Best lube for the heat of AZ

[6bg6ga]

Moving so now its time to consider a more heat resistant lube for a hotter climate. Any suggestions?

[Rcmaveric]

A soap lube like SL-68B or 6/6/6/1 maybe even Felix Lube. Thats what i use for the Florida heat.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[marlin39a]

Carnauba Red works for me.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Handling high heat is one of the things designed into SL68B, It is also easy to work with and doesn't need heat to flow through a lubesizer, even in a cold (55ºF) room. If the difficulty of procuring microwax is discouraging for you, and you consider satan's lube (666+1), You might want to add more soap to that mix, like 666+2...but that will never perform as well as SL68B.

[Idz]

How about powder coating? It'll handle the heat with no problem.

[mto7464]

SPG make a "tropical" lube now. I use it for BPC shooting in the heat

[Silvercreek Farmer]

How about powder coating? It'll handle the heat with no problem.

What he said.

[mto7464]

What he said.

Powder coat is not for everything. Sometimes traditional is the way to go or what you have to use.

[odfairfaxsub]

He asked about lube. He didn’t ask about powder coat.

[El Bibliotecario]

Recently I tried Lyman's orange stick lube. I was looking for something which when left in the garage when temperatures reach the 100s would not melt and leak out the bottom of the lubri-sizer. So far it has been an unseasonably cool spring, and I found the orange lube, which Lyman recommends for use with a heater, very stiff. I put a small space heater next to the lubri-sizer for a short time before use. It made the orange lube soft enough to use...but also caused leakage at the bottom of the lubrisizer. I am consoling myself that after it gets too hot to work in the garage, at least whatever orange lube is left will not leak...I hope.

[sghart3578]

TAC-X by Randy

[Walks]

I used 50/50 during SoCal summers for 40+yrs.

Now I use White Label Lube BAC because I ran out of my stash of Tamerack. Use the Lyman heater to get it flowing in the Winter, then unplug. In the Summer no heat is needed. Have a (1lb) can of alox and about 5lbs of pure Beeswax.
Someday I'll melt it all together.

[6bg6ga]

I've tried making my own lube in the past and the results weren't the best so I will purchase it. I'm using a blue lube now that melts at lower temp.

[INTRLOPER]

I've tried making my own lube in the past and the results weren't the best so I will purchase it. I'm using a blue lube now that melts at lower temp.

IMO LBT BLUE (not the soft) is the best over the counter lube for hot conditions.

[243winxb]

242443 some are no longer available.

[randyrat]

TAC-X by Randy

I've been on a Sabbatical

Good luck with your choice.
I think it is going to be up to you on how available ingredients are to you, cost, and do you plan on shooting, storing your ammo in the heat.
Real hot situations people say; How much beeswax should I add. In AZ people ask; How much should I add to Beeswax

[Larry Gibson]

Moving so now its time to consider a more heat resistant lube for a hotter climate. Any suggestions?

I've been using 2500+ primarily for rifle loads. Still have a small stash of Javelina I use for special loads. Have used different 50/50 lubes w/o problem also. For handgun I use BAC. I have a 450 lubrasizer for each so the 3 different lubes aren't a problem. The first few years here in western AZ it would get 95" degrees in my garage for a couple months. I really didn't have any problems with the lube melting out of the lubrasizers. I lube the bullets and stand them in small boxes so if loading during the hot times I'd keep the lubed bullets in a refrigerator I have in the garage or you can put them in the freezer for an hour prior to loading. A couple years ago I had AC put in the garage (it's also my "man cave") and keep it at 78 degrees. No problems at all now and I store sized/lubed bullets under my bench now.

As to accuracy and/or leading problems in 90 - 120+ degrees......haven't had a problems that are heat related with the lubes mentioned. Nothing but excellent performance.

BTW; I've not had to use a lubrasizer heater since moving here........ Also not all of Arizona is flat desert. We have a lot of mountains, especially Northern Arizona a lot of which is at 5000+ elevation. There is winder up there with lots of snow.......and cold.......

[ShooterAZ]

I use WL 2500+ for just about everything now. It seems to be a good "all around" lube for Arizona.

[INTRLOPER]

6lbs of Beeswax = $24.00
6lbs of cheap petroleum jelly= $18
6lbs of canning wax= $18
1lB Ivory Soap = $3 or $4 (wasn't really paying attention, had her pick it up with the groceries)

About 202 commercial lube sticks worth of pretty great lube at less than .35 cents a stick for a few hours of my time and a little effort on my part. At current use that is about 10 to 15 maybe even 20 years worth of bullet lube. FWIW, I did not actually make it into sticks. I just made it into mid sized muffins and gently melt one in small sauce pan over direct flame on her stove top and dump it into the back of the sizer when I need it. I shoot it in everything from subsonic 25-35 cartridges all the way up to the jacketed speed 25, 30, and 8mm's. No heat required for the sizer even in an air conditioned 70 degree room and it works great even in weather that makes me think twice about going to the range.

