Anybody use Coconut oil and Beeswax for BP Revolver Wad Lubricant?

[Blackpowdershooter44]

Howdy.

I've run out of lambs tallow for my typical tallow/beeswax lubricant for felt wads. Does anybody use a coconut oil and beeswax lubricant mixture for wads? If so, what is your beeswax to coconut oil ratio? The coconut oil looks like it will melt quicker/easier than tallow.

Interested in hearing your thoughts.

 

[DocRock]

Coconut oil will be fine. I used it once when I was short of oil soap. Suggest a little Crisco as well for 2 parts beeswax, 1 part Crisco, 1 part Coconut oil. That was a “Summer Mix”, so for the Winter and a softer mix, a bit more oil.

 

[Mn Fats]

Never tried coconut oil. I also use a crisco/beeswax mix suggested above. More parts crisco for winter .

 

[Jeff62]

I bought two cases of out-of-date rice bran oil at an auction. I used equal parts with bees wax to soak material to cut thin wads for my cap and ball. works great. I mention because the Rice bran oil looks consistent to coconut oil.
BTW Rice Bran oil works great as cutting oil for my drill press, band saw and milling machine.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

If you use coconut oil, be sure to put in some lime. Put the lime in the coconut, not visa-versa. I've experimented with pure bee's wax wads, I get the was hot and melted, then dip the wads in and lay them on wax paper to dry.

The reason I did this was because I found that lubed wads did contaminate the powder over time. Not a problem for range shooting/target shooting.

I also found that in .44 caliber, even when cold, it's not too hard to get the wax wad into the chamber. With the .36, it's a bit difficult.

Anyhow, the pure wax seems to lube well, and seal the chamber from any flash. Something to think about if you leave your pistols loaded for any length of time.

 

[SlowFuse]

Curious if the ratio would change if youre using the liquid vs solid coconut oil... The melt temp on the latter is pretty low so it may not really matter.

 

[the Black Spot]

I use 50/50 bees/olive oil

 

[TheOutlawKid]

I have used it...i even substituted it for tallow in a Gato Feo #1 recipe. It worked great. One thing i will tell you though is that it can sweat out of the wax. I experienced this with a batch of 50/50 coconut and beeswax. Maybe try a stiffer ratio? I use a very hard lube for my guns... 1:3 or 1:4 tallow to beeswax ratio by weight. That way the oil wont contaminate my powder. It works no mater the temperature outside due to the fact that its a very thin disk of wax/lube. Instead of cutting out lubed wool wads i make thin sheets by soaking paper towels in my lube mix...then cut out the disks. Because the disks are so thin they easily melt and coat the entire barrel to keep fouling soft...even tho its a stiff wax lube mix. You dont need much lube to coat the inside of a barrel up to 8 inches...and most lube is wasted when you use wool felt wads..most just gets shot out of the barrel because its so thick and the barrel is so short. Also they take up less limited cylinder space that could be used for more powder or larger bullet. Heres what they look like..

 

[Mn Fats]

I have used it...i even substituted it for tallow in a Gato Feo #1 recipe. It worked great. One thing i will tell you though is that it can sweat out of the wax. I experienced this with a batch of 50/50 coconut and beeswax. Maybe try a stiffer ratio? I use a very hard lube for my guns... 1:3 or 1:4 tallow to beeswax ratio by weight. That way the oil wont contaminate my powder. It works no mater the temperature outside due to the fact that its a very thin disk of wax/lube. Instead of cutting out lubed wool wads i make thin sheets by soaking paper towels in my lube mix...then cut out the disks. Because the disks are so thin they easily melt and coat the entire barrel to keep fouling soft...even tho its a stiff wax lube mix. You dont need much lube to coat the inside of a barrel up to 8 inches...and most lube is wasted when you use wool felt wads..most just gets shot out of the barrel because its so thick and the barrel is so short. Also they take up less limited cylinder space that could be used for more powder or larger bullet. Heres what they look like..

View attachment 959640

Those discs in the pic are made from paper towels? They look great.

