OK, here we go...this is the sales pitch
Disclaimer: I am not selling boolit lube
1. It works for pistol and rifle boolits, slow low pressure rounds like 38 spl WC right on up to high velocity rifle.
2. It's been successfully tested (shooting) in the extreme heat of Texas and extreme cold of the Rockies and hasn't had any serious issues.
3. It been successfully tested (storage) in the extreme heat of a parked car (windows up) in the summer sun and it doesn't melt or weep oil out and contaminate the powder in loaded rounds.
4. It's soft, so whatever is left on the bullet, when it exits the barrel, flings off, so as to not make the bullet unbalanced.
5. Accuracy-wise, It shoots clean, leaving the inside of the barrel in a state where it doesn't create cold barrel flyers.
6. Smokiness-wise, it shoots pretty cleanly ...mostly... becuase humidity and the type of gunpowder kinda dictate part of smokiness.
7. Messiness-wise, It shoots clean, I've tested it with revolver ammo, and after shooting a box of 50 rds, the outside (as well as the inside) of the gun just had a light haze of soot and NOT greasey like many beeswax based lubed (where the lube is 50% or more beeswax and the other portion is mosty oil or grease.)
8. It's soft, but not tacky like a Speed green type of lube. When handling lubed bullets, obviously I try to avoid touching the lubed areas, with lubes like speed green, no matter who careful you are, I've found it to become a sticky mess, lube finger prints on everything. Now a bullet lubed with SL68B, when the lube area is touched, it feels like lotion and my fingers are is easily wiped on a rag or trousers to become clean...it doesn't become a mess. I'm kinda anal about hand/finger cleanliness, so this was important to me in a soft lube.
9. lastly, It's flows through a lubesizer without heat, even if room temp is cold, like 55ºF.
edited to add one more
"#10 Stuff doesn't goober-up gas systems." (per Gear) see the second paragraph of post #6
edited 9-19-2016:
the following issue (in quote below) about Corrosion hasn't shown itself to exist with the batches I've made, it's been 18 months and no signs of any problems on my long term test samples. I'll continue inspecting the samples of this long term test and report every once in a while.
One potential downside ...corrosion. Others have had evidence of verdigris and other corrosion with a very similar recipe, I HAVE NOT with this exact recipe (my stored bullets sized/lubed for as long as 6 months, including Minnesota humid summer as well as some loaded ammo, I pulled apart...no corrosion evidence), but recently, after hearing others having this issue, I have set up an long term experiment and will report on that in the future.
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Preface to recipe, I have made this or similar a couple times, and I learned techniques each time. Today, I made 5 batches and honed the technique even more. I am confident I can give all the tips and tricks for any boolit caster to cook up a batch.
See post #2 "commentary" regarding tweaking this recipe
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons 90-wt GL-1 gear oil
2 tablespoons generic white petrolatum
1 tablespoon heavy mineral oil (laxative grade from pharmacy)
1/2 tablespoon castor bean oil (also from pharmacy)
2 ounces fresh Ivory soap (soft, damp).
Waxes:
0.5 ounces 175º Micro-crystalline Wax (MW)
0.5 ounces 185º MW
0.5 ounces 190º MW
0.7 ounces Bees Wax (BW)
Instructions:
1. Melt everything except the soap and BW.
I cook this outside on a coleman gasoline cookstove, medium flame. while this recipe makes only about 6 ozs of lube and fills two tuna cans about 3/4 full each, I use a thick aluminum 3 quart soup pot, you will need that much capacity due to the soap foaming up.
2. After the above has melted, then add the soap (which should have been previously sliced into slivers, I use a shop scissors) stir constantly, it will foam up, but rest assured that is why I prescribed you to use a large enough soup pot, continue with medium flame, stirring constantly, until all the foaminess is gone and the mix becomes a light clear amber liquid with no gel or clumps of soap remaining.
Heads up, it will start smoking about now, that is correct and NOT a problem...be careful it's hot ! (this stage, the reducing of the soap, takes about 10 minutes if it's not too cold and windy).
3. Now It should be around 460ºF
I choose not to use a thermometer, it just complicates things, everything needs to be done quickly at this stage, if not, the lube will get scorched.
Add the BW now, You must have it pre-melted and ready to pour at this stage, Stir it a bit (2 or 3 seconds) and cut the heat and pour into your chilled molds* ...BUT, if the mix Gels-up when BW is added**, continue to stir with the pot over the heat, til it's a clear liquid again, it will start turning light brown, the BW is starting to scorch, I've decided a little scorching is no big deal, but the BW "needs" to be blended at the liquid stage.
chilled molds* I use recycled tuna cans and have them sitting in a icewater bath.
Gels-up when BW is added** This only happened when I cooked this on a cold Minnesota wintery windy day. I had no geling when I made these 5 batches today, temp was 70º today.
It will look like this as the soap foams up.
After the soap foam settles down some, it'll look lke Cream of wheat, but it's not hot enough yet.
This is the clear amber color you want to see, you know all the soap is combined and turned into grease and it's at 460ºF. ***you want to add the beeswax quickly and cut the heat and pour into the molds...all in about 10 seconds or less.
This is the color of all 5 batches of finished lube from today. I suspect they got a little scorched due to the fact I didn't "crash cool" the lube, as I was able to do last winter, in the snow. But I have decided a little scorch isn't a big deal, and a little color is a good thing.