home brew lube ingredients

[zplinker]

Looking at making lanolin based lube, and seeing that Red Heet is recommended, I have one question: the bottle I picked up says it contains an injector cleaner. Is that something different than what others have used?

[mikld]

The Heet I use (I'm not in my shop) is 90%+ alcohol. Higher % than most rubbing, first aid counter alcohol so it evaporates quickly, just leaving the lanolin. The yellow Heet contains methanol. The red Heet contains isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. Not sure about "injector cleaner", but I'd use it...

MSDS; https://www.servicechamp.com/images/28202msds.pdf

[F. Guffey]

I am the only reloader without a formula, I use a case lube with no name for the difficult to size/form cases. For everything else any lubeldo (lube will do).

I have the small white RCBS bottles from RCBS, I have to be very careful with them, the first time I use the bottle I have to move the contents to another container, The white containers crumble at the touch.

F. Guffey

[zplinker]

I've gone through most of the common 'recommended' lubes over the years, finding Imperial to be about as good as any for rifle. But, for bulk pistol processing, I just want something easy and inexpensive to use. I've probably thrown away as many 'wonder' cleaning and lube products as most reloaders have ever heard of.

[zxcvbob]

Castor oil and 93% rubbing alcohol (it's completely soluble and doesn't settle out, even with the 7% water in there) in a little spray bottle. Not sure what the best ratio is, you'll have to experiment with that. I'd start with 4 parts alcohol to 1 part oil.

[reloader28]

1-ounce of lanolin to one 12 ounce bottle of red Heat.
I think it does say something about injectors.

[Old 454]

Are we talking about case lube or bullet lube ?

[USSR]

Looking at making lanolin based lube, and seeing that Red Heet is recommended, I have one question: the bottle I picked up says it contains an injector cleaner. Is that something different than what others have used?

zplinker,

HEET is sold as a fuel injector cleaner. There are red bottles of HEET, and yellow bottles of HEET. You want the red bottle which contains 99% isopropyl alcohol. Doesn't matter what it's made for, it's what it consists of that matters.

Don

[zplinker]

OLd 454, this is for is for sizing bulk quantities of pistol brass. I know, carbide dies do not require lube, but when you have a thousand or more, pulling the handle goes a lot easier with a little lube.

[mikld]

The "injector cleaner" Heet contains methanol which as a side action cleans injectors. Either Red or Yellow Heet plus lanolin will work for your case lube. The alcohol/Heet is just a carrier, a method to get the lanolin on the case. The Heet then evaporates, leaving the lanolin as the case lube. If you can find 99% alcohol in the pharmacy or paint store it will work just as well. Heet is recommended because it's high percentage alcohol and it's easy to find (almost any auto, department or hardware store will carry it)...

[USSR]

Do NOT use the yellow bottle HEET with lanolin. The yellow bottle HEET contains methanol, not isopropyl alcohol, and it will not go into suspension when mixed with the lanolin.

Don

[Pathfinder45]

Methanol is also toxic and can cause blindness with sufficient exposure.

[hounddawg]

if I remember correctly when I bought Heet at a auto supply store the red bottle was right beside the yellow and price was the same. The red is working fine. I love the home made stuff, the only time I use Imperial now is if I only plan on doing a few cases

[gojones]

I mixed up a 12 oz spray bottle a few years ago for pistol cases. I mixed 1 part lanolin to 10 parts 99% alcohol. I stayed away from Heet because of the chemicals. I ordered my alcohol from Amazon. Works very well. I use the lanolin paste or mink oil for rifle cases.

[USSR]

No problem using Iso-HEET, as the additive chemicals are minute and inconsequential. Here is a link to the MSDS for it: https://www.servicechamp.com/images/28202msds.pdf

Don

[Unclenick]

I'll guess the proprietary additive is probably DEA or some similar form of surfactant/anti-oxidant. Not something you need but doesn't hurt anything.

For a job as easy as assisting straight cases to go through a carbide die, almost any lube at all will serve. 30W motor oil thinned with odorless mineral spirits will lube the cases and help the press keep running smoothly. Mineral spirits take a bit longer to evaporate than alcohol, but I like the fact the slow drying doesn't tend to encourage condensation by cooling the brass. Just spray ahead of time.

If you plan to clean your press and dies afterward, soap or dishwashing liquid will work fine as the lube and will rinse off in water when you are done. You just have to realize it can attract moisture, so don't leave it on your dies for too long.

You may also find a dry lube is sufficient. Back to the alcohol or mineral spirits, mix some motor mica powder in and shake before spraying. If you want to get fancy, get some of David Tubbs's hex-boron nitride for coating bullets. It's expensive, but it has half the coefficient of friction of moly, so if you clean and degrease your sizing die, a little of it on a batch of cases will probably coat the die and may eliminate the need for future case lubing, at least for a while. You'd have to experiment to see how well that works.

Just some thoughts.