bullet lube ?

[mtgrs737]

QUOTE=XWrench3;598096]it seems like bee's wax is in most every bullet lube formula. what is the most economical way of buying bee's wax? so far, the best price i can come up with is $5.00 a pound, for 25 pounds. i can not imagine ever using 25 pounds of the stuff though.[/QUOTE]


Look up RandyRat here on this forum and send him a PM to get on his list for the next batch of beeswax he refines and sells.

[joeb33050]

so i see a lot on different concotions for bullet lubes. so what is wrong with just plain old grease? i suppose gooey grease might migrate, but what about hi-temp grease? as you can tell, i am a rookie. just looking for an explationation please. by the way, i shoot smokeless mostly. thanks.

Lithium grease works fine on rifle bullets. So does Moly grease. Messy, for me. Col Harrison mentioned it, I tried it and do so now and then. For Me, smokeless and LV.
joe b.

[Leftoverdj]

it seems like bee's wax is in most every bullet lube formula. what is the most economical way of buying bee's wax? so far, the best price i can come up with is $5.00 a pound, for 25 pounds. i can not imagine ever using 25 pounds of the stuff though.

http://www.thesage.com/catalog/FixedOil.html

Good folks and have everything you might want for making lube. Prices might look a bit high, but they are cheaper than running around looking for odd items.

[JDL]

Way back in the '70s, I used grease right out of my grease gun and IIRC it was lithium grease. I had a Longbranch .303 British that I was shooting with 4895, 1 grain of poly, a squirt of grease on top, and seated a checked, unlubed Lyman 311446. Never had a leading problem and accuracy was as good as an alox lubed boolit but, I never stored them for any length of time.
JDL

[jonk]

The principle of grease is quite good I think. It provides a film for the bullet to 'float' down the barrel, just like oil provides a film to get between the moving parts of an engine.

The negative is that it is messy, can contaminate powder, etc.

You mix it with wax- beeswax is good- and especially if you use a non-petroleum based grease- you have a good combo for handgun bullets. You could probably use it on rifles too, no problem.

Personally I stick to Felix lube or LLA for tumbling. (Though I got a dozen sticks of 50/50 for free and am using those up now). But no, no reason you can't use grease.

As a final point to this- in cold weather I use pure crisco vegetable shortening to lube my muzzleloader bullets. It turns liquid in the hot summer, so I switch to a beeswax/crisco/canola mix but works fine below 50 degrees.

[JSnover]

I think RandyRat sells beeswax. Send him a PM or check the swappin/sellin forum

[Dale53]

I like to shoot. I cast bullets and reload so I can afford to shoot (while I actually enjoy casting and reloading, that does NOT obscure the fact that I do it to shoot). I enjoy "using what works". So, I use Lars White Label lube as it works VERY well, and it is very reasonably priced. Others, before me, have worked the kinks out. I would rather spend time shooting than experimenting (I have mixed my own lube and it works just fine for both black powder and smokeless {two different lubes}. Because I use a proven product does not necessarily make me a sheep...

The most important thing about a good bullet lube is that it can drastically affect accuracy. Something that is slick does not necessarily make a good bullet lube. Read E.H. Harrison's work on bullet lubes (he came up with the original NRA 50/50 bullet lube). Anything slick can eliminate leading but accuracy is the real "grail".

XWrench3;
Twenty five pounds of beeswax IS a lot. However, find a friend, split it with him and learn that 12.5 lbs is only half as much. Really, I am not kidding. When I find I have to buy a greater quantity than I can use I realize I may have a friend (or two) who is in the same fix. Cooperative purchasing is oftentimes the answer for all of you.

Dale53

[Jim_Fleming]

I'll betcha that you could unload what you don't need thru Group Buys...

it seems like bee's wax is in most every bullet lube formula. what is the most economical way of buying bee's wax? so far, the best price i can come up with is $5.00 a pound, for 25 pounds. i can not imagine ever using 25 pounds of the stuff though.

[runfiverun]

all the wax and micro and even soy wax provides is a place with holes in it for the real lubricant/s to reside.
i know missionary while in peru used axle grease and beeswax for his leverguns as thats what he could find.
i have been looking for wax made from soybeans to mess around with.
lithium grease will work but you only need about 5-10% lithium content any more is not beneficial, stearates like in soap have a lubricating property as do castor oil, glycerin,lanolin etc.
castor oil is made from castor beans,glycerin from roses.
there is plenty of stuff that will work you just need to thnk about how to put it together.
i have been messing with a lube used in mechanical and hydraulic operated stops [ball valves]
but waaay big ones mixed with some old magma lube with b-wax and lithium grease to soften it up some.
so far it is doing well in 8" bbl'd handguns.