[Pancho]

Dawve, does the pill go over the powder or go between the wad and the bullet.
what thickness do you reccomend. Do you change the formula depending on the weather?

[dwave]

Whats up Pancho. Here is the deal how I use my lube pills. I put them over the powder, under the ball. I do not use wads with the pills. So it goes like this for me: Powder->pill->ball.

As far as thickness that really depends on what I am using them for. When I am going with a higher powder load, I use thinner ones about .15 inches thick. When I am using a light load, I go thicker to take up the space, or use 2 of my thin ones. The thick ones I make about .2 inches.

Mix, I use less beeswax in the winter because the cold will help keep them from melting. I would say 40% beeswax to 60% crisco, or somewhere abouts in there.

[Pancho]

Happier New Year to you Dwave. How do you carry or what kind of container do you use to carry your pills in the field? Have you ever use Gatefeo's mix using crisco beeswax and parrafin?

[dwave]

No, I have not tried Gatefeo's mix. I have been using the 50/50 mix with excellent results so I haven't strayed from it. As far as the container goes, I use an Altoids chewing gum container for my .36 and a buffalo bullet container for the .44.

[Shawnee]

Hi Pancho...

Not to worry, Pancho. I've got many round, flat pipe tobacco tins lying around - useful for all manner of stuff like lube pills, primers, small parts etc. Will fix you up when we shoot.

:cool:

[Pancho]

Shawnee, I don't know how I missed your input. Keep them cans brother and a Happier New Year to you. Looking forward to a nice warm Spring weekend of shooting and a small warm corner to sleep in.

[Snaggletooth]

Pancho, I use Gatefeos recipe. I carry them in a little plastic box I got from the wife. It holds about 100. T carry 100 caps, 100 balls a powder flask, a small mallet and a pair of needlenose pliers and a nipple wrench when I shoot. I have never had melt problems from the lube pills and I dont have a gun bind up either. I usually shoot 50 rounds each time I go out.

[rifle]

I like to use equal amounts of bees wax,paraffin wax and mutton tallow. Mutton tallow is a good lube. I've used container soy wax in place of the more expensive bees wax. That recipe is equal amounts of soy wax,paraffin wax,mutton tallow and 1/2 the amount of each individual other ingredient of that toilet bowl sealing wax. That sealing wax ring is sold at building supply stores and hardware stores. I think putting the lube pill right on the powder under the ball works the best and utilizes the lube/wax to the best advantage. I spray my shallow pan that I pour the wax/lube into to make a sheet of the lube pill recipe with Pam or one of those cheapy non-stick spray cans of canola stuff and that seems to make a little bit of slippery between the pills so they slide off each other real nice. I like the size of the Altoid mint tins for hauling the pills around. Sometimes I use snuff cans from a buddy. They are round and a handy size. Putting a little dab of Murphys Oil soap in the mix makes the pills a little less sticky on the finger tips. Castile soap does the same. Castile soap(sold at the health food stores) is a mixture of stuff like pepermint oil and other exotic oils. Why not add a little "exotic" to your lube pills? ha ha ha A little Lanalin and JoJoba oil added seems to be good too. A dab of margarine or butter or lard doesn't hurt anything. Well, a few drops of canola oil or vegetable oil or olive oil never seemed to hurt. If you added some flax seed oil you could use a few lube pills a day to lower your cholesterol and keep you regular. ha ha ha I added a little water to a batch I made once figuring water is a good blackpowder solvent type thing. It didn't seem to hurt anything. Worked good. I had some of that yellow wonder lube stuff and added some to a batch I made a few times. I even added some of that Patch lube/cleaning solvent called "Old Slickum" sold at Dixie Gun Works to some lube pill recipes that worked good. I've added Thompson Centers cleaning solvent to recipes too. I've thrown so many different things into lube pill recipes I can't remember them all. ha ha ha Anywhoooo......bees wax and paraffin wax and mutton tallow are my main ingredients for lube pills. I won't shoot cap&ballers without lube pills anymore. The lube pills are right up there in importantance with powder and lead and caps. ha ha ha Anywhoooo....I oil my guns for storage and I think it's a good idea to wash out the oil from the bore and chambers of a cap&baller before shooting it. I wipe with patches and then soak some patches with alcohol and wipe out the oil. Taking a patch and pressing lube pills into the cloth and wiping it up and down the bore and chambers seems to get the metal ready before shooting. I guess if a person lubed up their guns with that yellow Wonder Lube stuff in the bore and chambers after cleaning then just wiping out the excess would surfice before loading to shoot. You know since Wonder Lube is organic and not petroleum based. Anywhoooo....it's good to remove oil or grease from the bore and chambers before loading and shooting. Same thing would go for shooting cartridges loaded with blackpowder right?

[Snaggletooth]

Pancho, if you follow Rifles recipe you will probably have a following through the forest of elves, sprites and fairys. Got to smell good. Someone was complaining of the sulphur smell in his bore ought to use Rifles lube pills. Ive got to admit that ol Rifle knows his guns though.

[rifle]

When those Elves and Fairys start following me thru the woods I cut back around and watch my back trail and use them pesky critters for target practice. ha ha ha

[DuncanSA]

Lets keep things simple. Play with the receipts given and mix ingredients to find your own solution. What you want is simply something that will lube the bore for the next shot and soften fouling, but which is firm enough to handle.

I normally use a mixture of beeswax, crisco and candle-wax to stiffen the mix. I don't think I have ever used the same mix twice.

Pour the brew onto a flat surface, use for instance string as a boundary, then with a .45 shell as a "cookie cutter" cut out your lube pills.

[Pancho]

You know Rifle, them elves and fairies are fast little buggers.

I don't know Duncan but I think you're right the trick is to come up with a formula that makes Crisco or tallow easy to handle. Kind of like M&M's "Melt in your barrel not in your hand."