Liquid lubes

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I'm way behind the times as far as keeping up with the newer, better liquid(-ish) lubes. What's good, whats junk, whats your favorite? I'm looking at leetle teeny 25 cal bullets for a couple 25-20's at normal velocities, no barn burners.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
45-45-10 I add some bees-wax to mine and quite a bit more mineral spirits and just swirl in a cup.
I have been using it in my 25-20 rifles for,,, well,? longer than 45-45-10 lube has been around.
it seems to do fine in the 45-70 for me too.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Pardon my ignorance, but I've forgotten what 45-45-10 is. I've been using up what I had on had for years.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
45-45-10...................

..........or BLL - either one for me and either made from the small bottle of LEE liquid alox that comes with sizer dies. I used to use straight LEE liquid Alox a lot but haven't used it that way in a long time. I won't make 45-45-10 again - I'll buy it IF I ever run out and that's not likely.

I don't shoot any cast 25s, but I do shoot 50 grain RDOs and LEE 55 grain (RCBS sorta-clone) at 1840 fps from a 222 Remington CZ 527 using either and the lube stands up marvelously. Obviously, it works as well at 600 fps.

I use/have used either in 38/357 Mag, 357 Max, 30-30, 45 ACP, 44 Special, 44 Mag, various 32s.... pretty much anything and haven't used my antique Lyman lubricator/sizer in years. I don't heat treat or try to cast hard bullets - to the contrary actually, and I use home-made aluminum gas checks on the 22, 30-30 and 357 Max where appropriate. It all comes together with the two lubes for everything I do.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
Pardon my ignorance, but I've forgotten what 45-45-10 is. I've been using up what I had on had for years.

45% Johnson's Paste wax, 45% LEE liquid Alox, 10% Mineral spirits cooked to perfection. It's a bit of a pain but someone is selling quarts of it pre-made for about $20. BLL is MUCH easier and quicker to make.
 

Ian

Notorious member
BLL's other ingredient is discontinued and unobtainium, unfortunately.

Bret, BLL is Ben's Liquid Lube, proportions to taste, I do half Liquid Alox and half Johnson's One-Step liquid floor wax. If you're lucky enough to find a yellow can of the stuff on a dusty hardware store shelf somewhere, grab it, it's the cat's ass. Some people have tried to find substitutes for it but so far I'm not sure the equal has been determined. https://www.homedepot.com/p/One-Step-22-oz-No-Buff-Fine-Wood-Wax-00125/100121028
 

35 shooter

Well-Known Member
BLL and 3 coats on the bullet for 2500ish FPS. In my .30 and .35 cal. rifles.
Hands down best tumble lube i’ve Ever used.
Mixed 60/40 as per Ben’s original formula.

I’ve seen reports lately where folks found a can or two of the Johnson’s Liquid Wax still on the shelves in out of the way places.
Ben came up with an alternative wax for it, but I haven’t tried it.
 

Spindrift

Well-Known Member
I have a can of white label x-lox, which I bought through ebay. It seems to be the exact same product as Lee liquid alox, only significantly cheaper. In my opinion it works reasonably well as a stand alone lube (others might disagree), but it works better with some kind of thinner; the unmodified x-lox/alox is much more concentrated than necessary.

My favourite mix, is 60/40 x-lox and «boat wax». The boat wax is a polishing wax for the outside hull of fibreglass boat, which consists mainly of a volatile solvent (heptane), and paraffine wax (I think; insufficient knowledge in inorganic chemistry to completely understand the list of ingredients...). Adding the boat wax both makes the solution much thinner, drying time is short, less «diesel smoke» on the range and the finished bullets are non-sticky. Functions very well. If you consider using a boat wax or similar liquid polishing product, please observe that some of these products contain abrasive compounds.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Is that our Ben that came up with this? I seem to remember it being talked about and looking for Johnsons paste wax. I used up the last of a homade concoction a couple years back and am running low on a lot of stuff around here. Should have kept up but I was in purgatory for several years out here before I stumbled on you guys.

Okay, I see that was a liquid wax, must have been something else.
 
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JWFilips

Well-Known Member
The truth is; there is a lot of great things going on with the real original BLL.
How Ben fell into it is amazing but what you need to know that the original Johnson Floor wax Ingredients consited of 3 co-polymers one of which is their trade secret !
I have spoke with Johnson and Johnson and Yes their patented formula is for sale! Never asked them how much But they needed to go "green" in all their formulas so that is why it was dropped.
Sorry to say no product out there is even close so don't fool yourself tyou will not duplicate original BLL with anything else!
I guess that is why e-bay is selling the original Johnsons for $100 plus
 

Uncle Grinch

Active Member
At least I have one can left of the original Johnson’s Liquid Paste Wax. Maybe if I wait long enough I can use it as a down payment on a new truck!
 

waco

Springfield, Oregon
I have a whole quart of BLL mixed up and still have just over one full bottle of JNBFW. Lifetime supply as far as I'm concerned.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
don't confuse BLL with 45/45/10 lube, they are somewhat similar but not the same.
the alox & boat wax mix above is super close to 45/45/10 lube, which is now sold by white label lube.

I think my version of 45/45 lube with bees-wax is about halfway between the two.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Okay, so quite a few choices out there. Thanks guys!

So, is there anything out there that takes the places of the liquid floor wax? What about this Lundmark stuff?
 
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Brother_Love

Well-Known Member
I’ve got 3 cans of the Johnson’s. When I purchased the original 4 cans I found that the seller had poured about 3-4 oz out of each can. After I got over being mad about it I made a batch of BLL and it may be enough for my lifetime. Just in case I’ve got the other3 cans. I’ve had no leading in any load that I’ve used it in!!!