BPCR Lube.

oldrodder

oldrodder

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Lately, I've been on a quest to find every book written by Paul Mathews on the subject of BPCR casting, loading and shooting. One book recently acquired deals with BPCR bullet lubes. In the book, Paul mentions all the popular BPCR lubes like Emmert's, SPG and his own favorites. The one he's been using since 2002 is 55% wax & 45% oil, so, three components to this lube: Pure Yellow Beeswax (30%), Pure Castor Wax (25%) & Pure Castor oil (45%) All by weight.
I brewed up a 5 Oz. sample batch today that yielded 2 sticks from my molds. I used a digital kitchen scale to weigh the components. To get a once value for the components, here's the formula:
5(oz) X .30= 1.5 oz. of Beeswax.
5 (oz) X .25= 1.25 Oz Castor Wax
5 (oz) X .45= 2.25 oz of Castor oil

Tonight, I plan on emptying one of my lubricators, cleaning it out and filling it with the new lube. Once that's done, I'll grease up some bullets and head to the range.

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More to come!
 
That's all part of the fun in shooting black powder. I haven't played around too much with making my own lube so far, but I got all the ingredients right here for when I run out of DGL.
Store bought lubes are running between 32 and 40 bucks a pound now, US dollars, plus tax and shipping on top of that. I can make it myself much cheaper.
 
I have a lot of Paul’s books, “40 year with the 45-70” was his best.

Gotta keep in mind a lot of the stuff Paul wrote about at the time was effective, but much has been surpassed already. The Shiloh forum has lots of improvements over some of the things he wrote about.

How are you cleaning out your lubesizer? I have one as well I need to drain.
 
To clean out a sizer of bp lube I've had good luck making a nest of tin foil in the toaster oven I use for powder coating.

Remove the parts with o-rings or keep the heat reasonable. It doesn't need to be very warm before the lube flows freely. Less than 200F.
 
hickstick_10 said:
I have a lot of Paul’s books, “40 year with the 45-70” was his best.

Gotta keep in mind a lot of the stuff Paul wrote about at the time was effective, but much has been surpassed already. The Shiloh forum has lots of improvements over some of the things he wrote about.

How are you cleaning out your lubesizer? I have one as well I need to drain.
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I have 11 of 13 books that Paul wrote. Even if no longer relevant, the're great reads! Looking for "60 years of rifles" and "The Practical paper patched bullet".
I use a heat gun to warm up the lubri-sizer. I strip it of parts that have an "O" ring first, put a paper on the floor of the loading room and have at it. Works well for me.
 
When I cleaned all wax lube out of one of my lubesizers, I stripped all parts from the press and put everything in a big pot of boiling water n let'er buck for 15 minutes or so, skimmed all the wax off the surface and pulled everything out of the pot to dry (heat from boiling temp will evaporate all the moisture off), no need to dry anything.
I wanted that sizer clean of all wax so I could size clean cast bullets so they wouldn't be contaminated with any wax for powder coating so skimming wax off water was important.
 
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I started a journey a couple yrs ago to try to replicate SPG because it's so damn expensive to import. I used a # of different oils mixed with common bees wax from a bee farmer. I had many failures (either to loose or to hard or to crumbly or to this or that). I could get the right consistency after a time but it always dried hard in a few days....until I think I stumbled on the secret ingredient that makes SPG remain soft & pliable for years....ordinary cooking flour mixed with the right amount of the wax & oil has remained pliable for the last 2 yrs and it is still just sitting open in a tinfoil dish since mixing. I made a ribbon extruder from a photo of one in a Venterino publication and this stuff extrudes exactly the same as SPG does.

My health issues prevented me from following through to complete my quest and i pass this on in case somebody wants to work on it more, I can't even help out with my mixing notes, as the wife was cleaning up my "mess" one day and turfed them
 
I just Buy SPG now more consistent for competition than my homemade used wax and lard but the lard goes rancid PU lol some guys use vasaline some neets foot oil etc.
 
fingers284 said:
I started a journey a couple yrs ago to try to replicate SPG because it's so damn expensive to import. I used a # of different oils mixed with common bees wax from a bee farmer. I had many failures (either to loose or to hard or to crumbly or to this or that). I could get the right consistency after a time but it always dried hard in a few days....until I think I stumbled on the secret ingredient that makes SPG remain soft & pliable for years....ordinary cooking flour mixed with the right amount of the wax & oil has remained pliable for the last 2 yrs and it is still just sitting open in a tinfoil dish since mixing. I made a ribbon extruder from a photo of one in a Venterino publication and this stuff extrudes exactly the same as SPG does.

