TAC 1 bullet lube Not the best?

[randyrat]

Nope, not the best... I should have written this long ago. TAC 1 and TAC X are not the absolute perfect bullet lube for all Rifle and pistol applications.
But they are the best in some categories and here are a few to mention..
-----Lower smoke than most
could have added some ingredients but choose not to because TAC would have lost it's low smoke characteristics
-----Nice aroma no pungent or industrial funk smell- I could have added ingredients to make it even better but these would have made it STINK
----- Smoother easier to use in most Lube sizers without a heater.
----- Very low toxicity- here I go again, I could have added some ingredients to make it better but would have raised the toxicity level
----I'm not going to even touch velocity because your millage will very, if you do your job TAC will do its job just fine.

As Larry Gibson found out with some testing it takes anywhere from 10 -20 fouling shots to settle a group in a clean barrel with TAC lubes, but after that watch it group NICE with good SD and ES consistency. Too bad it takes a little longer to settle a group with TAC lubes than most in a clean barrel. I'm at a dead end with that..I just always use TAC so i seldom have to foul a barrel unless it is a new gun.. I recommend 15-20 fouling shots before you judge.

A huge Thanks to Larry for doing all that testing back in December

[Wasalmonslayer]

A side note I have shot it in everything I own from 9mm to 45-70 and once the fit is right and your barrel is seasoned it works great!
I was skeptical when I switched over but now that all my guns are seasoned it shoots great.
Clean up consists of a wet patch and a dry patch followed by a patch with Randys zip lube.
I don't push the velocity envelope and shoot mostly plain base.
Peak for me is about 2100 fps.

Thanks Randy for making life simple!!!

[bhn22]

Seriously, how many people change bullet lubes that often? How many shots does it take to completely remove every trace of the previous lube from a barrel?

[texassako]

I just have to give a thumbs up to TAC1. I shoot several hundred rounds in my M28-76 every few weeks using TAC1 in the bottom groove or 2 and I very rarely clean the bore, just a dry patch every now and then. I do have to admit I put tumble lube(BLL currently) over it on long bore ride bullets (NOE 311331 mostly) that run out of any lube in my rifle.

[pworley1]

TAC-1 has worked fine for me.

[randyrat]

Seriously, how many people change bullet lubes that often? How many shots does it take to completely remove every trace of the previous lube from a barrel?
I'm not sure of the question/point, please explain..

Mean while I'll explain my reasoning/craziness.. As i stated it takes about 10- 20 shots to settle the group and show the true accuracy of TAC 1 from a CLEAN barrel. Not in all cases, but I've found 20-25 from a new gun (maybe it was not broke in good enough yet)..Larry found 15 was the number in his experiment..Now if I take my 30-06 out and shoot my standard load using TAC1, it is good right from the first shot, but TAC 1 is all I ever shoot out of it and I never clean it down to the metal. Changing lubes with the same gun, your gonna get different results with different lubes.
TAC1 is enhanced with Carnauba wax and that stuff is tough, even tougher when it is forced down the barrel of your gun shot after shot. Never builds up though, my thirty thirty bore has not been cleaned in years using TAC1 with a couple thousand rounds shot through it.

[Beagle333]

I don't know if it's the best, but it works well in my sizer, smells great, looks great on boolits and I never have to scrub lead.
Any wandering boolits on my targets and you can just blame them on me. :D

[bhn22]

Fifteen shots were fired of each sample. Five as foulers, ten for "score". This is an extremely small cross section, and hardly empirical, or "extensive", especially at 44 degrees. If this test were reapplied today, I'm speculating that the results would be quite different.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's important for us to do our own testing, using our own components and situations to learn what works under our own circumstances. Tests like this are nice, and Larry is to be commended for his initiative in undertaking such a task, but long term testing is necessary for us to understand what it is that we're actually doing.

[David2011]

The smell really is great.

David

[Larry Gibson]

randyrat

My test was not a condemnation of any lube. It was simply a search for the lube(s) that performed best at the higher velocities tested using the smaller lube grooves designed into the XCB bullet. All of the lubes tested perform very well in the area's they were made for. I was pushing them beyond the use they are "normally" used at. I actually still use several of the lubes at "normal" velocities with numerous other cast bullets in numerous other cartridges because they work. Many find TAC 1 & 2 to work just fine in normal applications and I always say if it works use it!

Larry Gibson

[tomme boy]

I like both of your lubes. It is all I shoot. I find that TAC1 shoot a little better than TAC X out of MY RIFLE. We are talking about 1/8" here. But I am shooting at 2100fps Not as fast as Larry and others are going.

I really like the TAC X for pistols. It doesn't smell like burning tar like a lot of lubes do.

Don't change anything. They work like you made them to work.

[FergusonTO35]

I'm glad to read that Tac reportedly works so well in a variety of boolits and velocities. Do you guys really never scrub your barrels when using it? After so many years of keeping my guns super clean it just doesn't feel right.

I have only one luber, a 450 sans heater. Would rather not have to buy another so I can have one for pistol and one for rifle. I like to keep things simple, which is why I have a bunch of guns in 11 calibers and a larger selection of powders, molds, primers, boolits than the biggest gun shop around here has.:veryconfu

[tomme boy]

I have gone over 700 rounds on my 308 without cleaning the barrel. It still was shining like new. The throat was what really needed the cleaning. That was why it was done.

[osteodoc08]

Tac X has worked very well for me from 9mm to 41 Mag and 45 Colt. I've used it on 45/70 with good results.

I have NOT tried it with HV boolit loads.

[Hickok]

I went to TAC1 for everything I reload with cast, outstanding!