Just got some beeswax - recommended recipes?

[Deep Six]

I've recently mentioned to my better half that I'd like to get my hands on some beeswax to make bullet lube out of. Yesterday she came home from the local farmer's/flea market with a half pound of it! She paid $4, which seems like a good deal to me. I was at the home improvement store at the same time and they had JPW on sale so I now have a half pound of that too (on a side note it makes an excellent polish/protectant for wood gun stocks!).

So it seems that I now have 2 of the most sought-after lube ingredients. What is a good recipe? Besides the beeswax and JPW, I have lots of paraffin, Vasoline, moly EP grease, toilet bowl rings, Lee liquid alox, ATF, mineral oil, and probably some other stuff. I was thinking of just blending the beeswax and JPW till I got the consistency I want, but I don't want to screw it up.

[ElDorado]

Felix lube comes to mind. It looks like you have the makings for Recluse's tumble lube, too. Read the stickies at the top of the page in the lube section.

[btroj]

Bens red is never a bad choice. Felix is a good choice too.

Do NOT just mix a bunch of stuff together, it usually turns out bad.

[marvelshooter]

Ben's Red uses beeswax and JPW and ATF among other things and works great.

[Bohica793]

I do not know what you plan to lube (pistol or rifle), but my recipe I use for pistol rounds running over 1200fps (357) is:

4oz (melted) beeswax
4oz (melted) Crisco
2oz (melted) paraffin
1Tbl Lanolin

I pan lube with this and it just works. Simple from common household ingredients.

[Deep Six]

Where do I get lanolin? What form does it come in?

[runfiverun]

pharmacy has it [lanisil [sp?] nipple cream is lanolin] or you could get some here from randy rat [he has bees wax, and carnuba wax too]

you have enough ingredients there to make a good lube from though.
30% of the moly grease to the b-wax [by mark one eyeball volume] 2 tsp of the jpw cooked down and 2 tsp of the atf would work just fine.
if you want it softer add a tsp of the Vaseline at a time to adjust the firmness.

[btroj]

lansinoh is the brand Run was mentioning. Look in the baby aisle at the local pharmacy

[Lead Fred]

Never have paid more than $3 bucks a pound.

Ive used the same formula for years now. Quick & simple

1 lb bee's wax
1 lb lard
8 oz STP

Ive had 405 grain 45/70 rounds up to 1750fps, and no leading

[Ben]

Bens red is never a bad choice. Felix is a good choice too.

Do NOT just mix a bunch of stuff together, it usually turns out bad.

Do NOT just mix a bunch of stuff together, it usually turns out bad.

You hit the nail on the head, that would definitely be a waste of good lube components !

[btroj]

Yet we see just that how many times per year Ben?

With the number of good recipes on this site why anyone just throws stuff together is beyond me.

[randyrat]

I've used beeswax and Vaseline for an easy lube to make, easy to adjust for temp and it works... Approximately 50-50%

Follow the link in my signature line (below) for all the ingredients at very good prices.

[dverna]

Yet we see just that how many times per year Ben?

With the number of good recipes on this site why anyone just throws stuff together is beyond me.

So very true. And the ingredients are not that cheap. The 'lube master" winds up with a bunch of stuff to use up because he is too proud to admit he would have been better off with a known recipe. In fact, most "lube masters' would be better off placing an order with White Label. Simply astounding.

[Zymurgy50]

Take the toilet wax rings and melt them into some cardboard for firestarters. They are usually made from "leftovers" and are not consistent from lot to lot. If by chance you do come up with a recipe that works using toilet wax you will probably not be able to duplicate it on the next batch.

[357maximum]

Equal parts (by weight) of Beeswax/Paraffin/Vaseline will do 99% of what a boolit caster will ever ask of a lube. It really does not need to be more complicated than that.

[35 shooter]

Equal parts (by weight) of Beeswax/Paraffin/Vaseline will do 99% of what a boolit caster will ever ask of a lube. It really does not need to be more complicated than that.

357maximum would this recipe carry me to 2500 fps in my whelen without purging and take at least 95 degree temps? Also down to about 20 degrees in the cold? Or would i be better off trying your satan's lube?
I've had very good results with simple and ben's red but i just like experimenting like a lot of other folks.

Not trying to hi-jack the thread but looked like a good time to ask when i saw your post. I've been meaning
to try making the satan's lube and give it a try.

[sthwestvictoria]

I use 70% bee wax, 26% vaseline, 2% lanolin (sold at pharmacy's) and 2% crayon for colour (by weight). Just all melted together then pan lubed with the silicone tray and push bullets out base first method. I have taken 200grain .358 bullets to 2200fps in my Whelen with no leading. It has been fine in the heat of the Australian summer without melting. However it never gets very cold here, 5degrees Celcius (40F).

