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View Full Version : best lube? and receipes for those that make your own



matt
03-10-2010, 08:17 PM
hi all,
well i shoot basically crisco but since i missed all the good lube stories i thought maybe we can get a good lube topic going. what do all of you use? ahh and is there a tasty one out there for those of us who pull minnies with our teeth?
matt
winslow's battery 9775
no one has to beat winslows in musket we do it all by ourselves.

ian45662
03-10-2010, 08:29 PM
I like alot of beef kidney fat with a little beeswax. I will just add fat or beeswax depending on the temps to make the lube softer or harder.

Bob Eschbach, 3380v
03-11-2010, 07:32 AM
Matt, I get good results with a lard-beeswax concoction at about a 3to 1 lard-bw and I vary that ratio according to the expected temperature when I plan to shoot. I have also had good results substituting Crisco for the lard. Bob E

mwmoore10261
03-11-2010, 09:19 AM
I've always used a 50/50 mix of Crisco and beeswax. I try to not make up too many rounds in advance as I've noticed the mixture hardens with age. I see that some like to add anhydrous lanolin (wool fat) to the crisco, beeswax mixture. I am interested to know if this keeps the lube softer by maintaining moisture as lanolin is water or humidity attracting. If this is the case I might try some in my lube mixture.
Michael Moore, 10261

Jim Brady Knap's Battery
03-11-2010, 10:23 AM
Lefty insists that a touch of olive oil in the beeswax-crisco mix keeps it pliable and slick and doesn't dry out and get brittle. Also cleans with a water based cleaner. He has advised me many time that if you can't spread it on a cracker and eat it it doesn't belong on your black powder bullets. Been working for me for a bunch of years.

See you all at the EB


Jim Brady
2249V
Knap' Battery

matt
03-11-2010, 03:09 PM
well its good to see ol lefty rear his head and chime in. i do always follows his advice to dip thrice. jim how is lefty doing? will he be making more appearances on the lube question? i do enjoy his advice. my motto derived from lefty lube thrice but shoot once.
matt
winslows battery 9775v
no one has to beat winslows in musket we do it to ourselves

Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101
03-13-2010, 08:26 AM
I've been using bear grease and bees wax for over 15 years. I realize not everyone has a source for it, but it is slick like nothing else I've seen. I started with Crisco, and tried commercial lubes like MCM, Lens Lube, Lyman Gold, Mobil 1, etc., I like this a lot better. If you touch bear grease on your finger, then wipe it off, you'll still feel it's slickness on your finger for hours. My mix is around 2 parts beeswax to 3 parts bear grease.

I also make my own Lube cartridges for my Lyman Lubrasizer. I kept all my plastic lube tubes from before I made my own, and drilled holes in the caps on one side. I insert a dowel long enough to go all the way through the cap with the hole and the tube, and stick out he other side far enough to fit into a hole drilled in a wooden base. My base holds about eight tubes at a time. I cast enough lube for a couple years at a time, and keep everything in the freezer until I'm ready to use it.

I used to mix a batch of lube, and keep it in a microwavable glass container. When the lubrasizer needed charging, I'd melt the lube in the microwave and pour it into the lubrasizer.

Walt Magee
03-13-2010, 10:22 AM
50% beeswax and 50% Mobil 1 Synthetic stays consistent winter and summer.
Old Jerry Harmon formula; I've been using for 12 years and it doesn't get gooey in the heat and only gets a little firm in the cold and it gets plenty cold up here in New England.
Walt Magee
10th Mass Battery
P.S.1 Lb wax to a pint of Mobil 1

William H. Shuey
03-13-2010, 11:22 PM
BEST LUBE???

That's like asking which is better, blonds, brunettes or redheads!!

Ken Hansgen, 11094
03-13-2010, 11:40 PM
Yeah -- but it brought Lefty back...

matt
03-14-2010, 01:25 AM
yeah ken kinda been boring with him and the other characters ive come to love on these quirky shooting topics. lube has been known to start some interesting threads.
matt
winslow's battery 9775v
no one has to beat winslow's in must we do it to ourselves

paul w/McGregor's 385V
03-15-2010, 05:49 AM
Bill,
Very partial to redheads, one in particular ... I have to agree with Lefty 2249L that if you can't spread it on a cracker to snack, don't use it. Mobil 1 is a synthetic, so is silicone, both were considered safe several years back. Mobil 1 is not recommended for internal human consumption. At the least beewax, Crisco, olive oil are all edible with a few centuries track record for them.

