What is a good lube for cast conical bullets?

[4given]

I will be testing some cast Lyman plains bullets in my .54 Renegade this weekend and I need some bullet lube, I will be using black powder.

Should I use T/C Bore Butter? That seems to be the only thing readily avalable in my kneck of the woods. I have read were bore Butter and Crisco are about the same. Is this true? Would Crisco work?

Thanks!

 

[roundball]

I used T/C's bore butter with some .45cal maxi-hunters years ago and it did fine.
A little thin so it can be messy applying / using it.

Then just recently I had a chance to test some conicals and this time I ordered Oxyoke bullet lube from Track of the Wolf...excellent, and if I ever have to lube any more, I'll use it instead of bore butter.

 

[Dphar]

I will be testing some cast Lyman plains bullets in my .54 Renegade this weekend and I need some bullet lube, I will be using black powder.

Should I use T/C Bore Butter? That seems to be the only thing readily avalable in my kneck of the woods. I have read were bore Butter and Crisco are about the same. Is this true? Would Crisco work?

Thanks!

SPG bullet lube should work fine.
Certainly worth trying.

Dan

 

[BrownBear]

For ease of use I've opted for LEE Liquid Alox. A couple of coats does a great job for me, and it's more or less dry to the touch. Just splash some onto the conicals in a ziploc, slosh them to coat, then pull them out to dry. Once dry, dump them back in the bag and do it again. Excess Liquid Alox is poured back into the bottle.

Furthest thing from traditional, but that's for others to worry about in their own shooting kits.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Beeswax will thicken the crisco and work just fine. I use a mixture of 20%beeswax and 80% lard so the criscoe should mix about the same. :idunno:

 

[Dphar]

For ease of use I've opted for LEE Liquid Alox. A couple of coats does a great job for me, and it's more or less dry to the touch. Just splash some onto the conicals in a ziploc, slosh them to coat, then pull them out to dry. Once dry, dump them back in the bag and do it again. Excess Liquid Alox is poured back into the bottle.

Furthest thing from traditional, but that's for others to worry about in their own shooting kits.

It was found years ago that Alox caused problems with BP fouling this is why SPG and the later BP bullet lubes came on the market.

Dan

 

[BrownBear]

That was in the world of black powder cartridge shooting wasn't it? I've never had a problem with muzzleloaders and I'm not likely to change. It's too easy for the little bit of conical shooting I do.

 

[4given]

Thanks for all the input guys! What I would really like to do is use something cheap at the range for the testing. The other two bullets I will be testing are alreay lubed.

I have two questions:

1. since I am only going to test a few of these Lyman bullets at the range to see if they shoot well through my rifle would it work OK if I just took a little container of Crisco with me and lubed each bullet just before I load it? I will probably only be shooting 5 or 6 bullets.

2. What is a cheap source of beexwax or something else to stiffen up the Crisco? Would I have anything in my kitchen perhaps?

Thanks!

 

[BrownBear]

Crisco by itself should be fine for testing. You wouldn't want to carry them that way in hot weather, but adding at the bench should be fine.

Cheapest and easiest source of beeswax are the old wax seals for toilets. Check at your hardware store.

 

[David W.]

While not quite as cheap, you may want to consider in the future a mixture of beeswax and jojoba oil.

 

[cynthialee]

I like bore butter.
It comes in a squeeze tube so I don't have to goop it out of a container.
It stays firm in a wide temp range.
However it is a PITA when it gets below zero or over 100. To cold and it is to hard to work with and to hot it is as bad as the goopy stuff I avoid.
I have some Dixie minie-maxi greese that is supposedly made for conicals, but the stuff is so goopy I keep it in the fridge and won't likely use it until it gets very cold outside.

 

[David W.]

Dixie Gun Works Old Zip works very well, too.

 

[Rifleman1776]

What is a cheap source of beexwax or something else to stiffen up the Crisco?

Call your county extension agent and ask for the names of some beekeepers in your area. Call one and you may get your wax free or at very little cost.
I would mix with anything but Crisco. Peanut oil is my 'go to' stuff for lube making with beeswax. But a lot of others will work. e.g. Olive, canola, soy, whale, JoJoBa, etc.

 

[roundball]

Cheapest and easiest source of beeswax are the old wax seals for toilets. Check at your hardware store.

I think all wax rings today are synthetic, not real beeswax...don't know if that matters in terms of the material's ability to melt & mix or not...

 

[BrownBear]

Cheapest and easiest source of beeswax are the old wax seals for toilets. Check at your hardware store.

I think all wax rings today are synthetic, not real beeswax...don't know if that matters in terms of the material's ability to melt & mix or not...

That dates me, but it's good to know. There were 4 stacked in our old barn when we bought the place and I've been picking away at them ever since. Maybe I ought sit on them! :rotf:

Sorry, couldn't resist.