LivewireBlanco
Member
OK so I'm curious what everyone is using for their black powder revolvers. If you make your own wads or over ball grease please share your recipe!
Wad or...?
- Thread starter LivewireBlanco
- Start date
- Status
Prairie Dawg
Member
Much of the time I use a felt wad lubed with Gatofeo's lube.
I pick the wads up cheep from tables at cowboy shoots & sometimes off gunbroker or ebay.
Sometimes I use cornmeal over the powder & just pur Gatofeo's lube over the ball.
This is messier, but works well.
--Dawg
Gatofeo's lube (from an old post of his):
Years ago I began posting a bullet, patch and wad lubricant based on a 19th century recipe.
I used more precise ingredients than the 19th century version, which simply listed tallow, paraffin and beeswax.
Without changing the ratio, I began mixing:
1 part canning paraffin.
1 part mutton tallow.
1/2 part beeswax.
All measurements are by weight, NOT volume.
The result is an exceptional black powder lubricant that was later named by others, "Gatofeo No. 1 Lubricant."
I use canning paraffin because it's pure. Who knows what lurks in old candles, especially if they're scented. Yes, paraffin is a petroleum product. Yes, petroleum greases and oils will creat a hard, tarry fouling when used with black powder. BUT canning paraffin doesn't do this. Long ago, a chemist told me that canning paraffin lacks the offending hydrocarbons.
I don't know about that, but I do know that canning paraffin (used to seal fruit preserves in jars) doesn't create a hard, tarry fouling.
Mutton tallow is needed. I've tried a variety of greases but mutton tallow is clearly superior. I've tried Crisco, and the tallow of beef, chicken, turkey, deer, pig, elk and even bear grease. Not tried moose,though. Or Dodo Bird for that matter ... might be kinda hard to get.
Mutton tallow has long been suggested for black powder lubricant, at least to the mid 1800s.
Canning paraffin is about as pure as you can get. Totally inert too.
Mix together some Gatofeo No. 1 Lubricant for yourself. Dixie Gun Works sells mutton tallow at the best price I've found. A little goes a long way.
A hard felt wad soaked in melted Gatofeo No. 1 Lube keeps fouling soft and the bore cleaner than any other lubricant I've tried.
The dry lubricant in commercial wads is the worst, in my experience. Hardly makes a dent in bore fouling.
Make up a batch of Gatofeo No. 1 Lubricant for yourself, and see if it doesn't work for you.
I pick the wads up cheep from tables at cowboy shoots & sometimes off gunbroker or ebay.
Sometimes I use cornmeal over the powder & just pur Gatofeo's lube over the ball.
This is messier, but works well.
--Dawg
Gatofeo's lube (from an old post of his):
Years ago I began posting a bullet, patch and wad lubricant based on a 19th century recipe.
I used more precise ingredients than the 19th century version, which simply listed tallow, paraffin and beeswax.
Without changing the ratio, I began mixing:
1 part canning paraffin.
1 part mutton tallow.
1/2 part beeswax.
All measurements are by weight, NOT volume.
The result is an exceptional black powder lubricant that was later named by others, "Gatofeo No. 1 Lubricant."
I use canning paraffin because it's pure. Who knows what lurks in old candles, especially if they're scented. Yes, paraffin is a petroleum product. Yes, petroleum greases and oils will creat a hard, tarry fouling when used with black powder. BUT canning paraffin doesn't do this. Long ago, a chemist told me that canning paraffin lacks the offending hydrocarbons.
I don't know about that, but I do know that canning paraffin (used to seal fruit preserves in jars) doesn't create a hard, tarry fouling.
Mutton tallow is needed. I've tried a variety of greases but mutton tallow is clearly superior. I've tried Crisco, and the tallow of beef, chicken, turkey, deer, pig, elk and even bear grease. Not tried moose,though. Or Dodo Bird for that matter ... might be kinda hard to get.
Mutton tallow has long been suggested for black powder lubricant, at least to the mid 1800s.
Canning paraffin is about as pure as you can get. Totally inert too.
Mix together some Gatofeo No. 1 Lubricant for yourself. Dixie Gun Works sells mutton tallow at the best price I've found. A little goes a long way.
A hard felt wad soaked in melted Gatofeo No. 1 Lube keeps fouling soft and the bore cleaner than any other lubricant I've tried.
The dry lubricant in commercial wads is the worst, in my experience. Hardly makes a dent in bore fouling.
Make up a batch of Gatofeo No. 1 Lubricant for yourself, and see if it doesn't work for you.
Dude wads are for shotguns an women folk learnin ta shoot
wads take more time to reload cost more money if your buyin them
and generally take up room better suited for the holy black.
my grease mix varies with the season but 60/40 lard beeswax is about right
Ive recently come into some fine tallow and ill probably use that straight.
oh and i dont think wads do as good of a job of keeping things lubricated
and clean.
clean is probably not the right word? working is probably a better word.
wads take more time to reload cost more money if your buyin them
and generally take up room better suited for the holy black.
my grease mix varies with the season but 60/40 lard beeswax is about right
Ive recently come into some fine tallow and ill probably use that straight.
oh and i dont think wads do as good of a job of keeping things lubricated
and clean.
clean is probably not the right word? working is probably a better word.
Read some very good info recently, essentially said chain fires is caused from dirty cylinder walls and poorly seating.
http://www.geojohn.org/BlackPowder/bps2.html
http://www.geojohn.org/BlackPowder/bps2.html
it's not a mystery it's science.If i was in the texas heat all day i would adjust my grease mix to suit
I have not had trouble with grease collecting dirt
Im pretty sure it does prevent chainfire blacknet but its probably a mute issue if the ball
has a good tight,clean seal.
but you make a good point fouling is the issue and why we must use something
44 Dave
Member
Depends on what I am loading for, to keep under my pillow I use wads. Shoot at a range wads are less mess. Just shooting out of the back door grease is cheapest and keeps the cylinder arbor lubed.
I just had a quick look at the first page and its wrong I know from personal expierience
grease in blackpowder shuts it up/stops the fire train real quick.
If I have to explain how i know that im going to look all kinds of stupid take my word
or test it for yourself
by grease I mean lard,beeswax,tallow probably also crisco although I wont use the stuff
for other reasons.
it seems to melt into the power and shuts down the fire thats the best i can explain it
get some black soak it with lard and see how well it burns
it probably also provides a physical barrier but this is secondary
it will help with loose fitting balls or otherwise poorly sealing chambers
got nothing to do with pressure im putting on the load Im not telling my newbie mistake
Im not going to go into the chemistry (even if i knew it) of why it works but the grease
will shut down the fire.
so try it and let me know.
bumble bees are not supposed to be able to fly you know
First bumble bee thing is a gross myth that has been going around for some time, it's simply false.
Second this is what is going on when you fire.
4500 frames per second
So please explain 'shut down the fire' when a) the fire source is outside of the cylinder and b) powder in the rear of the cylinder gets ignited and runs to the front.
- Status
