NEED LUBE HELP!!

[Carr Creek Kid]

Hey guys, I'm new to pan lubing so go easy on me! I tried a concoction of 1 lb soy wax, 1 lb crisco, a couple ounces of canola and a dash of murphy's oil soap. Put it in some silicone pans with my .429-200's and .457-340's. 24 hours later I pulled the blocks out, started to tap the rounds out with a dowel and the block started cracking into pieces. It seems way too soft, it would make a good patch lube for sure, but it's way too soft for panning. I've seen videos of guys having to use 2 hands to crack the blocks after they punched the rounds out, I can crack the block with pressure from my fingernail on the bullets! Should I remelt and add more wax or crisco to make it harder? Or did I just mess up with the ingredients from the get go? Seemed like a simple recipe I got from CastBoolits.
Thanks guys,
Kid   

[Dick Dastardly]

The ingredients in original Pearl Lube were quite elastic.  Bullets pushed out with filled lube groves but left the cake intact.  You can find the recipe in the library.

DD-DLoS

[Jefro]

Howdy, if it's too soft add more wax, adding Crisco will only make it softer. That said I only tried pan lubing once, went straight to the phone and ordered a Star lubesizer. Good Luck
Pan Lube 101


Jefro Realx-Enjoy

[cpt dan blodgett]

May help to keep bullets about 3/8 inch apart as well

[wildman1]

Try half crisco and half beeswax. Let it set till it cools. Bout 15 mins. Put in fridge. Bout 15 mins, untill lube starts to pull away from the side of the pan. Lay the whole thing on a folded towel and start the bullets by pushing on them, when their loose set the cake of lube over the container that you have for bullets and push them out with a dowel. If ya want yer lube softer add some canola oil. Easier done than said. Type in Goatlipstips in the search thingy here and see what ya come up with. It really is easy to do.  WM

[Carr Creek Kid]

Thanks guys. I'll try some more wax and see what it does. I'm afraid if I don't get future batches the same it could mess with accuracy, since its for rifles too. Will it matter much?

[Carr Creek Kid]

Thanks gentlemen

[Noz]

I agree with Jefro, life's too short to pan lube.

[cpt dan blodgett]

Some people swear by dip lubing as well.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

I agree with Jefro, life's too short to pan lube.

I agree, but I'm still waiting to win the Lottery so I can afford a Star Lubrisizer!


As to home-made lubes, Dick Dasterdly has graciously consented to show the recipe publically for his good "Pearl Lube" ('tho P/L II recipe ain't fer sale but you can buy it.)  I can't find where dick has it posted, but it is out there - just do the "search" thing.

Personally, I started making Pan Lube as well as Cap 'n' Ball lube.   They are the same components just in different proportions.  Olive Oil & Beeswax.  For pan lubing, I add oil until it's sticky enough, and for my C&B lube, I use more oil.  I squirt out my C&B lube from a brass luber that works remarkably like a cake-frosting squirter, or a syringe with a large hole.  It needs to be much runnier for the C&B luber than for pan lubing so I'd say it's about double the oil, but I've never measured it.  I bought the lube tool from Dixie, but I've also seen them at

A friend of mine uses TC Bore Butter lube right out of the squeeze tube to lube his C&B guns.  A few summers ago we went to the Premier "Southwest Texas Regional NCOWS Match."  It was quite warm and Dave experienced his Bore Butter lube melting and dripping out of his cylinders.  There was still enough lube left in the crevice around the ball (loaded in the cylinder) to work relatively well, but not great.  However, my lube - while becoming  NEARLY  liquid, still remained "waxy" enough to work just fine.  Also, when my lube is very cold, as in our winter shoots here in Indiana, it stays soft enough to use, 'tho I have to keep the lube "squirter" in my pocket to keep it warm enough to "push" out the spout.

[Carr Creek Kid]

Yeah I need to thicken it up for sure. It's not sticky enough by a long shot. I've read the toilet bowl rings make it a bit stickier, if you get the right ones.

[cpt dan blodgett]

More bees wax or parafin wiill thicken about a tablespoon of lanolin will make it sticky can get at walmart pharmacy.  Expect bag balm would also work as it is mostly lanolin.

[Noz]

Pearl Lube: 1 part soy wax, 1 part toilet bowl ring, 1/2 part vegetable shortening.


Bag Balm has a high level of petrolatum, same same toilet bowl ring.

