Ian
Notorious member
Some of you know I gave a sample of the world-famous Navy-surplus "beeswax" (the stuff sold by Mr. Bob Williams of Fernley, NV over ten years ago to bullet casters throughout the country) to a friend of mine around Christmas time to have analyzed by his brother who heads up the chemical laboratory for a major petro-chemical company. "Life" has rather happened to the three of us since then, but I have some data to share. It turns out this stuff it more of a mystery than any of us had imagined, and the only thing conclusive is that it most definitely is NOT beeswax. The best estimate is that it was used as an ingredient in the formulation of anti-corrosive hull paint.
Here's an excerpt from our communications: so that Navy wax I tested was Carbons 23 through C90+. Boiling range of 728’F through 1300’F a full 60% of the wax material boils above 1000’F.
A typical paraffin wax is C20 – C44 but this stuff is very “full” range.
Carbon 23 is Tricosane melts at 120’F
Carbon 90 is Nonacontane.
This would explain why the wax as a bullet lube ingredient is so versatile, stretchy, heavy, low-smoke, and "full-range", some will remember the discussions of finding a wax which has a wide-spectrum carbon chain base to make the phase transition point extremely gradual as opposed to, say, 180F microwax which is solid at one temperature and abruptly liquid one degree higher. Gradual phase transition is a quality that I believe makes old, low-refined Vaseline and beeswax so effective in our lube recipes.
Anyway, there you have it.
Here's an excerpt from our communications: so that Navy wax I tested was Carbons 23 through C90+. Boiling range of 728’F through 1300’F a full 60% of the wax material boils above 1000’F.
A typical paraffin wax is C20 – C44 but this stuff is very “full” range.
Carbon 23 is Tricosane melts at 120’F
Carbon 90 is Nonacontane.
This would explain why the wax as a bullet lube ingredient is so versatile, stretchy, heavy, low-smoke, and "full-range", some will remember the discussions of finding a wax which has a wide-spectrum carbon chain base to make the phase transition point extremely gradual as opposed to, say, 180F microwax which is solid at one temperature and abruptly liquid one degree higher. Gradual phase transition is a quality that I believe makes old, low-refined Vaseline and beeswax so effective in our lube recipes.
Anyway, there you have it.