Cant get crisco here, would shea or cocoa butter work?

[valencia]

I cant get crisco here in Spain (or anywhere in Europe for that matter) and the Spanish appear to just use pork fat to make pastry as there are no alternative brands of veg shortening in the shops.
I was wondering if either cocoa butter or shea butter would work. I will be mixing it with a little bees wax. I would like to go the natural route so if you dont think those would work any suggestions? Or maybe I will try some pork fat as I have read they used to use mutton fat!

 

[AJumbo]

I used coconut oil on some patched the other day and it seems to have performed quite well. Mixing it with beeswax might make sense in a warm climate, since a hard lump of coconut oil will melt on the palm of you hand in about 30 seconds.

 

[dagger dog]

Cooking of pork fat without scorching is called rendering lard, if the lard is pure without salt or other foreign particles and not, you can use it for patching lube or bullet lube, mixed with bees wax.

I use 50% beeswax, 40% Crisco, 10% canola, another is 50%, bees wax 40%, 10% lanolin.

 

[Acorn Mush]

You can use mutton fat. Unsalted lard is another alternative. You will need to soften them a bit prior to use however. Whichever fat you choose, try melting it in a double-boiler and adding 10% (by volume) olive oil. Stir well, let the mixture cool, and see if it is soft enough for your purpose. If not, remelt and add a bit more olive oil and cool again. If too soft, remelt and add a bit more fat.

Hope this is of help to you.

 

[sharps59]

formulas i use and have used and tried that work

40/60 beeswax/ coconut oil. 50/50 beeswax olive oil 50/50 beeswax peanut oil.

 

[valencia]

Thanks allot for the great advice! I think I will try coconut oil and beeswax first. The lard sounds like it will go off with the heat here (45C in the summer) and get rancid! Plus I can probably use it on my scalp ; )

 

[Patocazador]

I live in Florida. It's hot here. Lard mixed with beeswax in varying proportion (depending on temp.) is what I use for bullet lubes, patch lube, and sealing revolver chambers. I wouldn't use it if it didn't work.

 

[DD4lifeusmc]

lard

Thanks allot for the great advice! I think I will try coconut oil and beeswax first. The lard sounds like it will go off with the heat here (45C in the summer) and get rancid! Plus I can probably use it on my scalp ; )

properly rendered lard won't go rancid. Especially when blended with beeswax.

the lard is a higher viscosity than any of the oils, by way of it's semi solid consistency versus liquid and it will not separate from the wax once completely blended.

Don't undrstand what you mean "will go off"
When mixed with the beeswax ot will not drip away.
Also it will not Ignite any moreso than would any of the oils.

 

[Caliper_Mi]

Can you get this: http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i:aps,k:bore butter

Smells nice, too.

 

[valencia]

Thanks again! Ok I think I will try rendering some lard and make a few different batches with both olive oil as I have loads and with the lard.

I can get pure lard at the supermarket, its 100% but with anti-oxidants and stabilizers so I think I will make my own.

I havent seen bore butter here, checked the online shops but nothing. I have read both good and bad things about it, but really want to make my own anyway.

Thanks again.

 

[dagger dog]

"I can get pure lard at the supermarket, its 100% but with anti-oxidants and stabilizers so I think I will make my own".

If you get the raw fat, you want to cut it into 1 inch cubes, render at the lowest heat possible just enough to get it into a liquid state, once you get an inch or two liquid fat in the pot it will go quicker, only add enough fat for one layer, when that's turns liquid add another batch, stain through gauze to remove any gristle, or skin.

If you find you lube too thin and it's running at ambient temperature back off on the lard and add a little more beeswax, same thing for cold temps, if it won't adhere to the bullets add a little more lard. Liquid oil (p-nut, canola, can be added to make it stick to the bullets.

 

[g.willikers]

What ever happened to good ole' human saliva?

 

[valencia]

Thanks dagger. A friend of mine´s family have a butchers shop and he got me some pre-rendered with no additives so I am going to mix some up for shooting this weekend.

 

[Beagle-zebub]

Hey Valencia, what kinda gun are you shooting over there?

I'm curious to hear how the rendered lard works.

 

[NineMilePete]

Valencia:

Have you any input or information regarding the Santa Barbara 1858's

Crisco is just a brand-name for vegetable shortening.

