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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-
Replies
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tommeboy
Larry Gibson
That’s probably the end use of most home made lube’s any way. Knowing the capability of each lube I will probably just use them all with in their limitations. I do still shoot a lot of cast bullets in cat’s sneeze loads, handgun loads (low, medium and magnum loads) and rifle loads in the 1800 – 1950 fps range. Most of those lubes still do very well for those loads, especially here in Arizona where the cold weather is not a problem like when I live up north.
We must all realize and keep in mind that we are only seeking to learn which lube(s) work better at very high velocity with cast bullets. Performing well at that level is not a condemnation of any lube and certainly doesn’t mean they won’t perform well within the lower range of velocities most cast bullets are used in.
Larry Gibson
timmalcolm
Goodsteel
Thanks much, Felix lube is added to the test. Spent today (between Xmas cards and mailing a package….PO was a zoo!) visual inspecting and weight sorting the last batch of 30 XCBs I cast. I ended up with 300+ at 158.7 +/- .1 gr. I have 15 bullets each of 6 different lubes already to load so far. Still debating on whether to go with the 2600 fps AA4350 load or the 2700 fps LeveRevolution load……….
Larry Gibson
ianharris
Which ever one you feel confident will produce the best groups. I’ve only shot a .30 caliber to 2700 fps on a few occasions without paper jackets and lube was the least of my worries, so I have no idea if the 100 fps will make that much difference. You’ll probably end up with two or three that do pretty well, and if anyone else’s groups fall apart past 2600 they can try another one of the top lubes from your test and see if it changes anything. I predict that your test will narrow things down for future HV shooters quite a bit and eliminate a lot of wasted effort/components for others. I DO know that a whole lot of lubes work fine at 2200 that won’t work at all at even 2400, much less 2600, FWIW.
Gear
We’ve been aware for some time that only a few lubes work best at HV as we’ve conducted several comparative tests of various lubes in the past. Most of those were in the 2400 – 2500 fps range. The key objective of this test is a comparison of the lubes accuracy ability at higher velocity. If the lube fails and leading and/or fouling become an issue accuracy suffers. Thus the measurement of accuracy is sufficient. With AA4350 I have sufficient accuracy data at 2575 – 2625 fps (temperature variation at time of testing and expected velocity inclusion limits of that load) taken over the last several months as compared to the 2700 fps load with LeveRevolution powder. The temperatures now will be in the 60’s to low 70’s when the test is conducted so I expect the velocity to run around 2575 fps +/- for each test. At 2700 fps the LeveRevolution load is very close to the RPM Threshold so the +/- velocity variation may induce factors affecting accuracy we don’t want. I am leaning toward the proven load with AA4350 at this time. Still pondering all the pro’s and con’s though.
Larry Gibson
12-11-14
Received lubes from goodsteel and Bjorn yesterday. If I get Geargnasher’s lube that will be 13 lubes total to test. The list is;
Lyman Super Moly
Lyman Orange Magic
White Label Carnauba Red
White Label 2500+
White Label 2700+
Javelina
LBT Blue
Randy Rat’s TacX
Bullshop’s LOTAK
Felix’s original batch FWFL
Tac1
Voodoo Red
Gear’s soap lube (not received yet)With 15 rounds per lube that is 195 recorded and tracked shots. Besides the casting , bullet sorting, preparation and loading throw in letting the rifle cool between strings, cleaning the rifle, entering data into the program, tracking the targets, etc. this is turning into a job (I’m supposed to be retired!). Not complaining by any stretch, just explaining that this is going to take 2 or 3 days at the range to do it right. Fortunately the weather here is somewhat stable so I can pick days of close to the same conditions. Additionally the conditions are all entered into the Oehler M43. Should prove to be an interesting test.
sgt.mike
daveridenour
swheeler
ianharris
tommeboy
Larry Gibson
timmalcolm
sgt.mike
daveridenour
swheeler
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