Probably the easiest rounds to make lube for are the lower velocity handgun rounds...... 45 Colt (LC)....45 ACP....most 38 loads, that sort of thing. When you add a gas-check to the equation a basic handgun lube will will work fine with almost any handgun round. Within reason of course! A basic handgun lube can be as basic as this ;

  1 part Beeswax

  .75 parts petroleum jelly

  .25 parts parafin (candle wax)

Place these ingredients in a double boiler heat until melted, mix well and you are done! I personally use a Large electric crockpot but wives seem to get upset when they notice that their crockpot is missing so check first. If, after the lube cools , you find that you want your lube a bit stiffer simply add a few small chunks of candle wax. If you want it softer, simply add more petroleum jelly. Then reheat , mix and let it cool. Once you have it they way you like, WRITE IT DOWN!!!! Take it from me, you wont remember!

 The reason That I gave a general recipe is because you will find that there is a "sweet spot" when it comes to bullet lubes. It might take awhile to determine the best mix for your loads but once there you will be amazed! Alot of folks dont agree with the "sweet spot" school of thought and thats fine. Try this....go to some of your favorite reloading related websites and post a question asking what everyone thinks is the best bullet lube. One person may love brand X but the next guy will swear that brand X will not work. Why? The much sought after " sweet spot" thats why!

This basic recipe was given first simply because most casters cast bullets for handguns, not rifles. The rest of these recipes will be geared towards those  deranged individuals such as myself that use lead bullets for everything. So, onward and.....well, onward anyway!

Now we will move on to those of us who use cast bullets in handguns AND rifles. You know who you are!

For the GREAT ,  SUPER SECRET , WHIZBANG , MEMBERS ONLY handgun and rifle lube I.........are you ready?.....I use the above recipe , doubled , then I add four tablespoons of automatic transmisson fluid a four ounce bottle of LEEs liquid alox and a extra half pound of candle wax. I adjust the amount of candle wax for winter and summer shooting......., a little softer for winter and a little stiffer for summer.

I know, yall were expecting the "eye of newt" thing right? Sorry, its just not that big of a deal.I use the lube with everything I shoot and I never have any leading problems. I shoot a 170 gr cast bullet in a Model 94 over 29 grains of IMR 4895 with a magnum primer useing this lube and never have I had any lead left in the barrel. Thats a jacketed bullet load guys!As soon as I get the chrony in Ill get yall some numbers for that load .

One hint, if you can get your hands on a quanity of carnuba wax, use that in place of the regular candle wax. I dont know what it is about that stuff but it will polish your bore better than anything Ive ever seen , and a smooth bore is probably the single greatest mechanical factor affecting lead bullet performance.

Well. We can now move on to BPCR and muzzleloader lubes.

I use a really soft lube for my blackpowder cartridge lube.....not "grease" soft but not too far from it.Here again, there are a ton of commercial and homemade lubes out there, all with varying degrees of success. Heres my favorite recipe...

1 pound Bees Wax

1 pound Citronella Candle

2 Tablespoons shortening

I use bees wax in pretty much all my lubes because its much more elastic than regular wax and yes, I did say "Citronella Candle"! The cheap ones in the small galvanized buckets are best. These have about 5% citronella oil whereas the more well known brands use as little as .5%. I really cant prove it but I firmly believe that the citronella oil is the magic ingredient. The shortening is used to make the lube softer....use less for harder lube, more for softer. You know the drill.

Mix all the ingredients in a double boiler until liquified  then stir it really good. Take out a teaspoonful of liquid and let it cool to room temperature. The lube should be firm but easily molded with finger pressure, if its not add a couple of teaspoons of shortening to the mix and test it again. Im tellin ya, this stuff is good!