Some lube thoughts and observations

[wonderwolf]

I decided to run a little experiment this weekend if the weather breaks like the weatherman says it should.

I have loaded up several lots of ammo for my 45-70 Sharps Express all PP bullets loaded at the same depth with the same charge. My aim is/was to find a more durable finished product when I'm done at the loading bench. And test for ease of cleaning between strings.

My usual lube is a mix of bees wax and olive oil for the life of me I can't remember where I got the idea from but I got it and I made up a nice chunk of this lube I apply to patched bullets by rolling the bases and the bodies in it for a few seconds each. The lube is somewhat messy, Does not dry but smells nice. It penetrates the patch and makes it somewhat transparent. This seems to make the patch a little oily in a way and it seems much more easy to tear or to become damaged during loading etc. The lube has been working well for me in the short time I've been messing with it.

Lee Liquid alox is one of the lubes I have yet to try but have now loaded ammo with patches coated with this (bases and all). I can take 10 or so patched bullets. and in a small plastic bullet box with a squirt of the LLA I can shake them around for a few seconds, then set them to dry(this does not mess up the patch at all on the bullet, at least for me). I can get lots more done this way instead of just doing one at a time with my lube mix/method and the patch seems like it is easily 20X stronger after the LLA dries. It does not cause the patch to become saturated or transparent and offers a dry finish that wont/shouldn't migrate to the powder readily.

The 3rd method I loaded ammo with was to load a un lubed bullet then coat the exposed portion with LLA using my fingers.

the 4th method was a control which is unlubed patched bullets. So I have a base line to work from .


So now I need to get time to go and burn some powder and see what I learn.

[pdawg_shooter]

Most anything will work for lube. I have even used tallow and lard on occasion, just to see if it worked. It did. Right now I use White Label BAC for everything. Lee liquid works and seems to water proof the patches somewhat, but it is messy applying. BTW I only shoot smokeless so I have no Idea of what works with BP. I understand you need a lube that will keep the fouling soft with BP.

[bcp477]

I have always used LLA. I cut mine 50 % with turpentine....and apply it with an old paintbrush. It works just fine. I made a "bullet board" for drying my patched bullets....consisting of a piece of masonite, with feet attached to elevate it, with holes drilled through, spaced at about 1" apart in a grid pattern. After patching a bullet, I insert the nose into the hole in the board - where it sits to dry. For lubing the bullets, I just leave them in the board....and lube each one with the paintbrush. Then, after the lube dries (which takes only an hour or two with the thinned LLA)....the bullets go into storage boxes.

[windrider919]

Wonderwolf, have you tried Johnson Paste Wax, commonly abbreviated here as JPW? It is not an automotive wax, it is a furniture and floor wax and is sold in the cleaning supplies section usually. I have used it both as a full coverage wax on the paper patched bullet and as a wipe on the exposed patch of loaded rounds. It waterproofs the PP and the old timers swear that it is an excellent lubricant. Some of the homemade recipes also use JPW.

The other lube that I use is Rooster Bullet lube which is a water soluble liquid that dried into a non-soluble wax. There are several ways to use it, like a tumble lube or as a patch wetting agent. Full strength did not work for me as it glued the patch to the bullet and caused flyers. Some people wet the patch and let it dry then roll it [but then you need a little dab to 'glue' the patch edge down, to me an extra step I did not want]. What experimentation eventually evolved to was to use 1/4 strength Rooster with water, wet then patch and roll. It makes a tight, slightly translucent patch that does not unrole yet shreds off the bullet properly when fired. It resists the high humidity here on the Texas Gufl coast that will soften and cause a plain patch to start to unroll on the exposed portion.

But what counts is the accuracy achieved and the greatest lube is no good if it hurts that. I have stayed with the Rooster because, at least in my rifles, the 1/4 solution lubed patches were more accurate vs the other methods.