Hi all, I have only been reloading for about 5 years now but like most things I do, I study every thing first. Using a wax toilet gasket for things needing a softer wax seal is an old idea that my grandfather showed me about 40 years ago. I don't remember what he was fixing but I'm sure it worked. I received a Lyman sizer a few years ago for Christmas along with about 3 sticks of lube. As soon as I seen the lube I knew I could make it my self. What I did is I mixed it about 50/50 with caning wax to cut down the stickiness & then added a few red crayons to change the color. The color is only there so I can see if the rings are full with out needing my reading glasses. You can also use a 1" ID. pieces of galvanized PVC in place of the plastic. Once the sticks are cool just hit them quickly with a hand held torch on the out side & the wax will slide right out. The same trick works using a 1/4" steel rod in the center in place of the wooden dowl.
I have been successfully using your method for several years now. After experimenting with red parafin and other materials, I have gone back to the toilet bowl rings exclusively. Thanks for such a great video.
I liked you presentation and thought I would try the same thing. For many years I have been using a Lube sold by one of the leading reloading manufactures at the cost of $5+ per tube plus shipping. I first made a set of molds like yours except I used 1/4 inch aluminum rods instead of the wood dowels. The rods pulled out much easier. I wanted to try to achieve the same relative hardness of the commercial bullet lube with the wax ring bees wax. I found that using one wax ring and one block of the Gulf canning paraffin ( they come 4 blocks to a box) produced the same relative hardness. This "homemade" bullet lube works exactly like the commercial stuff. To expedite making them, once each mold was filled, I placed them in the freezer until hard. I then used a heat gun for about 4-5 seconds on the outside of each plastic pipe one at a time to loosen the wax/ paraffin mix. I also had a short section of 1 inch dowel rod that I used to push the harden mix out of the pipe from the bottom up. Once removed from the pipe I could easily remove the aluminum rod. Thanks again for a great idea..
I suggest setting interior sticks/tubes and filling those, then set exterior sticks/tubes and fill. This will eliminate your issues cited when pouring.
One thing I've done for years in my ceramic mold making process is pouring molten wax in a damp plaster mold. Making a two part plaster gang mold of a simple cylinder is pretty straight forward; lots of vids on YT. After the mold has cured, soak it in water and dry off any excess moisture. Cast melted wax immediately. Wax shrinks a bit and easily releases from the plaster mold. For a long wearing plaster mold I would recommend Hydro Stone instead of regular gypsum plaster as more wear resistant and durable.. not necessary though. Ive also made molds of long sections of dowel to use as sprue material for bronze casting. You could pour one long cylinder and then chop it into bits with a hot knife.
Great idea and very clever setup. There is always something special about coming up with your own DIY solutions for common problems/supplies. I use these same wax rings as a substitute for beeswax when making wax bullets to shoot out of old/parlor guns in my basement. I pay about $1.89 per ring at Lowes or Home Depot. Add some paraffin to the mix and you get a nice consistency for wax bullets.
Most of the wax used in wax bullets is paraffin which is hard (and brittle). I make the bullets out of 4 parts paraffin to 1 part toilet ring wax. They are hard enough that you can see rifling marks in the fired ones. You can also throw in a small amount of oil (Crisco, etc.) for good measure but I've never found that to be necessary for my use.
mtslyh Personally I dont like hard bullet lubes as they require too force on the lubrisizer to get them to flow into the bullet, softer lubes are more messy but work well. A small amount of paraffin hardens lube quite a lot.
I shoot a mk. IV Martini-Henry regularly and use this wax mixed with a bit of shortening to make a nice, soft lube for the bullets it eats. The fat makes the wax a little less sticky, but I've found that this makes for a slightly more pleasant cleaning experience when I'm done at the range.
Originally, I used an 85gn charge of FFg black powder, but I've since switched to a 55gn charge of Triple 7 gold BP substitute. It does just fine pushing the c. 480gn bullets to 100m and doesn't beat the hell out of me if I fire a couple of boxes.
If you set you jig on a cookie sheet just small enough to fit to fit in your freezer it will catch any drips when you are poring you wax. Then you put the cookie sheet in the freezer for a while and the wax will come right off. It might help you get the wax out of your moulds too.
