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Thread: SPG recipe

  1. #21
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Larry Gibson View Post
    I use 6 parts beeswax to 5 parts virgin olive oil for my PB lube and for velocities under 1600 fps with some smokeless loads. Works every bit as good as SPG. I blend it in a Pyrex measuring cup in a small sauce pan with water in it as a double boiler on the kitchen stove. I then leave it in the Pyrex and put that in a gallon zip lock for storage. To use It can easily be remelted and poured into the 450 lubrasizer or a small amount scraped out with a tongue depressor for hand lubing bullets. Precut patches for a muzzle loader are easily lubed by putting them in a small sandwich ziplock with glob of the lube and microwave them until the lube is melted and soaked up. Easy to figure how much lube to use by just adding more if necessary. A few lbs of beeswax and a bottle of virgin olive oil go a long way.

    Works for me.

    Larry Gibson
    Larry, I do about the same, just use Canola oil...has about the same consistency as SPG, and works on everything I shoot, smokeless, black, pistol and rifle. If it needs stiffening up, just add more wax.


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  2. #22
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    Next time I make up a batch of Emmerts I’m going to replace the EVOO with Jojoba oil.
    The colour of my batch of Emmerts looks very similar to the bees wax that was used.
    I was expecting the colour to look whiter, like my example sticks of SPG.
    It hasn’t affected the performance of the lube.

  3. #23
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    The ingredients and percentages of bullet lube mixtures isn't exactly critical as proven by the large number of totally different mixtures satisfied reloaders use.

    I won't use any animal oil/fat in any way because it does become rancid over time and I don't want that in my ammo.

    I also don't want a petroleum product in my lube, including paraffin, because the residue of squished dynasoars have been proven to degrade accuracy. I don't know why that is and I don't care why; I just trust the findings of the old NRA team that tested a wide range of home brew lubes back in the mid 60s. They developed the simple mix of (approximately) equal parts of beeswax/Alox which, IMHO, remains the all around best bullet lube ever concocted.

  4. #24
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I normally use canola oil in my emmerts but have used olive oil. I make the improved version with anhydrous lanolin. I have also though about JoJoBa oil in place of the canola. I do lightly wipe PP with JoJoBa oil.

    Colors of materials may vary do to what is around bees using different flowers for honey will affect the color, crops have slight changes in shades from soil they are grown in. My emmerts improved is normally a light tan color. A crayon can be used to color if you want

  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by 1hole View Post

    I also don't want a petroleum product in my lube, including paraffin, because the residue of squished dynasoars have been proven to degrade accuracy. I don't know why that is and I don't care why; I just trust the findings of the old NRA team that tested a wide range of home brew lubes back in the mid 60s. They developed the simple mix of (approximately) equal parts of beeswax/Alox which, IMHO, remains the all around best bullet lube ever concocted.
    You do realize that Alox is a petroleum product ?

  6. #26
    Boolit Master quail4jake's Avatar
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    I needed a stiffer version of SPG for expanding balls lubed in my Star sizer. I landed at 80% Beeswax, 10% Jojoba oil, 10% lanolin and it works well. For lubing blackpowder cartridge boolits I up the Jojoba oil to 30% and take the beeswax down to 60%. PRB lube is 75% Jojoba oil and 25% beeswax, really works well. I really like Jojoba oil and it is the only natural oil that can be used to replace sperm oil which was used by Sharps rifle co. with beeswax to make their lube back in the day...FWIW.

  7. #27
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    For BP I make my own.
    9 parts beeswax
    6 parts soft paraffin, not the hard canning type from Safeway
    3 parts synthetic 2-stroke oil
    I was trying to replicate NASA lube from The Bullshop, as it worked great, and this was as close as I could get. Stays in the lube groove but doesn't stick to your hands or dies. All my BP guns clean up with one pass of a boresnake. And I can shoot 2 CAS matches without any carbon build-up.

  8. #28
    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance
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    I won't use any animal oil/fat in any way because it does become rancid over time and I don't want that in my ammo.
    I also don't want a petroleum product in my lube, including paraffin, because the residue of squished dynasoars have been proven to degrade accuracy.
    1hole, your post is a false opinion not based on analytical facts of mutton tallow or paraffin! And your post is Dead Wrong!
    I use only a lube based on the 1942 NRA Rifleman article from an 1800 formula that is mutton tallow-paraffin and bees wax. Have been using it for over 10 years, the same today as the 1st day I made it including lubed bullets made of it in 2012 and several unused open cans. They are today the same as the day I made them and use these bullets for smokeless and black powder reloads with the lube fully consumed in the bore with no lube starvation or leading that are shot out to 1000 yds with accuracy and with groups that are MOA at 500m. Example, fifty BP 38-55 reloads using the tallow-paraffin and bees wax lube, shot consecutively with no patching or blow tubing from 500 to 200m, with minor sight adjustments with the steel targets going down... then the bore foul cleaned with 4 water cotton balls and the 4th cotton ball was almost white
    Regards
    John

  9. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maven View Post
    It's a trade secret, but it smells and feels like white Crisco to me. If you have a cheese grater, you may want to shave ~1/2 cup of beeswax and add it 1 tablespoon at a time to 1 cup of melted, white Crisco/Crisco substitute until you get the proper consistency. Pour it into a pre-heated or at least warm lube-sizer when finished. Two cautions: (1) Don't overheat the mixture* and (2) don't use your wife's cheese grater as the beeswax will mess it up but good. Hope this helps!


