More concocting and more testing to report.
Buzzing Pegasus and Neon Zombie still shoot great, this time at whopping 87 degrees, Summer's coming fast. I shot the BP lube first, didn't clean the barrel from last time or anything, first shot right on and groups are still a bit tighter than with the "default" load using Felix. The NZ lube, dadgumit, dropped the first shot 2" at 100, then printed a nice, 9-shot ragged hole that was a bit tighter still. I was using 2 oz. beeswax and 1 tsp. BG PAG compressor oil this time. Got a slight lead haze with one streak near the muzzle.
And now, for something completely different! I cleaned with Ed's and patched dry, then tried a run of boolits lubed with a mighty concoction of:
1.5 oz. lithium complex block grease
1 oz. hard, yellow beeswax
1/4 tsp sulfur ester
1/4 tsp lard oil
1/4 tsp neatsfoot oil
First shot was a little low (1/2"), but the next shot landed at the bottom of a group that ended up being 3/4" at 100, better than this gun and load normally do.
The best groups, discounting first-shot flyers, end up being NZ lube on top, then the BP lube (no flyer with either a cold, fouled barrel last shot with same or prepped with grease), and this lithi-block-bee lube was a close third, easily hanging with Felix lube and surpassing Javelina Alox by a mile under similar shooting conditions in this exact same load. I don't think the block grease lube will do well in the cold, but the slippery additives, especially the neatsfoot oil, might surprise me.
I had a little pill of really rubbery condensed lithium wheel bearing grease (conventional petroleum oil) that had been bugging me for a while, so I went ahead and loaded up ten lubed with it and sent them downrange right after the block lube, sixth one flew to the right (prolly me, my shoulder was getting sore), but it held the same group otherwise, and no leading at all with any of the lubes except for the NZ (which was long gone by the time I shot the straight lithium putty grease), so I'm even more convinced that a truly hard lithium grease with synthetic PAO oil is going to be the winner here now that I know the synthetic works and the thick grease with no wax works.
I wish I could make the NZ lube quit throwing that flyer, it's been creepy accurate. It also has the least "tack" of any lube I've ever shot except for the bentonite and soap lubes, and I think that's a major contributing factor to the accuracy. I also think the PAG oil is a bit thin by itself and may be the cause of the first-shot flyers and the slight leading, or maybe it's the beeswax thinning too much. It needs another ingredient for sure, something with a little more substance and flex.
Anywhow, I still think the winner is going to be the Pegasus lube if I can take the "buzz" part out of it entirely and sub more lithium thickener.
Gear