+William Hathaway I tried freezing the filled molds and it did not help with removing the contents, in fact it made them even more difficult to remove.
PUT WAX PAPER UNDER AND UP THE SIDES OF THE PVC TUBES AND THEY WILL COME OUT. EASY. OSE RUBBER BANDS TO HOLD THE WAXED PAPER ON. Also, those are 3/8" dowels in the middle your using (might want to get a tape measure..
I use those too. Around here you can even get them from Walmart. They used to be beeswax, and like you I've heard that they are now petro based. But the ones I buy sure seem like beeswax, and I use it in muzzleloaders and cap-and-ball revolvers with no apparent ill effects.
glad I bought my Lyman 450 $55.00, 7 dies $80.00 and 50 sticks of lube for 29 cents each, back when I was a puppy. Way to much work. Cool set up. Same way I make spider weights for coast fishing.
314299 Shooting Channel close to 50, anyone remember" Herter's", started reloading at about age 16, Bro did the paper and plastic, and I did the brass. Good ol' days-powder was $5-6 lb.,primers were $8-9 per thousand. Rolling your own-a box of 38's would run about $1.50. P.S still have 12 Mirrow Lube sticks left.
You might have better results using pex pipe for your mold instead of pvc. Pex is made of polyethylene and much slicker than pvc, so it may be easier to remove the wax from the mold.
last thing of the evening I just melt a few chunks of lube, pour it in the lubrisizer and slap the top back on. Next day all is solid and cut out the middle man. My lube is beef tallow and beeswax used with black powder. Try spraying the mold inside with Pam to ease pushing the slug out.
Split the molds into 2 pieces long ways. Rap a piece of tape around them that way after it hardens you can take the tape off without any destruction. Just a thought.
I have been using these rings for over 10 years. I mix with Crisco for a Black Powder Lube. 3 pounds of Crisco and 2 toilet seals (preferably unused. You don't want a shitty mix......lol)
314299 Shooting Channel Works better than anything made commercially, even SPG. A lot of Black Powder shooters in Northern Illinois and Wisconsin use it. One person added some kind of oil to it and is marketing it commercially. I use it in my marlin 1894. I load .38 Specials using it. 158 grain cast bullet of the Lyman 358446 mold or a Snakebit Greasewagon mold, cut bt Lee for a shooter in Wisconsin. I load 22 grains of FFFg under this bullet and in my Marlin with a 24 inch barrel, it keeps the fouling soft all the way to the muzzle. It leaves a nice, wet lube star burst on the muzzle. I also use it in my 34 inch Sharps in 45/70. I lube size them and then hand dip the ;loaded round over the bullet up to the case mouth. Looks like a waterproof match. I have gone 200 shots with no cleaning, blow tube or loss of accuracy. Groups on the last target of 5 shots was 1/8 inch larger than the first and the smallest group was the 6th group.
Perhaps a 1" piston type arrangement with a spigot extending to hold the hole open/centre when the force is applied to drive it out of the mould cleanly. There is definitely a fine line with wax as i've found with pan lubing. Leave them too long as they are staying there forever - not long enough and the wax falls off in a horrible gooey mess. Think it might be time to get serious and track down a lubrisizer.
Yes, pan lubing is a pain in the butt. I only do it if I dont have the correct sizing die for my lubrisizers. How much do lubrisizers cost down your way? There is a used Lyman 450 at the local gun shop for $75.
Question, can this lube mixture be used for black powder bullets. A few of the guys I shoot Schuetzen matches with gave me about 10 different recipes and they are similar but use a mixture of bees wax and paraffin. I have tried paraffin in bp and it turned out to foul horribly.
314299 Shooting Channel Considerably longer. I've dabbed in wax casting and it takes quite a while to loose that heat. I suggest pre-cooled water perhaps with medicinal alcohol inside to stop it from freezing, to help disperse the heat faster. Tho if left overnight it should cool rock hard.
Just drop it face down in the pot and the wax will melt away from the plastic. No offense to the plumbers comments, I too am one, and depending on temp, the finger in the hole doesn't always work especially when on a service call with no way to cool the wax.
