BP Lube Dried Out?

[average_shooter]

I've got a question regarding BP cartridge loading, specifically regarding the lube. I've been dabbling with .38/.357 BP for a while now, but seem to have run into an issue with the lube getting old.

My process currently involves melting or otherwise removing the hard lube from my LRN bullets so I can re-lube them with my Crisco / Bees wax mix. I did up a batch of bullets about nine months ago and didn't get to load them into the brass until just last week, so they've been sitting in a tray that whole time.

When fired, they didn't seem to leave that greasy film I recall from previous batches. No "star" of lube at the muzzle like I was expecting either.

Is it possible that the lube dried out and isn't actually doing the job anymore?

And for rounds that I loaded a year ago but loaded the bullets within an hour of being lubed, is it possible that the lube would dry out even in the case?

Bottom line, how long can traditional Bees Wax / Crisco lube sit before going "bad?" Do I need to only load what I can shoot and shoot what I load within a short time frame?

As a side note, my pans of bulk lube mix melted back down and reconstituted beautifully when I checked them. Seem to be fresh as the day I originally mixed them.

 

[scrat]

I dont think its necessarily how long does it last and more about did it melt away. Most black powder lubes contain beeswax along with some type of oil base. Weather it be olive oil or something else. Unlike smokeless lubes that can contain mineral spirits along with allox. Now when your talking smokeless anyone that has used Allox knows that at some point when the bullets loose that stickiness the lube actually starts to harden and almost flake off. Now back to black powder lube. the lube being made of beeswax mixed with an oil base does well in most weather. However it has to be revisited depending on where you live. Say you live near canada or in a cold climate. you can lessen the amount of bees wax and to almost 50-50 ratio depending on your accuracy. now you take that same ratio to Southern ca, Arizona or texas and that lube will be gone quick unless its winter. As the summer intense heat will just melt away the lube. Here in the summer in hotter climates people have done stuff like adding more beeswax to oil to stiffen up the lube but after a while you just almost have to change the lube due to the severe heat.

 

[average_shooter]

Thanks Scrat.

My mix is a home-made 50/50 using pure beeswax and Crisco. Also, I did make sure that the bullets still had lube before loading them, so it didn't melt off, at least not completely. They had been stored in a cool basement for the duration since the initial lube process, not exposed to any high temps that might result in melting.

It did look to me like the lube in the groove "shrank" though. When fresh it perfectly fills the groove in the bullets, but the old ones looked like the lube withdrew a little bit. I was wondering if that would result in it not making contact with the rifling. But I would think any heat, friction, or just the bullet spinning down the barrel would cause the lube to work.

Maybe it's just because I haven't shot BP cartridges in a while. I seem to recall being able to shoot them all day through my SAA before without any problems, but the other day I made it through about 15-20 rounds before the cylinder started to seize and I needed to scrape fouling off the forcing cone and cylinder face. And when I did it was really dry fouling, not soft at all.

I'll just experiment around a little, maybe add fresh Crisco back into the mix to see if that helps with the cool, dry winter shooting up here.

 

[scrat]

i think it will work perfectly. your in MN cold weather i presume. lube will harden up quick. putting a tab more crisco will get it a little softer may help in preventing the fouling.