[35 shooter]

I'll give it a try. One of my favorite loads in my whelen hits 2200 fps with a 200 grain boolit.

[6bg6ga]

I have used 50% beeswax/alox and its just too soft and comes out of the bullet lube grooves.

[357maximum]

357maximum would this recipe carry me to 2500 fps in my whelen without purging and take at least 95 degree temps? Also down to about 20 degrees in the cold? Or would i be better off trying your satan's lube?
I've had very good results with simple and ben's red but i just like experimenting like a lot of other folks.

Not trying to hi-jack the thread but looked like a good time to ask when i saw your post. I've been meaning
to try making the satan's lube and give it a try.


The little bit of soap in SATAN's Lube does help with consistency on target in general, it also for lack of a better term emulsifies the ingredients to make a friendlier handling lube (increases drop point) and it does help slightly with higher temp consistency on target. The paraffin/vaseline is what is reducing the purge flyers and the beeswax is merely holding it all together. I am making SATAN's lube and MML+5% soap now.....this will be the only two lubes I ever make again....

I AM HAPPY with both routes to the same end game and see no reason to change, but that is me and my guns here in Michigan. I have a rubbermaid tub of each and do not see me making lube for a good long while. I still have alot of Microwax and other components to make both lubes and to be dead honest both lubes shoot the same and into the same group on anything other than high intensity short barrels (handheld rifles) that rely alot on barrel friction to complete the load "borderline" loads in other words.


I would include the soap....in small percentages soap is good....get too much soap and it all goes down porcelain throne though.

[35 shooter]

Thanks for the reply 357maximum. I do have that recipe with the soap% in the instructions somewhere, so i'll dig it back out and give it a try.
Out of bees wax now so i've gotta stock back up.

[detox]

Use double boiler to prevent burning of mixture.

[357maximum]

Use double boiler to prevent burning of mixture.


I use direct heat out of neccessity .....vaseline/paraffin gets cooked first at a high enough level to get the soap into the mix......then when the mix stops foaming I then remove it totally from the heat source........wait about 10 minutes and then add the beeswax. Beeswax is the only ingredient in either lube being discussed here in which high heat harms it. PURE Soap into wax/oil does not work very well at low heat.

Greases can be induced into a mix at a low enogh heat to not harm beeswax....pure ivory soap........nope.

[gwpercle]

Whatever recipe you choose, I reccomend Ben's Red , DO NOT make it inside the house , on your wife's stove , using HER pots and pans, measuring cups, spoons and whisk. She will never bring home beeswax again , your house will smell for a while and wife won't be a happy camper.

Melted hot lube is the devil to clean off counter top and floor...you will spill some, trust me.
Get your own, pots, spoons, measuring cups, hot plate and take it outside...I know.

Gary

[Deep Six]

I'm planning on Ben's Red. I have my own pot and electric burner in my workshop in the basement. My previous lube concoctions were all made in the basement and I never thought the fumes were too bad, including the batch that had high-temp moly grease in it. Is Ben's Red really bad enough that I need to do it outdoors? Not that the weather is bad this year though...

[35 shooter]

I'm planning on Ben's Red. I have my own pot and electric burner in my workshop in the basement. My previous lube concoctions were all made in the basement and I never thought the fumes were too bad, including the batch that had high-temp moly grease in it. Is Ben's Red really bad enough that I need to do it outdoors? Not that the weather is bad this year though...

Just a hot grease like smell. Had a window fan blowing out in front of hot plate so it wasn't that bad to me.
Wouldn't want to do it without the ventilation tho. I love ben's red

[gwpercle]

No it doesn't smell that bad to me, but my wife has a nose that rivals the ability of a bloodhound's. And you don't want to spill any someplace that's hard to clean up....basement sounds fine. We don't have basements in South Louisiana , so you have to go out in garage to keep the peace.
If the wife didn't object the last time you made lube you should be good to go.

Gary

[Baja_Traveler]

Here's a tip I've been using for years. Go to Goodwill or a second hand store and pick up an old rice cooker. It's the perfect thing to melt bullet lube in - push the button down, and when it pops up and turns the cooker off your wax is perfectly melted without burning. And the beauty of it is, when you get all caught up in that football game and forget you have lube going there is a fail safe to turn it off for you...

[3006mv]

If you have any left over and you are a sass cowboy shooter I recommend this: http://www.instructables.com/id/Homade-Mustache-Wax/

[Ben]

I'm planning on Ben's Red. I have my own pot and electric burner in my workshop in the basement. My previous lube concoctions were all made in the basement and I never thought the fumes were too bad, including the batch that had high-temp moly grease in it. Is Ben's Red really bad enough that I need to do it outdoors? Not that the weather is bad this year though...

I have always advised everyone to make Ben's Red outside.

Ben