Try mixing a small ammount ot paraffin wax with the melt. Say 10% . It will make your wax lube slightly harder. Setting them in the fridge will cool them quicker and make them easier to remove.
Actually I prefer the softer consistency of the wax rings just as they are, however I live in a fairly cool/cold climate, for those in hotter places the addition of paraffin wax might be a good idea.
You may have created a market for used toilet bowl rings. Im thinking metal centers would remove easier. I wonder about finding some paper tubes that size.
Smokes lots, just like any wax based bullet lube that I've ever used. As I only shoot outdoors it's not an issue but might be if you shoot on an indoor range.
Great video 314299 Shooting Channel , always wondered about the wax rings as a substitute lube. Do you find this lube needs a heater in the sizer to flow properly?
Finally, using a wax ring I won't be bitching about! What a great idea, thank you for sharing! Also getting valuable tips in the comments section. One question I didn't see mentioned? Do you have to use a lube heater to get this flowing out of the sizer and into the bullet grooves, (I have a Lyman 450)? I don't have a heater but saw someplace where an ordinary iron can be adapted for a lube heater. Thanks again for a Great Post!
314299 Shooting Channel Great! I will give it a shot as soon as I get all my stuff gathered and let you know how well it worked for me. Once again, THANK YOU for sharing this knowledge.
Great Idea off to Home Depo or Lowes to pick up some How does it work on the Bore of your guns for leading avoiding etc Thanks for sharing great video etc.
how much do you figure you're paying per pound? I just bought 3 pounds of lube from lsstuff for 12 bucks a pound and the stuff is very well known on the forums. just tried the carnuba red today with a heater and the stuff is great. it's one of the hardest lubes he has but it works very well. there are 50/50 versions and others too. I'm not sure that you can make your own lube for cheaper than that. how much wax is a ring?
A wax ring is less than two dollars, and makes about three sticks of lube. Not sure what the weight of a wax ring is as I dont have any around at the moment to weigh.
I don't recall ever using this stuff for any rifle bullets so I cannot say for sure if it would be OK for that purpose/speed or not. I have a couple of lube/size machines, one has this stuff in it for pistol bullets while the other has my "rifle" lube made of bees wax and lithium grease. I have shot .357 mag pistol bullets with this lube at speeds up to 1800 fps in a carbine, so I expect it ought to be fine for "rifle" calibers up to similar speeds. If you try it please let us know how well it works for you.
Wasnt to serious about melting the whole thing. plastics probably a fairly poor lube anyway..but plastic and parafin are both from oil??? warm water would probably release the plastic . But not a big problem..good idea the rings
Are these super cheap? Have you ever heard of White Label Lube? It's straight Alox, and is super cheap. You can get it in quarts, half gallons, and gallons.
Thats some excellent stuff right there, never even knew that product existed! lol.. now it makes me wonder if a solvent could be added to the wax to make home made, lee style tumble lube :-) Have you tried freezing the tubes to help release the wax?
I think someone tried that, but the solvent that worked was a rather nasty one, I forget the type. Yes, I have tried freezing, it completely locks the stick in the tube. The key to removing the stuff seems to be timing.
As an example Midway lists Lyman Alox at $5.69 a stick. One wax ring costs around $2 and it makes about three sticks of lube so the "home brew' stuff costs about $0.67 a stick, a savings of over $5 per stick. So if you make a lot of cast bullets there are some savings to be had, I probably save about $50 a year over the bought stuff. If you only make a few bullets a year perhaps it's not worth it.
I don't bother with the sticks, and just pour the melted mix into the sizer and let it harden before use. Add whatever you want if necessary to make it a little harder if you want. I mounted my sizer on a rectangle of 3/8 aluminum and put it in a vise for use. I bought an old iron from the habitat store and turn it to a moderate heat. In 15 minutes or so I can lube bullets easily. No sense in buying their expensive heaters
Toilet wax great info....could you put the rings in a pan of warm water then maybe remove the plastic in one piece..it was painfull watching you pick it apart. Any chance the plastic pkg would melt in the can and add to the mix lol good vid.
