JonB
Halcyon member
The current recipe I'm testing is SL68B (B = Beeswax).
This is a slightly modified recipe of Ian's SL68. With Ian's guidance, I choose to use the three different microwaxes I had and Beeswax in place of the 2 oz of 180ºMW he used. The reason for 0.7 oz of BW is, that is the amount I measured out for pre-melting and guesstimated that 0.2 oz would cling to that pot when I poured the BW into the mix, per the recipe.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons 90-wt GL-1 gear oil
2 tablespoons generic white petrolatum
1 tablespoon heavy mineral oil (laxative grade from pharmacy)
1/2 tablespoon castor bean oil (also from pharmacy)
2 ounces fresh Ivory soap (soft, damp).
Waxes:
0.5 ounces 175º MW
0.5 ounces 185º MW
0.5 ounces 190º MW
0.7 ounces BW
Instructions:
>Melt everything except the soap and BW.
>Then add the soap (which should have been previously sliced into slivers with a paring knife) and allow to foam off all the water.
>Gently heat, stirring occasionally, until the mix becomes a light clear amber liquid with no gel or clumps of soap remaining.
>It should be around 460F, I choose not to use a thermometer, it just complicates things.
>Then add the BW (Beeswax), it should be pre-melted, The mix will Gel-up, because the Beeswax will cool the mix back into the Gel state.
>Continue to heat 'carefully', but as quick as possible, til it's fully clear amber liquid again whiling stirring.
>Then Immediately pour into chilled molds/baking sheet covered with wax paper or such and allow to "set" until cool.
======================
I am continuing my testing of this Lube with my Winchester Mod. 70 (30-06).
I was given some 30 cal TL bullet samples from 3 different molds by another caster, All had the tapered nose. I loaded a few dummy rounds and from what I could tell, they snuggled into the lands pretty good. So I ordered a mold. My newly purchased Lee TLC312-160-2R dropped bullets at 164gr. with COWW+1%SN and very near .311 or a touch larger. The Nose is .307 right next to the leading TL groove and .302 at the Ojive and .305 midway between those two measurements. Hornaday GC's snap on easliy and crimp on tight with a Lyman 45 with .311 die. That is how I applied the SL68B.
I assembled some dummy rounds of various lengths and cycled them in my rifle and was happy with the witness marks on this bullet, and I settled on a OAL = 3.180"
I loaded a batch of 23 rounds. That was the quantity of brass I had that was fired in this rifle.
I neck sized them with a Lee Collet die.
I Double checked Length, they were trimmed to the correct length prior to the previous loading.
I loaded then with Alcan 9450 (Jeff at GIbrass says this is equivalent to 4759). So using Lyman data for the 170gr 311291, I measured 25.7 gr of powder, book says that should be about 2000fps.
I get out to the range (St. Patricks Day), and I forget my sand bags...grrr
So I used my re-purposed 1990's Apple Mac computer carry bag AKA: Range bag as a rifle rest. That bag is springy and I am stating right here and now, I blame it 'partially' for my poor accuracy.
I did remember to bring my Chrono. Yeah, the one I have a love hate relationship with. After my last outing with getting NO readings. I did some research and I guess this Pact One likes to have plenty of light, Pact even offers a light kit for the sky screens. Well, I never paid any attention to light conditions at my range before. As you can see, at near 1pm, the long narrow (east-west) clearing we use for a rifle range, is bordered with tall trees and the sun angle (near the 45th parallel) gives us plenty of shade. Today I positioned my Chrono in a sunny area and was able to get the first 7 shots measured, til that area got shaded, then all I'd get is error or no reading, and I didn't even to try to move it...I got enough info for that day, as I had other problems.
So the Chrono recorded this info from the first 7 shots.
A=2153
HI=2173
LO=2130
ES=39
SD=13
AD-9.6
Shooting at 100 yds (as usual).
OK, First problem I had was the first two shots were about 20" high. See 'em my the ink Pen.
A short history of this rifle. When I started testing this lube, I pulled this rifle out of the safe. I had never shot it, I bought this Pre-64 from a friend about 5 years ago, it's had very little use. I cleaned the bore with a copper remover and mounted a older Leupold Vari-X II. I bore sighted it. The first time out with some cast loads (with SL68), it shot well, but 24" high. I ran out of adjustment with the scope, before I could get to POI at 100 yards.
