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Thread: So, you want to make your own boolit lube . . .

  1. #21

  2. #22
    Boolit Master Glen's Avatar
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    Excellent work Rick! That is a really useful resource you've put together there. One of these days I want to explore various formulations of moly grease with lard as a bullet lube....
    Glen

  3. #23
    Boolit Buddy jabo52521's Avatar
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    Anyone tried just plain wax candles for lube?

  4. #24
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    actually you'd want a lard oil or a salt free lard.
    jabo pparrafin needs to be plasticized for the flexibility, and so it will go wet and do it's job.

    heres a couple of recipes y'all might be able to try [if you can find the ingredients]

    white lithium grease [lubriplate # 105] 5 oz's by weight.
    1 oz poly alphetic oil by measure
    aluminum stearate powder 108 grs by weight
    cab-o-sil [bentone thickener] 24 grains by weight.
    1 oz soy wax softened.
    mix these all together and let rest for 24 hrs.
    melt 4 oz b-wax [weight]
    mix [blender] all together, then re-heat till the wax melts and blend till cool
    add 3 oz neatsfoot oil at this heating mix.
    this is a soft lube and needs no heat to flow through a lubesizer at 65*
    but stays in the lube grooves well and keeps the first shot close to the group with no lube purge flyers in long strings.
    i have fired over 100 rounds in one day [5-20 shot strings on one target]


    or try
    4 oz b-wax
    4 oz soy wax
    2 oz magma lube micro-wax
    1 oz moly valve lube stick
    1 oz xlox [left thick for the calcium stearate]
    1 oz dexron atf
    1 big tbs lanolin
    4 oz white lithium grease.
    melt the waxes and add everything but the moly stick
    blend till cooling then add the lanolin.
    re-heat till the consistency of peanut butter and add the moly stick.
    blend till thickened and cooled.
    this is a titch softer than lymans moly,and does well from 20 up through 90.
    does need a first shot recondition through the bbl after it's been sitting for a while. [week or more]

  5. #25
    Boolit Bub delt167502's Avatar
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    Jabo i use candle wax ( 2#) and lee tumble lube 4 oz. then if it needs thining ,I just use petroleum jelly. (you can't get much simpler than that.

  6. #26
    Boolit Bub hogstad7's Avatar
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    Deleted.
    Last edited by hogstad7; 01-04-2013 at 07:30 PM.

  7. #27
    Boolit Bub
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    Due to the difficulty to find factory reloading components, where I live, I have been experimenting with ingredents that can be found even in grocery stores. Plain wax candles don't stick well to bullet grooves and once solidified they become kind of brittle. But You can use them satisfactorily if you add vaseline. I'm not sure now of the proportion candlewax/vaseline. It is plain try and error until you reach the desired texture. For me the resulting product should be smearing on a cast bullet with your fingers and see how it sticks.

    Another composition that I have used for over 40 years is 50/50 bees wax and lard. You have to melt the lard first and remove, using a pencil or a similar wooden stick, any kind of tissue it may contain, then add the bees wax and stirr the mixture. Don't over heat it because it might light. Melting is enough; then you pour it in a plastic coffee cup. Once cold enough, you tear off the cup. Remember that the outside cools faster than the core of the lube, so let it rest for a while before removing the cup. 5 minutes in a refrigerator won't hurt.

    I have found this lube to be better than many factory products: No leading, especially with handguns. Can also be used to lube cases. No special storing procedures (my supply lie on a shelf). Cost is near zero, one pound of wax shouldn't be over 3 dollars and lard less than 1 cent. That would be enough for more than 2000 bullets.

    Note: Being more an experimenter than a dedicated shooter, I apply lube with my fingers, never tried it with a press.
    Additional note: For reloaders limited to shotgun powders, try the almost forgotten 800X, VERY CAREFULLY. I love it.

  8. #28
    Boolit Bub
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    Forgot: Bees wax and Lard is 50/50 by volume not wheight.

  9. #29
    Boolit Bub
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    JABO: I accidentally deleted and extensive thread. I'll resume. Plain candle wax is fine when molten with vaseline. Dont' remember the proportion. Try and error until You get the desired texture. Candle wax by itself is brittle and don't stick well to the bullet.

