lube question

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RedPoin

32 Cal
Joined
Dec 21, 2024
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Location
SW Mo
so I read here somewhere that bees wax can burn /stick to riflings, I never noticed that when I was BP shooting in cowboy action.
but I haven't used beeswax in my muzzle loader used bore butter and have wondered if the bore butter is fowling my 3f swiss when left loaded overnight?
anyone else had experience like this
 
Black powder lubed boolits use a combination of bees wax, lard and veggie oils.
I make them for several calibers.

As far as I know the all natural lubes for MLs is lanolin water based lubricant's.
I use two different lube solutions depending on the type powder I use.

for patch lube I use No. 13 bore cleaner. Each new patch cleans the last shots fowling.
Dont tell any body, they may stop swabbing between shots then. I never.
 
so I read here some we're that bees wax can burn /stick to riflings, I never noticed that when I was BP shooting in cowboy action.
but I haven't used beeswax in my muzzle loader used bore butter and have wondered if the bore butter is fowling my 3f swiss when left loaded overnight?
anyone else had experience like this
I have never read that here.

What *does* cause problems is synthetic petroleum based lubes. They react with burnt powder and leave ahard fouling.
 
I have never read that here.

What *does* cause problems is synthetic petroleum based lubes. They react with burnt powder and leave ahard fouling.

BS to the above statement

Been discussed 150 million times here with a new tread weekly.
Petroleum based lubes-cleaners or preservatives
That's an old ChiCom fable.

Lanolin is insoluble in water
The butter lubes are nothing but flavored chapstick
Ballistol is mineral oil (petroleum based) in a emulsifier with some alkaline chemical mixed in
How does lubing the patch with a bore cleaner & clean on the way out. When the new powder is before the PRB and previous crud is pushed down the bore on loading?

Now I'll ignore this thread-
 
i use a 4 to 1 olive oil and beeswax for lube and plain tap water to clean between shots and final cleanup with no ill effects what so ever. I have tried most others and this works best for me.
 
i use a 4 to 1 olive oil and beeswax for lube and plain tap water to clean between shots and final cleanup with no ill effects what so ever. I have tried most others and this works best for me.
I’ve been using bear oil and beeswax as a patch lube for years. I am down to my last jar of bear oil and when that is gone, I’ll be using olive oil and beeswax. Clean up is cake with moose milk, 5:1 water and ballistol.
 
crud is pushed down the bore on loading?

The fouling stays soft then blown out the barrel with the next shot.
Thats how I can fire a 100 shots a day and never have to swab or clean between shots.
I do not have a button rifled barrel either. Big fat square cornered deep rifling.
Which should be harder to clean, but its not.
 
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I've mentioned this before on other threads...

I like Burts Beez original chap stick for bullet lube. Cheap, easy to carry, good consistency for hot or cold temps, easily available, and it works.
 
So you push the crud back down on top of your fresh powder.
What about the two to three inches from the breach up that get all fouled.
No cleaning:
100 shots shots a day huh.
 
Just find a butch shop and ask for mutton tallow (without salt) easter soon so it is more likely to be in stock

when I use bees wax or any wax I got hard ring near bullet seat
plain tallow doesn't and I rarely need to wipe , long shooting strings with out wiping, keeps fouling soft (saltless crisco. or neats pure oil ) might also work
 
So you push the crud back down on top of your fresh powder.
What about the two to three inches from the breach up that get all fouled.
No cleaning:
100 shots shots a day huh.

Your reply should be over in the joke section!
I can shoot this way all day if I choose. I've done it with spit, soap and water, Shenandoah lube, hoppes lube/cleaner, TC #13 and probably a few I've forgotten. The "two to three inches" of fouling doesn't seem to have any effect whatsoever. This with drum in barrel, CVA breech system and TC system.
 
I do not recall this being brought up but in my limited experience the conditions of bore dictates on just what a barrel may or may not do. I bought a GM drop in and it will shoot longer than some of my 50yr old TC barrels. I Also have a TC that has a mirror bore and it shoots everything well, the guy I bought it from took very good care of it. Those old TC rifles have seen a lot of misuse. I have done the polishing routine and that helps but not like shooting a fresh Kibler.
 
So you push the crud back down on top of your fresh powder.
What about the two to three inches from the breach up that get all fouled.
No cleaning:
100 shots shots a day huh.

Your reply should be over in the joke section!
Actually you don't clean the breech until the end of the day...you do thoroughly clean your black powder weapons every day you fire them don't you?

The problem with fouling in the barrel is that it constricts the inside diameter. Muskets in the Revolutionary War used undersized balls specifically so they could continue to fire 3-shots per minute without needing to run a cleaning patch down the barrel. With rifles, the ball has to be a close enough fit that the round ball would force the patch that held it into the rifling grooves. With the patch pressing into the rifling grooves, the patch and the round ball both spin. So rifles are slower loading than muskets but accurate to far greater ranges.

However, If you fired two shots without a lube that would soften and push the fouling down on top of the new charge, you might get a second load to seat, but not a third. So a good cleaning lube makes a world of difference when firing multiple shots. The fouling at the back of the breech has virtually no effect on the loading of the next round though, as long as you clean your rifle every day you fire it. So using a patch lube, like Stumpy's Moose Snot, that softens and loosens the fouling enough to shove it down on top of the fresh powder charge allows you to keep loading and firing all day.

If I don't use enough Moose Snot on a patch, I will have a tougher time seating the ball. It will seat but it's a bit of a struggle (I use .490 ball in my .50 rifle). Then I just make sure I use more on my next shot and everything loads and fires just fine without using a cleaning wipe. The trick with using enough of it or any similar self-cleaning lube is to use enough to feel it come through the back of the patch while you are rubbing the front into your lube. And, of course, make sure you lube enough area of the patch to engage the rifling.

I've been using Stumpy's Moose Snot for over 20-years now and as long as I use enough lube on the patch, I don't have to stop and make a cleaning wipe at all. I can just continue loading and firing one shot after another. It's a concoction you mix together yourself that fits nicely in an Altoids-type tin box and is the consistency of paste shoe polish. It gets a little softer in 100°F temps but doesn't liquefy and leak out. Nor does it freeze solid in below zero Fahrenheit temperatures. It works well.
 
My record is 37 shots with no swabbing, but I quit early because I got bored and wasn't having any trouble. The right combo will go on a long while.
I found out how well my actions work by accident.
A few decades ago, a new father and son shooters were in my trail walk group.
By the third spot they had jammed a ball half way down the barrel and broken the ramrod.
We had one of the range kids take it off the trail and had it cleared by the range master. (compressed air works wonders).
The Dad, Son and I shot the rest of the trail (25 shots) using only my rifle.
It fired every time and never had a problem. (75 shots)

I take flat landers out every year and we all shoot my rifle.
Same result year after year.

When I run out of store bought lubes, Stumpy's Moose products are already in jars waiting to be used.
 


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