How much crud in my action is normal??

[gray wolf]

This may be a hard question to answer BUT.
I have to ask because I don't know.
Using my own lube for my 45 a c p and having no lead issues but my gun is really
dirty and gunky looking inside the action, on the breach face and the barrel ramp.
After about 125 rounds you can see it built up.
Naturally this does not happen with jacketed bullets., and not as bad with store bought lead bullets from Lazier cast. MY metal is 50/50 WW/Pure.
My lube is bees wax and mutton tallow with a little bore butter and paraffin wax.
I think my last batch had a little oil in it made from nuts.
Do you think my lube is to oily? It is nice and dry to the fingers when you handle the bullets and needs a little heat in the 450 sizer.
Can I save this batch of lube? Should I start over?
If I do I was thinking of bees wax a little Jojoba oil and a little carnuba wax.
Paraffin if needed.
I don't no if the gunky gun is normal or not. Any help here??

[Dale53]

I can only tell you my experience from my IPSC days when I shot 15,000 .45 acp's per year for five years. Since I shot three times a week, I didn't wish to clean after every practice session (I would have probably worn my pistol out from cleaning[smilie=1: ). I discovered that which lubricant I used made a difference in how long the pistol would function without approaching a failure to feed. I got the longest run of "absolutely reliable" with teflon bearing lubricant. I settled on "Break Free" (just like the military) as being a "best" lubricant (there may be other "best" lubricants out there but this is what my llimited tests showed). Now, after being able to run the pistol for quite a number of rounds before approaching a "feed failure" I then addressed the "gunk" issue. I used NRA formula 50/50 Beeswax and Alox as bullet lube exclusively. It seemed, after a pretty decent period of investigation (heavy use over a period of months) that the "three hundred round" level was about the correct point where reliability of function and "gunkyness" came together. Thereafter, I just cleaned at 300 round intervals. When I say clean, I mean a "detail strip" and soaking gun in a cleaning solution.

A GI .50 caliber ammo box about half full of "Odorless Kerosene" makes a good and inexpensive cleaning solution. I used CANNED K-1 Kerosene (you cannot trust your local gas station pump for having real, uncontaminated K-1). Any good gun cleaner will work but I can't see me using nor paying for a half ammo can of Hoppe's #9:-D ). After soaking and brushing with a tooth brush, I dry the gun parts thoroughly, then lubricate sparingly with Break Free. Hit all of the obvious points (barrel bushing, locking lugs on barrel AND frame, rails, sear, etc). Reassemble, then wipe off excess after working action. It takes a lot less time than to discuss - not really bad at all.

I suggest a screen in the bottom of the ammo can set off the bottom so that the "crud" settles in the bottom away from the gun parts. You can use this same ammo can of cleaner for quite a long time. Another solvent that works well is "Stoddard's Solvent". It is safer to use as it will not support combustion without a wick. It is also called "Aliphatic Mineral Spirits" or "Odorless Mineral Spirits".

YOU MUST BE CAREFUL OF ANY FLAMMABLE SUBSTANCE WHILE USING AS A CLEANER. You do NOT smoke around it, etc.

The above applies to a heavily used .45. If you only shoot it occasionally, you should clean it after each use, just like any other firearm.

Dale53

[gray wolf]

Thank you Dale53,
I shoot twice a week , about 300 rounds and clean after shooting. I also use the K1 Kero. I use the red one that is for kero stoves. It is pretty clean.
In fact I use your method and it woks great.

As for the lube ?? I just found out I can get 1oz. of the pure lanolin for a $1.25
so that is now at my ready for a mix of lube.
SOOOOOO now I have bees wax, mineral oil, lanolin. But I think I still need some kind of oil as a lube. Jojoba oil?? carnuba wax?? and my trusty blue crayon.
I am not sure how much Lanolin or what it does. Sorry if I am a pest.

[Dale53]

gray wolf;
Here is a site where you can get Anhydrous Lanolin for $8.75 per pound. You can get it for even less if you buy a larger quantity. The last time I ordered, I put together an order with a couple of buddies and we shared the shipping and had to pay less per lb than if we had ordered individually:

http://www.thesage.com/catalog/FixedOil.html

scroll down to the bottom where Lanolin is indicated. These people were good to deal with and I got my product, as advertised, quickly.

Dale53

[44man]

Just make regular Felix lube or buy some of Lar's lubes. The stuff you had was a mix of black powder ingredients along with mineral oils and left too much stuff behind. You don't need near as much lube in the bore with smokeless.

[BD]

I'm still shooting IDPA and in a good year I'll easily hit the 15,000 round mark in my match gun. With cast I use straight WWs, lubed with Felix lube with my own top secret ingrediant added. I clean with Ed's Red and lube with FP-10. I can go 700 rounds between cleanings with no trouble, and generally with no additional lube required. I'll spend the 30 minutes once a week to take it down and clean it. Once a year I'll detail strip it. Sure it gets dirty, but it still runs. If I start having an issue it's time to replace a mag or a part. Where I live these days I have to shoot plated bullets at the indoor range for practice. It's much harder to clean up after them. Probably takes at least 45 minutes to really clean it due to the copper on the ramp and in the barrel, and there is still soot on everything. IMHO the lube helps bind the powder soot up right where it happens, and makes it easier to clean off. Seems like the internals don't get as "gritty" with cast as they do shootin' Berry's copper beans. And I can look down my barrel after 700 rounds of cast and it's bright and shiny after one dry patch. It takes a bit of scrubbing to get a shiny barrel after the plated bullets. I'm starting to feel like it might be time to move back into the woods. My mother always warned me against any endevors that required new clothes. My advice is to load up 1,000 rounds and take them to the range and shoot them over a weekend without cleaning or oiling. If your gun starts giving you trouble then mess around with how you lube the boolits, or the gun. I shot aginst a guy in Maine who once ran a 1911 he built on an Essex frame for a whole year without cleaning it. I only beat him once during that year. He never polished his brass either.
BD

[gray wolf]

Thanks men,
Good deal on that lanolin, I still don't know what it's for But I will try a little in my new mix. I guess it's a slick em upper.
Yes the Lars lube looks very good he sent me a sample. Very nice guy to deal with.
I new the old lube was for black powder but I had a bunch of it so I tried it.
Hey I gotta learn Eh.
Thanks BD, I got my cleaning duty down very well so thats not a problem.
I don't think the old lube I am using would give me 300 rounds without giving me a problem. That's not acceptable. So I will come up with a new one very soon here.
As per usual you guy's are great with the help.