    Another very old formula: 50/50 bees wax and lard (animal grease) by volume not by wheight. Impurities should be removed with a stick or a pencil. Don't overheat, just melt and stirr. Cast in a plastic coffe cup. A few minutes in the refrigerator and then tear off the cup. I lube my bullets with my fingers. Got no press. You can experiment. Cheap, versatile, clean. Also good for case resizing. I'm more an experimenter than a shooter.

  10. #30
    Boolit Bub
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    When loading for black powder, I've found that the gooyer it is, the better it works. Straight beef tallow ain't bad but MESSY!

  11. #31
    Boolit Buddy jason f's Avatar
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    Anybody have any good recipes using soy wax. My wife makes and sells candles so there is usually a 50 pound box of soy flakes sitting around her. I will just have to sneak some out without her knowing it.

  12. #32
    Boolit Bub


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    Howdy fellers!

    My latest project is castin .44mag.
    I do. 40 also.

    I intend to load the 44mag fairly hot for hunting.
    I have a pb dc Lee 429 240 2r.
    I have been told I outta getta swc about .265gr.

    All that being said, I prefer the pb as I don't like the hassle and experience of gc's.

    I am willin to try making a batch of lube however, I'd rather just buy it if I can get it reasonable.

    Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

    Thank you for your time.

    Zeik
    "The rifle is a weapon. Let there be no mistake about that. It is a tool of power, and thus dependent completely upon the moral stature of its user. It is equally useful in securing meat for the table, destroying group enemies on the battlefield, and resisting tyranny. In fact, it is the only means of resisting tyranny, since a citizenry armed with rifles simply cannot be tyrannized."

    —Jeff Cooper, The Art of the Rifle

  13. #33
    Boolit Master
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    Looking for some help/advice here. I have a pretty good lube going (for me at least) in my 45-70 smokeless trapdoor loads. It's just beeswax and vaseline with a little high pressure grease. Seems to work with no leading, but want to stiffen it up a bit. Will some plain old candle wax help? I just hand lube and this stuff is pretty sticky.

  14. #34
    Moderator Emeritus / Trusted loob groove dealer

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    Quote Originally Posted by big bore 99 View Post
    Looking for some help/advice here. I have a pretty good lube going (for me at least) in my 45-70 smokeless trapdoor loads. It's just beeswax and vaseline with a little high pressure grease. Seems to work with no leading, but want to stiffen it up a bit. Will some plain old candle wax help? I just hand lube and this stuff is pretty sticky.
    If your grease is petroleum base, you are creating fouling in your bore. You may want to go to olive oil or something similar. Add more beeswax to stiffen. If that isn't enough, a bit of paraffin.
    The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
    John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"

    Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!


  15. #35
    Boolit Mold
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    Like... Help! What consistency should a good black powder lube have? I tried to make my first batch and it is hard! I was expecting something softer so I wonder if I screwed up... I used the recipe of 5:4:1 of beeswax, crisco, and lanoline. Did I do something wrong? What does it need?

  16. #36
    Boolit Mold
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    Like... Help! What consistency should a good black powder lube have? I tried to make my first batch and it is hard! I was expecting something softer so I wonder if I screwed up... I used the recipe of 5:4:1 of beeswax, crisco, and lanoline. Did I do something wrong? What does it need?

  17. #37
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    just add more lanolin or Crisco, some olive oil will soften it up too.
    my wax, crisco, lanolin lube hardens over time. [and will stick to the front of the balls in the revolver loads]
    I just re-melt it and throw in a little more Crisco or some vegetable/olive oil or neets-foot oil,, whichever I see first.

  18. #38
    Boolit Mold
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    I have found that mixing one tablespoon of liquid lanolin with 12 ounces of Iso-heet gives you a solution that is comparable with Hornady one shot and instead of paying 70 cents an ounce it costs me 23 cents an ounce. Works great!

  19. #39
    Boolit Mold Arisaka Hunter's Avatar
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    Some good information here. Thanks fellas.
    For sudden the worst turns the best to brave. (from "Prospice" by Robert Browning)

  20. #40
    Boolit Bub
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    Amazing info available here. Thanks !!

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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