Water Pump Grease For Bullet Lube

[bouncer50]

I have a few old casting books from the 1950s and early 1960s A lot of people were using water pump grease for bullet lube back then. I have try heavy grease in making bullet for my 45/70 and they seem to work good

[bhn22]

50/50 wheel bearing grease and beeswax has some following as a bullet lube.

[lobogunleather]

I like to keep things simple whenever possible. For ammo that I use in considerable volume (handgun calibers especially) I use a lubri-sizer and NRA formula Alox lube. For low volume ammo (.45-70, .45-90, .45 Sharps Express) I load bullets as-cast and lubricated with white lithium grease, available in tubes at any auto parts store for a few bucks. Applied with the fingers, filling the grooves, I can lube 50 or 100 bullets in about the time it is taking me to reply to this post. Excellent lubrication, bore cleans easily with a few dry patches, very accurate shooting.

[303Guy]

Water pump grease is wash out resistant and almost impossible to melt. At least the stuff I had was. It was quite thick too. I can see how it would work as a boolit lube.

[rhbrink]

Texaco Water Pump grease is what I used as a back in the sixty's. It was a heavy grease and it worked? Never had any leading problem but the accuracy wasn't expected as it is today I know that back then beer can accuracy at 50 yards was sufficient.

RB

[longbow]

I used to "finger lube" all my .45-70 boolits when I was a young 'un. Didn't have any form of lubrisizer and no-one I knew then pan lubed. That's probably the method I would use now.

I used to use Valvoline PB Wheelbearing grease with both smokeless and BP. Contrary to what most say about petroleum lube and BP that grease worked very well and kept fouling soft. Not sure that accuracy would be on par with good BP lube but it certainly did not tar up my barrel. It left a soft, gooey black sludge that pushed out with a few cleaning patches.

I even shot some hot loads out of my Siamese Mauser in .45-70 with no leading issues using that grease.

Crude but effective. Lithium grease should work fine as well.

Longbow

[303Guy]

I'm playing around with beeswax and lithium and extreme grease. Both greases need a lot of heat or prior dissolving/mixing with mineral turps. The extreme grease mix is much firmer which is what I'm wanting while the lithium grease is softer and slicker.

[Geezer in NH]

I am old 63 years at that and I have never had to pump grease into a water pump. What's that tell you????

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Water pump grease was used to pack the bearing shafts of water pumps used in cars and trucks built in the 30's and 40's, modern 'synthetics/plastics' have pretty much ended this need.

[bhn22]

And the bearings on windmills, IIRC. Most windmills drove pumps that were used to water livestock, or crops.

[bouncer50]

I like to keep things simple whenever possible. For ammo that I use in considerable volume (handgun calibers especially) I use a lubri-sizer and NRA formula Alox lube. For low volume ammo (.45-70, .45-90, .45 Sharps Express) I load bullets as-cast and lubricated with white lithium grease, available in tubes at any auto parts store for a few bucks. Applied with the fingers, filling the grooves, I can lube 50 or 100 bullets in about the time it is taking me to reply to this post. Excellent lubrication, bore cleans easily with a few dry patches, very accurate shooting. That what i notice the bore cleans just with a few dry patches. I think more people should try grease a cheap way to lube bullets. With today grease it should work better then in did in the 1950 to 1960

[rhbrink]

On the water pump grease that I used a friend worked for a local utility company and they evidently used a lot of this stuff. He always had a five gallon pail of the stuff and anybody that some could dip in a get as much as you wanted. Free bullet lube and it worked! This was back in the early sixty's I wish I still had some of that stuff just to see if it would work as well now as it did back then? It might have even made a black powder lube since it was water friendly?

RB

[claude]

I know that back then beer can accuracy at 50 yards was sufficient.

Some things don't change that much.................

[Geezer in NH]

Note We have many farm type machinery we use Lucas red and tacky for all for all the time I remember. Hasn't let us down even with the stuff that is used twice a year and left out side the rest. That is as long as it is lubed before and after using.