 

[Surculus]

Valencia:
Crisco is just a brand-name for vegetable shortening.

I think he's aware, since his original post states that "there are no alternative brands of vegetable shortening in the shops."

Given ready supplies of [hopefully, unsalted] lard available, I can't imagine why he'd want to bother with the ersatz alternative?

 

[NineMilePete]

Well, excuuuuuze me !!

 

[EljaySL]

Let's generalize this a bit. I've found that 50/50 mixes (by volume) of beeswax and any kind of fat produce useful lubes, and then you can adjust the fat or the ratio to adjust the consistency you want for your temperature. I put them in a bowl, nuke them in the microwave until everything's melted, and then keep stirring as it cools until it's solid enough that it's not going to separate.

For the fat I've used mutton tallow and olive oil and they both work great and I think really any natural fat will work.

 

[BCRider]

Just a thought here but if this is for use in a cap&ball gun then does it really matter a whole lot if the lard is salted or not or has other additives? You're going to clean the gun at the end of the day anyway. And the powder fouling already has a type of salt in the fouling which is why we need to clean in the first place. So one more salty item isn't going to add to the issue.

If it's for use as a bullet lube for cartridges then that's a different issue. In that case I can see not wanting to have a salted product sitting in contact with the lead and brass for a long time.

 

[EljaySL]

People also use this lube to lube up everything after cleaning (it's a pretty good preservative), keep cap and ball cylinders rotating, has a million and one uses. Unless the only fat you have access to is bacon grease there's really no reason to have salt on there.

 

[valencia]

I used a mix of 20% wax and 80% lard as its an outdoor range. It worked great! Cleaned the gun with olive oil afterwards and it only took a couple of patches to get it sparkling!
I will use more wax when it gets hotter.

 

[valencia]

Its the Euro Arms rogers and Spencer. Tried it this weekend and great fun, also very accurate. Used 20% wax 80% pork lard and cleaned up with olive oil. Only took a couple of patches and it sparkled!

 

[BCRider]

If you're using olive oil to lube the gun that's fine. But note that olive oil and many other vegetable or nut based oils will polymerize over time to a gummy mess. The trick is to oil the guns then store in a cooler and darker area. UV light, warmth and exposure to air flow will encourage the polymerization process.

I'd even go as far as to bag them in a ziplock style plastic bag. To avoid moisture in the bag encouraging rusting a freshly dried out silica gel pack in the bag will absorb and hold any excess humidity inside the bag.

I haven't used olive oil but I've used Canola cooking oil often. It's a great lubricant and from some testing I did it did better than a lot of proper oils at resisting rust on bare steel. But it did harden up to a varnish like consistency over the course of a month sitting on my back steps in the sun and heat of summer in order to also get the rain. As a result I've only used it when I know I'll be using the guns again within a month. For longer term storage the final oiling after cleaning is done with Ballistol because it won't go gummy on me.

 

[Palehorseman]

I used coconut oil on some patched the other day and it seems to have performed quite well. Mixing it with beeswax might make sense in a warm climate, since a hard lump of coconut oil will melt on the palm of you hand in about 30 seconds.

Coconut butter is a different beast. I have several boxes out in the garage where summer temps hit at least 140f (AZ desert)), and it has never so much as slumped, let alone melt.

 

[iiranger]

Yes, I know I am "odd" but..

In the days of black powder the fascination with animal lubes centered around that was all there was. I have read that Native Americans gather floating crude products, like vasiline for use as salve and laxative. Bear grease was recommended for wagon axels (pulled by animals) 'cause it was "more sticky..."

As suggested if you cannot get a "hardened" (solid) vegetable oil (Crisco is a brand), then bees wax is traditional. And adding any oil can soften it as needed. The other ancient "high pressure" lube is lanolin, also called "wool fat" 'cause it is from the wool of sheeps... Any drug store in US can supply. Surprised if not available about anywhere.

Point #2. Modern petro lubes tend to "kill" primers. On the other hand, carefully applied to the front of the cylinder, should not be a problem. So any "auto grease" should work. Then there was the super grease "water pump grease" made to be water resistant.

So as long as you are not working for a prize for authenticity, you should be able to use many, many other things. Luck. Happy Trails.