Pan lubing 50/50 Beeswax and Olive oil for the first time. What temp is it done?

[Stopsign32v]

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48135212771_2af5769d0f_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2gkxxKz)

It has been at room temperature for a few hours now but when I break the bullets free it is still pretty...mushy. I could smear in the groove and then load them up? Or should I lower the temp and see if it will be more solid? Or am I just not letting it sit long enough?

It's worth noting that I measured 1 cup of Beeswax pearls in solid form to 1 cup of Olive oil. So if I had melted the Beeswax and then measured it I doubt it would have been 1 cup.

[Peregrine]

Stick it in the fridge?

Looks like you could have used more beeswax. Let me know how this recipe works for you, I want to try it myself.

[Bazoo]

You need to add more beeswax. I pan lube with beeswax crisco in about 2:1, in the oven on the lowest setting of about 150F until the bullets get to that temperature too. Soon as the pan is cool enough to touch is the time to take the cake out and you can pop the bullets out and not have any lube grooves nude. If ya wait till all is room temperature then you'll have lube grooves intermittently bare. You can load them without issue if you lube the bare spots long as the mess don't bother you during the loading process.

[indian joe]

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48135212771_2af5769d0f_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2gkxxKz)

It has been at room temperature for a few hours now but when I break the bullets free it is still pretty...mushy. I could smear in the groove and then load them up? Or should I lower the temp and see if it will be more solid? Or am I just not letting it sit long enough?

It's worth noting that I measured 1 cup of Beeswax pearls in solid form to 1 cup of Olive oil. So if I had melted the Beeswax and then measured it I doubt it would have been 1 cup.

Too much oil - not enough wax - 50/50 by melted volume - if its hot weather 60 wax / 40 oil might be better (or someplace in between)
Do yrself a favour and make a cookie cutter out of an old shell thats been neck expanded then you can get boolits with full lube grooves everytime without foolin round getting temp just right

[Beagle333]

I'd go with the 60/40 and make a cookie cutter as well. I don't know what caliber you are using, but you can usually buy an old golf club at the Thrift store for 2 bucks and make a cookie cutter out of the shaft. (measure before you buy)

[Stopsign32v]

Wait what? What are you guys talking about a cookie cutter? What do you do with it? I'm using 45 Colt to start with. This is my first attempt at black powder. Will be going to 44/40 next.

[Stopsign32v]

Ok I looked up the cookie cutter thing and it makes sense. What cookie cutter would be useful for a 45 Colt?

[redhawk0]

Try a 45-70....the few extra thousandths won't make a difference.

It gives you enough to hold on to also.

redhawk

[Gray Fox]

I use a .45-70 case that has bee fired and not resized for .45 Colt and .45-70 boolits. Punch out the primer, the put the case in a vice with the primer pocket pointing up and drill out the pocket with the 1/8 diameter drill. Find a nail that fits the hole, cut off the pointed end and smooth with a file. Use the case to cut out the boolit from the cake and then use the nail to softly push the boolit out of the case mouth. Once you've cut all the boolits out, put a new batch of boolits in the holes and reheat the cake until it just melts enough to fill the new batch with lube. Let cool, repeat the process. I use the white Styrofoam cartridge trays from ammo boxes to hold the boolits as I push them out of the cake cutter. It reduces handling and you can put the whole tray in a sandwich baggie to store them. GF

[Stopsign32v]

Perfect, thanks! Now I just need to find some 45-70 brass. :lol:

[Gray Fox]

PM sent. GF

[country gent]

A cake cutter helps a lot I made mine from brass hobby tubing they are push threw type just keep cutting out bullets and they push thru the top. Works for me.
Heres what I used
.500 od hobby tubing X .015 wall ( .470 ID)
1/2" Id tygon tubing.

Cut a piece of the tubing 4"-5" long I swaged the end down with a sizing die to the desired ID of ,465 id. Use lube and work slow there is no rim so push in a little remove and check for size. When to size use a deburring tool and sharpen inside of tube to a even sharp edge. Just break burr on outside of tube. Cut 2" length of tubing and push over back end brass tubing.
Online Metals is a good source of the brass tubing

[Stopsign32v]

So if anyone cares, 1 cup of pearls of beeswax = to roughly 2/3 cup melted. So since the summer here is around 90 degrees and winter is mostly 50s-70s I'm doing the following:

1 cup Olive oil
2 cup pearls of beeswax unmelted

Should come out to roughly 60/10 I'd say.

[Larry Gibson]

+1 on putting in fridge (or freezer for short time) and using a cookie cutter.

I use 5 parts beeswax to 4 parts olive oil and it works fine here in Arizona.

[GregLaROCHE]

I don’t use olive oil. I use canola oil, because it supports a much high temperature, before it smokes and starts to break down. I figure it does a better job going down a hot barrel. Also bees wax supports higher temperatures than paraffin.

[indian joe]

I don’t use olive oil. I use canola oil, because it supports a much high temperature, before it smokes and starts to break down. I figure it does a better job going down a hot barrel. Also bees wax supports higher temperatures than paraffin.

I've been using Beeswax and neatsfoot oil - works fine but decent neatsfoot is spendy so when I run this lot out proly change to something else - have a high level of resistance to canola oil because of its parentage - used to grow the stuff way back before it went GMO.

[bigbore52]

Second Indian Joe's comments.......instead of worrying about various oil additives to the bees wax such as neatsfoot, canola, peanut etc just toss in a bit of solidified vegetable oil to the bees wax and it will harden it up...the ratio's you can work out yourself depends on ambient temperature but usually 1:1 will work in hotter climates......as an aside you can plonk in one of the grand kids coloured crayons for a nice colour effect, ...saves them drawing on the walls while you're baby sitting them :)

[jonp]

Second Indian Joe's comments.......instead of worrying about various oil additives to the bees wax such as neatsfoot, canola, peanut etc just toss in a bit of solidified vegetable oil to the bees wax and it will harden it up...the ratio's you can work out yourself depends on ambient temperature but usually 1:1 will work in hotter climates......as an aside you can plonk in one of the grand kids coloured crayons for a nice colour effect, ...saves them drawing on the walls while you're baby sitting them :)

One crayon?

[bigted]

A rendition of the old Bee wax/Whale oil that THE Christian Sharps company recomended.

Take bee wax and Vaseline in equal parts gets you a very near facsimile of the old Sharps recomendation.

I used this for all my BPCR loading. I even used it for making grease cookies. That mix gives great lubing quality as well as being stable.

The pan lubing works well with the cookie cutter, I made mine outta a 45-70 case and use a 16 penny nail I believe through the drilled out primer hole. Heating the nail end and shoving it into a drilled out piece of dowel [ the drilled hole needs to be smaller then the nail] then pull out the nail and allow it to cool. Now place the nail up through the inside of the case and out the drilled primer hole. Next super glue the dowel piece onto the nail shaft.

This allows you to slide the cutter over the pan lubed boolits, pulling the boolit back out of the cake, and using the upside down nail with the dowel ... punch the lubed boolit back out of the cutter case. Stand the perfectly pan lubed boolits on a piece of wax paper to completely cool before using.

I use them the next day to ensure that they are completely cooled off.