 

[.38 Special]

If you use coconut oil, be sure to put in some lime.

And now I've got "Margaritaville" stuck in my head.

 

[DocRock]

And now I've got "Margaritaville" stuck in my head.

I was thinking House.

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Those discs in the pic are made from paper towels? They look great.

Yep, paper towel. I have experimented with soooo many lubes and methods and found this to be the best. This method along with a cereal box cardboard disk over powder card will sear the bore to prevent gas cutting and Ensures all the pressure stays behind the ball/bullet. I have even substituted the cereal box cardboard with manilla envelope disk and it worked just as well when used with a hard thin lube disk. I get a bread pan thats 4x8 inches across the bottom...cut a paper towel to 4x8 inches and place it inside the besad pan. Place the bread pan on top of the stove on low heat setting, like number 1 on the dial. Then place 22 grams of premixed lube on top of the paper towel and let it soak in evenly. I use a wooden shish kabob scewer to remove/release any air bubbles that might get trapped under the paper towel. Once lube is fully melted and soaked into the paper towel i remove the pan off the stove and let it cool, once cooled i then place it in the freezer for only 3-5 minutes then pull it out and pop out the sheet of lube infused paper towel. Heres what it looks like.


Im pretty sure this set up would do very well with the coconut oil and beeswax mix.

 

[whughett]

I’m under the impression that the wool felt wad has multiple purposes. Holds the lube, seals the cylinder mouth and scrubs fouling from the bore left by the previous shot.

From the comments it seems any vegetable or animal fat would serve as an addition to beeswax. I use solid crisco but found a 10% addition of any liquid vegetable oil in addition to the crisco/wax mixture helpful in applying lube to bullets using the pan cookie cutter method . .

 

[TheOutlawKid]

I’m under the impression that the wool felt wad has multiple purposes. Holds the lube, seals the cylinder mouth and scrubs fouling from the bore left by the previous shot.

From the comments it seems any vegetable or animal fat would serve as an addition to beeswax. I use solid crisco but found a 10% addition of any liquid vegetable oil in addition to the crisco/wax mixture helpful in applying lube to bullets using the pan cookie cutter method . .

Yes felt does do scraping of the barrel and they do work great and is a very underappreciated plus to using felt wads. The only issue i have with them is that so much lube is wasted and the wads take up so much space that is very limited in revolver chambers. Thats why i use my lube disks with a thin cereal box cardboard disk...cardboard disk aids with the scraping and also with the gas sealing...both disks together are still way thinner than a lubed felt wad. Now in a muzzleloader rifle where space isnt limited...i swear by wool felt wads. Another factor that thinner lube disks provide is that a stiffer lube to wax ratuo can be used. Because they are thin they fully desintegrate easily inside the barrel and keep fouling soft...where as it is harder to get that effect with a thicker disk/wad unless a softer lube is used...but softer lubes can contaminate powder especially if left in contact for a longer period of time. Stiff lube mixes wont contaminate the powder. The lube has very little time to melt and coat the inside of the barrel to keep fouling soft and its easier to burn a thin hard disk than a thick softer lube disk in that very limited time frame. I have also used softer lube mixes in the thin disk method and they worked amazingly well...but i had to seperate it from the powder using a thin wax paper disk. Cant be right on the powder as it risks contamination of powder. I actually always use a wax paper disk between powder and lube disk even if its a stiff lube mix that wont contaminate powder. Thats how my paper cartridges are made. Im very frugal and hate wasting powder...and everytime a wad or lube disk gets placed over the powder it squishes powder grains into it...and this powder gets contaminated and either never burns or burns slowly outside the barrel and doesnt contribute to the shot fired. I have picked up used/fired lubed felt wads and found about a grain of unburnt powder stuck to it. This is why i always separate the lube and powder with a wax paper disk. There are so many ways to successfully use over powder wads/lube disks...but from all my experiementing i found the thin disk method to be the best and it allows me to use stiffer lubes without risk of contamination of powder (although i still use a wax paper disk between powder and lube no matter how stiff the lube) and it takes up less space which i need due to using conicals in my .36 navies.

