Recipe for lube question

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igotta40

igotta40

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I'm about to begin enjoying shooting black powder revolvers, but before I start I want to gather info on how to properly load my cylinders.

I'm familiar with rimfire and centerfire, rifle, shotgun, pistols and revolvers, but I'm new to BP.

From reading on a number of forums and blogs, it seems I can cook up a mix of Crisco and beeswax to use to lube/seal the cylinders.

My question is, how much Crisco do I add to my melted beezwax to have a compound that is pliable, not to hard, not too soft.... Goldilocks, as it were...

I also bought a package of lubed wads, but I've read that the ball should be rammed on top of the powder, so do I load a powder charge, lubed wad, then ball, then Crisco/beezwax sealer, or load my powder, then ball, then Crisco/beezwax sealer over the ball?

I want to do it right the first time, so I can post up results of my shooting. I have four revolvers, Two 1851 Navy Colts, .44 caliber, blued, a 1858 New Army Remington nickel engraved, and a 1858 New Army Remington Stainless Steel, all Pietta from Cabela's.

Perplexed in Pasadena
 
Howdy

When I first started shooting Cap & Ball way back in 1968 the standard thing to do was to goop some Crisco over the top of the ball. The idea was the Crisco would serve as a 'spark arrester' to prevent any errant sparks from making it past any voids in the ball to chamber seal to prevent a chain fire. What usually happened was the Crisco over the ball in the chamber next to the one being fired would melt. Melted Crisco makes a lousy spark arrester.

Years later I discovered Wonder Wads. An 1/8" or so of felt makes a much better spark arrester than a thin, runny layer of melted Crisco. I pour in the powder, place a wad on top, lightly compress the wad with the rammer, then ram the ball down onto the wad. No more Crisco, no more mess.

Note: when you ram the ball in place, you should shave off a thin ring of lead to serve as the chamber seal. But if the ball is dented, the seal may be incomplete, that is why I am talking about errant sparks getting past the ball and into the powder.

PS. I used to use a mixture of 50% Crisco/ 50% beeswax as a bullet lube for the lube grooves of bullets used in Black Powder cartridges. This makes a semi-solid lube, it will not flow at room temperature and would not work as something you could goop over a ball.
 
No need to use a wad behind the ball AND lube in front of the ball.

I've found lubing in front of the ball is a nuisance not worth the effort.
As DJ says, in my case it was '69, we used to use that Crisco method & it made a helluva mess.
Bad enough at the range, but actually carrying the gun all Crisco'ed up in leather on a hot day made a hot mess inside the holster.

The wads, between powder & ball, are a godsend.
I wouldn't (and won't ever again) bother with lubing in front of the ball.

If, on the other hand, you want an exciting BP revolver experience, don't use a wad, and do fill the mouths of each chamber completely with un-diluted Vaseline. :)
Denis
 
Gatofeo's #1 lube is an authentic outside lubricant for the old heeled bullets before they figured out it collected dust and whatnot. He found it in an old gun magazine and posted it, which eventually took on his name. He said he's tried MANY things and felt it worked he best. But then everyone's environment is different.

Using the double boiler method (jar with ingredients placed in a pot of boiling water) these are combined (all by weight):

2 parts mutton tallow
2 parts paraffin wax
1 part beeswax

I have used this on my wads and as bullet lube for my pistol bullets and REAL conicals for my .50 cal rifle. As I haven't used anything else I cannot say if it's the best or not, but I can say I like it and have no need to try anything else.

If you aren't familiar many people buy rolls of hard 1/8" felt to make their own wads from Durofelt.com.
 
It's rare that I disagree with Driftwood Johnson, but I have been using a 50/50 mix of beeswax and Crisco as over-the-ball lube for about 11 years. After melting the two together and stirring a bit, I pour it out on a wax paper covered cookie sheet and let it cool. About 1/8 inch thick. Then break it up into quarter-sized pieces and put them into an Altoids box (you know the "curiously strong breath mints!). After ramming all the balls down into their chambers, it's easy to press the lube down on top of the ball...just place the wafer over the chamber mouth and press it in with your fingertip.

It stays in place when firing the adjacent cylinders, and I have not had problems with fouling building up at the barrel-cylinder gap with any of 14 different percussion revolvers, summer or winter.

