"Explore a slightly pitted bore..... once more."
Carriers.... I still like Beeswax the best until something shows up here I like better. I read with keen interest Marlin Junky's thoughts about Carnuaba and its similarities to POE's and the possible use as a carrier in lieu of Beeswax. I dismissed the carrier thing at first and now I ponder it again; even venture into testing it.....
Then btroj commented about giving Carnuaba a chance again in the cold; that maybe POE does something to improve its performance somehow?
Finally Gear mentioned 'more Carnuaba' to fix the pitted bore in the .38-40 not liking "EsterBee350"...
I believe the wetting agents and the POE's attraction to 'mate' with anything do change Carnuaba's behavior in our mix. 4% (my considered max) in my BAC mix barely shines the bore, and has given me no real problems even in the cold. My "EsterBee350" has 2% Carnuaba... I can sum up its presence in this mix by saying I see no sign it is even in the formula! The lube star (if you can call it that in this case) from "EsterBee350" is almost ash-like as I have mentioned.
I don't like over 50% carrier. With Beeswax, this can be a fight with some ingredients to maintain viscosity. Especially when oils are incorporated. Speed Green, and "EsterBee" (binary formula) just don't please me at 3/4's Beeswax, although they do pretty well. Lube star shows a hint of wax in it.
So with all this lead in I made up some "EsterBeeNuaba" or EBN for short. It is 40% Beeswax, 13% Carnuaba Wax flakes, (three times + what I consider max!!) 27% POE 2 stroke oil, and 20% Alox 350 (wetting agent)
Viscosity is thin, but where I personally like it. Just tacky enough, stays in the lube groove nice and handles pretty well. Softens some with handling but not as much as my BAC does. Eight below zero finds it firm and hard. But you can 'dig' a gob out with a Popsicle stick and work it with your fingers. It is not brittle just hard. I think it would shoot at -8.... Don't know how well for residuals left in the cold though..... yet.
I loaded some boolits up for the .38-40 lubed with EBN. I cleaned the bore with Ed's Red and wiped dry. One advantage I have seen showing up with a slightly rough bore is the barrel throwing the first shot from a clean barrel in the group. That happened this morning. The five shot group was 1" at 50 yards which is good for the Meister modified bullets (gaschecked) I was using. This is just the conception of testing, but the preliminary results will have me going to my cast boolits and several groups for a baseline of comparison.. Bore has some shine (yeah, a lot of it is still pretty smooth), the lube star appears ash-like but too soon to say quite yet. The last four inches of barrel has an appearance I really like... Light thin sooty look with the ever so slightest very thin gray lines in the grooves from the boolit's passing. I wouldn't call it antimonial wash even. The Meister boolit has 6%SB. The 2" of rifling ahead of the chamber has the pits scrubbed clean! This is my un-scientific 'wetting agent' test that shows the lube is in fighting where it is probably needed the most. Pits are good for something! Fired cases appear coated some with burnt lube like 50/50 does at times. This deposit is more soot-like however and wipes off the fired cases without grease being present in any amount to speak of.
I like EBN so far.... It packs a lot of goo with only 53% carrier. Residual goo seems minimal to none existent; but more shots, more guns, more tests will tell the real story.
Eutectic