 

[Blackpowdershooter44]

I have used it...i even substituted it for tallow in a Gato Feo #1 recipe. It worked great. One thing i will tell you though is that it can sweat out of the wax. I experienced this with a batch of 50/50 coconut and beeswax. Maybe try a stiffer ratio? I use a very hard lube for my guns... 1:3 or 1:4 tallow to beeswax ratio by weight. That way the oil wont contaminate my powder. It works no mater the temperature outside due to the fact that its a very thin disk of wax/lube. Instead of cutting out lubed wool wads i make thin sheets by soaking paper towels in my lube mix...then cut out the disks. Because the disks are so thin they easily melt and coat the entire barrel to keep fouling soft...even tho its a stiff wax lube mix. You dont need much lube to coat the inside of a barrel up to 8 inches...and most lube is wasted when you use wool felt wads..most just gets shot out of the barrel because its so thick and the barrel is so short. Also they take up less limited cylinder space that could be used for more powder or larger bullet. Heres what they look like..

View attachment 959640

Thanks for the input. When you used the coconut oil in place of tallow for the Gatefeo #1 recipe, is that when the wads sweated out the lube? Based one what everyones saying, I may go with something like a 2-3 parts wax to 1 part coconut oil mix.

 

[whughett]

Outlaw. I’ve experimented with 1/8 inch thick lubed wads, 50/50 crisco bees wax. in 45C cartridges. 28 grains of 3F, a card cut from milk cartons, the wad, another card and either a 200 grain RNFP or 230 grain RN bullet. These bullets were tumbled lube with liquid Alox. The experiment part was leaving a 48 round box sitting on the bench in the garage from June thru the summer until we returned to that house from up North in January. That garage in early June can get up to 100 degrees Inside. Never been there in July or August so who knows how hot it can get. The purpose was to see f I could store these loads long term. In January they all fired and looked felt and hit the same as those stored in the house.
Only draw back I’ve found with the home made felt with lube 50/50 mixture is wads that don’t get used in a few months can smell rancid. I don’t mind that and the gun sure doesn’t know the difference.

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Thanks for the input. When you used the coconut oil in place of tallow for the Gatefeo #1 recipe, is that when the wads sweated out the lube? Based one what everyones saying, I may go with something like a 2-3 parts wax to 1 part coconut oil mix.

I dont remember the lube mix i made that sweated out. But i do believe it was the gato feo mix. I have made soooo many lube concoctions lol. Are you going to lube bullets or make felt wads or...? One natural oil that has very little attention that i know works great is raw shea butter. Its used in cosmetics. At room temperature its solid like tallow but if you touch it it will start to melt into a oily slippery liquid paste...kinda like butter (hence the name?) I have only seen one referrence of someone using it and it was a search on google and someone on reddit i believe said it worked great for his 9mm bullet lube. Im actually wanting to use it as a patch lube to see how it works. I have made some really good bullet lube using this with beeswax. So if anyone wants to try something new try out raw shea butter. You can get it online in brick form or in a small tub.

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Outlaw. I’ve experimented with 1/8 inch thick lubed wads, 50/50 crisco bees wax. in 45C cartridges. 28 grains of 3F, a card cut from milk cartons, the wad, another card and either a 200 grain RNFP or 230 grain RN bullet. These bullets were tumbled lube with liquid Alox. The experiment part was leaving a 48 round box sitting on the bench in the garage from June thru the summer until we returned to that house from up North in January. That garage in early June can get up to 100 degrees Inside. Never been there in July or August so who knows how hot it can get. The purpose was to see f I could store these loads long term. In January they all fired and looked felt and hit the same as those stored in the house.
Only draw back I’ve found with the home made felt with lube 50/50 mixture is wads that don’t get used in a few months can smell rancid. I don’t mind that and the gun sure doesn’t know the difference.

