits sit out in my metal roofed shop that gets pretty warm in the summer and I've never had them melt although on a really hot day they can feel sticky. At about 90° in the shop they lube sticks can be molded by hand if you wanted to do so. I have used it on 45-70 and all the way down to 45acp.
    http://www.lsstuff.com/store/index.p...products_id=27

  13. #13
    Boolit Grand Master



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    Carnauba Red melts at 135 degrees. I have used it for years in rifles, and handguns, with out issue, even leaving ammo in a hot car. I don't live in Florida, but have seen triple digit temps here in SOUTHERN Ohio.

    I can definitely suggest you try it. I believe it will do what's needed, even Florida.

    Dale53

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
    Tom W.'s Avatar
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    For my handgun bullets carnauba red is all I use. I'll even apply it with my fingers for my .30 cal bullets and run them through the Lee sizer. I also use straight JPW, two coats, one before and one after sizing the .30 cal bullets. Depends on my mood and how hot it is in the shed. However, when the JPW dries it doesn't melt..
    Tom
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    Did I ever mention that I hate to trim brass?

  15. #15
    Boolit Mold
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    I didn't know that stuff is safe to apply with fingers. I guess I'm even a bigger newbie than I thought I was. Cheers for the info, Tom.
    I was blown away by Man Enhanced and the quality of content there.

  16. #16
    Boolit Grand Master


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    Well, I live in the Mojave Desert on the western edge of Arizona. Temps from June through August run from 100 to 125+ degrees in the shade.......

    I use BAC on most all my handgun bullets and 2500+ or Javelina on all my rifle bullets. I've not had a problem with "lube purge" as I expect the lube to "purge" evenly off the bullets on muzzle exit. I prove long ago in my high RPM/velocity testing in a cooler climate up north that if the lube does not "purge" evenly at the same time the result is an unbalanced bullet which equates to a less accurate bullet.

    My reload (man cave) is AC'd so lubing/loading is not a problem. Years before, when the temperature was hot, when the lube got "gooey", I simply put the bullets in a freezer for 30 minutes prior to loading. That solved the "gooey" problem during loading.
    Larry Gibson

    “Deficient observation is merely a form of ignorance and responsible for the many morbid notions and foolish ideas prevailing.”
    ― Nikola Tesla

  17. #17
    Boolit Master

    pworley1's Avatar
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    +1 for Carnauba Red
    NRA Benefactor Member NRA Golden Eagle

  18. #18
    Boolit Master

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    I am in central IL, we see upper 90's and sometimes low 100's with a ton of humidity. I load in a room in a machine shed with no a/c and get a feel for the lubes when working with they in the summer. I floated around between lubes for many years and I have finally settled on 2500+ for everything. I have not had problems with it running in the truck during the summer and still have to apply some heat to the star and lyman to really make it flow well. I have not had a lead issue in anything since I started using it. Oddly enough, in the low 90's it is tacky but it never seems to go past tacky.

  19. #19
    Boolit Master OldBearHair's Avatar
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    Mentioned in Coatings post where I cast nearly two hundred .358 TC boolits and Hi-Tek coated three coats from 6 pm to 9 pm. Have read several times that it seems to take too long for pc ing boolits. Took me longer to cast with a two-holer mold than to do the Hi-Tek Old Gold. They withstand up to 400 degrees fahrenheit in my convection oven. I used to lube and have probably four or five pounds of home made on hand. It gets used only for cooling drills and machining tools now. No intended offense guys. Good shooting.
    Last edited by OldBearHair; 08-23-2018 at 10:37 AM. Reason: additional statement

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
    marlin39a's Avatar
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    I've never had problem with lube melt in the 18 yrs of living in Arizona. I use Carnauba Red and recently Carnauba Blue. Have used 2500+ with no problems. I have plenty of 100+ days here in Yavapai County.

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