Soy wax in the summer?

[Elkins45]

I have a pound of soy wax left over from another venture and I have been giving some thought to soft lubes for use in cold weather rifle applications, specifically for hunting with cast in 358 Win. My general experience has been that soft lubes are better performers than hard ones in rifle applications, provided other conditions have been met. Soy wax is a very soft wax as compared to the other traditional wax bases, which has an advantage if you want it to fling off as soon as it leaves the muzzle, but in researching it I have found that it has a melting point of only 120-130F depending on the particular blend.

I made a very conservative test batch of 8oz (weight) soy wax and 2 oz (fluid) of synthetic 2 cycle oil and it is very soft. I have no idea how it shoots, it since the temps have been in the single digits here I should be able to conduct some good tests. I think the handling qualities will require handling and storing them gently, but that's OK for small quantities of hunting boolets. My worry is that I might forget and leave a box of stored loaded rounds in the trunk or in the garage in the summer because with a melting point that low the wax base would surely liquefy and contaminate the powder charge.

So here's my question: is there an ingredient I could add that will bump up the melting point somewhat without also increasing the hardness too much? I know it doesn't take much carnauba added to a beeswax based lube to make it require a heater, so that's not my first choice. Maybe a little stearate? Or would that add too much stiffness too?

Advice?

[geargnasher]

Soap and/or a hard microcrystalline wax are some other options for reducing bleed and raising melt point a few ticks. The problem with both of those is you can't add too much or accuracy goes south, although I admit to never trying hydrogenated soybean oil with either.

Gear

[357maximum]

I played with soy "wax" for a bit trying to exploit it's waterfall melt traits......I found it to be waaaay more tempermental than what I wanted to deal with....as Gear has said...it is not really a wax...it is thick crisco made from soy oil...might be best served as a container candle.....not saying it is unuseable, but there are alot better bases to work with.

[geargnasher]

It makes a good additive for a lube that has a lot of ingredients that don't melt/liquify right away, like metal-soap greases or some of the harder waxes. But you get into that game of adding this to modify that, then have to add something else to fix a few side-effects, next thing you know you have fifteen things in your lube all working against each other. Best to pick a few that do specific jobs together.

Gear

[btroj]

Voice of experience Gear?

Stuff that melts at really low temps scare me in lubes unless used in really small amounts. Maybe for cold weather use only but I am not interested in something that won't tolerate heat.

[fryboy]

my best use for soy has been dick dastardly's pearl lube , i do add some carnuba and then some lanolin to offset some of the carnuba ( i call it pearl lube plus ) i use it for lubing my "mere lube grooves" because those eat up alot of lube !! i'll see if i can find the foto i posted around here somewhere of them , i have a buddy who runs his 44-40 as fast as he wants to go with it ( and alot of just plinking rounds ) my main use with it however is black powder and low to mid-velocity stuff ( i'm kinda having too much fun playing mad scientist to just quit at one lube that works well )

well heck ..it says invalid file ( even tho it's posted at least twice here already ) here's the link to the post

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?102973-TC-Maxi-ball-lubing&p=1114267&viewfull=1#post1114267

[runfiverun]

I like adding soy wax to bees wax lube recipes.
it gives the lube a silky smoothness and as noted changes the melt temp of the lube.
it also allows the oils in the lube to be released quite easily so not much is needed.

if you have some bees wax on hand try adding some of your lube to some of it, at a
60 b-wax to 40 of yours ratio and try it..