Lube Balls

[Black Jack Shellac]

I wish to thank whoever is promoting the idea of lube balls or pills for the revolvers. I have lately been using them myself. Just press them down on top of the chambers and your done. I am working on something to make it less sticky to achieve the lube pills.Soon to come. Black Jack Shellac

 

[Acorn Mush]

I believe that Ugly Sauce made some extensive remarks about results with his formulation of lube pills, or rather, balls in his case. Seems he scooped the lube into almost caliber-size balls with a popsicle stick or some such. I personally haven't yet had an opportunity to try them out but would sure like to.

 

[Eyrie G. Dogg]

Been using them for many years. Powder them with body powder, cornstarch, or flour. That helps them not adhere to each other and simplifies handling.

 

[armoredman]

Gold Bond Medicated Lube Balls...there's an idea...

Been using them for many years. Powder them with body powder, cornstarch, or flour. That helps them not adhere to each other and simplifies handling.

 

[Black Jack Shellac]

Good ideas about powdering them. I have started doing this using a mold. My molds are made from the bubble packs that pills sometimes come in. I my case my A1C meds come this way. I remove the foil from the flat side and using a smooth object push the dents back out in the plastic. Bend the plastic to get it to lay flat. Use something to fill the molds with my melted lube. Let cool and use a sharp knife to lift them out from the edge. So far I use a release agent so they come out easy. Think PAM or the like. Could be that step is not needed.
Thanks all and Ugly Sauce

 

[Lefty38-55]

Wow, 1st I ever heard of it - cool discussion all!

 

[Black Jack Shellac]

Looks like I'm going to make a change to a softer mix. I was at half beeswax and half chrisco. The pills come out a little harder than I like. So I'm going to 1/3 beeswax and 2/3 chrisco. It could be the harder pills would be ok in hot weather.Will have to try

 

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello Black Jack Shellac,

I went with ¾ cup Crisco Shortening, ¼ lb of Gulf Wax, and ¼ lb of Bees Wax when I started loading my .44 Colt.
This formed a fairly hard lube and I poured 3/4" cylinders to feel my homemade Sizer Lubricator.
I did pour about 5/16" deep into a pie pan and cut pills after it hardened, but have yet to try them.
Also since the first .44 Colts, I switched to Black MZ and no longer lube my bullets.
I guess I prefer the Brass Casing.

AntiqueSledMan.

 

[armoredman]

Nifty!

 

[argonn]

I stumbled in here by accident, though very interesting.

 

[Just4FunOldGuns]

I haven't tried this yet, I have all the stuff, tallow, bees wax, lanoline but for .44 caliber I purchased this on Amazon

Amazon.com

Will allow me to make tons at once. Will produce a .45 semi sphere. Haven't found a 3/8" mold yet.
I've just been caught up in so many other things to do around the house.

 

[armoredman]

Adapt, improvise, overcome. Awesome.

 

[Black Jack Shellac]

Sledman Why did you use the gulf wax? Maybe to not use up the beeswax so fast? It's not really much cheaper.
Oldgun That is a really neat solution to the mold problem. Let us know how well it works. You may not need a release agent for that.

 

[AntiqueSledMan]

I copied the Original Black Powder Lube Recipe, but used Crisco instead of Mutton Tallow.

AntiqueSledMan

 

[Just4FunOldGuns]

No release agent needed, I just poured the melted formula of beeswax, tallow and lanoline into the middle of the mold. spread it around with the old mixing spoon and let it cool. I did this on the cool cement floor of my basement. It came really easy but the pills were a little sticky. I will just re-melt the excess.
I also thru in 4 oz of Gulf wax.
I dropped one Pill down the cylinder of my .44 Remington to show.
Others on Astronazon are selling the molds, but most are .50, I looked all over for the .450.

There is a lot of good info about Lube Pills on this forum I had read in the last month, especially In the last year.
Kind of how I came up with the idea of a mold.
I can be lazy sometimes in my old age, or maybe its just I appreciate my time more now!

 

[Zarthab]

I just made a big batch of Lube Cookies (1:1 Veg oil and beeswax) with a sprinkle of corn starch.
I often use cream of wheat over the power in my 1858 Rem revolver with a cookie under the ball.
I have been doing it this way for a while but ran across this,

Homemade Cap and Ball Lube Recipe – Tests & Results | Black Powder Guide

Making a lube recipe for cap and ball revolvers is critical to get right if you don't want it to be runny in the heat. I did all the testing and invite you to check out the results!

blackpowderguide.com

Go to the home page for more good articles

 

[WestKentucky]

Gold Bond Medicated Lube Balls...there's an idea...

Those words seem out of order, but it does seem to fit what you’re describing.

 

[Just4FunOldGuns]

So the next batch I used a 2" plastic putty knife to smooth the mixture into the mold cavity's, and everything came out more uniform, without the heavy overrun. I've noticed If I let the spheres air dry out of the mold, they seem to get less tacky.
If I were to put the whole mold on a baking sheet and heat it to say 140 to150 degrees in the oven, I'm betting I'll get a smother end product, But I have enough for my use right now.

 

[Black Jack Shellac]

Man this is really good. I really like the production of the mold mat. How do you get them out? Maybe just overturn them? My Formula for my lube buttons is. 1oz. of beeswax and 1/3 cup of Crisco Stick shortening. Crisco in this form is like a stick of butter. Easy to measure out .Just cut at the marks. I will have to try out the beeswax/ olive oil mix.. Like most I'm looking for something that will not blast out when the gun is fired

 

[Just4FunOldGuns]

Push them from the back, with the mat slightly folded. They pop out. Than dump them on a dollar store cookie sheet.
Ebay sellers are selling a 32 oz stainless candle making pot for about 17- 18$ that works really good. It has a graduation scale etched into the inside of the pot. Heat everything to 140.
I used Beef Tallow I found at wally world.

 

[Just4FunOldGuns]

This is the pot.

 

[Black Jack Shellac]

I finally got out to shoot my Pietta 1851 36 cal. A 2022 production. It didn't need any mods to work,got lucky I guess. Shot nearly all paper cartridges with pyrodex and loose powder and ball with Diamondback 3f .All loads nearly max with little room for more. Used my lube buttons ( 1/3 stick of Crisco and 1oz of beeswax). They worked well for me. 36 shots no hangups or jams. Bore not bad . I will do this again. I checked for paper after each six shots.Had to remove each time as there was always some in there. The raw papers burned the best. The glue used is the problem. Also used home made caps made from .008 aluminum and some from .008 brass. All worked well with no fragmenting.

 

[Gator Weiss]

I wish to thank whoever is promoting the idea of lube balls or pills for the revolvers. I have lately been using them myself. Just press them down on top of the chambers and your done. I am working on something to make it less sticky to achieve the lube pills.Soon to come. Black Jack Shellac

Lube goes under, not over. Powder, buffer, wax wad, ball.

 

[Black Jack Shellac]

You do it your way. I and others will do it our way. Some of the top shooters lube on top of the balls and win matches.

 

[woodnbow]

^^^ One of the best things about muzzle loading is the ability to change your load tto suit your needs and wants. Load the powder before the ball but beyond that there’s really no “right way” to do this…