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I casted several hundred .44, .454, .45-70/90, and 500 magnum bullets, but still waiting on my powder coat gun and powder to be shipped. Meantime, I have a mess of beeswax and I can go buy vaseline if this will suffice to lube these larger/magnum bullets. Hardness is roughly 11-15 BHN, plain base bullets with smokeless powders. I am not wanting to shoot hundreds of bullets through any particular gun, I just wanna go shoot a dozen or so in each.
Should be alright if you keep velocities below 1K fps.
For high velocity 2000 fps rifle loads it is hard to beat 1:3 ATF-beeswax.
For black powder cartridge loads 50-50 olive oil-beeswax. Also works great for smokeless cowboy loads subsonic revolver and plainbased bullets in rifles to 1450 fps.
Mix your beeswax with synthetic two stroke oil 3:1 by weight. That’s the recipe for Speed Green, which is pretty good stuff.
The old old NRA lube is 1/3 beeswax, 1/3 Vaseline, 1/3 paraffin wax.
It worked well.
I'd probably use less Paraffin, 10% is probably a good number to use to get the beneficial characteristics.
If you have a tube or can of Lithium automotive grease , like Lucas Red-N-Tacky , Valvoline Extreme Red or Sta-Lube Extreme MP Lithium ...
1 part Lithiumk Grease / 3 parts Beeswax ... and some ( 1 part max ) Gulf Wax Paraffin can be added to harden the lube .
All parts can be pounds ( or ounces ) 1- lb. Lithium / 3 lbs. Beeswax / up to -1 lb. Paraffin is optional to harden the lube if too soft .
Lots of good easy lube recipe's out there ... give the Lithi-bee a try , it's my go-to cast boolit lubricant since ... forever !
Gary
I us 50/50 beeswax crisco in black powder cartridge and all rifle stuff up to about 2000 fps. have never seen any problems
I have been using a beeswax/Vaseline mixture for 65 years with complete satisfaction for all handgun loads and rifle up to about 1.7K fps. I have never weighted or measured the proportions. I use enough Vaseline to soften the wax enough to use in a lube-size machine. I just use my finger to test for softness with the mix of room temp. I am guessing about a 60-65 percent of wax and the rest the Vaseline. To much is made about bullet lubes. There are only two kinds, those that work and those that don't. Mine works.
That mixture will waterproof your leather like no other product. Slather it on, warm it up with momma's hair dryer and wipe off the excess.
The melting temperature of the lube should be tested. Ammo left in a hot car can make lube run. About 115F degrees.
Contaminated powder, not good.
I have used Beeswax and crisco in about a 2:1 mixture for non-magnum pistol cartridges (pan lubing). I never did get around to trying it for anything spicy. I guess I should try it and see how it performs.
Vaseline has been used for bullet lube mix since it came out during the late 1800rds. I used it quite a bit for just about every witches brew lube.
When you start pushing lead bullets past 1800 fps and you have a problem with accuracy it's mostly the alloy and not the lube giving you the problem.
Ever since I was a Kid I shot black powder rifles and cast the bullets I shot in those rifles and that made me mix all sorts of lubes and I found that it's best to stay away from mixes that contain animal fats or any mix that will turn the brass green with a lubed bullet seated in then after a couple days.
I see a lot of posts that say not to use petroleum products for black powder lubes, I don't see this as a problem. My lube of choice is a mix of Vaseline/Paraffin/and maybe some Marvel Oil or some case lube to get the soft consistent body holding it together. I take a small pea size and squeeze it between the thumb and finger and I want it about like butter just out of the fridge for a few minutes.
Also instead of B-wax I use Ozokerite wax. It actually is a better carrier and is better during hot weather than B-wax.
A lot of lube turns useless when mixing it. If it smokes you ruined it. I use an old deep fryer 1/2 halve full of water and I put the wax and other things in the water and let it roll in a light simmer to a very light boil for a couple hours to get it all combined and let it cool over night than lift the solid lube from the water.
