Convenient grease

[Colonial Boy]

Have been shooting cap and ball pistol with a club that insists on grease over the projectiles.
Normally I use a greased over powder wad.
A pharmacist friend gave me some tubes of out of date medical ointment that is lanolin based, makes for easy and less messy application.

 

[M. De Land]

Have been shooting cap and ball pistol with a club that insists on grease over the projectiles.
Normally I use a greased over powder wad.
A pharmacist friend gave me some tubes of out of date medical ointment that is lanolin based, makes for easy and less messy application.

I've shot my revolvers for five decades with grease over ball and am just now switching to grease felt wads over powder. The felt grease wads maintain consistent grease volume better than does over ball grease-ing as each preceding shot has less grease left on the load and is far messier.

 

[BillinOregon]

Sounds like good stuff. Friends in the Victorian Riflemen have been known to use "Udderly Smooth" lanolin lotion with great success.

 

[Collie]

The NSSA annoyingly requires we smear grease over the chambers of our revolvers to prevent chain fires. I'm firmly in the camp that a proper sized ball and properly fitting caps will prevent chain fires and grease is just an unnecessary mess. I usually just put a light coating of bore butter over the ball since that's what I have, I only put enough to meet the requirements and not enough to make a mess.

This lanolin tube truck sounds pretty handy to meet these requirements, I'll check it out.

Some people seem to think that grease prevents chain fires, but I don't use grease (except during NSSA shoots) and after thousands of rounds I've never had one with lead balls that properly seal the chamber.

 

[Bad Karma]

Ugly Sauce likes these and they don’t blow away when the adjacent chambers are fired.

 

[M. De Land]

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Ugly Sauce likes these and they don’t blow away when the adjacent chambers are fired.

How does that lube do in hot weather,stay solid? Do you add cotton to it to saturate and then role the balls or are they just the lube rolled into balls.
The trouble with lubed wads with lanolin or other light oils in them is powder contamination. So far the Mathews lube I mix up has worked excellently in the duro- felt wads in both hot and cold weather.

 

[Blackpowderart]

I used to use wads, then nothing, never had a chain fire... crisco, I then saw some bore butter at a local store for cheap, used the tube....none of them were great or seemed to make much of a difference. Then I found this pop up on Amazon, made in America and it has made a substantial difference in accuracy. I've only used it in 90 degree plus weather so far and it holds up well. The only problem I have found is the price. I need to make something but just haven't took
The time to purchase any supplies or really
Researched any specific formula. So accuracy is the only reason I have started using it.

 

[Bad Karma]

How does that lube do in hot weather,stay solid? Do you add cotton to it to saturate and then role the balls or are they just the lube rolled into balls.
The trouble with lubed wads with lanolin or other light oils in them is powder contamination. So far the Mathews lube I mix up has worked excellently in the duro- felt wads in both hot and cold weather.

These aren’t mine, but no cotton, just lube with slightly more beeswax in it so it’s able to stay put when it’s smooshed into the chamber. Ox Yoke used to sell these little cakes of wonder lube specifically for percussion revolvers. Looks like track of the wolf still sells them. I tried a hundred of them once. For the way I use these guns I could see no benefit.

 

[M. De Land]

How does that lube do in hot weather,stay solid? Do you add cotton to it to saturate and then role the balls or are they just the lube rolled into balls.
The trouble with lubed wads with lanolin or other light oils in them is powder contamination. So far the Mathews lube I mix up has worked excellently in the duro- felt wads in both hot and cold weather.

The Mathews lube I like and use was developed for black powder cartridge bullets and is comprised of equal amounts of Bees wax, Murphy's oil soap and Neatsfoot oil. I've substituted bear grease for the Neatsfoot oil and it seems to work well in all temperatures. It sponifies (chemical reaction of foaming up) when mixed and after the reaction becomes very stable when heated thus not melting and contaminating the powder.
Felt wads saturated with the Mathews lube work well but use up chamber volume so are probably not the best option for max loads but work great for target or mid range loading. They seem great for Walker loading though from the first outing try.
One can make up and use over size milk carton wads to seal between powder and lubed wads or lubed bullets to prevent powder contamination. They use up very little chamber capacity and the wax paper is moisture proof.

 

[Bad Karma]

The Mathews lube I like and use was developed for black powder cartridge bullets and is comprised of equal amounts of Bees wax, Murphy's oil soap and Neatsfoot oil. I've substituted bear grease for the Neatsfoot oil and it seems to work well in all temperatures. It sponifies (chemical reaction of foaming up) when mixed and after the reaction becomes very stable when heated thus not melting and contaminating the powder.
Felt wads saturated with the Mathews lube work well but use up chamber volume so are probably not the best option for max loads but work great for target or mid range loading. They seem great for Walker loading though from the first outing try.
One can make up and use over size milk carton wads to seal between powder and lubed wads or lubed bullets to prevent powder contamination. They use up very little chamber capacity and the wax paper is moisture proof.

