Home-made lube query

[Brian the Brit]

I'm currently trying to make a batch of lube using the formula: beeswax - 4oz by weight, neatsfoot oil and Murphy's oil soap each 2oz by volume that I found somewhere on the web.

My first attempt has been a complete disaster resulting in a paste with the consistency of porage that is glutinous and sticky instead of a smooth and slippery wax.

Murphy's oil soap is not easy to find this side of the pond but I recently tracked down a 32 oz bottle of concentrated soap on Amazon UK and used it as supplied. Is that where I went wrong? Should I have used it diluted and if so, at what ratio of soap to water?

I melted the beeswax in the microwave for about 10 minutes then carefully stirred in the neatsfoot oil before adding the Murphy's - at which point it all thickened up alarmingly.

Any advice you can give me on how to make this lube correctly would be very much appreciated.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

If you're not using Murphy's, then drop the substitute, and do a 50/50 mix of beeswax and neatsfoot oil to lube your .45-90 cartridge bullets. If you find it's too stiff for your application, melt it down and add a little bit more neatsfoot oil. Just remember the less beeswax = the lower the melting point.

LD

 

[excess650]

That "thickening" that you describe was saponification. You added Murphy's Oil Soap to a hot beeswax and neatsfoot oil mixture, and the result was more of the wax and oil turning into soap. The resultant soap won't easily melt.

My suggestion would be to go a different route. Use beeswax as your base, add an oil that will mix with blackpowder fouling, and add in some anhydrous laonolin.

Gently heat the beeswax so as to not scorch it. A double boiler is fine, but so is adding the the beeswax into the heated oil and lanolin at less than the boiling point of water. That's roughly 212F on this side of the pond and 100C on yours.

As for the other oil, you have numerous choices. I know for fact that Mobil 1 FULL SYNTHETIC motor oil works rather excellently. Vegetable (cooking) oils are more apt to become rancid.

Try 7-3-3 by weight. It has a nice consistency and works well with a breathing tube, aka blow tube between shots. If your plan is to wipe the bore between shots, you can double the beeswax. This mixture can be remelted unlike a saponified mixture, so can be modified if you choose.

 

[Brian the Brit]

Sorry for the confusion, LD, I meant that I had obtained a bottle of genuine Murphy's Oil Soap but that it is the concentrated product.

Would I be right in assuming that the guys in the US use a 'ready to use' diluted form when using it to make their lube?

I know that there are lots of alternative lubes but this one seems to get consistently good write ups and I was keen to try it.

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

I started w/ a 50:50 mix of beeswax to olive oil, but the lube was thicker than desired. I’m now at a 2-to-1 mix of oil to wax and like it so far. I heat them ”˜gently’ in a microwave on power setting of 7, but still watch it carefully.

None of my lubes have ever turned rancid ...

 

[Billnpatti]

After you mix your grease and oil of choice, stir them well and then add just a tablespoon of Murphy's Oil Soap just as it comes from the bottle. Stir well while adding the soap and then whip it as it cools to make a smooth lube. If it is too thin, just add some beeswax to thicken it. I like mine to be about the consistency of paste wax, just barely soft enough to be able to smear it into the lube grooves of your bullet if you are lubing in that manner. If you are pan lubing, the lube can be much thicker. Getting the right consistency is trial and error and is greatly affected by the ambient temperature where you are shooting. It should be thicker in hot climates and a bit thinner in cold climates.