Need hard pistol lube recipe please

[Wilson]

I've been using Magma lube that I bought with my Star a couple of years ago. This evening we ran out with just a few hundred 9mm bullets to go out of 12K.
I have bee's wax and was told just to mix it with paraffin 50/50. Can anyone confirm this, or suggest a mix that I can create with local ingredients?
Thanks!

[randyrat]

No not just paraffin wax.... Vaseline will work. If you use beeswax and paraffin you will have Parabeeswax:x and it will be HARD, too hard to use for anything.

50/50 beeswax & Vaseline will work for low demand pistol lube. If it is too hard just re melt and add more Vaseline.

[Wilson]

Hi, I think I got the beeswax from you a couple of years ago. Thanks for the reply.
I've got a heater on the Star that I use to apply the hard Magma lube. The problem I've had with softer lubes when storing thousands of pistol bullets in a bucket, is that it gets all over the bullet, then builds up in the seating die and progressively seats the bullet deeper. This a pain, so I'd rather have a hard lube that stays in the groove.

[fryboy]

most recipes are pretty much the same , wax erm hard wax , and something that both softens the wax and helps add lubricity , 50/50 wax/grease ( or wax/oil ,wax/vaseline etc ) has been used for years . like you i prefer something a lil stiffer ( but more because i have brutal summer temps where i live ) and i dont mind heating the lube to apply it if it helps , having said all this in a basic recipe ( 50/50 ) i usually end up with 60-75% wax ( depending upon the season ) saeco green slightly modified works pretty well , to the basic recipe just add 1-2 tablespoons of carnuba flakes per pound of wax , and if it's still not hard enough for your taste add a tablespoon of stearic acid per pound , if you want a lil more tack and flex to it add 1-2 tablespoons of lanolin USP per pound as it's cooling down
it's true that both beeswax and paraffin alone have some lubricity ( beeswax more so IMHO ) but either singly or together they need a lil something to help

[runfiverun]

a soft lube can easily be firmed up with carnuba wax or the addition of ivory soap flakes.
not knowing what you got there i'd suggest.
b-wax, white or brown lithium grease, and a tablespoon of ivory soap mashed up and dried.
a bit [teaspoon] of vasline wouldn't hurt either or a dallop of lanolin, or a spoonfull of atf..
to an 8 oz chunk of the wax half teaspoon of ivory and about 4-5 table spoonfulls of the lithium grease.
blend together and let cool, i scoop it out in chunks and roll to shape for the star and let it squeeze the little strings out of the hole.

[randyrat]

Yes, I sometimes have a reality check, right now I have have to test my lubes in the oven and try to reach a steady 95-100 degs F. Everything is cold around here right now until about June. I sometime forget about you guys that have EXTREME heat. A medium lube here is not a medium lube in Louisiana.

[cajun shooter]

Fryboy hit on some lubes that are easy and work. I see you live in Louisiana as I do.
If you mix your BW with Lanolin and a tablespoon or so of Carnauba wax you will have a good lube or the use of Vaseline will also work.
Look in the lube stickies for a bunch of ideas. You may buy all of the supplies from Randy Rat as has been posted.
You do need to follow a known mix as it is not just pour this into that sort of thing. If you make it like that you will have a lot of useless lube laying around.

[toddrod]

I have used the Saeco formula in the recipe section with good results as well as the Speed Green formaula using just regular 2 stroke oil.

[Wilson]

Thanks for the replies. I was able to finish up the last of my 9mm by dropping in a tube of Carnauba Red to push out the last of the Magma. I used the last of the Carnauba to lube some 40 cal bullets, but it is too soft for bucket bullet storage. I did about 1,000 and not its all over. I'll load them slow and clean up as I go. The Carnauba works great for my low volume rifle bullets.
I called Magma and got a few of their 2" sticks. It's half the price of the 1" ones I've been using. I plan to melt it and pour it up into 1" sticks, or just pour it in the Star. I may try experimenting with the above recipes later. For now I've got 17K bullets ready for 2012.
Thanks again!

[686]

I buy magma's 2" sticks also and melt them. I use 1" pvc pipe to make my sticks. Works good and like you said it is a lot cheper.

