Homemade moly lube

Glen

Moderator
Staff member
Made another batch of moly grease bullet lube today, and thought I'd share the details as I get asked about this on a regular basis. First off, my lovely wife bought me a 2-quart aluminum pitcher at some clearance sale (I think she paid $1 for it). Using our kitchen scale, I weighed out 14 ounces of yellow beeswax (in chunks). Next, I went outside to our propane grill and fired up the little side burner that is supposedly there to heat sauces on (all I have ever used it for was making bullet lube), and placed the beeswax over a medium flame (in the pitcher). While that was melting, I took one 14 ounce tube of Sta-Lube Extreme Pressure Moly-Graph All-Purpose Grease and removed both end caps. Using a butter-knife (dedicated to this purpose), I scooped out the grease into the pitcher. After all the grease was in the pitcher, I used the knife to stir the mixture until all the wax had melted. Then I turned the heat off, covered it with aluminum foil, and let it cool. All told, it took me about 10 minutes to make almost 2 lbs of bullet lube.
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Glen ,

What do you figure the texture ( viscosity ) will be like tomorrow after it has had a chance to fully cool ?

Harder than old traditional 50/ 50, ( Alox 2138 f, Beeswax ) or a bit softer ?

I " assume " this is not your 1st time to make this lube ? ?

You say you left the lube in the pitcher, Is the idea to melt in the future and pour the liquid lube into your lube-sizer ?

Ben
 
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Glen

Moderator
Staff member
Texture is somewhat like hard fudge after it cools. Similar to traditional 50/50, maybe a bit harder. I have been making this lube since 1990. I left it in the pitcher as a storage receptacle. I pour a bit into a ceramic coffee mug and then melt that in the microwave and pour it into my lube-sizer as needed.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Just what I need, another lube to try out.:)

Glen, how well does it hold up to summer heat? Any issues in cold, like below 30 F?
 

Glen

Moderator
Staff member
I've never had a problem with summer heat, and we get up to 110F here pretty much every summer. Never had any problems with cold either (as far as lube goes). Coldest I can think of shooting this lube would be down in the teens, and the lube was fine. I have had problems with misfires in certain loads at low temps, but that was powder related, and a primer switch fixed that problem.
 

Elkins45

Active Member
I whipped up a batch of your Molygraph formula a couple of years ago. So far it has performed very well, but I really haven't driven it much past 2K yet.
 

Paul

Member
Glen, I've read about your lube in your writings MANY times.
So here's what I've always wondered: how messy would this be in an average range session of 200 to 300 45 Colt or 357 rounds? I've got the ingredients, but need to finish what's in my 450 sizer.....
 

Glen

Moderator
Staff member
Done it many times. The gun will have some lube fouling on it, but no more than with any other cast bullet lube. Easy to clean up, and it protects the gun from rust.
 

Paul

Member
Done it many times. The gun will have some lube fouling on it, but no more than with any other cast bullet lube. Easy to clean up, and it protects the gun from rust.
Thanks, Glen. I'm not concerned with getting ANY rifle or revolver dirty, it's my hands and clothes because my beautiful and long-suffering wife objects to some of my homespun concoctions getting all over my clothes. She quit grousing about the smells from the kitchen years ago. Ha ha!
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
I bought the ingredients a couple years ago, haven't put it together yet, but will
when my current lubrisizer load runs out.
 

Elkins45

Active Member
Have you had any problems with oils migrating out over time? My Lyman 45 is filled with this mix and when I went to use it after a couple of months of sitting idle I noticed that there was a pool of liquid in the depression at the top of the rod in the sizing die. I mopped it up with a paper towel but the first couple of bullets i sized were 'runny' compared to normal.

Of course this could have been entirely my fault by not sufficiently blending in the grease when I made it...
 

KHornet

Well-Known Member
I tried some of the molly lubes when they first came out. Had to butter the bbl with a number of shots before accuracy set in, and after accuracy did set in, it seemed to fall of quickly after 50-60 rounds. This was commercial lube however, yours may work much better. May try it after I run out of the healthy stock of Lars lubes, and the Green Lube that Brad made.
 

Glen

Moderator
Staff member
Have you had any problems with oils migrating out over time? My Lyman 45 is filled with this mix and when I went to use it after a couple of months of sitting idle I noticed that there was a pool of liquid in the depression at the top of the rod in the sizing die. I mopped it up with a paper towel but the first couple of bullets i sized were 'runny' compared to normal.

Of course this could have been entirely my fault by not sufficiently blending in the grease when I made it...

No, I have never had this lube separate on me.
 

Glen

Moderator
Staff member
Glen, I've read about your lube in your writings MANY times.
So here's what I've always wondered: how messy would this be in an average range session of 200 to 300 45 Colt or 357 rounds? I've got the ingredients, but need to finish what's in my 450 sizer.....

No messier than any other lube.
 
F

freebullet

Guest
Glen
I'm curious how fast you've pushed this? Is it intended for both rifle & handgun?
Sounds easy enough to make, thank you for sharing.
 

Glen

Moderator
Staff member
The fastest I've pushed it is about 2300 fps. It may work faster, but I haven't tried any faster yet. I use this lube for everything.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I may try some too. Heaven knows why, I have more different lubes than I could ever use.
 

waco

Springfield, Oregon
I have never attempted to make my own lube. Always looked like a hassle. This looks simple enough. Where do you buy the moly grease?
Auto parts store?