[Cuts Crooked]

http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,4151.0.html

[Montana Slim]

Most would likely agree that a 50-50 (beeswax + crisco, olive oil, deer or mutton tallow is a good starting point).
Note I always use VOLUMES of ingredients...not by weight...this could be important. Soy wax?? thats an unknown to me as well.

Slim

[Carr Creek Kid]

Yeah, I read that some people had a lot of luck with soy wax, they said it performed as well if not better than beeswax, and at a cheaper price. We'll see I guess. I picked up a 1 lb brick of 100% beeswax today at the crafts store, I made a different batch with just 1 lb wax and 1 lb crisco with a tablespoon of muprhey's soap and a 1/4 cup of canola oil. Just poured a pan and after about 15 mins of drying, it's already twice as hard as the soy wax mix was. I melted all the soy wax and put it in a different container for storage, I think I'll get some more soy wax and try thickening that up. Haven't shot it yet, but so far the beeswax is better in my book. Though I am a tight wad, so if I can get the soy wax to work I'd go with that for sure! We shall see... Just wanted to get some bp loads for the 45-75 '76 before deer season!

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Pan Lubing is not rocket science. You do not need to get super fancy with your lube mixture. Did you read Pan Lubing 101? Jefro posted it earlier. I pan lubed for years with nothing but a mixture of about 50/50 beeswax and Crisco. I just put a big chunk of wax into a double boiler, and a glob of Crisco about the same size. No weighing, just eyeball measurement. Place your bullets pointy side up in a pan. Be sure to separate them by about 1/2" or so from each other or the cake will crack when you try to remove the bullets. Pour in enough lube to cover the bullets up to the lube groove. The suggestion to let the bullet cake cool in the fridge for a little while is a good one, I used to do that too. If the bullets slide around a little bit when you move the pan, shove them back so they are about 1/2" apart. Wait until the wax sets up before you move the pan. When the cake is the right temperature you can just push the bullets out with your thumb. If a little bit of lube falls out of the lube groove, smush a little bit more in with your thumb. If the cake breaks, just save the pieces and reassemble them in the pan for the next melt. Fill the holes with bullets and put it back in the oven to melt again. I used to do it at about 200 degrees F. It's not rocket science, don't make it more complicated than it has to be.

[Carr Creek Kid]

Driftwood, I read the link and it helped out. I guess I was just reading all these "extras" people were listing, thinking they would make it even better. The beeswax mix worked a whole lot better, it was more simple. I did a couple hundred bullets yesterday in between class and work. I'm already finding little tricks to make it better. I found the big problem with the 44/40 200 grainers was the wax was so thin only going up to the 2nd groove because the bullet is so short, it made the block really brittle and hard to work with when pulled out of the pan. The next batch I filled up a little further past the groove and it held together better. Is it just my mix or is it like that always like that? Seems it would be hard when lubing even smaller caliber bullets.

[cpt dan blodgett]

Yeah, I read that some people had a lot of luck with soy wax, they said it performed as well if not better than beeswax, and at a cheaper price. We'll see I guess. I picked up a 1 lb brick of 100% beeswax today at the crafts store, I made a different batch with just 1 lb wax and 1 lb crisco with a tablespoon of muprhey's soap and a 1/4 cup of canola oil. Just poured a pan and after about 15 mins of drying, it's already twice as hard as the soy wax mix was. I melted all the soy wax and put it in a different container for storage, I think I'll get some more soy wax and try thickening that up. Haven't shot it yet, but so far the beeswax is better in my book. Though I am a tight wad, so if I can get the soy wax to work I'd go with that for sure! We shall see... Just wanted to get some bp loads for the 45-75 '76 before deer season!

If you can find a local bee keeper bees wax is pretty inexpensive.  I got mine for $3 per pound from one guy (the first one who returned my call)  2nd Guy who called back wanted $4.  Both way less than craft store $18.  I may try Soy at some time but at $3 the bees wax was also cheaper than paraffin so I did not use the classic 1:1:1 emmerts  BW/Parafin/Tallow or Crisco

[rickk]

If it is really stressing you out, try a different technique.

"Kake Kutters" are currently make by the "310 shop". They used to be made by both Lyman and Lee.

You order them a couple thousandths bigger than your "as cast" size. They push over the bullet and extract it from the wax. As you continue cutting bullets, the one from about 3 cuts ago pop out the top. When you are all done just stick new bullets in the holes you created, reheat and start again.

You can use just about any lube formula this way. I find it works best if the lube is still just a tad warm when I do the "kutting".

Rick