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View Full Version : Ingredients on hand... good for lube?



hcpookie
04-11-2015, 08:30 PM
I have about 20 lbs of candle wax sheets, several bottles of Lee liquid alox, some synthetic motor oil and mineral oil. I melted them together just to see how it would look, and it looks like it would make "OK" bullet lube!... maybe not "great" lube however. Thoughts on this? Just for plinking ammo... killing cans at the range, nothing more. Now I'm starting to look around and see what other ingredients I may have yet to discover :)

runfiverun
04-11-2015, 09:19 PM
let it sit for a couple of day's.
put some in a window on a folded paper towel.
you wanna make sure the oils stay inside the wax.

hcpookie
04-12-2015, 12:18 PM
I used perhaps 1lb of wax, 1 bottle of Lee alox, about 1 cup of motor oil, and about 1 cup of mineral oil. (real scientific I know). I was looking at the other recipes and the 6/6/6 recipe has soap flakes in it as well... HRM... time to raid the bathroom :) This isn't a very scientific process but I wanted to see if I could make use of these materials I have laying around. I figure lube is a good way to get rid of this stuff!

It doesn't seem to be sweating any oils after a few days sitting in the garage. It just so happens my sizer was empty so I figured what the heck and put some through it last night. The sizer has to stay hotter than using commercial lube but at the right heat it seems to fill and stay in the lube grooves well. Its not brittle like the candle wax sheets are, but it discolors off-white when you press your nail into it, so I guess that means it is not as "soft" as the other lubes I have around. I guess the proof will be how clean the barrel is after some range time!

runfiverun
04-12-2015, 01:10 PM
I bet it flows well under pressure.
take a rag to the range..:lol:

I remember one lube the wife called sweatyasscrack lube, it left an oily feeling on the revolver all around the cylinder gap and smelled like well..
lets just say some scented candles are better choices than others for thinning down bees-wax.

Old Jim
04-13-2015, 02:04 PM
A friend uses candles purchased for pennies at yard sales and Lee Liquid Alox for his black powder lube. Works for him. I tried it and it was a disaster. Hard fouling and poor accuracy.

fredj338
04-14-2015, 04:24 PM
I would just use the Alox & candle wax. If it needs thinning, you could add a bit of mineral oil. I like simple.

fredj338
04-14-2015, 04:25 PM
A friend uses candles purchased for pennies at yard sales and Lee Liquid Alox for his black powder lube. Works for him. I tried it and it was a disaster. Hard fouling and poor accuracy.
No surprise, most will tell you petrol based is a nono in BP loads. Try animal or plant fats w/ the wax.

mdi
04-15-2015, 11:52 AM
I too would cut down on the motor oil or eliminate it and use the mineral oil to soften the wax/alox mixture for application to the bullets...

Prolly work in a low-mid velocity .38 or 45 ACP.

cajun shooter
04-25-2015, 07:15 AM
Your wax may have other ingredients in it being that it's a candle wax. Just remember your wax is just your carrier. You could just stop putting in the automotive oil as the wax and mineral oil will most likely take care of your lube. If anything, I would add some lanolin to the mix. It works wonders in many lubes and gun barrels. Later David