favorite Pan Lube

[Boolseye]

I'd like to try a little pan lubing. So far I've only tumble lubed, first with straight xlox and then with 45-45-10, which I like. I shoot primarily .38/.357, 9mm and .45 at light to moderate velocities. I have a few molds with standard lube grooves, some TL.

I was thinking of making a batch of WWVA. Any other suggestions are welcome,
-jp

[kbstenberg]

With the calibers and velocities you are shooting why go with any other type of lube. If you are not getting any leading why switch?

[Boolseye]

Fair question. I do shoot other calibers as well, and I also reload for my dad, who shoots the .44 mag. Also, I just want to try it. What I'm looking for is any suggestions folks might have for a home-made lube that works good with the pan method.
-jp

[autopilotmp]

I just started casting this year and currently pan lube, I tried LLA but hate the smell of it (while lubing and while shooting). I started off w/ Blue angel lube cause that is what came on the LSWC I was using prior to casting my own. Then I made up a batch of Felix lube, I had to add a little more wax (added a little carnuba and paraffin) after mixing up the batch so it wasn't quite as sticky/soft. I have gotten it to a consistancy that I like and it pan lubes well. I picked up a waxmeister tool a while back that works great for cutting out the boolits. So far I have had no leading issues with the felix lube, works just like everyone says.

[kelbro]

I haven't tried anything but Felix lube and it works very well in the pan. I have no leading and great accuracy. The Waxmeister tool makes it quick and easy (after you make the Felix lube :) ).

[Boolseye]

Cool, thanks guys.

[mdi]

I like to experiment with different lubes. Why? Because! Just part of the fun casting/reloading/shooting lead bullets. I now have some lube I made up and it's my version of "Speed Green" One part Bull Plate Sprue Lube, three parts Beeswax (by weight). I added a teaspoon of Caranuba wax flakes per pound of mix. I've shot this in my .44 Magnums and 357 Magnum (one load, 357 Mag., slightly over max. of True Blue under a plain base wheel weight 158 - 160 gr SWC. Hard extraction, but no leading). It's a bit soft/sticky to punch bullets out of the cake, so I cut them out with a home made "cookie cutter". I don't think this is any "extra work", at least for me as I don't have a quota and enjoy the task. I guess if I wanted more, faster, I'd just buy bullets...

[Boolseye]

thanks mdi.

[garym1a2]

I like stuff with at least 50% beeswax, I use a lubesize and 50/50 Beeswax/Alox worked well for 45acp. The speed green above sounds good. I think its hard to mess up if you use anything with at least 50% beeswax unless you go high velocity or missize your boolits.

[Boolseye]

Yeah, I notice most lubes are approx 50-50 wax to grease.

[RU shooter]

A real simple pan lube that works well for the loads you are using is nothing more than a beeswax and vasoline mix I used approx. 60/40 mix

[Ole]

I use Vasoline, beeswax, and paraffin in equal parts by weight.

Add a couple crayons for color if you want.

[Boolseye]

Wow! couldn't be easier, huh. I think I'll try it on some .45 hollowpoints I'm gonna cast up.

[mdi]

Yep, keep it simple and make small batches. If they don't make you happy, you're just out a small amount. of ingredients...

[Boolseye]

JP's Pink:
more or less equal parts paraffin, beeswax and vaseline, a couple blobs of JPW, a little crisco and 2 red crayons.

I have since moved to a full-sized cake pan, and I keep the boolits 3/8" apart and from the edge of the pan, as suggested by Dale in his article.
the pan I show here was too small, and the boolits too close together.

[Boolseye]

Alright–I'm duly humbled. My first effort at pan lubing was less than stellar. Reminds me why it's a bad idea to reinvent the wheel–all those lube recipes out there were hard-won.

I need to study a bit more and make another attempt. All the info I need is out there. Thanks again for your feedback
-jp

[Lefty SRH]

JP's Pink:
more or less equal parts paraffin, beeswax and vaseline, a couple blobs of JPW, a little crisco and 2 red crayons.

Where do you get/buy JPW? What have your results been at higher velocities?

[Boolseye]

Where do you get/buy JPW? What have your results been at higher velocities?

I picked up the JPW at a nearby building supply center. I noticed you can buy it online if you need to. I haven't yet shot this lube, but I have used JPW in 45-45-10 and it works great up to moderate velocities (1000+ fps plain-based bullet, 15-1600fps with a gas check)

[Boolseye]

Alright–I'm really happy with the results of this lube on 102gr 9mm boolits.
As long as I don't let the pan cool too much, they pop out with a fairly loud pop, clean and perfectly lubed. If I let the pan get too cold, it's a mess. The cake will not come out of the pan, so I'm using a small pair of pliers to grab each boolit, but it's not damaging them. BTW, my lube ended up being more or less equal parts beeswax, vaseline and paraffin, 2 tablespoons each of JPW and Crisco, and 2 red crayons. It's worth noting that these had been tumble-lubed with 45-45-10 before pan-lubing–not sure it made a difference or not, but if it did then the difference was for the good.

[Jailer]

Get a silicone baking pan. Makes it easy to remove the lube cake and pop them out.

I can do 100 45ACP boolits at a time in a 9x9 pan. They're $10 on Amazon.

[Green Frog]

The only lube I have ever used for pan lubing is Emmert's, modified with 5% anhydrous lanolin. Although I use it mainly for BP, it was developed, IIRC, for rifles and smokeless in the schuetzen game. Should work pretty well for pistols, I would imagine.

Froggie

[Boolseye]

Thanks, folks. I'll be interested to see how these shoot. I'm anticipating a shiny bore.

[frnkeore]

I use 3 lubes for pan lubing. 50/50 Paraffin/Vasiline (darr lube), 30% BW/70% alox (Smilley lube) for under 1500 fps and for HV rifle loads, 30% Lithium/70% BW (my own lube).

For metal pans, if you put the lube in the freezer it WILL let loose of the pan.

Frank