When I got home I removed the stock, Besides the noticeable pressure of the wood on the barrel, I noticed the wood around the Screw in front of the Mag well wasn't contacting the receiver (there are photos at CB). Anyway, I put a thick washer in there, enough to lift the barrel so it was barely contacting the stock when the mounting screws were tightened. I lost about 18" of elevation. More than enough to make me buy another stock. Which I did. When I mounted this stock, I noticed a very similar condition. So for this first test, I put a thick dense rubber pad in the afore mentioned screw/mount. I re-bore sighted the scope.
OK, that was the back story...Looks like I need a Stocksmith.
Anyway, back to this day. I had enough adjustment to correct it this time.
The Next five shots were at the far right target, as I dialed in the scope, 2 shots then adjust, 2 more shots then adjust, last shot in the bull, I liked that, These five shots gave me hope.
The Next ten shots were at the far left target, shown closeup, with the dollar bill, in the bottom photo.
About 8". I didn't keep track of "order of shots placed", but I would have surely noticed it they were continually climbing or sinking...they were not. I place much of the blame on that springy range bag.
OK, now the last six shots. It is the most spread out group on the right target paper. This was kind of an experiment. All 23 rounds were assembled these on my Lee Classic Turret press. I used a Bonanza (Forster) benchrest seater die. The spring loaded sleeve of that die protrudes below the turret. So, if I wasn't careful and to remove the seated round before the turret moved (yeah I should have disabled the auto-index), The round would wedge and possibly get bent, leaving a mark on the bullet no less. My simple rolling test didn't show any runout...But those six all had that issue, and it surely looks like they had a problem.
SO, I pack up and go home.
When I get home, I look down the bore. It seems OK, but my eye's aren't the greatest. So I run a jag with a tight dry patch through. The Patch looks dirty and has some shiny tiny particles (FYI, not flakes or strings). That bummed me out. I had originally planned on not cleaning this gun, just keep shooting it in future tests, to continually season the bore to this lube, OR whatever? BUT, I break out the Ed's Red and start cleaning. The second patch (wet with Ed's Red) has more of the shiny particles. The third patch, dry, which had much less shiny particles. I continue to clean alternating wet and dry, til clean. There wasn't any more shiny particles after the first three patches.
This is a slightly modified recipe of Ian's SL68. With Ian's guidance, I choose to use the three different microwaxes I had and Beeswax in place of the 2 oz of 180ºMW he used. The reason for 0.7 oz of BW is, that is the amount I measured out for pre-melting and guesstimated that 0.2 oz would cling to that pot when I poured the BW into the mix, per the recipe.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons 90-wt GL-1 gear oil
2 tablespoons generic white petrolatum
1 tablespoon heavy mineral oil (laxative grade from pharmacy)
1/2 tablespoon castor bean oil (also from pharmacy)
2 ounces fresh Ivory soap (soft, damp).
Waxes:
0.5 ounces 175º MW
0.5 ounces 185º MW
0.5 ounces 190º MW
0.7 ounces BW
Instructions:
>Melt everything except the soap and BW.
>Then add the soap (which should have been previously sliced into slivers with a paring knife) and allow to foam off all the water.
>Gently heat, stirring occasionally, until the mix becomes a light clear amber liquid with no gel or clumps of soap remaining.
>It should be around 460F, I choose not to use a thermometer, it just complicates things.
>Then add the BW (Beeswax), it should be pre-melted, The mix will Gel-up, because the Beeswax will cool the mix back into the Gel state.
>Continue to heat 'carefully', but as quick as possible, til it's fully clear amber liquid again whiling stirring.
>Then Immediately pour into chilled molds/baking sheet covered with wax paper or such and allow to "set" until cool.
======================
I am continuing my testing of this Lube with my Winchester Mod. 70 (30-06).
I was given some 30 cal TL bullet samples from 3 different molds by another caster, All had the tapered nose. I loaded a few dummy rounds and from what I could tell, they snuggled into the lands pretty good. So I ordered a mold. My newly purchased Lee TLC312-160-2R dropped bullets at 164gr. with COWW+1%SN and very near .311 or a touch larger. The Nose is .307 right next to the leading TL groove and .302 at the Ojive and .305 midway between those two measurements. Hornaday GC's snap on easliy and crimp on tight with a Lyman 45 with .311 die. That is how I applied the SL68B.