I'm sure you could melt the wax out of the plastic tray in the water, but that plastic is not going to melt into the wax before you reach the flash point of the wax, and at any rate you would not want the plastic in your bullet lube, it would create a horrible mess in the barrel.
314299 Shooting Channel I figured out that the materials to make one stick of lube cost less than fifty cents, store bought stuff is $4 to $7 a stick, so the 11 sticks I made saved me at least $38.50. So it does actually pay over the long run if you cast and shoot a lot of bullets.
kevin scurlock Beeswax is generally expensive, at least where I live, so if you can get it cheap I would go for it. You can make some great bullet lubes with beeswax, lots of different formulations out there.
Hi, Why not set ring in shallow plastic pan and nuke the toilet bowl ring for few seconds in microwave, should make it easier to get out of plastic. just don't nuke it too long or disaster,lolol. Thanks for vid..
Hi all, I have only been reloading for about 5 years now but like most things I do, I study every thing first.
Using a wax toilet gasket for things needing a softer wax seal is an old idea that my grandfather showed me about 40 years ago.
I don't remember what he was fixing but I'm sure it worked.
I received a Lyman sizer a few years ago for Christmas along with about 3 sticks of lube.
As soon as I seen the lube I knew I could make it my self. What I did is I mixed it about 50/50 with caning wax to cut down the stickiness & then added a few red crayons to change the color. The color is only there so I can see if the rings are full with out needing my reading glasses.
You can also use a 1" ID. pieces of galvanized PVC in place of the plastic.
Once the sticks are cool just hit them quickly with a hand held torch on the out side & the wax will slide right out. The same trick works using a 1/4" steel rod in the center in place of the wooden dowl.
Thanks Mark My Grand kids will never miss their crayons from their coloring book any way HA HA
I never heard of galvanized PVC!!!!!!!🤣
I have been successfully using your method for several years now. After experimenting with red parafin and other materials, I have gone back to the toilet bowl rings exclusively. Thanks for such a great video.
Beeswax by itself is way too sticky. I have gone back to 50/50 Alox and Beeswax, maybe a bit of paraffin and color added.
@@anselb2000 I’d like to try 1/2 toilet bowl wax and 1/2 parafin and see if that works well for rifle lube.
I liked you presentation and thought I would try the same thing. For many years I have been using a Lube sold by one of the leading reloading manufactures at the cost of $5+ per tube plus shipping. I first made a set of molds like yours except I used 1/4 inch aluminum rods instead of the wood dowels. The rods pulled out much easier. I wanted to try to achieve the same relative hardness of the commercial bullet lube with the wax ring bees wax. I found that using one wax ring and one block of the Gulf canning paraffin ( they come 4 blocks to a box) produced the same relative hardness. This "homemade" bullet lube works exactly like the commercial stuff. To expedite making them, once each mold was filled, I placed them in the freezer until hard. I then used a heat gun for about 4-5 seconds on the outside of each plastic pipe one at a time to loosen the wax/ paraffin mix. I also had a short section of 1 inch dowel rod that I used to push the harden mix out of the pipe from the bottom up. Once removed from the pipe I could easily remove the aluminum rod. Thanks again for a great idea..
I suggest setting interior sticks/tubes and filling those, then set exterior sticks/tubes and fill. This will eliminate your issues cited when pouring.
One thing I've done for years in my ceramic mold making process is pouring molten wax in a damp plaster mold. Making a two part plaster gang mold of a simple cylinder is pretty straight forward; lots of vids on YT. After the mold has cured, soak it in water and dry off any excess moisture. Cast melted wax immediately. Wax shrinks a bit and easily releases from the plaster mold. For a long wearing plaster mold I would recommend Hydro Stone instead of regular gypsum plaster as more wear resistant and durable.. not necessary though. Ive also made molds of long sections of dowel to use as sprue material for bronze casting. You could pour one long cylinder and then chop it into bits with a hot knife.
Interesting, thanks for the idea.
Great idea and very clever setup. There is always something special about coming up with your own DIY solutions for common problems/supplies.
I use these same wax rings as a substitute for beeswax when making wax bullets to shoot out of old/parlor guns in my basement. I pay about $1.89 per ring at Lowes or Home Depot. Add some paraffin to the mix and you get a nice consistency for wax bullets.
