I'm both a first-class Redneck and a mechanic, so that might 'splain a few things for y'all. I do have all 32 of my teeth, though, and they're straight, and I don't drink much beer or have any dogs, but the rest of the Foxworthy jokes more or less apply. "If you try to lubricate your bullets with the stuff your sister dug out of her dog's ear, you might be a Redneck."
I do appreciate the access to some real compounding stuff, Bruce, I'll see what I can come up with.
I also outlined, in the opening post of this thread, some basic properties of lube as I understand it, and I think I have most of it covered even if I don't understand it very well:
[snip] So, from cartridge case to target a lube must seal the bore like engine oil seals compression in a reciprocating engine, it must provide a consistent runway surface (for consistent friction), and it must either remain in the grooves all the way to the target or leave the boolit immediately and completely upon muzzle exit once its job in the barrel is completed so it doesn't affect the balance of the boolit on the free path to the target.
In order to do this, a boolit lube must:
1. Have the correct viscosity to match the pressure sealing requirements of a given load and alloy,
2. Have the correct amount of "drag" each shot, which may be a factor of both viscosity and lubricity,
3. Have the correct lubricity to maintain consistent bore surface,
4 Maintain the correct viscosity and lubricity through temperature extremes of both atmosphere, chamber, and barrel,
5. Have enough tack to stick to a boolit during handling, storage, and loading,
6. Not have so much tack that it only partially jettisons in flight.
7. Some other things that strike me as important are the ability of a lube to be left in a barrel without danger of corrosion, no "weeping" of oils in the heat to contaminate powder, no bad reaction with the cartridge brass during long-term storage, immunity to humidity, and compatibility with standard lube application equipment.
[snip].
After much cogitation and discussion, I think R5R has condensed it pretty well:
>The lube has to be something like a grease or putty in consistency.
>It must have a component that leaves a consistent film of "lube" in the barrel from zero to 110F.
>It must not contaminate powder, or leak oils up to (say) 250F
>it must not dry out in temps from -20 to 250F
>It must be adhesive enough to stay on the boolit until it's loaded, yet not so much that it survives the forces of decompression on muzzle exit and the "centrifugal" force of the boolit's spin.
>It must "wet" the bore steel the same way every shot, and leave a film behind that is stable for many days or weeks such that the interaction of the boolit/bore on the next shot will be the same as the last
>The biggest issue I can see right now is not knowing what the base oil viscosity must be, but the tips on the different oil types and VI's is a big help.
Me trying to figure this out is kind of like a pharmacist trying to find a cure for cancer with the drugs he already has on his shelves.
Gear