Beef Tallow instead of Mutton for wonder wads???

[David Y. Snellen]

Gentlemen,
I hope this is the right area to post this-
I am planning to make some wonderwads. Everyone suggests mutton tallow. That is seasonal and expensive, have y'all ever used beef tallow instead?
Thank you,
David

 

[bluemule66]

I use deer tallow. Its that time of year if your lucky!

 

[jackpine54]

+1 on deer tallow. Mink oil if it's cold.

 

[bluemule66]

I thin my tallow down with olive oil till it is a consistency that works. Even in the cold we have in North Dakota...

 

[cynthialee]

Pretty much any clean, critters tallow will work just fine. Sure some are better than others but often in this game we shoot what we have. If that is beef tallow, then rock on.

If you can get it I hear whale oil is better than anything. Never had a chance to try it. Bear grease works like a charm, and feels rather old timey to me.

 

[David Y. Snellen]

Have y'all ever tried beeswax and crisco for wonderwods?
Thank you,
David

 

[bluemule66]

I have used bees wax and wonder lube, bees wax and olive oil, plain deer tallow, tallow and olive oil. You can make a pretty hard wad if you want to with bees wax. I make my own for my shotguns. Bees wax and wonder lube on an old felt hat, punched out with a chunk of old shotgun barrel I cut off and sharpened. Got to use up the wonder lube some how.

 

[David Y. Snellen]

I realize that a properly fitted round ball is the best protection against chain fire, but the wonderwads clean out a lot of fouling. The wonderwads are pricey, and I have what I need except the recommended sheep tallow. That is why I wondered about beef or crisco. Crisco and beeswax would be the easiest/cheapest to make the wads, but effectiveness compared to storebought is my concern,
David

 

[bluemule66]

I used straight crisco on my first revolver. No wad. Worked fine, just messy! That was almost 40 years ago.I do use wads now though.

 

[user 48702]

Pretty much any clean, critters tallow will work just fine. Sure some are better than others but often in this game we shoot what we have. If that is beef tallow, then rock on.

If you can get it I hear whale oil is better than anything. Never had a chance to try it. Bear grease works like a charm, and feels rather old timey to me.

I still have a few cans of Bearguard leather dressing and drag both sides of felt as well as leather wads across the surface and it has been working well. It is a mixture of bear fat and beeswax, all natural ingredients.

 

[SDSmlf]

I’ve been using mutton tallow from Durofelt for quite some time now (looks like it’s out of stock right now). Don’t know why, but the first time I tried beef tallow it went rancid pretty quick, maybe a few months. May have just been bad luck. I have mutton tallow that is a number of years old with no issues. Duro-Felt Products

 

[David Y. Snellen]

I looked and Dixie says they are out, so that's why I wondered about crisco. I can see how beef could go bad.....
David

 

[Penske]

No tallow or lard will ever go rancid if it was rendered properly and stored properly. It is aseptic meaning nothing ever grows in it nor does it decay. I have been making lard and tallow for many years and I currently have batches that were made ten to twelve years ago and still just like the day I made it.

 

[user 48702]

You could use suet. If you wanted to just use beef tallow, just heat a cake of pure suet in a sauce pan at low heat and render the fat, which will liquefy and can be poured off leaving only the tallow. You can get the pure suet cakes for bird feeders for less than $5 per cake.

 

[Jay Templin]

Gentlemen,
I hope this is the right area to post this-
I am planning to make some wonderwads. Everyone suggests mutton tallow. That is seasonal and expensive, have y'all ever used beef tallow instead?
Thank you,
David

I’ve used beef tallow. It’s harder than mutton, but I don’t see that as a problem.
Jay

 

[johnfrommd]

I use durofelt punched out with my home made punches and a mixture of beeswax, crisco and olive oil. I heat them in a pot (outdoors with a fire extinguisher nearby ) and then drop in the wads. When they soak up all the mixture, I let it cool and then put it in the frig. After a couple hours I take it out and break up the wads apart. Store them in plastic baggies and they will outlast you.

 

[Mogadishu Meanderer]

I have used beef tallow in the past and it did go rancid, don’t know why! Poorly rendered or stored may be. Mutton tallow don’t seem to go rancid at all and it contains lanolin, which is an excellent lubricant. Heck, if you keep your wonderwads away from contaminant, like lead, you can used them as lip balm if need be!! I cut my own from DuroFelt as well and use food grade beeswax, lamb tallow and coconut oil (not milk). The initial investment might get pricey but is worth every penny.

 

[Atticus69]

Gentlemen,
I hope this is the right area to post this-
I am planning to make some wonderwads. Everyone suggests mutton tallow. That is seasonal and expensive, have y'all ever used beef tallow instead?
Thank you,
David

I use a mixture of beef talow, bees wax and murphy oil soap

 

[DuncNZ]

Pretty much any clean, critters tallow will work just fine. Sure some are better than others but often in this game we shoot what we have. If that is beef tallow, then rock on.

If you can get it I hear whale oil is better than anything. Never had a chance to try it. Bear grease works like a charm, and feels rather old timey to me.

Whale oil was used in automatic transmissions until it was banned in 1971 , if you can find a can of ATF more than 50 years old you will most probably have found whale oil .
Jojoba bean oil is almost identical to Sperm Whale oil chemically and physically , It was used in WW2 as a transmission oil and for lubing machine guns
. These days Jojoba oil is used mainly in cosmetics , I tried it as a patch lube 30 years ago , and it worked very well , Because at that time it was a new wonder oil in cosmetics I could only buy it in 10 ml bottles and it cost about $2 a mill, so I only tried one small bottle . I have just done a net search and have found I can now buy it for $ 67 a liter , I'll order some after Xmas .https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jojoba_oil

 

[David Y. Snellen]

Gentlemen,
Great information. I have everything except the tallow. After reading though, I think I will try the beeswax and crisco.
I appreciate the information!
David