Tumble Lubing--Made Easy & Mess-Free

[zxcvbob]

If you just melt the paste wax and LLA together without cooking down the wax first, you'll need to use twice as much JPW because you didn't cook it. And it will be full of slow-evaporating mineral spirits from the wax that you didn't evaporate off, so it doesn't dry as fast when you use it. Gear says it doesn't lube as well, and I believe him. It does work though; that's how I lube my .38 Specials, and I shoot a lot of .38 Specials.

Maybe when I use up this batch of lube I'll follow the directions and see how much better it works. Maybe.

[shredder]

I startee using this mix after reading this thread too and can say that for Canadians, who can not get JPW, Minwax furniture wax is the same stuff and works just fine.

[ZigZagMarquis]

I startee using this mix after reading this thread too and can say that for Canadians, who can not get JPW, Minwax furniture wax is the same stuff and works just fine.

Just asking... Amazon.com won't let y'all order JPW and have it shipped to you in Canada? Pardon my ignorance on such things or is Amazon is viewed poorly around here.

I had to order some JPW via Amazon as I couldn't find it in any of my local hardware or grocery stores.

[runfiverun]

getting what we can from wherever is not frowned on.
i don't know about shipping to other countrys though.
ever since the borders were opened for the free trade agreement it's hard to get goods across the borders sometimes.
as was mentioned other products work also trewax,buthchers wax,minwax type stuff does just fine.

[wmitty]

Zig

Welcome!

I've not tried mixing the JPW/alox without reducing the solvent content of the JPW but rather than "cook" the paste wax I left the lid off the can while setting it in the sun. Four days of this reduced the volume of the wax to 1/4 original and resulted in a waxy mass which I mixed with an equal volume of alox and a small amount of mineral spirits. This seems to work just fine. I don't know what the result of not "cooking" the JPW is other than leaving some of the solvents in the material. If there is a downside to allowing the solvents to evaporate ( other than time involved) I'm too ignorant to see it.( Someone enlighten me on this.)

[ZigZagMarquis]

Well all, I just tumble lubed my first batch of 100 .44 cal bullets.

I haven't gotten any JPW yet, so I wasn't able to try Recluse's formula, so it was just LLA.

I used the LLA sparingly as I've read over and over that folks starting out with it tend to use too much. I did add a few drops of mineral spirts to thin the LLA, but after letting the bottle of LLA sit in a pan of hot water for several minutes too, I'm not sure if that was necessary.

Its all a learning experience though.

Lubed bullets are spread out on wax paper drying.

Will they dry over-night or will it take a few days?

[JesterGrin_1]

They will dry overnight no problem.

[Wingnutt]

The Stoddard Solvent is a liquid form of paraffin, besides the paraffin wax itself. When 'cooked off' not only is the Stoddard Solvent being evaporated away, but also the paraffin wax. The paraffin wax most likely has a melting point somewhere just under 150F while the Carnuba Wax will be higher up towards 185F melting point. So basically the remains of the JPW being added to the LLA is just Carnuba Wax.

I have 'cooked off' a small sample of JPW and compared the cooled remains to that of a sample of pure Carnuba Wax concluding the JPW remains are very, very similar to pure Carnuba Wax. Carnuba Wax can easily be purchased on internet sales, even listed on Amazon.com.

By weight, I have melted Carnuba Wax 10% to LLA and achieved a better performing coating than straight LLA. The ratio being used in the 45/45/10 formula by Recluse is probably closer to 40% Carnuba Wax. I think any ratio between 10% - 40% Carnuba wax added to LLA would work by adjusting the amount of Mineral Spirits to keep the mixture close to liquid form for application ease.

Not to discredit the great idea of 45/45/10 from Recluse, but those not wishing to go to the trouble of 'cooking off' the JPW I think can get very similar results by just adding LLA to melted Carnuba Wax at a ratio by weight of 10-25% and adding enough Minerals Spirits, similar as Recluse specifies for a great ease to tumble lubing..............

[ZigZagMarquis]

Anyone?

Did I goof?

In anticipation of trying Recluse's LLA/JPW/Mineral Spirits formula at some point in the future, I picked up a bottle of mineral sprits, but I got this stuff (see photo).

Thought it would be clear and not milky.

Is this stuff not really what I want / won't work?

If so, its not very "green" because it will just go to the dump in the next trash haul and replaced with the real deal.

[Longwood]

Anyone?

Did I goof?

In anticipation of trying Recluse's LLA/JPW/Mineral Spirits formula at some point in the future, I picked up a bottle of mineral sprits, but I got this stuff (see photo).

Thought it would be clear and not milky.

Is this stuff not really what I want / won't work?

If so, its not very "green" because it will just go to the dump in the next trash haul and replaced with the real deal.

Try some and let us know how well it worked.
It may be the latest new formula that beats all.
You can look up what everything sold in America has in it.

[zxcvbob]

It's not mineral spirits, I don't know how they get away with saying it on the label. I think it's about 2/3 water. Save it for cleaning brushes; that's the only thing it might be good for.

Mix it with wax and you'll just make a nasty mess.

[Longwood]

Look up the MSRP.
I would but I can't read the name of it.

[Wingnutt]

Anyone?

Did I goof?

In anticipation of trying Recluse's LLA/JPW/Mineral Spirits formula at some point in the future, I picked up a bottle of mineral sprits, but I got this stuff (see photo).

Thought it would be clear and not milky.

Is this stuff not really what I want / won't work?

If so, its not very "green" because it will just go to the dump in the next trash haul and replaced with the real deal.

I don't know what the stuff is, some kinda 'greeny' enviro friendly solvent thing. Whatever it is it ain't right! I used the stuff for weed killer in my driveway............

[Longwood]

I don't know what the stuff is, some kinda 'greeny' enviro friendly solvent thing. Whatever it is it ain't right! I used the stuff for weed killer in my driveway............

Google knows.
My guess is if you are here, you are on the web.
You could have looked up the MSRP and then you would have known exactly what was in it.

[Jim]

'Kleen Strip' Mineral Spirits Substitute MSD

[Longwood]

'Kleen Strip' Mineral Spirits Substitute MSD

Thanks Jim
I am glad someone knew what I meant to say.
Hydrotreated,,,, I guess that is a fancy scientific way of saying, diluted with plain old water, so you pay more.

[jimb1972]

Just curious, but why do you lube them before sizing?

[SciFiJim]

Just curious, but why do you lube them before sizing?

It eases the passage through the sizer.

[ZigZagMarquis]

I don't know what the stuff is, some kinda 'greeny' enviro friendly solvent thing. Whatever it is it ain't right! I used the stuff for weed killer in my driveway............

Yeah, that's what I figured. I goofed. Glad I figured it out before tyring to make a batch of Recluse's formula. I'll pick-up a "real" container of mineral spirits next trip to the hardware store and either keep this "green" stuff as weed killer or for dealing with stray cats.

[Recluse]

Just curious, but why do you lube them before sizing?

I've found that two light coats works better than one heavy coat.

I size every boolit I cast so that I have consistency and it is one variable I can immediately eliminate if a load or configuration doesn't work out so well.

For the first lube application, I heat the boolits up until they are warm to the touch then squirt my "z" pattern on the boolits, swirl, tumble and set aside to dry. The first lubing take a little longer to dry because the boolits are also cooling down which helps the lube adhere.

I size them, then re-heat the lube and squirt another "z" on the boolits, swirl, tumble and set aside to dry. The second application normally takes less than thirty minutes to dry.

You can can then store them or load them and you're good to go.