Lube for Black Powder Revolvers -- Components and Mixing
Вставка
- Опубліковано 11 вер 2024
- Shows a process for making some DIY lube for black powder revolvers to help keep fouling soft. I feel the lube on the end of the chambers helps to improve accuracy, and also makes it more difficult for hot gases to get by the bullet and into the powder which could cause a chain fire. Shows things that worked and things I won't do again. No doubt not the best mix out there, but it seems to work for me. Oh, this mixture was a bit too stiff for my mini grease gun, had to re-heat and add more liquids.
50/50 is what I do. That works well in the cold and the hottest of hot days! Crisco or beef tallow either one works great. I prefer beef tallow best. But, either one will do its job.
I use 125 grams lard...125grams beeswax and a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Most of the year this is soft enough to put over round ball... We don't get much winter and even then it doesn't get too hard.
Thanks for your videos, they are excellent.
Thanks Alan. I don't even try to shoot here for a fair portion of the year. Gets down to -20 at times, so would need 20 different mixtures to shoot year around. The lube I mixed last fall is working fine at the moment, and for once I actually recorded what I mixed. O.R.
To clean out the mixing bowl, heat oven to about 175. Turn the bowl upside down on a cookie sheet covered with newspaper. The wax will melt and then be absorbed by the newspaper as it drips down. Take the mixing bowl of of the oven still hot and do a final wipe down with a paper towel. That should get most, if not all of the leftover wax out of the bowl.
Thanks Bob, you gotta be a chef. I'm copying that to my pages document - sure appreciate your sharing. O.R.
You probably just saved the Old Ranger's ass, not to mention his daughter from being poisoned. Your good deed for the day!
Great video as usual from the Old Ranger!
Another component you can use to give a "harder" lube is candle wax, I mainly use that in my BPC reloading, but I think it would be useful for an over powder lube wad, it would need to be just the right hardeness to prevent being pushed into the powder on loading, the main thing to do in all this experimenting is as you are doing, keep a note of what you are mixing in so it can be replicated next batch, stay sae ! Chris B.
I have taken to using toilet sealing rings. They are mostly bees wax. Then you can adjust with many things to harden and soften it Utter Cream works great. Toilet rings are very cheap.
Thanks for the useful info. O.R.
I separate my ruminant (all saturated) from my non-ruminant (lot of unsaturated) kitchen grease. All saturated fat has a much higher melting point, and works much better as bullet lube. The cow fat (ruminant) gets clarified, mixed 50:50 with beeswax, and is a household and general gun lube. Holds up pretty well in hot weather, although much better if a 30:70 mix is really good, even as bullet lube. Olive oil is highly saturated, but mostly short chain fatty acids, so doesn't have a high melting point either.
Thanks for the info, sounds like you have a system, and it works. O.R.
I use this as well and found that if I add some soap to the mixture it makes clean up easier.
Bullet Lube Spuds? YUMMMMMM! A bullet smoothie! Love it! I have used an old egg beater in my electric drill or one of those paint mixer deals used in my drill. I also have made dobbin which is 1/3 bees wax, 1/3 Gallo and 1/3 olive oil. This is great as a leather protective coating and bullet lube. Used on leather I use a hair dryer or heat gun to melt into leather. Kind Thanks for your Magic Alchemy Lube workshop and cleaning up. It reaches a point when the realization of the clean up detail makes one want to run away, eh? Thanks Again for another great vid and Many Blessings Old Ranger. P.S. I recon those bullet lube spuds may well keep one regular! DaveyJO in Pennsylvania
Much, much, much more than regular. Oh, is that Gallo wine? If so, I would think the water would separate, and it might have a better use; like drinking most of the bottle before the cleaning session. Keep safe, and thanks for the information. O. R.
I’m looking at the keyboard, and realize that was probably a typo. Tallo, right?
I may give this a try when my current batch of lube is used up. I like the idea of blending the lube at the end. I was thinking that a cheap electric hand-mixer would probably work well and clean-up would be much simpler.
What I seem to find is that it will be stiff when it sets up. Probably too much for a hand or maybe even powered mixer. It seems to become softer with working and I have no idea why. If it isn’t sort of stiff, then it will become too soft and have issues with warm weather. Too stiff and I suspect it doesn’t properly coat the barrel but just exits as a chunk. The right consistency might be more critical then I once thought. What I’m becoming suspicious of now is that 19th century powders were different in some way, and did not produce the hard fouling that our modern ones do, resulting in less need for this sort of lube. O.R.
@@oldranger3044 You know Wyatt Earp did an interview shortly before he died in 1929. Having been born in 1848, he was firsthand witness to the remarkble transitions that occurred in the firearm industry over his lifetime. He would have been the perfect person to comment on such questions. But I guess readers are more interested in the legend rather than technical questions about firearms.
@@chaecoco2 That’s a good point. Ned Robert’s book the muzzleloading cap lock rifle talks about the importance of clean, moist-burning, powder.
He published it in 1940, passed away in 1948, and was born 1866. Great book by the way. I would speculate that there were quite a few places making the stuff - it’s not rocket science. Too many times we think about things from our present circumstances that lack important facts, and therefore develop theories that lead us down the wrong rat hole. O.R.
Coleman lantern fuel does dissolve wax pretty good. It is something we used at one of my jobs to dissolve wax and I have used it at home to get a spilled candle out of the carpet.
Thanks, hopefully will remember to give that a try. Maybe I can utilize more of my wife’s kitchen stuff that way. O.R.
