Found a serious problem with the automotive grease I've been using on my cast boolits for the past three years. It works GREAT when you load the cartridges and fire them promptly. But lately I've been using some .45-70s that I loaded up en masse and had been storing for a while. They've become very erratic and unreliable. The muzzle blast and flash vary noticeable from shot to shot, I've had several subsonic "boomers" and a couple of squibs that were so light I had to check to make sure the barrel was unobstructed. One even drove the bullet halfway into the rifling and it had to be driven out with a rod. The powder remaining was slightly burned, but it was all very noticeably oily. Over time, the oil has oozed out of this grease and wicked into the powder that was in contact with the bullet base, wicking through the whole charge.

No more wheel bearing grease in cartridges for me!

I will continue to use it as an over-ball lube in my Walker replica, where it works very well, and on patches for my flintlock rifle when I get some real black powder and can shoot it again. (I got a tip today on a BP dealer only about 60 miles from here!)

I'm experimenting with the Johnson's Paste Wax tumble lube I first saw recommended on Handloads.com. I warmed a bunch (about 200) of Lee 457-325-Fs cast in air cooled wheelweights above the melting point of wax and spooned in a generous helping of Johnson's Paste Wax fresh out of the can. I did this in a large steel can that had held Planter's Peanuts, and sloshed and tumbled them around till they were thoroughly coated. Waited for them to cool to room temperature, at which point the wax was cloudy and brown but still fluid, like a heavy oil or very light grease. Took 'em out by hand and stood 'em up on their bases on a paper towel to dry overnight. Those boolits were some of the slipperiest things I've ever tried to hold onto with that liquid wax on 'em! The thickened liquid wax produced a good fill of the lube grooves and the bullets are well coated all over with just a bit of gloppy excess that won't cause any trouble in loading. This sure is an easy way to lube a bunch of boolits in a hurry! I'm going to load them to about 1500 FPS with WC680 and try 'em out. I'll bet it works well as I used to use Winchester's 240 grain .44 SWCGCs lubed with a dry wax (with similar globs of excess wax where it had been applied from a melt) at about 38,500 CUP and 1550 FPS by Winchester's data, using 25 grains of 296 in my Super Blackhawk, and they shot accurately without a hint of leading. These .45-70s will reach a similar velocity in a 22" barrel with a much lower pressure level.

Since you're experimenting with different lubes, try this one.
Put all your bullets in a large kettle. Cover with ocra, and water. Boil until the okra is cooked.
Ain't nothing slimier on earth, if eating is any indication, and just may be the ticket!

Hey Ric, I can't imagine why anyone would eat boiled okra. It's like green slugs. God meant for okra to be fried, obviously.

I wish I would have known about this when I was a kid. I could have sent you a lot of pkra I left on my plate. Over the years I have had people foist okra on me in every conceivable form and I still haven't found any I like.

Ricochet, the Lee Liquid Alox is very easy to use and works just fine for me up to 1700 fps in 30-30.

My homemade 4:1:1 lube works just fine up to 1950 fps. I haven't tried it at higher velocity. It's 4 parts by volume cleaned beeswax, 1 part Dextron ATF fluid, and 1 part lithium auto grease. Heat and mix well.

I use the 4:1:1 now in a pan and with a cookie cutter, but when the NRA formula Alox stick in my sizer-lubricator runs out, I'm replacing it with 4:1:1. I'll melt it in the pan and simply pour it into the reservoir of the sizer-lubricator.

Thanks for the tips, Junior!

Junior, have you had any problems with rounds stored and powder contamination? Or on hot days?

The Lee liquid alox works well and for a more convienient spray application you can go to a motorcycle shop and get a can of Maxima Chain Wax. This is the same as alox in a spray can. Works well for me.~~~~~~~~~~~~~scott

I think Glen Fryxell reported that all of his cast shooting was done with a lube of his own "design". it was 50% moly high pressure grease and 50% beeswax.

As I remember it he said it was not an issue on hot summer days in the eastern Washington desert.

The computer with that information bit the dust. It is in some old Sixgunner article about SSK bullets.

Funny in the old days it seems like 50:50 lube was touted as the only lube with properties to reduce leading and provide adequate accuracy!

It seems that all of these "crazy" cast bullet shooters have found some new answers.