    *Using a simple double boiler will prevent overheating eliminate the danger of the blend catching fire.
    And use salt free Crisco
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  10. #30
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    I used some SPG early in my black powder cartridge shooting/loading. I am confident that SPG is not simply beeswax and crisco. Not saying that mix won't work.
    I am also fairly sure SPG does not contain paraffin as SPG was developed for use with BP and BP shooters tend to avoid petroleum products like the plague. Steve Garbe developed his lube when competing in BPCRS matches, which place rigorous demands on a bullet lube.
    Casual shooting with black powder does not demand much demand on bullet lube. In fact almost anything will work. Match shooting in all kinds of weather is a different animal. Lube must
    have the lubricity to prevent leading but also keep BP fouling soft, ideally whether the barrel is cold or hot. With all that, use of a blow tube to moisten fouling via one's breath. Some shooters wipe the bore between shots. Of necessity for match shooting is to maintain consistent consistent accuracy throughout a match. Many lubes fail that test. For a casual day at the range pure crisco might work but if many shots are fired I betting cussing will result.

  11. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by Springfield View Post
    For BP I make my own.
    9 parts beeswax
    6 parts soft paraffin, not the hard canning type from Safeway
    3 parts synthetic 2-stroke oil
    I was trying to replicate NASA lube from The Bullshop, as it worked great, and this was as close as I could get. Stays in the lube groove but doesn't stick to your hands or dies. All my BP guns clean up with one pass of a boresnake. And I can shoot 2 CAS matches without any carbon build-up.
    You can simplify your formula for the ratio of ingredients to 1,2,3.
    1 part synthetic 2-stroke oil, 2 parts soft paraffin, 3 parts beeswax.
    Easier to remember.

    Question, soft paraffin? A Google search tells me soft paraffin is white petroleum jelly, also known by the trade name of Vaseline. Are you putting vaseline in your black powder bullet lube?

  12. #32
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    Greenjoytj: I prefer a 3,2,1 ratio As for the paraffin, I researched it a little, and found there are many variations. So looking at the melting points, stickiness, ease of mixing and shrinkage characteristics, and after trying out a few different versions, I found that the IGI-4630A wax works well for me. I shoot mostly Blackpowder so a different wax might work better for you.

  13. #33
    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance
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    Gentlemen, education time ....
    * Paraffin started out a crude oil and is refined to be an alkane with a chain of 20 to 40 hydrocarbon molecules
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraffin_wax

    Joboba Oil, an excellent lube ingredient also has a long chain of hydrocarbon molecules
    What one wants in a lube also is stearic and oleic acids .... and they come using mutton tallow
    Add ... esters of fatty acids and various long-chain alcohols in bees wax
    Now you have one of the best smokeless and black powder lubes there is with a high melting temperature
    Last edited by John Boy; 01-11-2021 at 06:31 PM.
    Regards
    John

  14. #34
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    Maybe I should have taken high school chemistry.....
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  15. #35
    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance
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    Sharps, don't need to have taken chemistry in school. Just hang around the BPC Community shooters who learned that a good lube was needed for black powder reloads. Have to remember that in the 1800's, black powder was it before smokeless powders that folks of today are primarily shooters of and are trying every modern compound on the market in search of the Holy Grail bullet lube
    And FYI, the mutton tallow-paraffin-bees wax lube IMO is the clone of Steve Garbe & Mike Venturino's SPG invention, good for smokeless & black powder reloads, which he is selling for big $$$. And it doesn't go bad with age ... have a 2009 open can is as good as the day I made it
    Regards
    John

  16. #36
    Boolit Master Castaway's Avatar
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    Not only is the lube described by John Boy, an old formula with roots back in the days of heeled bullets by Winchester, published by the NRA in the 40’s and brought back to life by Gato Feo a great bullet lube, but also doubles as an alternative to Sno-Seal on leather items

  17. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by Springfield View Post
    Greenjoytj: I prefer a 3,2,1 ratio As for the paraffin, I researched it a little, and found there are many variations. So looking at the melting points, stickiness, ease of mixing and shrinkage characteristics, and after trying out a few different versions, I found that the IGI-4630A wax works well for me. I shoot mostly Blackpowder so a different wax might work better for you.
    IGI-4630A wax looks interesting with its ability to hold 10% fragrance for making scented candles
    I suspect that in candle making the the fragrance additive is a scented oil. So substituting a good oil like the 2 cycle oil looks like its the start of a good BP lube.

  18. #38
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by 1hole View Post
    I just trust the findings of the old NRA team that tested a wide range of home brew lubes back in the mid 60s.
    They developed the simple mix of (approximately) equal parts of beeswax/Alox which, IMHO, remains the all around best bullet lube ever concocted.
    That 1960 era Alox hasn’t been made for years, so the current Alox is not exactly same stuff.
    The current Alox is no longer available either it’s discontinued by the Lubrizol company that made it.
    I suspect the industry’s need for the product is gone or cheaper and or better product has supplanted the need for Alox.

  19. #39
    Boolit Buddy Desertbuck's Avatar
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    The best black powder recipe I messed around with to replace expensive SPG lube. And I have stuck with since I was a teenager. It is a modification of Paul Matthews lube
    50% beeswax
    25% Crisco plain
    12.5% neatsfoot oil
    12.5% Murphy's oil soap
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  20. #40
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    No disrespect intended but "best" is a relative term depending greatly on how lube is used. For casual BP cartridge shooting most anything will work. For BPCR competition where match accuracy is required over long strings of fire, especially in hot dry conditions things are very different. The commonly used olive oil gives way to oils which stand up to much more heat, like peanut oil for example. Some have used jojoba and Ester oils. If it can still be found online, a guy named Dan Theodore did extensive test with many ingredients which he posted online under the label Lube Torture Tests. Well worth reading if one can find it.
    This I know, unless some secret has been recently lubes used by shooters capable of competing at the national level have avoided petroleum products like the plague.

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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
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LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check