Interesting, I would have thought you would want quite a hard wax to make wax bullets.
Most of the wax used in wax bullets is paraffin which is hard (and brittle). I make the bullets out of 4 parts paraffin to 1 part toilet ring wax. They are hard enough that you can see rifling marks in the fired ones. You can also throw in a small amount of oil (Crisco, etc.) for good measure but I've never found that to be necessary for my use.
mtslyh Personally I dont like hard bullet lubes as they require too force on the lubrisizer to get them to flow into the bullet, softer lubes are more messy but work well. A small amount of paraffin hardens lube quite a lot.
Great video - just watched this for the first time... Thanks for saving me more money.
No problem, glad you found it useful.
I shoot a mk. IV Martini-Henry regularly and use this wax mixed with a bit of shortening to make a nice, soft lube for the bullets it eats. The fat makes the wax a little less sticky, but I've found that this makes for a slightly more pleasant cleaning experience when I'm done at the range.
+GSF Tector Interesting. Shooting with black powder or smokeless?
Originally, I used an 85gn charge of FFg black powder, but I've since switched to a 55gn charge of Triple 7 gold BP substitute. It does just fine pushing the c. 480gn bullets to 100m and doesn't beat the hell out of me if I fire a couple of boxes.
Neandrathal that I am, I just break off hunks of wax and stuff em in the tube. Seems to work fine!
Wax on wax off grasshopper lol. I use them too works great.i mix it with gulf wax and bore butter when I pan lube
If you set you jig on a cookie sheet just small enough to fit to fit in your freezer it will catch any drips when you are poring you wax. Then you put the cookie sheet in the freezer for a while and the wax will come right off. It might help you get the wax out of your moulds too.
+William Hathaway I tried freezing the filled molds and it did not help with removing the contents, in fact it made them even more difficult to remove.
You could use washer with the stick and push it 👍👌
PUT WAX PAPER UNDER AND UP THE SIDES OF THE PVC TUBES AND THEY WILL COME OUT. EASY. OSE RUBBER BANDS TO HOLD THE WAXED PAPER ON. Also, those are 3/8" dowels in the middle your using (might want to get a tape measure..
I use those too. Around here you can even get them from Walmart. They used to be beeswax, and like you I've heard that they are now petro based. But the ones I buy sure seem like beeswax, and I use it in muzzleloaders and cap-and-ball revolvers with no apparent ill effects.
Interesting to hear that they worked well as lube for black powder.
Wonderful wonderful bulletlube!.
I would not exclaim it to be the "best" bullet lube but it is cheap and easy to source.
glad I bought my Lyman 450 $55.00, 7 dies $80.00 and 50 sticks of lube for 29 cents each, back when I was a puppy. Way to much work. Cool set up. Same way I make spider weights for coast fishing.
50 sticks of lube would keep you going quite a while. Roughly how long ago was it for those prices.
314299 Shooting Channel close to 50, anyone remember" Herter's", started reloading at about age 16, Bro did the paper and plastic, and I did the brass. Good ol' days-powder was $5-6 lb.,primers were $8-9 per thousand. Rolling your own-a box of 38's would run about $1.50. P.S still have 12 Mirrow Lube sticks left.
j stark
Sounds like you've got about 25 years head start on me in reloading.
314299 Shooting Channel age has it's + 's and -'s, give me a few hours and I'll give ya a +. Oh yeah, what were we taking about?
To remove the wax from the plastic form, freeze them first. Remove the plastic form when still frozen!
I'll try that next time.
314299 Shooting Channel Or spray the inside of the conduit with some Pam or other nonstick cooking spray. It works for me.
Eric Borders
Sounds like a good tip as well.
You might have better results using pex pipe for your mold instead of pvc. Pex is made of polyethylene and much slicker than pvc, so it may be easier to remove the wax from the mold.
last thing of the evening I just melt a few chunks of lube, pour it in the lubrisizer and slap the top back on. Next day all is solid and cut out the middle man. My lube is beef tallow and beeswax used with black powder. Try spraying the mold inside with Pam to ease pushing the slug out.
That's one way to do it.
