Has anyone tried PTFE (TEFLON) powder as an additive in their lubes.

[EDG]

I have 2 cannisters of TEflon powder samples and was wondering if anyone has ever added such to their bullets lubes. While not cheap at a 10% to 20% mixing ratio the price would not be too bad.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Pretty toxic when heated over 600F or so from what I hear.

[EDG]

So are many other chemicals including tobacco.
I am aware of that from machining the stuff.
I prefer to know what it actually does when used in a lube.

Pretty toxic when heated over 600F or so from what I hear.

[country gent]

We had a material that was used to rebuild slides and ways called turcite that had several things in a strip or sheet. You machined the ways down .050 and glued this to them with a special epoxy glue called sham bam waylock. it had a .010 grit in it to maintain bond thickness. When cured the turcite was hand scraped to size and fit. some of the materials in this sheet were copper lead Teflon and other particles. It brought back a press crosshead or machine member to new. The press crossheads normally ran around 150*-200* but at times ( oil system problems or wear) they could get as hot as 300* when the failed it wasn't the turcite that let go but the epoxy bond broke down do to heat. The oil injected not only lubricated but carried a lot of heat out with it.

There was a barrel treatment available for awhile that had Teflon in it ( I think it was under the S&W label) a white liquid you worked into barrel with a jag and clean patch, rubbing it into the barrel. For short sessions it did good at reducing fouling but it was slowly removed from the bore with use.

Slick 50 oil additive comes to mind as it also uses ptfe Teflon to reduce engines wear. Supposedly a treatment is good for 40000-50000 miles.

I would recommend trying it in a small amount added to bullet lube and see what happens. Maintain notes and records as to pressures accuracy fouling ( how heavy how hard to clean ) You will need to get the base line before the Teflon lube so residue dosnt skew results. Get the baseline with the firearm and normal lube of a period of time. Ideally add the Teflon to the same lube so that its the only change and start with it

[EDG]

I expect to start with a known good lube. My first task will be to determine if there are any corrosion potential.
Since I have been cooking with teflon covered non-stick pans for about 40 years I don't expect any problems.
I think one of the teflon bore treatments back in the 1970s was sold under the name Rice's.

[buckshotshoey]

From wikipedia...
"Powdered PTFE is used in pyrotechnic compositions as an oxidizer with powdered metals such as aluminium and magnesium. Upon ignition, these mixtures form carbonaceous soot and the corresponding metal fluoride, and release large amounts of heat. They are used in infrared decoy flares and as igniters for solid-fuel rocket propellants.[46] Aluminium and PTFE is also used in some thermobaric fuel compositions."

But then it says...

"Certain types of bullets are coated with PTFE to reduce wear on the rifling of firearms that uncoated projectiles would cause. PTFE itself does not give a projectile an armor-piercing property."


I would contact reloading sources such as RCBS, Hodgedon, Speer, and others before using.

There is probably no reason not to use it. But ask some experts first. RCBS and the others are always happy to help.

[EDG]

I just need to know if anyone has used it before and their results. I can research the rest of it.
I once worked for an aerospace company that manufactured the flare and chaff countermeasure cartridges for nearly all US and many foreign combat aircraft. Our powdered aluminum was coated with neoprene to produce the heat that decoyed heat seeking missiles.

From wikipedia...
"Powdered PTFE is used in pyrotechnic compositions as an oxidizer with powdered metals such as aluminium and magnesium. Upon ignition, these mixtures form carbonaceous soot and the corresponding metal fluoride, and release large amounts of heat. They are used in infrared decoy flares and as igniters for solid-fuel rocket propellants.[46] Aluminium and PTFE is also used in some thermobaric fuel compositions."

But then it says...

"Certain types of bullets are coated with PTFE to reduce wear on the rifling of firearms that uncoated projectiles would cause. PTFE itself does not give a projectile an armor-piercing property."


I would contact reloading sources such as RCBS, Hodgedon, Speer, and others before using.

There is probably no reason not to use it. But ask some experts first. RCBS and the others are always happy to help.

[Wayne Smith]

I thing I would be more concerned about buildup - does it stick to it's self?

[kokomokid]

The NRA test team lubed their paper patch cast bullets with spray teflon some some years ago and got good accuracy. Test were past 3000fps with 300WM and almost 3000 with 30-06.

[samari46]

Country Gent, thanks for jogging the few remaining memory cells I have left. Was trying to remember the turcite name as I got into a discussion with a friend who was complaining about the sloppy tolerances on his lathe. Rather old lathe as I recall and couldn't remember the name. I had told him that there was a product on the market that one could use to basically rebuild the slides and other parts of the lathe. I know it is an involved process. One of the Home Shop Machinest or Projects in metal had an ongoing project where the owner was practicaly rebuilding up the crappy tolerances in his lathe. He basically disassembled the lathe do whatever prep needs to be done ,the application of the epoxy and then the turcite.since each issue only came out every other month was almost like checking a shortimers calender till the new one showed up. I forget what the surface prep had to be done prior to the epoxy and then adding the turcite. Thanks for the article. Frank

[Newboy]

Does anyone have the BATFE regulation for putting Teflon on bullets?



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[EDG]

There is no such Federal regulation.

Does anyone have the BATFE regulation for putting Teflon on bullets?



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[stubshaft]

I've never used PTFE in my lube as it would only be held in a suspension and not adhere to the boolit. I have used HBN (Hexagonal Boron Nitride) on J-words and tried it in a modified FWFL. It worked very well but it is expensive.

[mdi]

I'm sure if you searched enough, you would find some who have tried it. I remember, vaguely, the discussion here a few years ago as it seems to pop up every once in a while. It obviously does not get used much or we would have heard of it waaay before now...