Lube: Beeswax, lanolin and then what.

[MK]

I have been pondering about making my own lube and just opened my last tub of DGL of 6 that I bought several years ago at a silly price. A friend of mine is a bee guy, he removes unwanted bees, has his own hives, etc, Figured it is time to put all BW that I have to good use. I reading over different recipes I want to keep it simple; BW, anhydrous lanolin and either lube guard (LG), assembly lube (AL) or automatic transmission fluid (ATF) for the 3rd ingredient. I do not patch between shots. The finished product will be used in 38-55, 40-65, 45 2.1 and 50 2.5 rounds. Temps in SE Az are warm to hot.

Which of the 3; LG, AL, or ATF would be better option in everyone's varied opinions? Feel free to include your reasoning behind your preference.
Many thanks for the assistance and input. Michael.

[CanoeRoller]

Wow, is that question opening a can of worms!

I make my own lubes, and experiment with them constantly. I can not tell you what will work best for you, but I can share what I have learned.

I do not care for any petroleum based additives, as they seem to harden the fouling.

Starting with Beeswax is a great beginning, though I prefer to use more or less natural soaps and fats for my other ingredients. Crisco and vegetable oil added to the BW works ok, but you might notice a drop of accuracy toward the end of a long string of shots. A better combination for me uses tallow instead of Crisco, and jojoba oil instead of vegetable oil. That lube lasts a bit longer before accuracy drops off. There is one problem I have found with it, it is very sticky stuff and will magically spread and attach to everything you touch as you lube your rounds.

As you are in nice sunny Arizona, you will want a high melting point. If you add a little natural soap to your mix (like a castile or Murphy's) you will raise the melting point a bit. If you plan to make your lube in the kitchen and add a bit of soap, be prepared for the rather amazing reaction that results, by telling l your wife how much you love her forgiving nature, and have some good bribe, I mean, make up gifts, ready to give her for the mess you are likely to create.

Measure everything and keep good records. You will learn more about what works in the process, and if you find a magic lube, you want to be able to recreate it.

[opencountry]

This is a lube that a shooter in Spokane, WA uses. I hope he doesn't mind me sharing it here. He shared it with me. I'll share it with you. I post this because he was only having to put four breaths through a blow tube between shots when everyone else on the line (using different lubes) was having to use TWELVE! It's a good hot weather lube. Another plus, he was having no leading issues, although I know lube is not the only reason for not leading. All shooters were using Swiss powder.

4 oz. bayberry wax (candle making),
2 oz. pure beeswax,
3 fluid oz. pure neetsfoot oil,
1 oz. Napa 'Lubeguard' Premium Universal Lubricant (rapeseed oil), Napa part # BK 765-2602
1 bar (4 oz.) Neutrogena original formula face soap, non-scented (orange in color).

Melt in double boiler pan, pour into lubisizer.

Robert

[Tombstone71]

That sounds like a good lube Opencountry, I also live in se arizona. Have been useing spg for gg in sillywet and get a little leading. I mostly shoot PP and use 50% spg--50% jojoba oil for a cooke with that. I am a wiper and have been thinking of doing a home lube. Thank you for sharing that.

Tim

[Tombstone71]

And also like Canoeroller says, no petroleum based stuff.

Tim

[opencountry]

That sounds like a good lube Opencountry, I also live in se arizona. Have been useing spg for gg in sillywet and get a little leading. I mostly shoot PP and use 50% spg--50% jojoba oil for a cooke with that. I am a wiper and have been thinking of doing a home lube. Thank you for sharing that.

Tim

I shoot mostly paper patch anymore, wiping between shots with a 12:1 ratio moose milk. Bore riding patched Money bullets. When I do shoot grease groove bullets in two of my Shiloh's I use plain old DGL. I wipe between shots with a 5:1 ratio moose milk(distilled water and Napa cutting and grinding oil). My 45-70 leads just a very little. My 45-90, none.

Robert

[montana charlie]

I've only made one batch of lube in my life.
My goal was to duplicate SPG while reducing the cost. SPG is advertised to melt at 140°, but my thermometer says it liquifies at 130°.
Whatever...my lube melts at about 20° hotter than SPG, but closely duplicates it's body and consistency...though slightly less 'crumbly'.