Hi:) Couldn't you use coin tubes for liners and just peel them off before you use the wax?
you know sometimes people crush those in the store you can sometimes get them for dirt cheap especially in home depot.
Split the molds into 2 pieces long ways. Rap a piece of tape around them that way after it hardens you can take the tape off without any destruction. Just a thought.
That would most likely work. If you give it a try please do a video of it and let us know how it works out.
That's why I like Pan Lube
Why?
I have been using these rings for over 10 years. I mix with Crisco for a Black Powder Lube. 3 pounds of Crisco and 2 toilet seals (preferably unused. You don't want a shitty mix......lol)
Interesting. Works OK?
314299 Shooting Channel
Works better than anything made commercially, even SPG. A lot of Black Powder shooters in Northern Illinois and Wisconsin use it. One person added some kind of oil to it and is marketing it commercially. I use it in my marlin 1894. I load .38 Specials using it. 158 grain cast bullet of the Lyman 358446 mold or a Snakebit Greasewagon mold, cut bt Lee for a shooter in Wisconsin. I load 22 grains of FFFg under this bullet and in my Marlin with a 24 inch barrel, it keeps the fouling soft all the way to the muzzle. It leaves a nice, wet lube star burst on the muzzle. I also use it in my 34 inch Sharps in 45/70. I lube size them and then hand dip the ;loaded round over the bullet up to the case mouth. Looks like a waterproof match. I have gone 200 shots with no cleaning, blow tube or loss of accuracy. Groups on the last target of 5 shots was 1/8 inch larger than the first and the smallest group was the 6th group.
A turkey baster would probably make filling the molds easier.
+Soulman1282 Give it a try and let us know how it works out.
Perhaps a 1" piston type arrangement with a spigot extending to hold the hole open/centre when the force is applied to drive it out of the mould cleanly. There is definitely a fine line with wax as i've found with pan lubing. Leave them too long as they are staying there forever - not long enough and the wax falls off in a horrible gooey mess. Think it might be time to get serious and track down a lubrisizer.
Yes, pan lubing is a pain in the butt. I only do it if I dont have the correct sizing die for my lubrisizers. How much do lubrisizers cost down your way? There is a used Lyman 450 at the local gun shop for $75.
Question, can this lube mixture be used for black powder bullets. A few of the guys I shoot Schuetzen matches with gave me about 10 different recipes and they are similar but use a mixture of bees wax and paraffin. I have tried paraffin in bp and it turned out to foul horribly.
Add a small amount of bees or parifan was to harden the mix up by just a little bit.
Thanks for the wood block tip.
Bees wax is more forgiving than paraffin, go a little too far with paraffin and the mix gets too stiff.
shoot some cooking spray on your molds next time.that'll help them release easier.
+MrSuperawesome5000 Yeah, that might help.
Less money on lube means more for powder and primers. Another garage sale target. Thanks.
Yeah the money saved on 11 sticks of lube will pay for a thousand primers, gotta like that.
@@314299 Right on guys thanks
When you're done pouring them stick them in the freezer. This will make removing them less of a hassle.
I tried that, perhaps I needed to leave them longer than I did.
314299 Shooting Channel Considerably longer. I've dabbed in wax casting and it takes quite a while to loose that heat. I suggest pre-cooled water perhaps with medicinal alcohol inside to stop it from freezing, to help disperse the heat faster. Tho if left overnight it should cool rock hard.
You truly are a dedicated shooter. B-)
Or perhaps I'm a bored shooter who could not get to the range today.
Only in America will you find such innovation !
+Roha Waha I'm from Canada....
314299 Shooting Channel Well , me too
Just drop it face down in the pot and the wax will melt away from the plastic. No offense to the plumbers comments, I too am one, and depending on temp, the finger in the hole doesn't always work especially when on a service call with no way to cool the wax.
Try mixing a small ammount ot paraffin wax with the melt. Say 10% . It will make your wax lube slightly harder. Setting them in the fridge will cool them quicker and make them easier to remove.
Actually I prefer the softer consistency of the wax rings just as they are, however I live in a fairly cool/cold climate, for those in hotter places the addition of paraffin wax might be a good idea.