My health issues prevented me from following through to complete my quest and i pass this on in case somebody wants to work on it more, I can't even help out with my mixing notes, as the wife was cleaning up my "mess" one day and turfed them
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About 10 years ago, I made 100 or so sticks of Emmert's Lube. I wrapped em all with Saran Wrap, boxed em up and stored them in a cool dry place. I'm still using them to this day. Not rancid, still sticky and pliable. I'm running low now, so I want to try Paul's "Premium" lube. If it works as well as Emmert's, I might switch......if I can find a source for Castor Wax!
 
I use 1/2 beeswax and 1/2 bear grease and it seems to work OK and feels similar to Paul Mathews lube. I just rub the lube onto the slugs before I run them through a sizing die. I think the shortcomings in my shooting are me rather than the lube

cheers mooncoon
 
FWIW if we're sharing recipes, I've been running eyeballed 50/50 beeswax and olive oil in my BP cartridges. It's cheap; it's easy; and I've not seen any gone rancid. Mice do like it, but otherwise... works great too I have to say on many occasions I've run 50 rounds of 45 Colt BP through my SAA clone without any jamming even in the "heat" of summer (granted that's a relative term).

For my frontstuffers I use some dishwasher soap and olive oil... also quick, cheap, easy. No trouble loading after 25-30 rounds even in summer (as we get summer up here). It also lasts well, and upon whatever water is in it evaporating, it leaves actually a nice slippery film on the patches that works very well.

Only my recipes. YMMV :)
 
I was using a recipe given to me that is suppose to be SPG. If it is not then it comes in for second place. It has been working really well. I also was given the recipe for Alberta Schuetzen lube which has done very well an I have been using it mostly lately. It seems to work in all weather conditions, been pleased with its performance.
 
MC One Shot said:
I was using a recipe given to me that is suppose to be SPG. If it is not then it comes in for second place. It has been working really well. I also was given the recipe for Alberta Schuetzen lube which has done very well an I have been using it mostly lately. It seems to work in all weather conditions, been pleased with its performance.
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MC, care to share those recipes????
 
Alberta Schuetzen Lube is definitely good stuff. I use it mostly for smokeless shooting in my schuetzen rifles but it seems to work quite well for bp shooting too. I've never made it, just bought it from Schuetzen Dave :)

Several years ago I switched from SPG to DGL for bp cartridge shooting and I like it a lot. It seems to work pretty well here in winter and places as hot as the American west in summer.

Chris.
 
oldrodder said:
MC, care to share those recipes????
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Oldrodder....I wish I could. They were given to me on the promise that I do not share them as they are sold commercially. If and when that stops I can. I never asked for them, they were offered to me with the condition. Maybe I must be a nice guy.....LOL
 
A beginner in the BP game may get the idea that one lube can fit all uses from some of the posts here but i think the lube formula and its viscosity will work in some folks usage but not others. A lube formula may be completely usable as a "smear on" a slug or patch but if your using a ribbon extruder or cookie cutting lube cookies it takes a very specific consistency to achieve usable product.
 
MC One Shot said:
Oldrodder....I wish I could. They were given to me on the promise that I do not share them as they are sold commercially. If and when that stops I can. I never asked for them, they were offered to me with the condition. Maybe I must be a nice guy.....LOL
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MC, I respect the fact that you are holding to the conditions imposed on you! Integrity is always the right choice.
 
At last week's range session, I brought the 40-65 out and 15 rounds of ammo loaded with 55 grs of Goex FFg and 400 gr Snover bullets lubed with Paul Mathews' "Premium" lube. Now, I know 15 shots isn't much of a test, but that's all I had!!
The results were very promising! I fired all 15 shots without wiping the bore or using the blow tube. There was no problem chambering or extracting the cartridges. The fouling was soft and easily removed with 2 damp patches. There was also a nice lube star outside the muzzle of the rifle. No loss of accuracy! I will try 50 rounds for the next test.
 
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