Secret lube recipie...

[Harry O]

I came up with a bullet lube that has decreased the size of my .38 Special groups. No change in the bullet (358477), powder (HS-6), powder charge (6.2gr), or primer (Std small pistol Winchester). I had been using NRA 50/50 lube before and was getting decent accuracy. The group sizes I am getting with the new lube are consistently about 2/3 to 3/4 that of the NRA lube. I have fired about 500 rounds with the new lube, so it is not a fluke.

It is a secret. A secret to me to me, anyway. All I know is that I threw a bunch of misc. stuff I had laying around into a double boiler pot and melted it all together. I know there are a few of sticks of Lee's version of the NRA 50/50 lube, some beeswax, some paraffin (added it later to stiffen it up), a couple of tins of high-temperature steam water piping lube, and who knows what else (I know there has to be more in there). Proportions and amounts of the ingredients are unknown.

It looks like the NRA 50/50 lube, but is not quite as hard. At least I have about 2lbs of it to use before I am back to the NRA 50/50 lube.

[HiVelocity]

Hey, so long as it works! Now, you need to research your recipe.

I tried your idea once, all I got was a nasty looking mud that resembled something you would step
On in your front yard. I was going to toss it, until I thought I would just save it for a later project.
Nasty as it was, it worked. I still have a metal can with about 8oz in it. Go figure........ lol!

HV

[retread]

I made some up a few years ago that looked like what the dog would leave in the front yard. It worked about the same also! :veryconfu

[303Guy]

Any chance of having it analysed? I guess not. Pity. :(

I've been doing all these lube recipe tests and now have a collection of strange mixes. I started adding some together to clear the containers (small amounts). I had this thought that maybe lots of different ingredients might just be the answer. Even if it does look like dog pooh!

[Lead Fred]

stick happens

[andremajic]

History has shown that some of the best chemical inventions were made by accident.

You can always try to replicate with the same sort of ingredients again at a later date.

Just make sure to write down exactly what you can remember adding while it's still fresh in your memory and refer to your notes when you try duplicating it again after you run out of lube.

Is the main ingredient in the steam pipe lube teflon? I think I have a little of that somewhere...

[Harry O]

> "Is the main ingredient in the steam pipe lube teflon? I think I have a little of that somewhere... "

I don't know what is in it and I don't have the tins anymore. It looked like regular grease and was very soft, but it was very hard to get to melt at 212 degrees F. That was the limit of my double boiler. Eventually, it melted, though.

I was looking to make the NRA lube to be softer, but without lowering its melting point. That part of it worked. I think when I run out that I am going to try a simple mixture of NRA lube and the high temperature grease alone. That may be the secret.

[AggieEE]

If that steam grease does have teflon in it BE CAREFUL. Flame and or high temps plus teflon equals early trip to the hereafter.

[Lefty Red]

Could it be that it's a softer lube than what you were using before?

[Harry O]

> "Could it be that it's a softer lube than what you were using before? "

That is the theory. I think that the higher the acceleration, the stiffer the lube should be. The lower the acceleration, the softer the lube should be.

I use an SPG lube copy for my low speed loads (under 800fps). I used NRA 50/50 for everything else. I wondered if my medium speed loads (800fps to 1200fps) would do better with a softer lube. However, softer lubes usually melt at lower temperatures. I have to keep my SPG lube in a cooler to keep it from melting.

I thought that adding the high-temperature grease would soften it without lowering the melting point. My father had several tins of it that he used for lots of things. They lubed, but did not melt in ordinary use. The first melt I did went way too soft (with just NRA lube and high-temp grease). I started adding other stuff to stiffen it up some. First was beeswax, but it did not stiffen it up very much. That is when I started using paraffin. I got it up to midway between my SPG lube and the NRA 50/50 in "softness". I have had no problems with it melting during hot Sunday afternoons and it appears to be very accurate at mid-speeds.

[Grump]

Since lube alchemy seems for most mixes to be a bit more "flexible" in proportions than making cookies, writing down your best recollections now might get you close enough to replicate it once you run out.

I wish I had any notes at all from my dad's concoction for rifles about 1984....

[Harry O]

Update: I ran across a tin of heat-pruf grease that I have not used yet. It is listed as Plumber's Heat-Pruf Grease by Radiator Specialty Company. It is still sold, but costs $5 to $7 per 3oz tin. I inherited several of them (which were used in the last batch) and evidently bought this one at an estate sale for 75 cents. I will be having my wife keep an eye out for them in the future.

It is listed as being made of a Heavy Naphthenic Hydrotreated Distillate -- whatever that is. There is no other breakdown of components that I was able to find (probably a company secret). Melting point is 260 degrees F and flash point is 380 F. It is listed as non-hazardous. Mild irritation if inhaled or swallowed. I am not sure if there is anything in it that helps my lube. However, it does what I wanted it to: it softened the NRA 50-50 lube (decreased the viscosity) without decreasing the melting point. Decreasing the viscosity for mid-range handgun loads evidently works (improves accuracy).

I will be trying this again when I run out of the stuff I have. One thing different, I will be using less of the Heat-Pruf Grease per tube of lube. I overshot the first time and most of the other ingredients I added were to stiffen it back up again.

[RobS]

Could it be that it's a softer lube than what you were using before?

Good possibility. I've always had better luck with softer lube and when I went to making my own for higher pressure magnum handgunning and rifle I still wanted a soft lube. Red10 was my answer and has been good for everything from mouse fart loads to high pressure/high RPM rifle.

[Pee Wee]

you can get it analyzed.

[Pee Wee]

Harry O PM coming to you