I just finished making four pounds of NRA 50/50 beeswax/Alox 350. After finishing, I had a few questions after the fact, including what is the best way to get home made cake lube into my Lubrisizer, with the vast quantity and relatively universality of 50/50, should I bother making any other lubes for any purpose including any type of handgun or specialty cast rifle, and third, what is anyone's estimate of how many reloads of my Lubriszer well, and theoretically how many average pistol bullets could four pounds properly lubricate?
NRA 50/50 Lube Cooking
- Thread starter Duckford
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gwpercle
Member
I keep my home made lube in an old thrift shop coffee pot, I set the pot in a pan of water , gently heat it and pour from the spout into the Lyman 450 reservoir . Let the pot cool , cover and set back on the shelf until next time.
Another way is to make or buy a mould , cast the lube into sticks , let harden , remove and wrap sticks in foil or wax paper.
My 450 uses hollow sticks and I found making them a pain so just fill the 450 with melted lube.
Gary
Another way is to make or buy a mould , cast the lube into sticks , let harden , remove and wrap sticks in foil or wax paper.
My 450 uses hollow sticks and I found making them a pain so just fill the 450 with melted lube.
Gary
da gimp
Member
hey duck & gw, what are your recipes/methods of making this? where did you get your Alox in bulk? your paraffin/ what did you pay etc... Heck I've cast bullets & used an RCBS luber sizerII since the early 1980's & never made my own bullet lube. Do you need a heater to run your bullet sizer or can it be run without one?
2 Lbs Of Alox 350 to make your own 5050 cast bullet lube! | eBay
I think this seller also has a store and sells his own brand of NRA 50.50. The only place I can find Alox 350 for sale outside of Lubrisol, who apparently sells this industrial lubrication by the 55 gallon barrel, or somewhere I read the smallest you can buy is a 5 gallon bucket, but this guy must have bought either one and sells packages to you and me.
The beeswax I acquired a long time ago in a big 12 pound order to make my own leather treatment. That and paraffin can be obtained relatively easily from many sellers, but it really pays to look from a small direct seller by the pound instead of getting bits.
Shipping and everything included, I think my four pounds of lube cost me around $38 in materials. When I referenced last, beeswax can usually be found $8 a pound or so.
My mix was just 8 parts Alox 350, 8 parts beeswax, and 1 part paraffin, the paraffin on advice from other threads I've read on other forums about how 350 is not exactly the same as old Alox 2138f and should have some paraffin content for some crystyilne this or that. (Plus I'm willing to cut it some with cheaper wax because I'm a chaepo) Melted in large double boiler to not smoke and burn the mix, just melt it slowly till it homoginized. Some more experienced lube makers might take me to task on my mix and method. My rifle loads will teach me if I should have went straight 50-50 or not.
I think this seller also has a store and sells his own brand of NRA 50.50. The only place I can find Alox 350 for sale outside of Lubrisol, who apparently sells this industrial lubrication by the 55 gallon barrel, or somewhere I read the smallest you can buy is a 5 gallon bucket, but this guy must have bought either one and sells packages to you and me.
The beeswax I acquired a long time ago in a big 12 pound order to make my own leather treatment. That and paraffin can be obtained relatively easily from many sellers, but it really pays to look from a small direct seller by the pound instead of getting bits.
Shipping and everything included, I think my four pounds of lube cost me around $38 in materials. When I referenced last, beeswax can usually be found $8 a pound or so.
My mix was just 8 parts Alox 350, 8 parts beeswax, and 1 part paraffin, the paraffin on advice from other threads I've read on other forums about how 350 is not exactly the same as old Alox 2138f and should have some paraffin content for some crystyilne this or that. (Plus I'm willing to cut it some with cheaper wax because I'm a chaepo) Melted in large double boiler to not smoke and burn the mix, just melt it slowly till it homoginized. Some more experienced lube makers might take me to task on my mix and method. My rifle loads will teach me if I should have went straight 50-50 or not.
Harrison
US Veteran
I don't know how many boolits 4# of lube will lube, but based on the number of boolits 4# of stick lube will do, I would say a whole bunch.
gwpercle
Member
My recipe is one from Garth Choate , who used to make lube for commercial sales in the 1970's . He made both Alox / Beeswax and Lithium / Beeswax lubes. I placed an order and asked him to send me the one he thought was best. He sent the Lithium / Beeswax and said he preferred it in his loads and it gave consistently good accuracy .
Since then I've tried many and found he was right.
He gave me the recipe:
3 parts clean Beeswax (he used 24 pounds)
1 part Lithium Grease ( he used 8 pounds)
I use Lucas Red-N-Tacky lithium grease , fill a small can with grease , then fill the can 3 times with beeswax. Into a double boiler (beeswax has a flash point of 400 degrees so be careful ). heat gently , whisk and whisk. Turn off heat let cool and repeat the next day....this seems to get a good mixing. The grease doesn't really melt , so the whisking is important to blend.
Make sticks or do the coffee pot filling. I have never had a leading problem with it in cast bullet handgun loads .
This is a soft lube that doesn't require a heater. If the lube is too soft a small amount of paraffin wax will stiffen it up.
Gary
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