California Saeco Green Soft Bullet Lube Recipe

[Anonymous By Request]

California Saeco "Green" Bullet Lube

This recipe was reported to be from a reloading and shooting expert that did work at the original Saeco company and learned how they made their soft green lube. It was advised to keep this soft lube out of the sun and to transport the ammo in a cooler. Perhaps a few modifications can be suggested to adapt the lube to a desired hardness...

Ingredients:
2 lbs Beeswax
2 lbs Paraffin Wax*
15 oz STP Oil Treatment
Green dye (candle dye blocks)

Instructions:
Melt in a double boiling pan. Pour into your luber or molds.

*Notes:
Much attention must be given to paraffin wax selection.  There are different grades and applications for food preservation to candle making. Melting point and hardness are the variables that influence the ingredients added to the wax. A soft wax uses the canning paraffin wax or one for votive candles. A harder wax, uses candle waxes use in a container. For the hardest wax, select a pillar/tall candle wax. The melting point is variable from 120deg F to 160deg F by adding other ingredients.

Additives such as the color dye blocks can change the melt point or hardness too. You may need to test your selections to find the one that works best for your application. Candle making suppliers have additives that will help change the melt point or make the wax harder.

Paraffin is the biggest variable in getting the desired melt-point and handling characteristics.

[Urban]

I have made up a batch of this lube, but haven't tried it very much yet (but it worked very well at pistol velocities in my .30 Luger at 1080 fps with wheelweight bullets).
I elected not to use any coloring, as it is not really necessary and *might* affect the lubing qualities. My lube has a light yellow color and has a very pleasant honey scent to it.
I used beeswax from a local beekeeper and paraffin from candles. The labeling on the box said explicitly 100% paraffin. If other ingredients are present, e.g. stearine, you will probably get a harder lube.
I have also read about the "temperature warnings" but don't know how sensitive it really is. My suggestion would be to put a small amount of your regular lube alongside with a sample of Saeco in the sun on your windowsill and compare. A more refined test would be in your baking oven and see which lube "gives in" first.

Urban in Sweden

[Urban]

I would like to add that previously I had used store-bought (hard) .314 bullets, sized down to .309 and lubed with a "hard" lube in my .30 Luger.
These bullets leaded quite a lot, it took half an hour and lots of "elbow grease" to clean the barrel.

With wheelweight bullets (+2% tin) and Saeco, a couple of passes with a patch removed a very small quantity of lead "slivers", so I'm very pleased with the performance. These softer wheelweight bullets were sized to .311, the next bigger size in the Lee lineup of sizer dies. (The bullets were pan-lubed).
The reason for .309 with the store-bought bullets is because they were so hard, maybe they would have leaded less if they were a tighter fit. I have used them all up by now, so I will never know. Normally I use jacketed bullets for this caliber.

Urban