lube

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RicinYakima posted this 06 March 2025

Most likely in a pneumatic Dandix type machine. Feeder tubes, heated hard lube and fast.

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MP1886 posted this 06 March 2025

I've been making my own lube for 20 years. It's soap based and I use beeswax, real Vaseline that they discovered when drilling oil wells. I worked years in a major oil refinery on the unit that had to do with waxes. I know the type of wax to blend with mineral oil to make Vaseline. The soap I use is good old Ivory soap, the plain version and nothing with scents or lotions and such. The hard part is getting the soap to melt and blend with the other ingredients. It does that at a certain high temperature. My lube doesn't melt in the Arizona desert sun and still works far below zero. It also works on extreme high velocity rifle cast load and all the way down to target 38 Special loads. I also have a tub of Alox if I can find it. If I do I'll put it on here so you guys can have it. I can make my lube hard or soft. I really hate making it, but it's hard to find a lube on the market that can compete with it.

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Ross Smith posted this 06 March 2025

MP: Can you tell us the formula and process?

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longhunter posted this 07 March 2025

Yes Please Share with us!

Jon

Jon Welda CW5 USA Ret.

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MP1886 posted this 07 March 2025

Back on the boolit forum there was an old man that sold off Navy Beeswax. I bought some of it from him. Guy named Lars bought the remaining 2000 pounds or so and that's what he made his lube from. Theirs no more of it around. Story gets more involved. I made my lube from it and another guy tried to duplicate it, but he used local beeswax one could buy in the area you live in. He fought me every inch of the way and he eventually got a sample of that Navy Beeswax and he paid out of his own pocket to take it to a lab and have it tested. The results were never conclusive and he stuck with that it wasn't beeswax. I mentioned all this because you may not be able to use bonafide beeswax. So heed that warning.

First I let my bars of Ivory soap dry out. I then powdered them in a food processor. The ingredients are Ivory Soap, Beeswax (I used that Navy stuff), Vaseline (I made my own from the proper refinery products that you all may not be able to find or buy) , but if you can find the original old yellowish/brown Vaseline that will do. That's the Vaseline that the NRA formula was made from. In the liquid melted forum you measure the ingredients equal volumes. You have them cooking on a stove and the LAST indgredient you put in is the powdered Ivory Soap you ground up. Mind you it makes the brew foam a LOT! I used a tall pot. The member on boolits that fought me said it didn't matter if the soap was dry, but he is not correct. The powdered Ivory Soap will not melt till the brew hits 460 degrees F. It does it in and instant!!! Pay attention to that because that's when you have to take if off the heat. My first batch I made 1/2 gallon and to that gallon, while it was cooking. I put in two tables of Castor Oil. After I took it off the heat I kept stirring to homogenize it as I didn't want the different indegredients to separate, but I don't know if they would. I also added powdered wax dye. I stirred until it got thick and couldn't stir easily. Another thing when I filled my luber sizer I DID NOT REMELT IT! I felt that it would change it. I took it out in small pieces and packed the luber sizer. Your mix's hardness depends on how much Vasline you put it which you can substitute with mineral oil. When I was experimenting I didn't put color dye in and when it hardened it had a yellowish ivory color and I knew then that I had the correct amount of Ivory Soap in it. I can tell you at this point one of the ingredients in making soap is lye. So someone brought about the lye attacking the barrel steel. The answer is no and when you make soap you have to have the lye mix to the correct amount so the saponification will happened and the lye is totally absorted so there won't be any lye in the soap to burn your skin. I've never had any barrel corrosion. As I have said it's kind of difficult to make. I wish you good luck. Don't make it indoors on your wife's stove.

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Ross Smith posted this 07 March 2025

Thank you

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358156hp posted this 09 March 2025

If you want to make your own lube, a good first step is "Felix" lube which was originally developed by Felix Robbins on the old original "Shooters" cast bullet board. After the demise of Shooters, the members started and developed the "Cast Boolits" board where Felix was a senior member who was held in high esteem. Felix' lube is sort of a rite of passage for lube cooker as the develop. I made a large batch and shared it with a number of people who also went on to make their own batches, and explore bullet lube even further. Here's a link to CB to get you started on your journey: https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?543-Felix-Lube-the-Short-Version

Simpler yet is Lithibee. This lube was sold commercially for ages before the makers decided to quit and made their "recipe" public. It's simply 1 lb of beeswax the purer the better, melted together with 1 lb of lithium auto chassis grease. I know a number of very knowledgeable people who run this version.

Also simple is "Bens Red". Similar to Lithibee but with an important difference. This information can be found at: https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?81031-Made-some-bullet-lube-today&highlight=bens+red FWIW, Ben is a really helpful guy and can be contacted through PMs at Cast Boolits. He's more than willing to help people out.