Carnauba Flakes mixed with Alox for Tumble Lube

[yul b. nekst]

It's been a long while since I've been here but when needed this is my go to place! Anyway, found a ton ( not literally, but more like 50#!) of ww in my garage that I never used and want to make up some 9mm with a Lee TL mould. Has anyone ever used pure carnauba flakes or pellets melted and then mixed with Alox and ms for their TL? I've used straight Alox years and years ago with my 45 colt and Unique, but am thinking now with the 9mm. Mixing with the carnauba flakes will reduce the stickiness to the lube. Don't want to go the PC route. To expensive start up and more time consuming than I prefer. The 9mm ww will all be loaded in plinking rounds, so nothing fancy for speed.

[Johnny Diamond]

Hmmm sounds interesting,I'm interested Ina Carnuba Alox based lube for my 45 colt loads been bouncing around in my head for a couple of weeks something very simple Alox Carnuba, beeswax as a base???


FINEM RESPICE ~ MEMENTO MORI

[Dusty Bannister]

Sounds a lot like heating Johnsons paste wax to drive off the solvents, then adding the LLA and as it cools, add mineral spirits.

[Outpost75]

I was in the commercial reloading business before the days of Lee Liquid Alox. We used Johnson Glo-Coat commercial floor wax dipped from 5-gallon buckets to tumble-lube .38 and .45 wadcutter conventional grooved wheelweight cast bullets in a cement mixer. Glo-Coat was pure carnuba in aqueous emulsion with consistency like lard. A food service soup ladle full lubed 100 pounds of bullets.

Agitate 30 secs. until bullets are fully coated. Stop the mixer, insert hose from a forced air blower into the drum, rotating the bullets two revolutions slowly every 15 minutes to keep lube distributed until it starts to dry tacky. After 4 hours pour out the bullets and spread out onto a tarpaulin to finish air drying overnight with fans. You can assemble them into ammo the next day. No VOC emissions using water emulsion! Very little smoke in indoor ranges, guns were clean and never had any issues with leading in either .45 target autoloaders or .38 PPC revolvers as long as velocities kept below 850 fps.

Millions of rounds sold to happy customers in the 1980s.

[GhostHawk]

Yep, in fact 1.5% carnuba flakes melted into Alox, then make up like normal BLL is my standard.

Makes a nice hard shell, and my bores LOVE it.

Easiest and safest IMO to warm the alox then add the flakes.

[yul b. nekst]

Apparently Glo-Coat was repackaged as Johnson One Step No Buff and was also discontinued a bit ago. All those nasty California hating solvents killed a great deal of products. It became difficult several years ago to even get straight laquer for my cedar and hardwood archery arrows for the same reason.

[yul b. nekst]

Do you even bother with the mineral spirits then? This is what I wanted, something easy, but yet efficient for TL. The whole can of Johnson Past Wax just seemed a bit much for the small batch of ww I have and I can buy the carnauba flakes in 2oz packages. So your saying just melt the alox and wax and TL, and probably just warm the bullets up as well I'm guessing?

[GhostHawk]

I would thin the Alox/carnuba mix with "Something". BLL recipe was originally Johnson One step, then switched to Lundmark wax.

I have experimented with 90% rubbing alcohol and mineral spirits with no problems. My first try with alcohol I grabbed the wrong bottle, got one of 60% not 90%. When I mixed I got a layer of water seperated out in my mixing jar.

I poured off the alox/alcohol. poured out the water. And ran a batch of Bullets that were going to be loaded into .410 hulls to clean out the remaining strange stuff. Even that after it dried seemed like good lube.

Basic BLL or 45/45/10 is pretty easy. And it is not hard to warm the Alox enough to melt some carnuba flakes.

But un-thinned I suspect it will be a gel at cooler temps. Ie hard to pour, count drops or anything.
Just my experience and 2 cents worth. YMMV. What you do is up to you.

[JohnH]

For 50 pounds of bullets no way I'd go through all the trouble of making lube. Buy this https://www.lsstuff.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=14&zenid=mvdajql9263gr4f36cse7vnuu4 and be done with it.

[dimaprok]

Agree with John post above, you found 50lb of lead if you're not a caster than sell it and buy some plated or jacketed. bullets under 10 cents a piece.

Also you can start powder coating for about $20. I bought PC locally from PC company $10/lb great powder perfect coverage. An old toaster oven and wire basket for deep frying from thrift store and cool whip / sour cream container and you're set. For 9mm PC will be better.

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