A fellow by the name de guerre of Outlaw Kid showed me a technique for making a paper towel saturated lube wad using an oil/beeswax mixture. They’re very thin and seem to work well.

 

[M. De Land]

A fellow by the name de guerre of Outlaw Kid showed me a technique for making a paper towel saturated lube wad using an oil/beeswax mixture. They’re very thin and seem to work well.

I'm guessing the 1/8 inch Duro-felt wads are subtending about 5-6 grains of 3f powder which is a great deal more in a .44 Pietta 58 or 60 than in a Walker !
I need to get out and chronograph the difference between using the wads and grease over ball loading. We might be surprised at how little velocity is lost !

 

[Bad Karma]

I'm guessing the 1/8 inch Duro-felt wads are subtending about 5-6 grains of 3f powder which is a great deal more in a .44 Pietta 58 or 60 than in a Walker !
I need to get out and chronograph the difference between using the wads and grease over ball loading. We might be surprised at how little velocity is lost !

If I use wads at all, I use .462”x.030” veggie fiber wads to ensure a gas seal in my 45 caliber rifles. I’ve used them in revolver too but I need to research further and chronograph some loads and bullets to see if there are quantifiable benefits.

 

[Bad Karma]

How does that lube do in hot weather,stay solid? Do you add cotton to it to saturate and then role the balls or are they just the lube rolled into balls.
The trouble with lubed wads with lanolin or other light oils in them is powder contamination. So far the Mathews lube I mix up has worked excellently in the duro- felt wads in both hot and cold weather.

US says he changes the formula depending on season. Stiffer for summer and thinner for winter, etc… I live at 8500’ elevation and the hottest days are rarely over 90 so I typically mix lube a bit thinner than most.

 

[M. De Land]

US says he changes the formula depending on season. Stiffer for summer and thinner for winter, etc… I live at 8500’ elevation and the hottest days are rarely over 90 so I typically mix lube a bit thinner than most.

Dang, you must have a set of lungs like a Nepalese Sherpa ! So that would mean all your guns would shoot low down here in Anchorage at sea level with the thicker air, No?

 

[Bad Karma]

Yes absolutely! One of my wife’s uncles was a golf nut who lived his life in Western PA and we took him up to the golf course at Leadville, 9600’ elevation. He was tickled, said it took twenty years off his game. Big slow bullets are affected at extreme ranges but with open sights I suspect most people wouldn’t be able to see an appreciable difference in POI, certainly under a couple hundred yards it’s not really a problem.

 

[Bad Karma]

Dang, you must have a set of lungs like a Nepalese Sherpa ! So that would mean all your guns would shoot low down here in Anchorage at sea level with the thicker air, No?

WRT lung capacity, my brother had a fella who worked for him, in the fall he was a guide. Some of the sports are sort of know it all, do it all types and when he ran across one he’d set out on the steepest, roughest trail he could find. He’d fire up a cigarette and away he’d go, puffing like a steam engine. It never failed to humble his hunters. Jack was one tough little cowboy.

 

[Hooch33]

I may have around probably 900-1000 balls through my 2 1851's and Remington 1858, I've never once put grease over the projectiles, If I'm manually loading them I use my own felt wads I made, but If I'm using prerolled paper cartridges I don't. Never had an issue with any chain fires, but I'm using 454 balls.

 

[M. De Land]

WRT lung capacity, my brother had a fella who worked for him, in the fall he was a guide. Some of the sports are sort of know it all, do it all types and when he ran across one he’d set out on the steepest, roughest trail he could find. He’d fire up a cigarette and away he’d go, puffing like a steam engine. It never failed to humble his hunters. Jack was one tough little cowboy.

Yeah, we hear that quite often here from sheep and goat guides who take folks up the hill who think they are in great shape. They're quite often walking on their tongues before very long with a load of meat or camping gear on their backs.
I sure miss my "salad " days when I could go up and down the hill with ease and do it all day long.
At 74 years old I'm looking forward to getting my resurrected body that never grows old or tired!

 

[smoothshooter]

These aren’t mine, but no cotton, just lube with slightly more beeswax in it so it’s able to stay put when it’s smooshed into the chamber. Ox Yoke used to sell these little cakes of wonder lube specifically for percussion revolvers. Looks like track of the wolf still sells them. I tried a hundred of them once. For the way I use these guns I could see no benefit.

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You can make better lube than you can buy.

 

[M. De Land]

You can make better lube than you can buy.

Most definitely as you can tailor the ingredients and proportions to the need instead of a one size fits all situation !