Using JPW by itself?

[MikeS]

Hi All.

As the title says, is it possible to use JPW by itself as a tumble lube? I have a couple of boolits that are TL design boolits, and I was thinking of mixing up some of Recluse's 45/45/10, but I got as far as opening the can of JPW, and tried something else. I took out a tablespoon worth of JPW, then heated it in a microwave till it melted. I then tumble lubed some boolits I had cast, then while they were still wet from the JPW I ran them thru a Lee sizing die, then I again tumbled them, but without adding any additional JPW (there was still plenty, and the act of tumbling them the second time coated the driving bands very well), then I set them out on wax paper to dry. The next morning the JPW had fully dried, leaving them boolits with a slightly waxy feel to them, but not tacky like LLA does.

So my question is really is JPW alone good enough? BTW, these are all 45 boolits to load in 45ACP rounds, so nothing with lots of pressure. I won't get a chance to shoot any of these until I shoot some of my other loaded brass, as I have no empty 45ACP brass at the moment. I might try loading them in 45 Colt brass I have here, but with fairly light loads, that would be about the same as 45ACP loads, this I could probably do this week. So, does anyone have any idea if the JPW by itself will work as a boolit lube?

[DLCTEX]

It may work ok in 45ACP, as it seems to be one of the easiest to avoid leading problems. I prefer the 45/45/10.

[geargnasher]

A couple of our members have mentioned using it straight, but I found that it cracks and flakes off as it dries, it really needs the liquid Alox as a glue/varnish agent.

Make 45/45/10, and it's best to size them after the first coat is dry. You'll notice a huge difference in the resistance to sizing when you do.

Gear

[cgm]

I have used it on 45acp..... Did not have any problems.

[runfiverun]

search boerrancher
he uses straight jpw.
i use 3 parts reduced jpw to one part b-wax and about 20% mineral spirits.
it makes a nice waxy coating very similar to the one on 22 boolts.

[sargenv]

I use it on 40 cal bullets.. tumble lubed at room temp.. it is usually soft enough at 70 degrees that I put the bullets half full into a 2 pound plastic peanut container, about a tablespoon of lube, twist the lid on and shake shake shake.. until well coated... then empty the bullet out on wax paper and let it dry.. I haven't had any leading issues.. but I only push them to at most 1100 fps..

[gasboffer]

I use JPW only on .45 ACP. Several different molds. No Problems.

[Jal5]

I tried it on some 38spl a while back, worked ok. But I switched to 45-45-10 for all my TL loads now. Joe

[MikeS]

I'm going to make up some 45/45/10 eventually. If it dries as nicely as pure JPW does, I'll never use LLA straight again! While I don't mind my boolits having a slight tack to them as LLA lubed boolits have, it does make it difficult when you throw a few loose rounds into a pocket, they find every bit of lint in there! So far I've never had any leading with LLA, and I'm hoping to be able to say the same of the JPW lubed boolits as well (I'm pretty sure I will, as my boolits are sized to fit the bore properly, which goes a long way to reducing leading).

[runfiverun]

cook it first to release the solvents.
a little mineral spirits will help it dry faster.

[Maven]

MikeS, John Haviland, in the new "Handloader" magazine did just that while testing .44Mag. loads. Actually, he was trying to determine the relationship between alloy hardness and leading. However, he did push some of the CB's he tested through JPW. (You can see it on the CB's in the photos accompanying his article.) No ill effects were mentioned following its application.