You may have created a market for used toilet bowl rings. Im thinking metal centers would remove easier. I wonder about finding some paper tubes that size.
Great vid!!! How does it smoke?
Smokes lots, just like any wax based bullet lube that I've ever used. As I only shoot outdoors it's not an issue but might be if you shoot on an indoor range.
Can you use this for black powder, does it have petroleum products?
I've mixed these with paraffin wax for lubing rifle bullets. 50/50 ratio...
My preferred rifle bullet lube is a mix of unbleached bees wax and white lithium grease, works great.
Great video 314299 Shooting Channel , always wondered about the wax rings as a substitute lube. Do you find this lube needs a heater in the sizer to flow properly?
No heater required as this wax is fairly soft, even in my rather cool reloading room it flows thru the sizer with no problem.
Great Idea!
I can't claim the idea as mine, I think I got it off the cast bullet forum a number of years ago.
It works great for Black Powder arms
Finally, using a wax ring I won't be bitching about! What a great idea, thank you for sharing! Also getting valuable tips in the comments section. One question I didn't see mentioned? Do you have to use a lube heater to get this flowing out of the sizer and into the bullet grooves, (I have a Lyman 450)? I don't have a heater but saw someplace where an ordinary iron can be adapted for a lube heater. Thanks again for a Great Post!
This stuff is fairly soft so you shouldn't need a heater unless you have your sizer set up in especially cold location.
314299 Shooting Channel Great! I will give it a shot as soon as I get all my stuff gathered and let you know how well it worked for me. Once again, THANK YOU for sharing this knowledge.
You are welcome.
Excelllent Video - Thank You.
Glad you liked it, thanks for the comment.
Great Idea off to Home Depo or Lowes to pick up some How does it work on the Bore of your guns for leading avoiding etc Thanks for sharing great video etc.
At pistol velocities it works great, no leading if your bullets fit the bore and you have a decent load.
good morning, please can you give me the formula of the material for lubricating bullets. Grazie
Best regard from Italy
Sergio Cazzaniga Hello Pasigno, 50% Alox , 50% Bees wax. Midway.com has Alox. Chow.
how much do you figure you're paying per pound? I just bought 3 pounds of lube from lsstuff for 12 bucks a pound and the stuff is very well known on the forums. just tried the carnuba red today with a heater and the stuff is great. it's one of the hardest lubes he has but it works very well. there are 50/50 versions and others too. I'm not sure that you can make your own lube for cheaper than that. how much wax is a ring?
A wax ring is less than two dollars, and makes about three sticks of lube. Not sure what the weight of a wax ring is as I dont have any around at the moment to weigh.
I see this video is 9 years old. Have you found this lube to be satisfactory for 30 cal rifle plinking loads that are under 1500 fps?
I don't recall ever using this stuff for any rifle bullets so I cannot say for sure if it would be OK for that purpose/speed or not. I have a couple of lube/size machines, one has this stuff in it for pistol bullets while the other has my "rifle" lube made of bees wax and lithium grease. I have shot .357 mag pistol bullets with this lube at speeds up to 1800 fps in a carbine, so I expect it ought to be fine for "rifle" calibers up to similar speeds. If you try it please let us know how well it works for you.
Wasnt to serious about melting the whole thing. plastics probably a fairly poor lube anyway..but plastic and parafin are both from oil??? warm water would probably release the plastic . But not a big problem..good idea the rings
They're also known as "Johnny rings." :)
Couldn't you just melt it with the plastic on and then pull the plastic out after?
maybe putting them in the fridge will stiffen them up enough to take them out of your mold.
I tried that once, you have to be careful not to let them get too cold as they really stick hard to the tubes when cold and solid.
It looks to me like the dowel you’re using is 3/8” not 1/4”. Plus my Lyman lube sizer has a 3/8” thread, so that would work better anyway.
You have a good eye, I measured the dowels in that set up and they are in fact 3/8".
I like it. I have Lowe's and Home Depot gift cards from birthdays/Christmas/cashing out credit card rewards points.
Are these super cheap? Have you ever heard of White Label Lube? It's straight Alox, and is super cheap. You can get it in quarts, half gallons, and gallons.