Doing it this way you also add some moisture mixed into the lube that helps when you shoot black powder loads.
Kurt
Shot a full tilt boogie '06 IMR4350 RCBS 165SIL;
3 shot CBI(cold bore included) group yesterday into a single ragged hole @100. Not cherry picked,best of..... nope,step out shop door,send 3 period. 26" S4 Shilen barreled stainless Savage 116,with 6.5-20 scope.
3-1 BW-vaseline.
Shopdog- that's some good shootin. Takes good casting to get there also.
Just curious, what twist rate is your Shilen barrel? Any idea on velocity?
I am from the EU, if you dont mind me asking what your ATF is.Quote:
Originally Posted by Outpost75
I think it is the oil i put in my gearbox in my 72 Cadillac? it is the same?
Thanks in advance.
Lar I put a 26" S4(heavy sporter) 14 twist on.
Bought two of these Savage weather warriors when they first came out in the early 90's. One LA in '06,and a SA 223. Flat backs,top loaders,old trigger and stocks. The '06 killed a pu truck load of white tails with Sierra 150 flat base game kings. The 223 was fed those white box Winchester ammo we all used to buy/shoot....
Anyway,bought almost a lifetime supply of IMR4350 and was running half grain or so over book max in the '06. Only gun I have that ever really "bang flopped" WT's. Shot two does once standing next to each other and they both went over like bowling pins at 85 yards.
Early plastic stocks on both... the 223 is a marksman style is handsome and was a "Hillbilly glue in" for 15 years or so. Once you have one bedded properly,and free float brrl,we spray bomb the snot out of the stock,let the paint tack up,then mount the action. Uncured paint conforms and glues it in once cured. About 85-90% as complete as a true glue in. Shoots lights out.
The '06 116 stock is of the mule kick variety. Got to be one of the worst designed stocks I've ever been around? Free floated,bedded,and "filled" forend but no glue in. Problem is the stock is rather larg'ish....kinda Jethro looking with the factory 22" brrl. So going with the S4 26"... it looks a lot more "in scale".
Am ordering another Shilen S4 for the #16 223. In a 12 twist and 24" long. Sorta a matched set.Trying to use up the 4350 with cast in the '06.
Ph1200, ATF is Automatic Transmission Fluid. Many kinds.
All of these different combinations that end up making usable bullet lube truly fascinate me. The combinations that I've seen discussed (so far) seem to make bullet lubes that are used in heated lubers/sizers. I'D be interested in combinations that make tumble-lube, without having to use Lee Alox (if that is even possible). Perhaps it would simplify things if someone would make a "sticky" in which the various components of each lube combination are listed, along with their purpose.
The purpose of SOME components seems obvious, but others may not be. I am not entirely lucid as to the purpose of grated Ivory soap in certain mixtures, but I intuit that it works as an intermediate phase in which other dissimilar and immiscible components can be mixed. Other examples are out there, and may be less obvious to some of us than to others. Just thinking out loud...
http://www.lasc.us/LubeIngredients.htmQuote:
Originally Posted by Kosh75287
Alox is the secret sauce. all the other ingredients that are added, are just in there to allow putting as thin a coating as possible.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kosh75287
In my version for SL68B, Ivory soap is used for the chemical conversion of oil, into a soap grease, greatly increasing melt temp of final product. I've used the word saponification, but it's more of a re-saponification.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kosh75287
In other recipes that have Ivory soap, if the mix isn't heated to 460ºF, then chemical conversion doesn't happen, the soap is just suspended in the mix and I don't know exactly what that adds to a Lube? if may raise the melt temp a little bit, but to no where near the melt temp of a Soap grease.
thanks, i knew it was sounding familiare.Quote:
Originally Posted by gumbo333
I have some left over will make myself some this weekend.
I use this with ATF and Ivory soap .Quote:
Originally Posted by JonB_in_Glencoe