Thanks for the recipe. I enjoy your videos a lot:)
I bought some Burt’s Bees (beeswax) chapstick. I used it as a lube over the chambers. I would cut a small segment and the chapstick barrel was about the same size as a 45. It wasn’t cheap but it was easy portable and quick. Thinking you could use empty chapstick containers and fill them with homemade beeswax lube.
I use a 50/50 mix of lamb tallow and beeswax (flakes melt faster than ingots). I prefer wads in my .36 revolver so I dip cotton face cleansing / makeup wipes in the hot mixture, lightly squeeze out the excess, allow to set and use a 3/8" punch. Each face wipe makes 17 wads. I use the same mix with the addition of 15% - 20% candlewax for dip lubing black powder cartridge bullets.
First I have heard of the face cleansing wipes. Seems there's always something new to try. Thanks. O.R.
I looked up these wipes -- they have other ingredients (for their intended audience/purpose) so not sure if these other ingredients have any negative as far as what you want to use it for in your wads. many people use some kind of felt, etc. Of course if what you're doing works, go for it!
you have informative (and often amusing) videos. That container (orange juice) is 12 oz, so 12 oz melted Crisco, 6 oz beeswax and other items as you pointed out. I would like to try this out but one method that might assist in preventing lumps is to place the container of the product in cold water bath and stir the product as it's cooling. Ideally I'd like to see a follow-up to this video once everything has cooled down (I'm assuming that the end of this video with you still stirring the batch is while the product is still warm but I may be incorrect) to see how firm/soft this stuff is. Not trying to get you to purchase a Shore durometer but just some informal method to show texture. As you point out, beeswax seems to be a "hardener" for this mix so a higher % of that in the mix would also change the texture.
If you try that cooling method I would like to know how it works. Presently I have some that is about the right hardness but of course already cold. I am thinking about an old blender that will be designated for this task. I never minded some lumps till I started using the mini grease gun. If one of those chunks gets stuck in the opening where the lube enters the forcing cylinder, it ain't pretty. After taking it apart and re-assembling, you can't open a door to your house until the lube wears off, usually about two weeks. O.R.
Hello, I would like to know the exact proportion in oz, of beeswax and crisco. thanks (and thanks for the videos)
keep them coming.......
Hi dear Old Ranger, are you using this lube only for bullets or for general purpouse /grease for the revolver?
This is what I use on top of the ball (or conical) after the ball is seated on the powder. I believe that it helps seal the chamber to avoid a chain fire by hot gas getting past the ball and into the powder. It also keeps fouling (powder residue) soft so progressive shots can help to push the fouling out, and makes for easier cleaning. So, it is not a bullet lube in the traditional way. Some argue it isn’t necessary, but I have had good results shooting this way, and have tried other methods.
It is used in the same way as commercial products like TC bore butter. The TC product is more for using as a patch lube where not much is needed. Lubing ends of chambers in the revolvers consumes considerable more and the cost is high for the amount of shooting I do.
I have several videos (don’t remember which) where I show using it when loading. Hope this helps. O.R.
50:50 Gulf wax and unsalted lard easy, inexpensive, and works with black or smokessomewhatless powder
just curious about this term "smokessomewhatless powder" - I keep wondering if there are people who are SUCCESSFULLY AND SAFELY combining small amounts of smokeless powder with black powder (or BP substitutes) to enhance the overall combustion process, reduce fouling, etc. I understand that the rule of law is to NEVER USE SMOKELESS POWDER IN BP FIREARMS but I tend to skew away from absolutes. There MAY be some combinations that are safe and effective. Just haven't met anyone yet who has stated what those combinations might be. Or what TYPE of smokeless powder (maybe slower burning such as used in shotguns?) to use. Lots of questions, just not a whole lot of answers.
@@drcoolit OK, smokeless kickers are used in blackpowder cartridges, but NEVER in muzzle loaders, in modern solid head cases it is not usually possible to get enough black powder in the case to achieve original velocity, this is critical for a double rifle to get it to shoot to point of aim, to get velocity up, just a few grains(3 grns), of H 4227 are placed over the primer, this also has the effect of giving a cleaner burn, there is a recommended % which I can give you if required, stay safe. Chris B.
Go on ahead. It seems you are creating a problem that never existed.
This is good to see though.
To color ya can just sacrifice one of the kids broken crayons....ya get more options....one black crayon will blackin the hell out of 20oz of butter
Thanks for the tip. O.R. 👍
bonjour à tous, perso j'utilise de la vaseline , par pot de 1 kg pas chère, amicalement jean
Will that keep the fowling soft for continued shooting?
Tu l'achète ou ta vaseline s'il te plait la marque
Perso je l'ais acheté à la pharmacie. Tout simplement par pot de je pense 1 kg amicalement Jean ernest
Did cowboys really bother with all this?
I'd bet NO. I'd also bet most couldn't afford a side arm, which probably only got in the way when doing hard, physical work, and was rarely needed, and probably difficult to maintain in their environment. Just my guess. O.R.
@@oldranger3044 Thanks. Your observation makes a lot of sense for most cowboys. I was thinking more of the criminals and gunslingers. Maybe I should have phrased it that way. I just can't imagine Billy the Kid or Ike Clanton doing all this every time the load a cylinder. Just wondering. Maybe an OCD type gangster would go through all this to load his pistol
@@stylishcheng5988 Think you called it right. Most on the wrong side seem from my experience to go with the easy routes. Lets see here, work hard for the $, or rob it? Just a guess, but they would probably rather gamble or drink than do what it might take to get better and more reliable shots. Easier to sneak up on the back side and get close. All here is speculation, but maybe it makes sense. And also I agree that most didn’t get into what most modern folks do. I believe Colt’s loading instructions don’t call for it either. O.R.