[cajun shooter]

I'm not sure of what Magma is shipping now but the lube they shipped for years was the common NRA lube mix of 50/50 Alox and Beeswax.
This has been used for over 60 years as a bullet lube. I feel that better lubes are available.
A lube that contains Lanolin and or Carnauba or both is better IMHO. Later David

[fecmech]

I'm not sure of what Magma is shipping now but the lube they shipped for years was the common NRA lube mix of 50/50 Alox and Beeswax.

Magma's lube now is a hard lube that requires heat not the NRA 50/50. I've been using it for a few years now and am very happy with it. I use it in all my pistol applications and .357 mag rifle with PB bullets up to 1600 fps. I buy the 2" sticks and just pour it into my Star.

[crabo]

Thanks for the replies. I was able to finish up the last of my 9mm by dropping in a tube of Carnauba Red to push out the last of the Magma. I used the last of the Carnauba to lube some 40 cal bullets, but it is too soft for bucket bullet storage. !

I catch my CRed lubed boolits in my hand as they come out of the star, and then set them on the bench to cool. A little later I put them in the tub and the lube does not smear in the tub.

Drop them on top of each other as the lube is warm, and I have the problem you describe.

[runfiverun]

you can firm up the carnuba red a lot by mixing a stick of cr to 1/3 stick of the magma.

[FirstBrit]

Thanks for the replies. I was able to finish up the last of my 9mm by dropping in a tube of Carnauba Red to push out the last of the Magma. I used the last of the Carnauba to lube some 40 cal bullets, but it is too soft for bucket bullet storage. I did about 1,000 and not its all over. I'll load them slow and clean up as I go. The Carnauba works great for my low volume rifle bullets.
I called Magma and got a few of their 2" sticks. It's half the price of the 1" ones I've been using. I plan to melt it and pour it up into 1" sticks, or just pour it in the Star. I may try experimenting with the above recipes later. For now I've got 17K bullets ready for 2012.
Thanks again!

If you want a pistol lube for your Star lubrizer w/o hazzle you should probably stick ( no pun intended) with Magma's original lube especially if you perfectly happy with its performance.

Lube recipes based on just a plain mix of oils and waxes like beeswax, lanolin, carnauba, castor oil and such are very susceptable to temperature changes. By that I mean that at prolonged temperatures they have a tendency to sweat like cheese will if not kept in the fridge. Of course you can correct this by adding additional stiffner like carnauba or paraffin waxes. On the down side these will behave well at elevated sommer temperatures but will become too brittle and too hard for winter climates with temperatures down at 30°F. The lube will tend to fall out of the grooves especially when stored in buckets and agitated.

The best option is to use a recipe which contains a soap as binder as in Felix Lube or start with a Lithium complex grease ( soap already in) Then take beeswax for consistency. If you go the Felix route you will need oils like castor or saflor oil for plasticity. The advantage of lubes with a soap complex as binder is thet they are much less senstive to tenmperature changes. Cosistency remains very much the same whether winter or summer.

Best regards,

Adrian - Germany.

[Josh Smith]

Hello,

Try a suspension of copper and graphite coating the entire bullet and slightly polished in a case tumbler to take off the extra.

This is by fare the best stuff I've ever used.

Send some samples to a friend to load hot and run through his Thompson 1928a1 with Cutt's Compensator. He reported no barrel fouling and no comp fouling. He said he was still fouling the comp with jacketed bullets.

If you're interested shoot me a PM and I'll see if I can't dig up the process for doing this. I reported on it once.

Regards,

Josh

[cajun shooter]

Why not store your bullets in the plastic food containers that are sold at Wally World. They have a snap on lid and will keep your lubed bullets as fresh as the day they were lubed.
If you need to harden up your lube then use the carnauba flakes sold by Randy Rat.It only takes a tablespoon or so per pound and it also lubes and conditions your bore.
Many products will make your lube harder but they will not help with the lube or your bore as the carnauba does.
I have lubed bullets from two years ago that are still the same as the day I did them by using the snap on lid containers.

[Elkins45]

I've pretty much settled on this recipe for everything.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showpost.php?p=970477&postcount=78