I don't like too much wax (seen on some batches of CCI SV, but especially Eley) or even grease (SK Magazine and other) on my .22s either.

I remove excess grease using a cotton cloth or kitchen paper, simply by rubbing it off the bullets or whole cartridges.

If they're really very waxy (once had some boxes of CCI SV, where many rounds per box wouldn't fall out of the plastic grid, and were hard to chamber because of lumps of wax on the bullets), and the wax is too stiff or sticky because the ammo is cold, I spread the cartridges on an old terry cloth and let them warm up in a warm room. Or heat them up a little bit with a hairdryer, to soften the wax before cleaning them, also with a cotton cloth or kitchen paper.

 

Just stop whining and just shoot it....

Of course increasing the amount of cleaning time with lead removing is also an option...

 

The lube keeps my hands soft and young lookin'. Ammo feeds better and less lead in barrel. And the smell of burnt powder is perfume to me.

 

I use Palmolive in the kitchen and Lapua lube, afield . I have been told that my hands are very attractive and now that George is out of the running, I could get a job doing commercials that feature only hands!

 

I couldn't care less about it. I shoot it.

 

Very simple Grasshopper.

 

Mineral oil and mineral spirits are Not the same thing.
When you tried M-Spirits did you soak the cartridges (never do a soak) in it or just use a rag with some to wipe the bullets? Wiping them should not affect the powder.

 

Most noticable on Aguilla .22lr for me. I bought 1000 rounds last time I purchased it and I repackage it in CCI mini-mag plastic boxes to take to the range. I've done that several times before and although I really don't like to feel the wax, it has never been a real issue. This last time, I filled the CCI boxes and had some rounds that would actually drag going in and would not dump coming back out.

I called the seller and he told me to call Aguilla which I did. I had shot about 80 of that order, but the company (actually they are a distributer for Aguilla in the US) paid for me to ship the remainder back to them and refunded every penny that I had paid for it. I have not bought any more since then but I would definitely order more if I needed .22 and they had a good price.

 

Most noticable on Aguilla .22lr for me. I bought 1000 rounds last time I purchased it and I repackage it in CCI mini-mag plastic boxes to take to the range. I've done that several times before and although I really don't like to feel the wax, it has never been a real issue. This last time, I filled the CCI boxes and had some rounds that would actually drag going in and would not dump coming back out.

The problem I have with the lube (Aguila bulk) is that it causes the magazines to stop feeding. Now I wipe them with a rag soaked in mineral spirits, then weigh them and sort them into piles by weight (.1g increments). After I have 1000 or 1500 done (all from the same lot, of course), I put those piles into CCI boxes with a post-it note recording the weight. The real light ones go into my single shot rifles for the kids, the bell-curve stuff gets saved for league or league practice, and the hot stuff goes into my range toy pistol (Browning 1911-22).

I get better results this way, much cheaper, than when I use Eley in my league gun (Marlin 25). And I know exactly what I'm shooting at all times. Bulk ammo + small time investment = great performance.

Andy

 

The lube is there for a reason and we pay good money for it. I keep a rag in my range bag and usually have one on the line in matches to wipe my hands when needed

 

THIS^^^^

That lube is especially formulated to improve the accuracy of your rimfire rifles.
In fact, I have noticed that when I shoot lubed ammo through a rifle for a while, and then switch to dry ammo, the first magazine or two through the gun with the dry ammo produce better accuracy than normal for that particular brand, because the rounds are seeing the benefit of the lube that is seasoning the barrel. I have run experiments where I have taken dry lube ammo (CCI SV) and lubed it by rolling it around inside of a half full can of SK Magazine, which comes in a metal can of 500 rounds and is known for having quite a generous amount of bullet lube. Shooting the lubed CCI SV next to rounds from the exact same brick/lot number in dry form, there is a noticeable & measurable improvement in accuracy with the lubed ammo.

You are literally wiping off one of the most important components of the ammo.

Obviously, if it’s an excessive coat, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt anything to wipe off the access from the casings so that it doesn’t gum up the inside of your magazines and gun, but I’d leave it on the bullets. I’ve never bothered to do even that.

DrGunner

RFC Administrator & Consigliere

 

In my limited experience, the SK Magazine is the waxiest of all the .22 LR ammo I've tried. I'm NOT offended by its presence, figuring it is there for a purpose. I do keep a micro-fiber cloth in my kit that comes in handy at times, as PWN noted above.

Personally, I think trying to remove it prior to shooting is counterproductive.

Aquila spent considerable time working in conjunction w/Eley some years back and they make good ammunition, again in my limited experience. I seriously doubt they would package it in any detrimental form for consumption by their customers. Just saying.

Were I you; I would do some serious testing to determine if I was going in the best direction on trying to remove that lubricant. No offense intended.

 

I agree that 'removing' the wax isn't really my primary goal and keeping some form of lubricant is important. The biggest issue is helping the wax to be less sticky and for the ammo to cycle through mags and the chamber readily. I'm pretty happy with the mineral oil treatment and its effect on reducing stickiness.

 

Shoot the ammo, clean your gun…

 

Shoot, clean gun, wash hands, take a nap

 

I'm a fan of the reliability of Aguila 22LR ammo, but really don't like the sticky, waxy coating they use. Waxy ammo also is produced by other manufacturers.

My understanding is that wax is used on ammo to protect, seal, and provide lubrication. However, the waxy coatings can be problematic for handling, magazine operation, chambering, and gun deposits. For those reasons, I figured I'd explore ways to make wax less of a problem for me.

My first experiment was to use mineral spirits, which is known to be an effective wax solvent. It certainly removed the wax, but the volatile compounds in mineral spirits readily penetrate the casing and degrade the powder. Fail.

The second experiment was based on the recommendation to use Rem Oil on ammo to make rounds pass through my quick loader more readily. Through reading the safety data sheet (SDS) for Rem Oil, I saw that its roughly a 50/50 mixture of mineral oil (baby oil) and naphtha (odorless mineral spirits). Not having any odorless mineral spirits but having baby oil, I tried just a spritz of baby oil on some ammo. It certainly made the ammo pass through the quick loader reliably. I put a batch of ammo in one of those disposable, lidded plastic food tubs and tumble the ammo until relatively evenly coated. Its simple and effective.

I've now obtained regular mineral oil and see that its more viscous than the baby oil that I tried initially and it makes sense that Remington adds odorless mineral spirits to Rem Oil to thin it out. But I still find that just mineral oil can work to alleviate the ammo waxiness and stickiness.

One thing that I can now recommend is to be careful with how much mineral oil you apply to your ammo. If the ammo is too oily, the gun internals get pretty messy with oil. (I guess if you run your guns with a lot of lube, then that probably won't matter to you.) I like to run my guns with lube only on moving parts and slides. I find that my gauge in deciding if the ammo is oiled enough when its slightly oily and the stickiness of the wax is largely gone. I find that the deposits in the gun are mostly dry with this approach.

This treatment doesn't change the fact that there's wax on the ammo and that waxy deposits build up on the bolt and breach to eventually cause problems. I find that for my Mark IV pistols, I can only run about 200 to 300 waxy rounds through before the deposits affect how the bolt goes back into battery and producing light strikes. I have to wipe the bolt and breach at that interval to maintain reliability. The good thing is that the deposits come right off.

With this said, I'd appreciate your thoughts on this or what you do to deal with waxy ammo.

Living in Phoenix I have inadvertently left boxes of waxed ammo in direct sunlight on a 110° + day at the range for an hour. When I opened the box I found that much of the wax had liquified and dripped off. I am not sure what the temperature was inside the box but guess 150° or so. If you have a way to control the heat you may be able to just melt the excess wax off and you can do it in bulk once you get the process down.

 

hair blower

 

Some of the most talented and experienced people in the firearms industry have spent a lot of time determining how much, and what type, of lube to put on Aguila .22 rimfire bullets. Their ammo is some of the very best, in my experience. That is what I will continue to buy, until there is something better and as inexpensive.

The lube is there to deal with smooth functioning problems which we cannot otherwise fix. .22 ammo is dirty stuff. It has to be, to work right. It's a paradox. The lube is part of a very carefully devised compromise. It does what it is supposed to do. It makes the mess slightly less of a mess and keeps a semiauto firearm working for as long as possible, before it has to be cleaned. That time varies with the design of the mechanism.

Leave the lube alone. Shoot and enjoy the ammo. Clean the mechanism after several, or a few hundred, rounds.

Life is short. There is no point in worrying about problems which don't exist.

Isn't it ironic that we've gotten .22 rimfire ammo so highly developed, after about 160 years, that a bore is still fairly clean after 20,000 rounds, but a semiauto action is becoming gunked up after a few hundred? Oh well, it's still wonderful and amazing stuff. Cleaning the action is no big thing.

 

Here's a thought: the people who make the ammo know more about making ammo than you do. Treating your ammo with solvent? Sweet shades of ignorance........

 

I'm a fan of the reliability of Aguila 22LR ammo, but really don't like the sticky, waxy coating they use. Waxy ammo also is produced by other manufacturers.

My understanding is that wax is used on ammo to protect, seal, and provide lubrication. However, the waxy coatings can be problematic for handling, magazine operation, chambering, and gun deposits. For those reasons, I figured I'd explore ways to make wax less of a problem for me.

My first experiment was to use mineral spirits, which is known to be an effective wax solvent. It certainly removed the wax, but the volatile compounds in mineral spirits readily penetrate the casing and degrade the powder. Fail.

The second experiment was based on the recommendation to use Rem Oil on ammo to make rounds pass through my quick loader more readily. Through reading the safety data sheet (SDS) for Rem Oil, I saw that its roughly a 50/50 mixture of mineral oil (baby oil) and naphtha (odorless mineral spirits). Not having any odorless mineral spirits but having baby oil, I tried just a spritz of baby oil on some ammo. It certainly made the ammo pass through the quick loader reliably. I put a batch of ammo in one of those disposable, lidded plastic food tubs and tumble the ammo until relatively evenly coated. Its simple and effective.

I've now obtained regular mineral oil and see that its more viscous than the baby oil that I tried initially and it makes sense that Remington adds odorless mineral spirits to Rem Oil to thin it out. But I still find that just mineral oil can work to alleviate the ammo waxiness and stickiness.

One thing that I can now recommend is to be careful with how much mineral oil you apply to your ammo. If the ammo is too oily, the gun internals get pretty messy with oil. (I guess if you run your guns with a lot of lube, then that probably won't matter to you.) I like to run my guns with lube only on moving parts and slides. I find that my gauge in deciding if the ammo is oiled enough when its slightly oily and the stickiness of the wax is largely gone. I find that the deposits in the gun are mostly dry with this approach.

This treatment doesn't change the fact that there's wax on the ammo and that waxy deposits build up on the bolt and breach to eventually cause problems. I find that for my Mark IV pistols, I can only run about 200 to 300 waxy rounds through before the deposits affect how the bolt goes back into battery and producing light strikes. I have to wipe the bolt and breach at that interval to maintain reliability. The good thing is that the deposits come right off.

With this said, I'd appreciate your thoughts on this or what you do to deal with waxy ammo.

Removing wax from your rounds is a bad idea all the way around. I think your functioning problems may be more of a problem with lack of lubrication of your firearms. I have experienced none of the problems you experienced but I do lube the heck out of my firearms. Breakfree CLP along with greasing the pressure points of reciprocating parts will eliminate the problems you blame on waxy ammo.

Another way is to make sure you do not leave .22 ammo anywhere where it is extremely hot as heat will melt wax making it sticky and result in the bullets not lubricating the bore adequately resulting in poor accuracy, leading and a possible catastrophic failure of the firearm.

Accuracy will deteriorate rapidly when you remove the factory wax and substituting your own witches brew will not make things better but worse not only in terms of accuracy but in terms of barrel leading. Extreme barrel leading which can occur with only a few rounds fired from under lubricated or wrongly lubricated bullets can blow up a gun and at the least put twice the pressure on the breach of the gun which can lead to catastrophic failure of the firearm. The .22 has far more breech pressure than most people are aware of because they think that with the small amount of powder in a .22 rimfire shell that the pressure is very low. Not really true, and bad headspace or too much pressure can blow a .22 rimfire up like a grenade that is why removing wax is not only a very bad idea but unsafe as well.

A great deal of research and experimentation went into developing wax coatings on lead bullets to insure they lead up the bore as little as possible which in turn also keeps accuracy high, removing it cancels out both of these features.

It is true that not all wax coatings are alike so if sticky bullets bother you find a brand that is less sticky, and do not let any .22 rimfire ammo set out in the sun or be left in extreme heat. I might add that sticky bullets are not causing the problems you are experiencing. I once received some brand new .22 rimfire ammo that had the wax melted off because it was stored improperly. Not wishing to throw good ammo down the drain I hand lubed each of the rounds with 50/50 alox lube (50% petroleum an 50% beeswax an ancient lead bullet lubricant still available) now this is about as sticky a lubricant as you will find anywhere on the planet and it caused zero problems in any of my handguns and rifles, again, zero functioning problems. The key cure of course is to have a clean and well lubed weapon before you start shooting.

 

I'm a fan of the reliability of Aguila 22LR ammo, but really don't like the sticky, waxy coating they use. Waxy ammo also is produced by other manufacturers.

My understanding is that wax is used on ammo to protect, seal, and provide lubrication. However, the waxy coatings can be problematic for handling, magazine operation, chambering, and gun deposits. For those reasons, I figured I'd explore ways to make wax less of a problem for me.

My first experiment was to use mineral spirits, which is known to be an effective wax solvent. It certainly removed the wax, but the volatile compounds in mineral spirits readily penetrate the casing and degrade the powder. Fail.

The second experiment was based on the recommendation to use Rem Oil on ammo to make rounds pass through my quick loader more readily. Through reading the safety data sheet (SDS) for Rem Oil, I saw that its roughly a 50/50 mixture of mineral oil (baby oil) and naphtha (odorless mineral spirits). Not having any odorless mineral spirits but having baby oil, I tried just a spritz of baby oil on some ammo. It certainly made the ammo pass through the quick loader reliably. I put a batch of ammo in one of those disposable, lidded plastic food tubs and tumble the ammo until relatively evenly coated. Its simple and effective.

I've now obtained regular mineral oil and see that its more viscous than the baby oil that I tried initially and it makes sense that Remington adds odorless mineral spirits to Rem Oil to thin it out. But I still find that just mineral oil can work to alleviate the ammo waxiness and stickiness.

One thing that I can now recommend is to be careful with how much mineral oil you apply to your ammo. If the ammo is too oily, the gun internals get pretty messy with oil. (I guess if you run your guns with a lot of lube, then that probably won't matter to you.) I like to run my guns with lube only on moving parts and slides. I find that my gauge in deciding if the ammo is oiled enough when its slightly oily and the stickiness of the wax is largely gone. I find that the deposits in the gun are mostly dry with this approach.

This treatment doesn't change the fact that there's wax on the ammo and that waxy deposits build up on the bolt and breach to eventually cause problems. I find that for my Mark IV pistols, I can only run about 200 to 300 waxy rounds through before the deposits affect how the bolt goes back into battery and producing light strikes. I have to wipe the bolt and breach at that interval to maintain reliability. The good thing is that the deposits come right off.

With this said, I'd appreciate your thoughts on this or what you do to deal with waxy ammo.

An old Steel Challenge shooter told me, years ago to use a little WD-40. Because even if you take off too much wax, you still get some lubrication from the WD-40

 

I have seen many people try and use WD40 as a lubricant and it failed every time. WD 40 was invented as a moisture displacement to prevent rust on a very temporary basis. Even in that it often fails as it evaporates off very quickly. I have had it fail as a rust preventive if the time period exceeded more than 1 day.

 

I would never remove the lube from my .22 ammo anymore than I would drain the oil from my car before driving it. I always have a few old rags in my range bag and use them to wipe my fingers after loading a few mags. The lube is there for a reason.

Gun Scrubber will clean out all the excess wax / lube later if needed.

 

I'm a fan of the reliability of Aguila 22LR ammo, but really don't like the sticky, waxy coating they use. Waxy ammo also is produced by other manufacturers.
...
With this said, I'd appreciate your thoughts on this or what you do to deal with waxy ammo.

Ditto on the 'too much wax' feel of Aguila ammo.

Too bad most of responses did not address your actual question.

 

when they wax the bullet does anyone really think they can control the thickness of that coating? Maybe its douched down with wax not because they want that much on it but because they cant control the thickness.

 

Waxing lyrical about .22LR lubricants: beeswax or paraffin wax? | ELEY

All of ELEY’s .22LR rounds have some form of lubricating wax applied. The two main 22LR lubricants being beeswax and paraffin wax. But what’s the difference?

eley.co.uk

 

Still trying to figure out what your question is. I guess the "difference" is that, for some mysterious reason, a 50-50 mixture of paraffin and beeswax, used to lubricate the grooves of any lead bullet of any alloy, or even pure lead,prevents most leading. But you need to carry it one step further. Instead of paraffin, use any Alox type grease, melted with the beeswax. There are sevral formulations with different names, to get around the patent limitations. This mixture positively eliminates any leading of any bore at velocities up to around 3,000 feet per second. That is as far as i have tested them. Beyond that, the lead might just start peeling off in the rifling, because it can't start twisting quickly enough. But that is only my guess.

I ran across that mixture recommendation in an NRA artiicle many years ago. After that, all of my leading problems, in everything, ended. The mixture proportoions are not critical. Melt some of the stuff and pour it into your lubrisizer when it runs low. Forget about buying all the sticks of expensive lube stuff with various names.

I load for about 55 calibers. Early on, I tested it in .45 ACP, 9mm, then .44 Magnum....308 Winchester, .30-06, and 8mm Mauser. No leading in anything. After that, I didn't bother to test anymore. results are always the same. Leading: zip, zero, nada.

So, do some of the .22 rimfire bullet lubricants contain some form of Alox? My guess is that they do, since bores stay clean after thousands of rounds fired at 1000 to 1400 feet per second. Removing it would be stupid.

 

While I mentioned a failed experiment regarding lube removal in the first post, I'm pretty sure that this thread is still about treating waxy bullets to make them more manageable in magazines, chambering, and deposits. I'm not championing wax removal, just making it easier to live with. At the moment, the light application of mineral oil makes Aguila ammo work in my Mambas. I'm still wondering if adding Naphtha to the treatment would help or hinder.

If you have other ideas or experiments that you've conducted to make waxy ammo more manageable, I look forward to hearing it.

 

I left a box of Tac 22 in the sun by accident that melted some of the coating. I am going to try a hair blower on some of the various ammos I have to see if removal can be controlled. I just havent gotten around to it yet.

 

Keeping the inside of the magazine clean and dry creates the fewest feed problems. Introducing a thin coat of liquid, any liquid, just attracts new grit particles more quickly, to re-start the contamination process, leading to more feed failures. Or, one can adopt obsessive compulsive policy, and disassemble/reassemble magazines every time you go out to shoot. And for some, I guess that is as much fun as shooting.

Every time you fire a shot, new airborne contamination is finding its way down into the magazine, some of it through the side slot for the follower button. There's no way to avoid it. This is the nature of .22 rimfire.

 

I had a couple of bricks left over I bought a few years ago. (right)

Then a few months ago Tac-22 was on sale so I picked up 5,000 rounds and this is what I got. (left)


Well I gave a couple of bricks away and cleaned a few more by using some Ballistol on a brush while keeping the rounds in their case. (turn it up side down) Then pour them in a rag with a little bit of Otis dry lube.

With the rest of them, I'm just shooting them the way they are. They shoot ok but you definitely want to clean after shooting.

THAT'S WAY MORE THEN THEY USALLY PUT ON!

 

I’ve had my Ruger Competition 10/22, which has a tighter chamber than the regular 10/22s, for 2 years and finally found Geco SemiAuto that ran consistently with no feeding or extraction issues and giving a longer period before having to clean. It’s now doubled in price here in New Zealand with a change in distributor and I’ve gone back to TAC-22 as a result. First outing thus week quickly resulting in chambering issues after 30 rounds and worse at 70. A thorough clean this morning and then a look at the wax coating on the Norma resulted in me searching “wax” in the forum and finding this very relevant thread. I’ve wiped off the excess wax with paper towels and will have another go next Wednesday. My photo is very similar to 67raregt’s above.

 

An update from last week: I wiped the excess wax off the TAC-22 bullets and shot 80 rounds with no feeding issues. Good stuff. However I have now progressed to having the odd extraction issue with the first round of each 5 round target extracting but failing to get as far as the ejector so affects the bolt travel for the round. Bugger. The following 4 shots eject as normal. My theory is that I wiped enough wax off the lead but added wax to the brass, thus increasing the friction in the 10/22 Competition chamber. Firing the consequent rounds heats the chamber thus reducing the friction and no ejection issues? Next step: wipe the excess wax off the lead for the next 2 boxes and make sure I wipe the cases as well. I was happy with where the shots landed on the paper though

 

Never had any issues with too much lube causing feeding issues. Had one case of Eley Match that had far too much lube on a half brick. Even on the case. Left a mess in the chamber as chambering stripped off the excess. No malfunctions though. Shoot TAC-22 weekly with no issues of lube. But am down to my last case which is an issue. Use a lot of Lapua Center-X, Eley Match, Eley Club and Eley Target. Had a friend who is a very good bullseye shooter tell me he adds a drop of oil on the bullet of the top round in a magazine to prevent feeding issues. I tried it, decided since my pistol has no issues why am I doing this?
Two custom benchrest rifles w/ Time actions, Two CZ 457 MTR, Two CZ 457 Varmints, one with Lilja barrel, one with MTR barrel. Anschutz 1710, Two 10/22's w/ Kidd barrels and one with LVT barrel. Between me and my two adult kids their spouses, two adult grandsons and a Great granddaughter we shoot a lot of rounds in competition. Must say I had issues with my 1710 and two of my CZ's for the first 500 rounds then problems went away. Not the ammo. Sorry, but I feel those of you that are blaming lube for feeding issues have other issues. Some rifles such as my old Martini have issues with one brand and not another but its not the ammo but the fact the rifle is a bit worn or out of specs.
Rich

 

And do you clean them all often or on a semi-regular basis? And how often do you deep clean them? And do the bolt rifles go longer between cleaning than the semi-autos do? Any special treatment for the chambers and did you lap the barrels at any time? Just curious. You seem to be meticulous in cleaning because of the lack of FTFs, FTXs and FTFires you have if the ammo is not the issue for you. Just wondering.
Bruce