Need Pan Lube Forumla 1 quick, 1 long term

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  • Last Post 09 May 2012
rhouser posted this 20 March 2012

I have been using LLA formulas and Ranch Dog bullets with good success.  A friend of mine just sent me 25 cast bullets from a new mold design to try out in my rifles.  I have threatened to begin pan lubing, but, now it is time.  I have read a bunch of the lube recipes here and they range from straight forward (Thanks Mr Harris) to exotic.  I have one small stick of commercial NRA formula (bees wax and Alox) but this is not enough for a “pan".  I have scrounged around and found the following items:

Parafin (gulf wax that I use for fluxing my alloys.

Johnson Paste wax

vasoline

2 cycle motor oil

LLA (i have a bunch)

4 ounce stick of NRA formula  commercial bullet lube.

Can I make a pan lube suitable for evaluating some really good bullets or should I hold off until I can get some better ingrediants.

If I pick up a quart of ATF, what type should I get (i dont mean brand, I mean type. They seem to have several generations of chemical additives and formulations)

Thanks in advance.  rc

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joeb33050 posted this 20 March 2012

Darr lube is half vasaline and half paraffin, with a small spoon of RCBS case sizing lube. Works great for low to medium velocities. Some leave out the case sizing lube. In truth, if it's slippery and the right consistency, it's a good lube and works. Mutton tallow, lithium grease, moly grease, ear wax, bacon fat. They all work. joe b.

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rhouser posted this 20 March 2012

I now have 4 lbs of Beeswax, caster oil, and lanoline on the way in.  It will be here on Thursday.  Now I just need to find the easiest, most consistant pan lube formula for a first time pan lube session on 25 bullets.  My objective is to lube these bullets to test them on Saturday.

This will be used on 38-55 caliber 2 deep lube ring bullets.  Velocity will be between 1200 and 1700 FPS.  I am open to suggestions.

Thanks rc

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runfiverun posted this 22 March 2012

cook off the solvents from the jpw. use the 50-50 b-wax and alox mix,add in 5% of the cooked off jpw. and another <5% of the lanolin as it cools. about a tablespoon of each to a lb of the 50-50 mix.

you then have a good mix of b.a.c. adding about 5-7% of the parrafin will approximate the old 2138f alox.

let it sit for a couple of day's to check it's final outcome. you can make the lube a little less viscous with a teaspoon or two of dexron/mercon atf.

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joeb33050 posted this 22 March 2012

The absolute best bullet lubes are made from very expensive and difficult-to-find ingredients that are preferably both poisonous and stink, using processes requiring elaborate temperature controls and lengthy mixing cycles. joe b.

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Pigslayer posted this 06 May 2012

joeb33050 wrote: The absolute best bullet lubes are made from very expensive and difficult-to-find ingredients that are preferably both poisonous and stink, using processes requiring elaborate temperature controls and lengthy mixing cycles. joe b.

 What are those bullet lubes & who makes them and why would one use poisonous ingredients that one knows will vaporize (turn gaseous) right under one's nose (literally) due to heat & friction. 
 I, maybe presumptuously, assume that the people who make the &ldquo;finest lubes&rdquo; are on this forum or others like it. Out of the myriad of choices for lube ingredients that are listed by Lyman, Saeco, SPG, LBT, White label & many others I am hard pressed to find any poisonous ingredients listed. Smelly maybe . . . but not poisonous.
 LASC lists the most popular ingredients used both &ldquo;yesterday&rdquo; & &ldquo;today&rdquo; with no apparent health risk.

I am simply perplexed as to the source & validity of your statement.

If someone else had of done to me what I did to myself . . . I'd have killed him. Humility is an asset. Heh - heh.

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Mike H posted this 07 May 2012

Good on you Joe, I too wonder why people make such a fuss about bullet lube,for about 30 years I have used about half grease, one quarter each of bees wax and parafin wax with a dash of powdered graphite. Now I am using half Moly grease and half beeswax. The fact that there are thousands of lube recipies out there suggests that most lubes will work. Mike.

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pat i. posted this 07 May 2012

If you don't have enough ingredients to fill a pan and you're only lubing 25 bullets just mix up a small amount and smear it on the bullet with your finger. You can either size the bullets afterwards or just smear it on and clean it up the best you can again with you're finger. I've even done this at the range with LBT Blue and it worked alright. If the lube works good you can mix up a big batch and if not you're not stuck with 3 lbs of useless lube and wasted ingredients. I pan lube with Emmerts myself.

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runfiverun posted this 08 May 2012

the reason things are cooked like that is some of the ingredients sublimate with heat. everyday lubes do fine under ordinary circumstances. try them at 10* or 105* then show me a lube that will do both without a cold bbl flyer. i can think of maybe a couple that will actually make the jump succesfully. part of adding say aluminum stearate is a cooking process to make it thicken the base oil or to cross the aluminum stearate with a lithium stearate based grease. this will allow you to lower the wax normally used as a carrier to a part of the lube instead of the main part of the lube. the benefit of this is to lower the viscosity of the overall lube while maintaining the upper end temperatures viscosity. this is important because you can maintain the bbl's bore condition longer,and the lube s able to get to it's wet stage sooner and stay there longer. thus alleviating leading in the throat and at the muzzle end of the bbl over a wider temperature spectrum.

so it appears anything will work as long as it will maintain it's viscosity over a broad temperature range. and that it's viscosity will change consistently when heat and pressure are applied. that's a short overview anyway.

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joeb33050 posted this 08 May 2012

Exactly. I couldn't agree more. joe b.

runfiverun wrote: the reason things are cooked like that is some of the ingredients sublimate with heat. everyday lubes do fine under ordinary circumstances. try them at 10* or 105* then show me a lube that will do both without a cold bbl flyer. i can think of maybe a couple that will actually make the jump succesfully. part of adding say aluminum stearate is a cooking process to make it thicken the base oil or to cross the aluminum stearate with a lithium stearate based grease. this will allow you to lower the wax normally used as a carrier to a part of the lube instead of the main part of the lube. the benefit of this is to lower the viscosity of the overall lube while maintaining the upper end temperatures viscosity. this is important because you can maintain the bbl's bore condition longer,and the lube s able to get to it's wet stage sooner and stay there longer. thus alleviating leading in the throat and at the muzzle end of the bbl over a wider temperature spectrum.

so it appears anything will work as long as it will maintain it's viscosity over a broad temperature range. and that it's viscosity will change consistently when heat and pressure are applied. that's a short overview anyway.

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pat i. posted this 09 May 2012

joeb33050 wrote: Exactly. I couldn't agree more. joe b. Joe you're a prize. :dude:

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