Thats some excellent stuff right there, never even knew that product existed! lol.. now it makes me wonder if a solvent could be added to the wax to make home made, lee style tumble lube :-)
Have you tried freezing the tubes to help release the wax?
I think someone tried that, but the solvent that worked was a rather nasty one, I forget the type.
Yes, I have tried freezing, it completely locks the stick in the tube. The key to removing the stuff seems to be timing.
I think I would rather just buy lube sticks , how much are you really saving ?
As an example Midway lists Lyman Alox at $5.69 a stick. One wax ring costs around $2 and it makes about three sticks of lube so the "home brew' stuff costs about $0.67 a stick, a savings of over $5 per stick. So if you make a lot of cast bullets there are some savings to be had, I probably save about $50 a year over the bought stuff. If you only make a few bullets a year perhaps it's not worth it.
I shoot 357 handgun and rifle how high of fps have you used this with success
I have lubed bullets for the .357 mag and have used this stuff to 1500 fps without problems, that was using a well fitted bullet and hard bullet.
I don't bother with the sticks, and just pour the melted mix into the sizer and let it harden before use. Add whatever you want if necessary to make it a little harder if you want. I mounted my sizer on a rectangle of 3/8 aluminum and put it in a vise for use. I bought an old iron from the habitat store and turn it to a moderate heat. In 15 minutes or so I can lube bullets easily. No sense in buying their expensive heaters
Cool winter day??? I live in Tampa!! 😂
A "cool winter day" to you guys is probably 50 degrees F.
Those rings are no longer beeswax.
I didn't think they ever were beeswax.
Perhaps if you spray cooking spray into the tubes before you put the wax in?
That might work.
whatabout a little parfin wax to help the tackyness
+Vanilla Gorilla Paraffin wax is not a terribly good ingredient for bullet lube, IMO. If you want a less tacky mixture add more beeswax instead.
I would pour the liquid straight into the lubrisizer.
Yep, that works just fine as long as you have time to let it cool before you want to use it.
Toilet wax great info....could you put the rings in a pan of warm water then maybe remove the plastic in one piece..it was painfull watching you pick it apart. Any chance the plastic pkg would melt in the can and add to the mix lol good vid.
I'm sure you could melt the wax out of the plastic tray in the water, but that plastic is not going to melt into the wax before you reach the flash point of the wax, and at any rate you would not want the plastic in your bullet lube, it would create a horrible mess in the barrel.
How much did you save doing it this way? Count your time as well lol
Over the course of my lifetime I fully expect to save ten cents by doing this.
314299 Shooting Channel
I figured out that the materials to make one stick of lube cost less than fifty cents, store bought stuff is $4 to $7 a stick, so the 11 sticks I made saved me at least $38.50. So it does actually pay over the long run if you cast and shoot a lot of bullets.
How much do the gaskets weigh?
I've never weighed one, and I dont have any on hand at the moment to weigh. I think there is enough in one gasket to make about three sticks.
oh i was just wondering if it was cheaper to buy a pound of beeswax. i can get it dirt cheap during trade days at my local state park.
kevin scurlock
Beeswax is generally expensive, at least where I live, so if you can get it cheap I would go for it. You can make some great bullet lubes with beeswax, lots of different formulations out there.
i got a pound of it for like 4.50. not terrible. maybe i could tell people my bullets are certified organic, lol
kevin scurlock
"Green" bullets.
Oh thank god. Not a cooking video.
No video of me making hamburgers. Just saying.....
www.taste.com.au/recipes/2364/italian+beef+rissoles+with+fresh+tomato+salsa
Now I am hungry.
SamEEE12
That looks better than anything I would make.
Johnnie rings don't have the plastic
READ THE DIRECTIONS ON THE PLASTIC!!! TO RWMOVE PULL HERE . 🤦🤦🤦😂😂😂
Just a minute I'll get in my time machine and fix that....
Hi, Why not set ring in shallow plastic pan and nuke the toilet bowl ring for few seconds in microwave, should make it easier to get out of plastic. just don't nuke it too long or disaster,lolol. Thanks for vid..
That would probably work.
Hi Shawn, can you tumble lube with it ??
No, it's not usable as a tumble lube.
Ok thanks
Great idea ‘.