I use the same lube on the bullets for black powder cartridges with success.
 
Great info, this is exactly what I needed to know. Thanks!

Can't wait to get out and shoot now.
 
JBAR: I do the same thing as you.....50/50 mix, melted on wax paper but I then punch the stuff into .45 cal. discs with a homemade punch using a .45 auto ctg soldered onto a brass rod.

Dust the finished discs with talcum powder (keeps 'em from sticking together) & put 'em over or under the ball.....If under, don't over compress & smash the mix into your powder. If over, just seat the thing atop the ball with finger pressure.

Works good for me!
 
50/50 beeswax and lard vary with the season use more beeswax in summer
less in winter etc

if you can at all help it don't use Crisco if left in a loaded state for a long period of time it turns to a glue like substance instead of a lube it will also coat the internals with this glue like substance through firing requiring full strip down cleaning soon after shooting.I maybe do a full stripdown twice a year and the inner workings are filled with grease but it washes away easy with hot water and soap.
 
igotta40 said:
OK then I'll get some lard and use that Crisco to make some fried chicken....:what:
Click to expand...
after I saw what it did to the insides of my revolver there is no way I would deliberately eat the stuff either.
 
The BEST THING IS, that nobody was wrong on this thread. Enjoy, every single one of you, and the people reading your choices, too.:D
 
After the mess of trying the old Crisco method, and later finding that Kiwi Mink Oil Paste works much better, smells better and doesn't melt in the Florida summer, I have finally discovered the lubed Wonder Wads. MUCH better! A bit expensive but I don't generally shoot all that much, so it isn't a deal breaker. I will look into the Durofelt site, and stock some of it. Maybe I will start shooting more - just recently added three more revolvers to my cap& ball collection.
 
Well after the last range visit and firing some 60 rounds thru the Rogers and Spencer using forum member, BCRIDER's, method of a drop of oil on the ball, in my case I used Ballistol, I am now a full convert of this method. No added expense or work of felt wads and no mess of grease over the chamber mouths.
An Elmer's glue all 1.25 ounce bottle cleaned and refilled with oil works like a charm.
 
Five or six bucks for a tube of Bore Butter works great for me without the hassle of raiding the pantry and cleaning the stove plus the smell is one of my favorites. I only shoot long guns and single shot muzzle stuffers so I cannot swear to how that works with revolvers.
 
I do a 50/50 mix of crisco (actually "Frymasta" but same thing) and bees wax. i then add a little bit of olive oil, about a teaspoon or so depending on how much you make, just to soften it up a little.

I was going to give bore butter a go but for the cost of about 2 tubes of that ive got a lifetimes supply of my lube.
 
Hey,

This is sort of related to the topic, but about wad sizes. I have 11mm and 12mm punches, so that translates to .433 and .472. The topic here says to use 11mm or 11,5mm(.452).

Will the 12mm wad be to big for .44 cal? Wont the 11mm be too small or will it expand when soaking it with lube.

Maybe a stupid question but does it affect the lube absorption properties of the wad if the felt is colored?
 
My wad punches are a little oversized as the fellow who made them for me mentioned that they ought to be. Not quite as oversized as yours though.

Between the two I'd use the 12mm, but I'd also likely try both and see what I see. Just don't make and lube too many, but enough to truly see how it performs. Maybe 5 cylinders full (30 wads) of each.
 
I like the Durofelt wads to be .030-.032 over chamber diameter.

.44/.448 = .480
.36/.369 = .401
.31/.316 = .346

OhioRamRod over at the muzzleloading forum makes my punches.
 
Charge 6 chambers with powder, ram 6 balls in, drop one drop of 10w30 motor oil on the edge of each ball where it is up against the chamber wall so it soaks around the edge of the ball where it meets the chamber wall. Done. No need to do anything more than that in my opinion so long as the balls are sized big enough to leave a ring of lead when they are rammed in. Colt's original instructions never mention grease, felt discs, wax, anything like that.
 
The use of lube makes a huge difference in the barrel fouling.
Recently I was experimenting with some paper cartridges and didn't use any lube on anything. The first patch down the barrel was like sand paper.
I usually use homemade lubed felt wads, sure makes a difference.
 
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