I assembled some dummy rounds of various lengths and cycled them in my rifle and was happy with the witness marks on this bullet, and I settled on a OAL = 3.180"
I loaded a batch of 23 rounds. That was the quantity of brass I had that was fired in this rifle.
I neck sized them with a Lee Collet die.
I Double checked Length, they were trimmed to the correct length prior to the previous loading.
I loaded then with Alcan 9450 (Jeff at GIbrass says this is equivalent to 4759). So using Lyman data for the 170gr 311291, I measured 25.7 gr of powder, book says that should be about 2000fps.
I get out to the range (St. Patricks Day), and I forget my sand bags...grrr
So I used my re-purposed 1990's Apple Mac computer carry bag AKA: Range bag as a rifle rest. That bag is springy and I am stating right here and now, I blame it 'partially' for my poor accuracy.
I did remember to bring my Chrono. Yeah, the one I have a love hate relationship with. After my last outing with getting NO readings. I did some research and I guess this Pact One likes to have plenty of light, Pact even offers a light kit for the sky screens. Well, I never paid any attention to light conditions at my range before. As you can see, at near 1pm, the long narrow (east-west) clearing we use for a rifle range, is bordered with tall trees and the sun angle (near the 45th parallel) gives us plenty of shade. Today I positioned my Chrono in a sunny area and was able to get the first 7 shots measured, til that area got shaded, then all I'd get is error or no reading, and I didn't even to try to move it...I got enough info for that day, as I had other problems.
So the Chrono recorded this info from the first 7 shots.
A=2153
HI=2173
LO=2130
ES=39
SD=13
AD-9.6
Shooting at 100 yds (as usual).
OK, First problem I had was the first two shots were about 20" high. See 'em my the ink Pen.
A short history of this rifle. When I started testing this lube, I pulled this rifle out of the safe. I had never shot it, I bought this Pre-64 from a friend about 5 years ago, it's had very little use. I cleaned the bore with a copper remover and mounted a older Leupold Vari-X II. I bore sighted it. The first time out with some cast loads (with SL68), it shot well, but 24" high. I ran out of adjustment with the scope, before I could get to POI at 100 yards.
When I got home I removed the stock, Besides the noticeable pressure of the wood on the barrel, I noticed the wood around the Screw in front of the Mag well wasn't contacting the receiver (there are photos at CB). Anyway, I put a thick washer in there, enough to lift the barrel so it was barely contacting the stock when the mounting screws were tightened. I lost about 18" of elevation. More than enough to make me buy another stock. Which I did. When I mounted this stock, I noticed a very similar condition. So for this first test, I put a thick dense rubber pad in the afore mentioned screw/mount. I re-bore sighted the scope.
OK, that was the back story...Looks like I need a Stocksmith.
Anyway, back to this day. I had enough adjustment to correct it this time.
The Next five shots were at the far right target, as I dialed in the scope, 2 shots then adjust, 2 more shots then adjust, last shot in the bull, I liked that, These five shots gave me hope.
The Next ten shots were at the far left target, shown closeup, with the dollar bill, in the bottom photo.
About 8". I didn't keep track of "order of shots placed", but I would have surely noticed it they were continually climbing or sinking...they were not. I place much of the blame on that springy range bag.
OK, now the last six shots. It is the most spread out group on the right target paper. This was kind of an experiment. All 23 rounds were assembled these on my Lee Classic Turret press. I used a Bonanza (Forster) benchrest seater die. The spring loaded sleeve of that die protrudes below the turret. So, if I wasn't careful and to remove the seated round before the turret moved (yeah I should have disabled the auto-index), The round would wedge and possibly get bent, leaving a mark on the bullet no less. My simple rolling test didn't show any runout...But those six all had that issue, and it surely looks like they had a problem.
SO, I pack up and go home.
When I get home, I look down the bore. It seems OK, but my eye's aren't the greatest. So I run a jag with a tight dry patch through. The Patch looks dirty and has some shiny tiny particles (FYI, not flakes or strings). That bummed me out. I had originally planned on not cleaning this gun, just keep shooting it in future tests, to continually season the bore to this lube, OR whatever? BUT, I break out the Ed's Red and start cleaning. The second patch (wet with Ed's Red) has more of the shiny particles. The third patch, dry, which had much less shiny particles. I continue to clean alternating wet and dry, til clean. There wasn't any more shiny particles after the first three patches.
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