I made a batch of my Gatofeo No. 1 Bullet Lubricant one day, with the artificial beeswax. It didn't work nearly as well as the real stuff. I tossed it.
It hurt to toss it too, because it's difficult to find real mutton tallow. No other tallow works as well as mutton tallow, in my experience.
Beeswax is getting more difficult to find too, but you can often find it at Renaissance Fairs and Rendezvous events. I've found it at craft and jewelry expositions too, but they want too much for a tiny, lil' cake.
Call your county extension office and find out who rides herd on bees in your area. Beekeepers may sell it inexpensively; I'm told that for most of them it's a by-product and not their main money-maker.
The days of going to the hardware store, and buy an honest-to-god beeswax seal for your toilet, are long gone I'm afraid.
Others who used the phony beeswax have reported to me that their lubricant was lumpy and decidedly inferior.
Beware of beeswax candles. They are often cut with paraffin so they don't run and drip so much. So, for measuring purposes, you wouldn't be getting the pure beeswax.
At the moment I have plenty of beeswax so I haven't been looking. At one time, I made a good deal on a bread-loaf sized chunk on Ebay. So, check auction sites.
The only source I know of for mutton tallow is Dixie Gun Works, by the way. Fortunately, a little of my lubricant goes a long way. It works great for felt wads, shotgun wads, patches and lead bullets when using black powder. I've even used it for low-velocity (under 1,000 fps) pistol bullets over smokeless powder.
That recipe again is:
Gatofeo No. 1 Black Powder Lubricant
1 part mutton tallow
1 part canning paraffin -- the kind used to seal canned preserves
1/2 part beeswax
All measurements are by weight.
Do NOT vary from these specific ingredients or quality will suffer. Trust me folks, others and I have substituted but nothing works like canning paraffin, real beeswax and mutton tallow.
