Recluse
05-02-2009, 01:42 AM
Some time back, I posted about a "Black Lube" recipe I'd been developing. Base lube ingredient was Mobil 1 axle/bearing grease. Had really high hopes for the stuff--should have because it wasn't easy to mix and stunk/stinks to High White House.
Anyhow, I tested it out on some proven .38 Special 148 wadcutter loads--the standard 2.7 Bullseye formula. I had flyers, keyholes and zero consistency. I then shot same loads but with boolits tumble-lubed with my LLA/JPW/MS formula and got one big ragged hole, as always.
I tested some 105SWC that I had sized down to .356 for 9mm, and got pretty much the same bad results--flyers and keyholes.
I was ready to just toss the sticks I'd made up until a funny and mysterious thing happened. . . I fired some .312 boolits with the Black Lube through my Enfield and got touching groups. At 50 yards, and with iron sights.
What the Washington DC was going on?
I rummaged around on my boolit shelves and found a small container with 65 or so .452 200SWC boolits (my number two best boolit) that I had sized and lubed with the Black Lube. On a whim (I have plenty of LP primers), I loaded up 50 .45 rounds using 4.4 gr of Bullseye and some WLP primers.
Took them to the range today and really was expecting them to fly all over the place and keyhole and anything else Bad that could happen.
But I will be Obama'd. . . At fifty feet and handheld through my 1911, I shot 25 rounds at one target and 25 rounds at another. Ended up with two ragged holes. BEAUTIFUL groups! ZERO leading. SHINY bore.
Now I'm REALLY confused. The fps velocity between the .38 wadcutters and .45 semi-wadcutters is pretty dang close. Standard bulleye/PPC load for the .38 and a reduced, comfortable bowling-pin load for the .45.
Yet, one set of rounds with the Black Lube would've caused me two straight hours in confession if I were a Catholic. . . and the other set (.45) had me doing a little jig and dance step in the shooting bays.
I don't think it's a velocity issue, else the .303 loads would've acted squirrelly too. Nor would it be a boolit diameter/size thing either since the .312 boolits were smaller AND faster than the .358wc. . .
But with two calibers (.38 and 9mm), the Black Lube just inhaled something fierce, and with two other calibers (.303 and .45ACP) it pretty much met my expectations and hopes.
ANY ideas what's up?
:coffee:
Anyhow, I tested it out on some proven .38 Special 148 wadcutter loads--the standard 2.7 Bullseye formula. I had flyers, keyholes and zero consistency. I then shot same loads but with boolits tumble-lubed with my LLA/JPW/MS formula and got one big ragged hole, as always.
I tested some 105SWC that I had sized down to .356 for 9mm, and got pretty much the same bad results--flyers and keyholes.
I was ready to just toss the sticks I'd made up until a funny and mysterious thing happened. . . I fired some .312 boolits with the Black Lube through my Enfield and got touching groups. At 50 yards, and with iron sights.
What the Washington DC was going on?
I rummaged around on my boolit shelves and found a small container with 65 or so .452 200SWC boolits (my number two best boolit) that I had sized and lubed with the Black Lube. On a whim (I have plenty of LP primers), I loaded up 50 .45 rounds using 4.4 gr of Bullseye and some WLP primers.
Took them to the range today and really was expecting them to fly all over the place and keyhole and anything else Bad that could happen.
But I will be Obama'd. . . At fifty feet and handheld through my 1911, I shot 25 rounds at one target and 25 rounds at another. Ended up with two ragged holes. BEAUTIFUL groups! ZERO leading. SHINY bore.
Now I'm REALLY confused. The fps velocity between the .38 wadcutters and .45 semi-wadcutters is pretty dang close. Standard bulleye/PPC load for the .38 and a reduced, comfortable bowling-pin load for the .45.
Yet, one set of rounds with the Black Lube would've caused me two straight hours in confession if I were a Catholic. . . and the other set (.45) had me doing a little jig and dance step in the shooting bays.
I don't think it's a velocity issue, else the .303 loads would've acted squirrelly too. Nor would it be a boolit diameter/size thing either since the .312 boolits were smaller AND faster than the .358wc. . .
But with two calibers (.38 and 9mm), the Black Lube just inhaled something fierce, and with two other calibers (.303 and .45ACP) it pretty much met my expectations and hopes.
ANY ideas what's up?
:coffee: