White Lithium Grease

My granddad always kept a tube of white lithium grease in his shop, for lubricating fine mechanisms.  In the forty years I hung out in his shop, I doubt he ever used more than four or five ounces of that grease.  He called it White Grease, and he guarded it jealously.  As it turns out, it's actually a soap, although I don't think I'll be using it to wash myhands.

When I set up my shop, I bought a small tube at an auto parts store and I used it sparingly when a fine grease was required.  I keep it in a special drawer, I bring it out when I need it, but over the last 20 years I've only used three 1.5 oz tubes.

Then I got into Cowboy Fast Draw, and I learned that Cowboy shooters use white lithium grease, not by the ounce, but by the pound.  We apply it with rollers to our targets.  It gives a nice white aiming spot, it lubricates the targets and keeps them from rusting, and it gives an immediate visual indication when the bullet hits the target.  You can see clearly where the bullet struck the steel.  So, I started casting about for a suitable supply.

It seems that WD40 makes a spray can with white lithium grease in it.  I bought a can, and I'm not impressed with it for coating a target.  It's simply too thin.  So, I'll keep that can for other uses.  But I went to Home Depot today after work, and I found two big tubes of white lithium on aisle 9, down by the plumbing supplies.

Those two tubes should last me for a while.  It seems to be the cat's meow for coating targets.  We'll see when it dries out enough to do some shooting.