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bjornborud
There has been so much writing and arguing about bullet lubes and their performance, but not so much evidence as to which lube really works at high velocities. Since HV is one of the main objectives of the XCB cartridge (which the 310-165 bullet was designed for), an effective lube is paramount, and I wanted to see what different lubes would do when tested against each other. Today I loaded up and shot the following lubes: White Label 2500+, Randy Rat’s Tac1, Bullshop’s Lotak, Felix Lube, and 2 versions of the Soap Lube (68.1 and 68.3) from the Lube Quest thread on Cast Boolits. (Disclosure: I am not sponsored by any lube manufacturer. I purchased 2500+ and Lotak from the manufacturers at regular retail price, Tac1 was sent to me from Goodsteel, and the remaining 3 lubes (Felix, 68.1 and 68.3) were generously donated to me by Geargnasher).
I purposely picked a load that would put the lubes to the test. Larry Gibson recently posted about shooting above 2700 fps with 43 grains of LeveRevolution powder, so I picked this exact load for my test, shooting it in my XCB rifle. My shooting regimen was as follows: I cleaned the barrel before each string, with 1 patch Ed’s Red and 1 dry patch. I then shot 2 foulers, same lube as the string to come. Then I shot a 10-shot group. 2 of the lubes gave such large groups that I stopped at 5 shots. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves:
Is this a conclusive test? I doubt it, but it does give an indication of what a lube is capable of when pushed to its limits. I have no doubt that ALL these lubes perform great under “normal” circumstances, but that’s not what I was looking for, and I think the results were interesting to say the least.
bjornborud-
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Larry Gibson
Excellent test and good analysis. Is it conclusive? I agree with you, probably not. At 2800 fps the RPM is running at 144,000 with your 14″ twist. My testing indicates your loads were probably exceeding the RPM Threshold also. I found the RPM threshold for my 14″ twist .308W Palma rifle is in the 2725 – 2750 fps range. I also have found 2500+ to be the better performing lube up through that velocity. I have conducted several tests of various lubes at 2500 – 2600 fps and the results put 2500+ as the most consistent performer at high velocity. I have not tested geargnasher’s lubes though. I prefer commercial lubes for their consistency and availability. Yes I have made my own lubes in the past and except for a simple BP lube that is easy to use I prefer to use commercial lubes.
I expect to be pushing the 30 XCB bullet cast of #2 alloy and WQ’d to 2900+ fps by the end of this next month. Tim has my action and 16″ twist barrel now. As mentioned before it will be chambered to the 30×60 with 4-5 more gr capacity than the 30 XCB (30×57) cartridge. Thus we will see how the XCB bullet cast of #2 alloy holds up and how 2500+ holds up at a higher velocity still. At 2900 fps it will only be running the 30 XCB at 130,500 RPM which should be low enough that the RPM threshold is not coming into play.
Larry Gibson
darrinwright
timmalcolm
Bjorn’s barrel is 3″ longer than my Palma rifle’s (30.5 vs 27.6″). Given that the 30 XCB cartridge and the .308W have pretty close to the same case capacity to the should/neck. That no doubt accounts for the increase in velocity his rifle had over mine with the same load of LvR powder (43 gr).
Larry Gibson
sgt.mike
You Sir, are a bad, bad man.
yes yes I am
here is a picture of me humping the bush in Rhodesia back when I had hair
actually found Bjornb’s little test to be enlightening though. Even though I am bad to do thread drift.
I commented to Bjornb that the small lube area of the NOE 301-165 FN with white label 2700 plus might do wellLittle test? Now hold on. Much speculation has surrounded lube at HV. So far as I know, this is the most comprehensive test posted to date. If you know of a more comprehensive test, I would certainly like to know of it. I simply found the possibility of lube affecting group size to the extent demonstrated fascinating. I can not do my own testing at this time simply because I do not own an equivalent platform. Hopefully, that situation will be resolved in a year or so. In the meantime, if there is a data base that you are aware of that is not represented in this thread, by all means, please let me know. I hold no prior convictions, I simply digest what I am presented with. Thanks to all.
Very very interesting.
I wonder if the results would be different if you ran the same test with a different powder.
If all the results were similar, that would speak volumes, no?I’ve been thinking the same. I will likely load up a few “control rounds” with a couple of lubes each time I change powders. However, the next lube to be tried at HV is the White Label 2700+. Goodsteel pointed out to me that Larry most likely had shot this lube with bullets with deeper grooves, when he commented a while back that the lube’s stiffness caused lube to stay in the grooves after launch, causing imbalance and therefore poor accuracy. The shallow grooves of the XCB bullet may be a good candidate for this lube.
Larry Gibson
darrinwright
timmalcolm
sgt.mike
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