In a double boiler, melt a volume of clean beeswax. Then add an equal volume of Camp Dry Beeswax Waterproofer (for boots) made by Kiwi.
(If Ace Hardware doesn't have any...they can order it.)

The Camp Dry will melt more reluctantly than the beeswax did, so a little stirring is helpful. But, they mix well and won't separate as the mixture cools.

12 ounces of beeswax (at $3.00/lb.) is $2.25, and $6.00 gets a 12 oz. jar of Camp Dry Waterproofer. That makes a pound and a half of SPG-type lube for $8.25. An equivalent amount of the 'real thing' is 46 bucks at Midway.

I call it Faux Garbe Lube (FGL) in honor of SPG's inventor.

CM

[bruce m]

as oils go, jojoba oil has proven good, but not as good as caster oil in lubes
not sure if this is due to better slipperiness, or some ability to combine with powder fouling to create a 3rd ingredient.
caster on the other hand will bleed more than jojoba, so should not be used in excess.
to get a lube that will hold more oil, replace beeswax with ozokerite.
tallow has always been a good lube ingredient, but tallow lubes will crack away from the bullet as they dry out.
this can be overcome with Vaseline or lanolin added.
keep safe,
bruce.

[Tombstone71]

For gg I wipe with 50 % murphys oil soap and 50% isopropyl alcohol (91% but if you can get the 98% is better) one wet wipe and bore mop the chamber load and shoot. Holds good vert. and as it gets hotter and or less humid then 2 or 3 wets. PP I mix 2 teaspoons of jojoba oil with a good squirt of dawn dish soap and mix it into 1/2 cup of distilled water and pore it over my patches and squeeze out as much as I can. Wipe 2 or 3 wet and one dry and let her rip. Works for me

Tim

[bruce m]

tim,
your pp solution looks interesting.
keep safe,
bruce.

[desert deuce]

Beware of Wild Hairs and Wild Hares

[Kenny Wasserburger]

A little reality check: at some point all lubes fail sorry that is a fact. What you need too work at or develop is a perfect fouling control method. One that works no mater the conditions I think we keep looking at the wrong solution to our issues.

Find the best method too control the fouling, for your type of shooting it may be cookie, for target work wiping is the most accurate, for PP it is the only way too go, a near perfect bore from shot to shot is a must. It works period the ODG knew it beyond doubt, Perry, even Foulk wrote of this.

For a greaser, if you only remove about 70% of the fouling with a semi loose fitted patch leaving behind moist fouling and lube, remove to much you get leading.

If cost is driving you: staying at home patting yourself over your $10 a Pound lube, and it takes 205 gal of diesel round trip too do Phoenix, you won't spend, because you can not afford it, so what did you really save?

Work on you fouling control develop the best method you can, then you want too know the real secret.......

Yeah there is one, it is not a bullet, it is not a lube, it's spending the time in every condition and learning too read those conditions, and what corrections you have too make, too keep it in the black, or the gong, or what ever your trying for.

So cook all the lube you want, search for the grail, the fella spending time on the trigger analyzing the effects of conditions on each shot, developed a perfect fouling control method, he will beat you every damm time.

KW
The Lunger

[MK]

I appreciate everyone's input. Making up lube is not cost issue, I have about 10lbs of BW floating around, so why not try making my own. If it works fine, if not I will buy more DGL. In my mind the only holy grail of lube is the one that works for that individual, DGL SPG, or filtered left over bacon grease, etc. I shoot BPCR because I enjoy it, not for bragging rights. From an eternal perspective match scores don't mean squat, having an enjoyable time with the wife, family and fostering lasting friendships do.

Michael.

[Lumpy Grits]

I would not use anything that contains dino-oil(atf).
BP will turn it to asphalt, PDQ.
I'll just keep using DGL.
Gary

[Kurt]

Michael.

For keeping your lube simple; peanut oil and your B-Wax mixed to the temper you want works about as well as anything. and you can add some lanolin if you feel you need it.

Kurt