• Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.

    We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.

    Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103

Anyone care to share why it didn't go well..

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Ballshooter

50 Cal.
Joined
Jan 20, 2021
Messages
1,017
Reaction score
2,348
Location
Washougal, Wa.
Okay, so I tried some homemade flet 1/8th wads in my 1851 36cal I got several squib loads..the ones that did make it to the target were not very accurate. Wads were dipped in my mix of bear tallow, beeswax, and a hint of Murphys. This lube works awesome in my rifles. My pistol is more accurate with very little lube. I usually just run a patch with my lube down the barrel and put just a little on top of the bullet.
 
More information please, like what is your powder load and ball size. 1/8 inch is too thin for a revolver wad. What is the purpose of putting Murphy's oil soap in the lube? A mix of tallow and beeswax should be good, the consistency of chapstick. If too runny it may compromise the powder.
 
The lube is pretty stiff probably not as chapstick consistency but close. Load was 15 grains and a .380 ball
My mix is 4% Murphys 48 bear tallow 48 beeswax.
 
Last edited:
Waxy lubed felt wads often stick to the ball but not always. This has given me various impacts on target. I discovered this after recovering ball with the felt stuck to them.
Yeah I will probably just stick with no wad gun is more consistent and way more accurate. Plus it sucks up power room normally I run 20 to 22 grains an a .380 ball.
 
Okay, so I tried some homemade flet 1/8th wads in my 1851 36cal I got several squib loads..the ones that did make it to the target were not very accurate. Wads were dipped in my mix of bear tallow, beeswax, and a hint of Murphys. This lube works awesome in my rifles. My pistol is more accurate with very little lube. I usually just run a patch with my lube down the barrel and put just a little on top of the bullet.
I once tried multiple wads as a way to use them as "filler" so that the ball was seated near the chamber mouth.

On loading, the ball was pressed against the wads, and they were squeezed such that the lube oozed out of them and fouled the powder. Many shots "vomited" out of the barrel with gunky fouled powder behind the ball.
 
I'm not a big fan of those felt wads under a round ball. I mostly use some thick grease type lube over the ball. It lubes the barrel's bore before the ball goes down it. I think it keeps the bore cleaner for subsequent shots. It also makes the bore easer to clean at the end of the day. My two cents worth;)
 
More information please, like what is your powder load and ball size. 1/8 inch is too thin for a revolver wad. What is the purpose of putting Murphy's oil soap in the lube? A mix of tallow and beeswax should be good, the consistency of chapstick. If too runny it may compromise the powder.
I'm testing Mathews lube in my 1/8 inch Duro-felt wads and so far it seems to do well but much more testing will be needed for me to settle on it as my go to wad lube in percussion revolvers.
The Mathews lube has equal parts Bees wax, Murphy's oil soap and Neatsfoot oil. It sponifies (foaming chemical action) when mixed into the melted bees wax and then becomes very stable after word in hot or cold temperatures. It doesn't melt easily after the chemical action but still lubes well. My guess is the Murphy's oil soap is causing the chemical action as I doubt mixing Neatsfoot oil and melted Bees wax would cause it.
I have been substituting bear grease for the Neatsfoot oil with good results to this point. Time and testing will eventually prove it a good notion or not.
 
Last edited:
I remember when I first got into making my own wads I had made a batch for the 58 Remington and those babies were so stiff that they would follow the projectile and leave an indent in the paper target, a little to much beeswax Ha Ha….:thumb: Trial and Error….
 
Okay, so I tried some homemade flet 1/8th wads in my 1851 36cal I got several squib loads..the ones that did make it to the target were not very accurate. Wads were dipped in my mix of bear tallow, beeswax, and a hint of Murphys. This lube works awesome in my rifles. My pistol is more accurate with very little lube. I usually just run a patch with my lube down the barrel and put just a little on top of the bullet.
I would guess that that lube is to snotty and is compromising the charge…
 

Latest posts

Back
Top