Take care and be safe
pfb

DAVE FRANCE
03-17-2010, 10:29 PM
Question for Walt Magee,

Walt,
I use a beeswax and Mobil 1 oil mixture also. I use it for musket, Sharps Carbine, and Henry rounds. Have you noticed if the lube works as well after bullets with that lube have been stored for a long time before they are fired? I notice the lube changes color after it has been applied to bullets.

Dave France

Walt Magee
03-18-2010, 03:37 PM
I think after 6 months it might effect it but I never lube that far ahead. I have run old ones thru the lubersizer when they look a little dark but they seem to shoot fine. You do have stir the mixture a long time to get it to incorporated.

DAVE FRANCE
03-18-2010, 10:12 PM
Thanks Walt,

I have learned recently that I have to clean the barrel of my Henry with a brush or the accuracy goes to pot.

David

Jim Brady Knap's Battery
03-19-2010, 10:30 AM
I have been using an alox /beeswax lube calle Javelina that I have gotten from Midway. I don't use it on the musket and smoothbore, for that I take Lefty's recomendation on beeswax, crisco,& a touch of olive oil, I have been using Javelina on the bullets that run through the lubrisizer like the Smith bullets and the stuff I shoot with smokeless. Simplifies the use of the lube press with one lube. In the Smith with 28 grs of 3F and the 515141 Lyman cast soft, lubing only the bottom two rings, I only need to run the plastic bore brush through after each relay and the bore shines. No fouling and easy clean up.

Jim Brady
2249V
Knap's Battery

Greg Ogdan, 11444
03-19-2010, 02:36 PM
Dave,

Here's a trick a CAS buddy of mine uses in his BP lever gun. Put a "cookie" of MCM or GBS lube about 1/8" thick under your henry bullet. That will solve the fowling problem and may even contribute to accuracy. By buddy makes up his ammo 2 to 3 months in advance and stores it "in a cool dry place". Just a FWIW and may only be worth what it cost you, but certainly worth trying.

DAVE FRANCE
03-19-2010, 10:24 PM
Thanks for the suggestion Greg.

I m getting into Cowboy Action Shooting now. I live in Texas near Dallas and it is very popular here.
I have tried different loads for my Henry while shooting from a Bench rest several times in the last couple months. I did some research on the internet and changed several things in my handloading of ammnition and loading. I think my Henry shoots very accurately with the ammunition that I hand load. But, if I don't brush the barrel soon after shooting, the rifle will not shoot well until it is brushed.

Is there someone who sells lube cookies?

Thanks again!

David

matt
03-21-2010, 08:14 AM
dave,
take a case of what ever caliber you are shooting and the chamfer the inner and outer edge till it is sharp then cut off the case head now use that to cut out parchment paper discs that will go over the powder push the discs out with a dowel after putting powder in the case and compressing the charge place the disc over the powder and using a dowel push onto the powder now take a small bit of lube can be something stiffer than what you use on the bullet and roll it into a pea size piece that goes on the parchment paper then seat your bullet and crimp if you want and you have created a grease cookie who will not migrate into your powder supply but will also keep the fouling soft in the barrel
hope this helps
matt
usmc 1988 - 1995
hitler, stalin and mao all started off as progressives.

Southron Sr.
06-11-2013, 06:24 PM
I was averageing "Cook Off" on a regular basis for years. The Cook Offs seemed to occur on hot, humid Summer days and after I had fired about a dozen rounds "rapid fire."

I dropped using Crisco in my lube formula in the mid-1980's AND I HAVEN'T HAD A "COOK-OFF" SINCE!

Do I know why? I haven't got a clue. Now I use 60% Beeswax and 40% TC Bore Butter with Great results.

Bullseye54
06-11-2013, 08:55 PM
When you measure your ingrediants, what do use, Volume or weight? Joe

Scott Kurki, 12475
06-12-2013, 05:04 PM
When you measure your ingrediants, what do use, Volume or weight? Joe It really does not matter as long as you are consistent.

Jim Mulligan 7288V
06-12-2013, 07:16 PM
SPG works just fine for me.