Concerning Gatofeo lube recipe

[hawkeye2]

See post #7.

 

[nkbj]

Once upon a time I found a jar of pomade with petroleum jelly and some lanolin in it.
For lack of anything better to do with it, used it and other stuff to make up a batch of bullet lube. Works great except for the smell. Lanolin, olive oil and beeswax is my everyday LOOB. Adding some other stuff (and a crayon for identification color) lets me experiment for different applications.

 

[arcticap]

What I read is 1 pound tallow, 1 pound paraffin wax, 1/2 pound beeswax. I have 1 pound beeswax packages, why do I need the paraffin as well? Isn't beeswax a better wax then the paraffin?

Gatofeo was living in the remote Utah desert.
I think that he may have used paraffin because of the heat associated with where he lived.
In that respect paraffin wax may have been the better choice for him to use.

Some folks use soy wax.
It is said to burn cleaner than paraffin.
And beeswax is denser than both soy or paraffin wax.
Even 100% soy wax may be mixed with some paraffin wax.
Each wax has slightly different burning and melting characteristics which may make blending them more or less desirable for their intended purposes.
Considering that his lube contained tallow, the inclusion of one ingredient probably led to another.
If a person doesn't like paraffin then they can always try another wax.

 

[Shooter1]

Or if you find yourself at camp all alone and where is that darned lube, just open first aid kit and grab the neosporin.

 

[Orin]

I have found that 50% beeswax + 50% Mobil1 75-90W gear oil is the best lube I have used in my Civil War muskets, carbines, and Uberti 1860 Henry. I measure by volume, not weight. The bullets appear to like it well and you'd be amazed in the great reduction of barrel fouling.

 

[Orin]

After using the mixture I mentioned above, I found that 2/3 beeswax and 1/3 Mobile1 75-90W gear oil works even better.

 

[45man]

Paraffin is not good. i will not even use it in smokeless lubes. BP lubes are made to soften fouling and not as a lube per say. When fouling is softened and you load another ball all the crud goes down to leave a better bore condition as each shot will shoot it out so there is no build up. In a C&B you just need to soften fouling in the bore so the next shot gets rid of it. Dry lube is a waste of time.
I do not think Ballistol has any mineral oils in it since it will protect rubber and mixes with water. It was used as a wound treatment too by the Germans. You can spray it on plants and flowers without harm.

 

[45man]

Gear oils used to be whale oil and then it went away so they replaced it with a seed based oil. ATF is seed based. To thicken they use soaps to make grease.
Now I do not know what synthetic oils are made from but they are sure better then mineral oils. I wonder because the price of oil can drop but oil prices still go up.
I was a mechanic for years and transmission oil smelled like fish.

 

[arcticap]

Paraffin is not good. i will not even use it in smokeless lubes. BP lubes are made to soften fouling and not as a lube per say. When fouling is softened and you load another ball all the crud goes down to leave a better bore condition as each shot will shoot it out so there is no build up. In a C&B you just need to soften fouling in the bore so the next shot gets rid of it. Dry lube is a waste of time.
I do not think Ballistol has any mineral oils in it since it will protect rubber and mixes with water. It was used as a wound treatment too by the Germans. You can spray it on plants and flowers without harm.

Ballistol is listed as containing 30% - 60% white mineral oil.--->>> https://ballistol.com/wp-content/up...allistol-Multi-Purpose-Aerosol-Revision-9.pdf
Bore Butter also contains mineral oil and micronized paraffin wax and Bore Butter doesn't interact badly with black powder.

Paraffin wax acts as a carrier for the oil in much the same way as bees wax acts as a carrier for vegetable oil that folks mix it with.
Paraffin can also help to coat the bore so that carbon fouling won't stick to it as easily.

Mineral oil is related to petrolatum or petroleum jelly which is another safe lube.
Many folks tend to forget that petroleum is a vegetable based product as it is pumped from the ground and was once organic matter.
Mineral oil is used for food production and as a pharmaceutical which shows how safe it is.
After being distilled or refined and separated, then some petroleum products may be more harmful than others and interact badly with black powder.
Some paraffin wax may not all be the same either.
That's why it's often said to use canning wax and not toilet bowl sealing wax which could include synthetics.