I know he just added soap to an existing and very vintage recipe, but I am forever in debt to the man that came up with and posted that recipe here for me to follow. I will never pay $2.50 to $6 for a stick of anything ever again. My $.35 cent sticks serve me just as well or even better, so THANK YOU KIND SIR :drinks:

[trapper9260]

I make the old NRA lube with ATF and mix it to how think you like it to be.If put it thin you need no lube heater or you make it thick then you need a lube heater. I use it for all my rifle and hang gun cast loads.No leading also.

[Elkins45]

If I were restricted to only using one lube for everything it would be the 666+1 formula. If I lived in a cold climate I might not even add the soap, or add less.

[Lead pot]

I have been a lubaholic since I was kid back in the 50's. Reading the old Forrest and Streams and the NRA as well as what Pope used to write. I mostly shot black powder as well as mostly cast bullets and the wax carrier was always B-Wax and it works just fine with what ever you wanted to mix with it. But in later life after retirement and the Kids left the roost I started shooting BPCR matches and I found the lubes I was using in the past that work just fine from home to the range did not hold up during long trips of several days and weeks at the range in temperatures ranging up into the upper 90's plus I needed a carrier that would hold up in the truck at camp and on line and B wax did not stand up with the temp getting up way over 100 in cases and this made me look for a carrier and things that will hold up in a environment of high temp. I switched from B-Wax to Ozokerite because of the high melting point and absorption quality it has. (I will call it OZ wax) OZ is used for cosmetics and if you look at the lipstick your Wife of Girlfriend carries in her purse you will find that it does not melt and stays soft :) this made me look for what they use for a carrier.
OZ comes in several grades and it is worth the time to do some research for the grade that works best for the use for lube.
Yes it's a mineral wax, I call it dirt wax, and don't let this stop you from using it with black powder. A lot of stuff you read on the internet about tar problems with black powder is bunk.

[INTRLOPER]

If I were restricted to only using one lube for everything it would be the 666+1 formula. If I lived in a cold climate I might not even add the soap, or add less.

This forum truly needs a like button. :smile: I have more exotic, expensive, and complicated lubes on my shelf but I could fill the rest of my days with just this one lube recipe and be totally copesetic. It's easy to get the parts to make it, it is cheap, and it is simple to make, and best of all it just plain works very well.

I currently have 3 versions of the 666+1 lube. Standard 666+1, 766+1 (extra beeswax), and the old magazine/NRA version with no soap.

The extra beeswax version is for driving the guts out of the smaller bore rifle loads in warm weather. The standard version covers 99% of everything else. I use it for both panlube and in the sizer. The no soap version is preferred by a slightly cantankerous 45/70 and my black powder full bore conical bullets. The plus soap version works in the bp guns too. I just choose the no soap version as it pops from the pan lubing tray ever slightly better than the soap version. The soaped version does clean up a bit better with Ballistol and water after playtime is over however.

Not sure why, but I have never had an issue reheating it many times as some have reported, so I do not know what all that is about. My current Pyrex cup of standard SATAN 666+1 lube as posted here in the recipe area has been re heated close to two dozen times if not more. It does get a bit darker with each heating, but performance wise it is the same or slightly better with each trip to the microwave. I only nuke it to the thin gravy stage however. I will admit that a time or two from my inattention it has made it to the full liquid stage with nary an issue though.

[HP9MM]

LBT Soft Blue works well for me even when left in the truck all day-as today.

[Aunegl]

When I lived in AZ: 2 parts beeswax/ one part vaseline, 1oz Lee's alox.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

When I lived in AZ: 2 parts beeswax/ one part vaseline, 1oz Lee's alox.

Aunegl, maybe I'm missing something? but how much is one part in reference to 1oz ?

[Aunegl]

2 lbs - beeswax/ 1lb vaseline + 1oz alox. I would get a lube star after the twentieth target (pig). I used to shoot in Phoenix and Tucson.

[David2011]

I’ve been using TAC-X in southeast NM for about 3 years. Typically the summer temp is 100-110 but sometimes it gets hot. The only time the lube is exposed to the high temperatures is when the ammo is being used. My reloading room is well insulated but only air conditioned when I’m using it. With the cool nighttime temperatures the room seldom gets over 85 degrees even if I don’t use it for several days. The TAC-X holds up well in my conditions.