Tumble lube alox substitute

[375H&HGuy]

Hello everyone. I have a quick question regarding liquid lube for tumble lubing. I did several searches and found some really good info on the 45-45-10 mix of Lee alox, JPW and mineral spirits. I did not, however, find the info I am specifically looking for. Please excuse me if the question has been answered before. My question is about a tumble lube formula that dispenses with the Alox and can be made with over the counter materials like the JPW and mineral spirits.

I have had good results with some tumble lube designs and I would like to discover a recipe for a tumble lube that could be made from locally available materials that can be purchased at basically any hardware or big box store.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[runfiverun]

jpw and b-wax does just fine on it's own.
3 parts to one.
put it on while everything is hot.

[375H&HGuy]

Thanks runfiverun. By b-wax do you mean bees wax? I appreciate the tip about applying the lube while hot. I have used the straight Lee Alox before quite a bit and it does go on more easily when the boolits are still warm, fresh from the casting bench.

[longbow]

Not quite sure if this will answer your question the way you want but... here goes anyway. What you might try is substituting a "known to work" lube and replace the Alox in 45-45-10 with it.

That might work. There are quite a few lubes using readily available components that should dissolve in mineral spirits.

Not sure if anyone else has tried it but it it is certainly worth a try if no-one says "DON'T DO IT!"

A couple of years ago I decided I wanted a lube made of readily available ingredients just like you want so started tinkering with what I had on hand:

- paraffin wax
- Lucas Red 'N Tacky grease
- Ivory soap

Yes, I should have used beeswax but didn't have any so made do. I am impatient! If I had beeswax I would have used beeswax.

Now this started out to be a dip lube or pan lube. I found it too viscous for dip lube (I blame the grease) and so used it for pan lube. It was SLICK! but the paraffin/soap mix was a bit hard and not a bit sticky. It did lube and didn't lead but needed some "sticky" added since it flaked off boolits. So I added a small amount of Bardahl oil treatment which gave me the sticky I wanted. Still pan lubing. It turned out to be fairly firm and stiff when hard but very slick.

Then I decided I would try to make a tumble lube with it by adding mineral spirits so I melted some and thinned it with mineral spirits stirred in. That worked but it was still too viscous and messy for my liking. Then I decided to try just melting a small amount in an old cast iron frying pan and roll the boolits in it. Believe it or not it worked!

So, I am "hot tumble lubing" now and so far it has worked for me in my .44 Marlin and .303 Lee Enfields. I am shooting moderate loads though so not pushing any pressure/velocity envelopes.

[375H&HGuy]

Good information longbow. I hadn't thought of using soap. I did give some thought to parafin as an ingredient. It seems to me that the critical criteria for my purpose is that the lube dry or cool in a solid waxy film on the boolit the way that the Lee Alox does. Thanks for the help.

[MT Gianni]

You are aware that you can buy liquid alox from white label lubes by the quart or gallon for significantly less $ than the cost for 4 oz?

[runfiverun]

jpw is a parrafin [and carnuba mix] it's kept soft by solvents.

[375H&HGuy]

MT Gianni, thanks for the info. I did not know that White Label Lubes offered the Alox in quantity but I will check them out ASAP. A little alox goes a loooooong way and a gallon would last me a long, long time.

Runfiverun, thanks for the clarification.

[44man]

Alox can be replaced by any high flash point oils like Safflower or peanut oil. Alox has a low flashpoint and burns.
JPW has solvents that evaporate and the only thing left of value is carnauba. Paraffin is not good, hard with a low flash point. Soap does one thing, the stearates make things blend so when the lube cools, it does not separate into layers.
Nothing can replace beeswax as a carrier because it mixes with anything and lanolin makes enough "sticky" to hold in GG's.
Seed based oils are best too. Even auto transmission oils are seed based because they take heat.
Long ago Alox was touted as the best thing ever but that was when 800 fps was super fast. Of course, leading was a huge problem with smokeless and soft lead so the zinc base boolit and the gas check was designed when today we shoot PB to unreal velocities.
Alox in any form has more posts then any other lube asking for solutions with a thousand answers that don't hold water. Lube once, lube twice, mix it, sniff it but in the end it does not work right. It was mixed 50-50 with beeswax but all it does is soften the wax.

[Case Stuffer]

You are aware that you can buy liquid alox from white label lubes by the quart or gallon for significantly less $ than the cost for 4 oz?

I have read that here and have placed an order but as they somewhat warn on thier site ,Life gets in the way and they may take a while to getting around to shipping. If I ever get my two quarts Ii should be set for life.:)

[mdi]

I have read that here and have placed an order but as they somewhat warn on thier site ,Life gets in the way and they may take a while to getting around to shipping. If I ever get my two quarts Ii should be set for life.:)
The folks at LsStuff-White Label run a family business. I once placed an order with thm and got an email that shipping would be delayed because of a large Boy Scout function the whole family was going to attend. Well, that made me a lifelong customer, as in my eyes it's ok for family life to get in the way of business...

[Case Stuffer]

Received shipping notice from LsStuff / White Lable Lube fdor order placed on 2-19 so guess not all that slow for a two person operation with other things to tend to. I ordered two quarts of their X lox liquid so should last me the rest of my life unless I live to be 100 and they still alow us to own firearms.

Off hand is their Xm lox striaght or is it the 45/45/10 blend?

Never mind found the answer. They sell both the regular

32 oz Liquid X-Lox


and the Delux

Delux Liquid X-Lox~45-45-10

[mdi]

As for your question about tumble lube; the only product I've tried is plain JPW. Tumble, dry and load. I've used JPW on low pressure .38 Specials and .44 Specials and seemed to work ok. I lubed some .22 lr bullets in JPW after I sized them in an Acu'rzr.There's a lot of "alternative" bullet lube that work in some applications, just gott keep an eye open for stuff. I've added carnauba flakes to xlox (melted together) for a pretty good dip lube. Amsoil worked in my .44 Specials http://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-product/other-products/cleaners-and-protectants/mp-heavy-duty-metal-protector/?page=%2fstorefront%2famh.aspx. I've tried spray on Catapillar Dry Boom/Outrigger Lube too...

[375H&HGuy]

Thanks for all the feedback. I may start playing around with the JPW both as a way to stretch the alox and as a tumble lube in and of itself.

As a side note, after finding out about White Label Lubes, I went ahead and ordered some Alox (they call it xlox) in quantity. I was very pleased with the experience from beginning to end. As far as I can tell it is identical to the stuff you get in the 4oz bottles from Lee. I would do business with White Label Lubes again anytime.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Yep, if you want something straight from the store, straight JPW is the way to go. I have had decent luck with it in light target loads loads for the 30-06 (13 gr red dot, Lee 170 w/GC).

[pdawg_shooter]

I decided life is too short to mess around making lube. I buy BAC and smile all the way to and from the range (the range happens to be my back yard).