Hardening NRA50/50

[MikeS]

Hi All.

I've been using the old NRA formula 50/50 lube on my boolits, and it works great, leaves my barrels all nice and clean! But, the one problem I have with it is the fact that it's so soft, and if I store my boolits sized & lubed in a bulk format (just loosely tossed into a plastic container) I get the lube coming out of the lube grooves, getting onto the noses, etc. Well, I thought about trying one of the harder lubes, maybe Carnauba Red, or something like that, but I've seen several messages from folks that while it works great, it (and other hard lubes) tend to leave the barrel a bit dirtier than the old NRA formula.

So, my question is, if I were to mix in some carnauba into the NRA formula to harden it up to where I would need to use heat, will the lube still work as well as it does now, or will it too start leaving the barrels dirtier than it does now?

A while ago I mixed up a lube to use with BP that consisted of beeswax, citronella candle wax, and some neatsfoot compound oil. It turned out to be a harder lube than I expected, and so I tried mixing the 2 lubes together in a 50:50 blend, and that made a lube that was harder than the NRA lube alone, but still left my guns nice and clean, but while harder, it was still usable without heat, and while it does seem to stay in the lube grooves better, still some comes off when the boolits are stored. I have some sample carnauba flakes that I got from RandyRat as a sample when I bought some beeswax from him a while back, and I melted them separately into a small dish, and while still liquid I mixed in 3 teaspoons of it into the 50/50 blend of NRA & my BP lube. The resulting lube feels much harder, and I'm guessing I'll need to use heat to get it to flow properly, but that's what I was actually looking for as I think a lube that needs heat to flow will stay on the boolits much cleaner when at room temp.

Is my thinking right? What are the chances that this new lube mixture will still keep my gun barrels as clean as when shooting NRA 50/50? And what should I call this lube? Basically it's 45% beeswax, 25% Alox 350 20% Citronella wax, 10% Neatsfoot compound oil, with 3 teaspoons of carnauba wax. Did I just reinvent the wheel, or is there already a lube formula that's similar to what I have mixed up?

And one last question, would this lube work for BP, or does the 25% Alox make it unsuitable for use with Black Powder (the real stuff, as well as some 777)?

[fecmech]

To use up a bunch of NRA 50/50 lube that I had I mixed it 50/50 with straight beeswax. It needed heat for lubing but it worked very well in all pistol applications (including magnum) and did not transfer when using bulk bullets. I did not use it in any rifle applications so I can't speak to that.

[870TC]

White Label sells BAC which is 50-50 mixed with Carnuba Red. Works well in my guns, but will "lube transfer" on to other bullets if you bulk store them. Even straight Carnuba Red will do this to some extent.

[Reload3006]

i was running behind and wanted to do some shooting and bought some bulk packed that had Blue lube on them worked great no leading no mess and no lube transfer to speak of. Not entirely sure what lube it was but I had seen some advertized Just can't remember what it was. I bought them from Grafs maybe someone on here could tell you lol and me what lube that probably was.

[canyon-ghost]

LBT commercial blue, harder than Soft blue, in all likelihood. Thompson Blue Angel is even harder but, no where near as good.

http://lbtmoulds.com/lube.shtml

[reloader28]

I started making it 50/50 and added 10% parafin wax to it.

It works good in everything including fast rifle loads. I've shot my 257 to 2850 and aint seen anything in the barrel.

It will migrate some if stored in bulk, buy not as bad. I always keep 200-400 lubed and on hand for every caliber, but I store them standing neatly in the boxes that the checking account checks come in. It works pretty good.

I used to lube and throw in coffee cans, but most of mine I leave unsized and unlubed anymore just to save on the mess.

[BossHoss]

Mess: the biggest problem with Carnuba Red...I like to bulk store in small coffee cans. I size into cardboard boxes,...the warm bullets transfer CR to each other...I can get the temp as low as possible, and it seems to be not so bad....but not gone.

CR keeps the barrel clean but, handling the boolits and gunking the press (seating die) and my hands is what I wanted to get away from.

NRA 50/50 no doubt...best for keeping a gleaming barrel...but with the caveats stated by all.....MESS MESS MESS...

The quest for the happy medium continues....I have some Blue Angel coming , in a trade, just to try it.

I had LBT in my sizer when I got it from Napthali, great lube, no mess. Haven;t shot the boolits I lubed with it yet, maybe tonite. I know the LBT is pricey, but, if it is NO MESS, No Leading, ....an extra dollar a stick....not so bad.

CR is 1.65 LBT 2.75 ......I quess making my own will be the next obsession,lol.

And hey, If I didn't care about the mess.....NRA 50/50...all the way. My jaw was on the floor after shooting 100 240gn Keith's out of my 10.5 inch Ruger 44. Clean as a whistle....I had to show everyone...after they were done coughing. lol.

[cajun shooter]

I have been making my own lube for years and just purchased some Carnauba flakes from Randy. I added about 3 1/2 oz to about two pounds of my lube and it is still very workable without heat.
It is best to stay with a lube that may be used with out heat unless you are shooting very high velocity or packing bullets.
The Carnauba will leave your barrel very shiny and will work better after used a few times as the barrel becomes aged.
Try starting with a large tablespoon to a pound of lube and go from there. Remember you may always add more but it is hell to remove. Later David