Bullet Lube

[Colonel Daddy]

Skeeter preferred 7.5 gr Unique for his .44 Special loads and on another thread a number you stated it was also your preferred load. But what about bullet lube? There are so many fancy lubes on the market today but I recall Elmer Keith extolling the virtues of pure beeswax with hard cast bullets and he reported no leading even at even high velocities. What are the .44 Special Aficionado's on the boards using for their bullet lube, particularly in big bore hand loads from mild to wild?

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

Over the years, I have settled on two lubes. SPG for Black powder cartridge and
NRA formula 50/50 Bees wax / Alox for everything else. The hard ( crayon ) lubes were invented for commercial casters to have a more durable lube for less damage in shipping. They work ok but are harder for the home caster to deal with and give no improvement in accuracy IMHO.

 

[contender]

One of the best,,, (as noted by many, many, many folks,) is the LBT blue. It is one for general use & most all applications. Check it out.

 

[DeletedMember275]

A discussion of bullet lubes could go on for many, many pages, and start a 'polite disagreement' or two. Or three. If Elmer used straight beeswax and had success, good on him. I prefer somewhat more versatile or forgiving lubes, and they are myriad. For a homemade lube for handguns, I like Felix lube. I prefer to buy my lube from vendor-sponsors at the Cast Boolits forum most of the time; they offer excellent lubes at extremely reasonable prices, and I don't have to hunt for ingredients and then wait until the wife is out shopping before I can mix them. Works for me!

And while Skeeter used and enjoyed the classic load of 7.5 grains of Unique in his .44 Specials, he certainly didn't invent it. I find that same load listed in Townsend Whelen's WHY NOT LOAD YOUR OWN?, copyrighted in 1957.

 

[gster]

Even though I am fairly new to casting and have only been at it for about 1 yr. I've learned everything to start from castboolit.gunloads.com ,including bullet lubes. I started with one and remain using it, because it works. They call it BLL, 60% Lee alox and 40% Johnsons One Step liquid floor wax. This stuff is easy to make and I tumble all my bullets twice after sizing. Now it seems that Johnsons One Step has been discontinued, it won't be long until another formula comes along. Until then, I have 3 1/2 -22 oz cans of the stuff. Enough to lube 1000s upon 1000s of bullets.

 

[sixshot]

LBT lube is a bit pricey but is the lube most others is compared to. The LBT soft is very popular & works great through most any sizer with any heat. Another good lube is Lars Lube. I've used a great deal of his Carnuba Red in my handguns with great success.
In the last couple of years many of us have switched to powder coating our bullets & for me I'll never go back to regular lubes.

Dick

 

[Rusty W]

http://www.lsstuff.com/
I've tried to make my own lube w/various different concoctions. I can't even by the ingredients & make my own as cheap as I can buy it from white label lubes. I found BAC to be more to my liking for most pistol loads.

 

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

White Lable Lube is fine. But so is good ole Lee ALOX. What more do you need?

 

[mikld]

BTW Elmer didn't use "hard" cast bullets. I believe he preferred 20-1 alloy. When I started casting I used plain old alox and then tried the "NRA" lube; alox and beeswax. Now, for my lube I use Carnauba Red, 50/50, and 45-45-10 from White Label (when I purchase lube) http://www.lsstuff.com/

 

[454PB]

I can't picture anyone using beeswax as a lube straight, it's so hard no lubrisizer could pump it without a LOT of heating.

 

[GP100man]

Check out Randy Rat on castboolits.com , White Labels Carnauba Red is what I use for rifle, semi hard needs `bout 110-125F to flow thru an old lyman 450 & I use Randys X lube for handgun .

While not wanting to start a discussion on leading or boolit hardness , the main factor in preventing leading is measurements of the firearm & boolit fit , once these are right then lube comes into play.

Most lubes work as long as they are in adequite supply or doesn't burn away during the boolits time in the barrel. And this varies the need as we as casters of the silver stream vary bhn & pressures behind the projectile in any given caliber.

GP100man

 

[mikld]

Eight stickies and a bunch of threads on bullet lubes; http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?58-Boolit-Lube-!

 

[lolbell]

Even though I am fairly new to casting and have only been at it for about 1 yr. I've learned everything to start from castboolit.gunloads.com ,including bullet lubes. I started with one and remain using it, because it works. They call it BLL, 60% Lee alox and 40% Johnsons One Step liquid floor wax. This stuff is easy to make and I tumble all my bullets twice after sizing. Now it seems that Johnsons One Step has been discontinued, it won't be long until another formula comes along. Until then, I have 3 1/2 -22 oz cans of the stuff. Enough to lube 1000s upon 1000s of bullets.

This is my story also. I use the BLL on tumble lube bullets and as a second lubing on traditional lubed bullets. Very easy and inexpensive to make, a little goes along way. Not as sticky as straight Alox. I have used this lube in 327, 357, 41, 44, 45c, 45ACP, and 9mm with very good results. I've pushed a 215 grain 41 out of straight tire weights to 1350fsp with good accuracy and no leading. Got a 98 grain 327 up to 1550 with no leading. All using Ben's Liquid Lube

 

[Slenk]

After powder coating , I will never use any thing else. Simple & Cheap.

 

[Kermit]

White Label Lube. I started with their BAC lube, but now use their 50/50. Works great, good price, friendly, fast service. What's not to like?

 

[noahmercy]

I favor either stick alox lube for smokeless loads or 50/50 beeswax/Crisco for black powder cartridge loads (although I have used it with smokeless in a pinch). I do not experience leading at anything under 1300 fps with either lube as long as I use properly-sized flat-base bullets cast of relatively soft alloy (wheel weight or softer). Hundreds of thousands of cast bullets downrange through my wife's and my revolvers and lever guns has convinced me that hard, bevel-base slugs with crayon lube will almost invariably lead, regardless of the velocity or the firearm.

As for the straight beeswax, I'd have to wonder if ol' Keith was pan-lubing. It was more common back in the day and it allows one to use whatever he wants for lube.

 

[Chuckbuster II]

BAC from White Label and Tac1 from Randy Rat mentioned above. Both great people to deal with and I am not sure I can buy the ingredients as cheap much less explain the mess to my wife.
Kevin

 

[gramps]

I tumble lube with Johnsons Paste Wax. A little bit goes a long way. I am trying to go to the powder coating(slowly corralling the components), since many here and on castboolits recommend it. Leading is more a function of sizing the bullet to the cylinder, than lube. A BHN around 12 is just about ideal. IMO
gramps

 

[Rodfac]

White Label Lube, the 50-50 variety that's an off orange color. All of the accolades used by Kermit apply. Great people and a quality product. I use this in my home cast rifle and pistol bullets exclusively in my Lyman 450 lube/sizer.

For problem bullets (read commercial types with that useless hard blue wax lube and a brinnel of 18 or so), I re-lube with Lee Liquid Alox diluted 30% with mineral spirits using Lee's swirl lube process. White label makes a similar product that's cheaper and works the same or better called: 45-45-10...dilute it the same way.

This re-lube process has corrected commercial bullet's tendency to lead when not pushed hard enough or when they're a bit small. The problem is that the commercial lube is just too hard. Re-lubing (and you can leave the blue crap in the groove) is a 5 minute operation ... just heat the lube tube in hot water till it's like water (or :15 seconds in the microwave when Mamma's not home), then squirt a SMALL dabble on a handful of bullets in a butter tub. Let it dry overnight and you're good to go. You almost can't use too little of it...really it's just a half dozen drops per butter tub of bullets.

Rod