I judge my lube by how it performs in my paper cartridges. I put the lube disks (sandwiched between wax paper on both sides or just on the powder side and a cardboard/manilla folder card on top) unnderneath my bullets in paper cartridges..if the lube starts seeping into the paper then i dont use it or atleast wont use it in paper cartridges because that means it will eventually contaminate the powder. Also depends on the paper used. I use RAW rolling papers and hair curling paper with 1:3-1:4 tallow to beeswax ratio by weight. I dont use crisco as just about every crisco mix ended up leeching into the paper cartridge (it turns the paper the infamous clearish stain as when you put fried food on paper). Also dont use crisco for the fact that it isnt like natural fats/tallow or most oils that once heated and cooled revert back to its original state...crisco once heated and left to cool turns into a sticky glue. Ive tuned quite a bit of guns where the customer tells me they use crisco as part of their lube mix and when i open up the guns it has a sticky film in it and i have to clean it all out real well to cycle the guns and see what the timing is and how the parts are working together without thw sticky crisco glue gunk messing it all up. I used Emmerts lube and made lube disks with great success using crisco...they just didnt work in paper cartridges due to contamination of paper and powder...and the cooled off of crisco lube had to be cleaned out of every nook and cranny before it could turn to gummy glue. Its too bad as crisco does work for the most part. But as of now im sticking with tallow and shea butter made lubes...and sometimes a pinch of olive/vegetable oil and/or lanolin.

 

[Blackpowdershooter44]

I dont remember the lube mix i made that sweated out. But i do believe it was the gato feo mix. I have made soooo many lube concoctions lol. Are you going to lube bullets or make felt wads or...? One natural oil that has very little attention that i know works great is raw shea butter. Its used in cosmetics. At room temperature its solid like tallow but if you touch it it will start to melt into a oily slippery liquid paste...kinda like butter (hence the name?) I have only seen one referrence of someone using it and it was a search on google and someone on reddit i believe said it worked great for his 9mm bullet lube. Im actually wanting to use it as a patch lube to see how it works. I have made some really good bullet lube using this with beeswax. So if anyone wants to try something new try out raw shea butter. You can get it online in brick form or in a small tub.

I'm making the lube for felt wads.

 

[whughett]

No problem on this end, but then I know how to clean my guns. plus I use Ballistol to lube the gun parts. No crisco there.
If you’ve every done any deep frying on a regular basis you’d find that all oils made from plants create a sticky almost impossible to remove residue over time.

 

[Blackpowderwarrior]

My mix is 1 part beeswax, 1 part EVOO, 1 part crisco, 1 part coconut oil. I have no complaints with this mix. I often rub it on my hands as well. It stays solid no matter the temp outside.

 

[HowieG]

Howdy.

I've run out of lambs tallow for my typical tallow/beeswax lubricant for felt wads. Does anybody use a coconut oil and beeswax lubricant mixture for wads? If so, what is your beeswax to coconut oil ratio? The coconut oil looks like it will melt quicker/easier than tallow.

Interested in hearing your thoughts.

I save the coconut oil for super models, lol. How about Thompson Center Natural Lube 1000 Plus Bore Butter?

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Yep...i deep clean my guns everytime i shoot. Internals get packed with Mobil1 synthetic grease and outside gets ballistol and sometimes barricade. Screw threads get mobile1 mixed with lanolin.

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Howdy.

I've run out of lambs tallow for my typical tallow/beeswax lubricant for felt wads. Does anybody use a coconut oil and beeswax lubricant mixture for wads? If so, what is your beeswax to coconut oil ratio? The coconut oil looks like it will melt quicker/easier than tallow.

Interested in hearing your thoughts.

Forgot to ask...what type of coconut oil you using? The semi solid stuff that melts really easy with even just body heat or the liquid kind thats like any other oil?

 

[brewer12345]

Yep...i deep clean my guns everytime i shoot. Internals get packed with Mobil1 synthetic grease and outside gets ballistol and sometimes barricade. Screw threads get mobile1 mixed with lanolin.

I have a Pietta 1858 on the way, so I will ask the question I have been wondering: what do you mean by "pack?" Like, fill the interanals completely?