Lube pills and a lube pill punch

[wb78963]

The lubricant keeps the fouling soft so the wad under the ball creates a mist of lubricant that softens the fouling.
Lube on top of the ball, no so much.
Or, and I hate to say this being a dyed in the wool Gunpowder shooter, if you use American Pioneer Powder
in any of the different labels American Pioneer Powder, Jim Shockey's Gold, or Alliant Black MZ the fouling acts as a lubricant with out the corrosive effects of perchlorate bearing powders. And to top it off costs a lot less and is easier to clean since the gun is only "one shot dirty". I use it from time to time because it is so easy and fast to clean.
Respectfully Submitted
Bunk

 

[Gun Tramp]

A lot is supposition backed by detail such as the page above but we can not discount all practices.

I agree and should point out I like Griz's idea very much and look forward to copying it. While Colt's instructions are often referred to, there were of course lots of other percussion revolvers produced. Does anyone have loading instructions for other than Colt? Didn't Remington have something?

 

[wb78963]

I do find it interesting that we often come up with ways to make firing our beloved BP firearms easier. Our forefathers used them in their daily lives and had long sense figured these things out.

Jerry we are re-inventing a very old wheel that has been lost over time.

 

[Carl in France]

There is a bp pistol from the late 1800's that i saw recently that came in its box with a wadcutter as part of the set, for the life of me i can not recall which it was which is frustrating....bear with me, i will ponder!

 

[Desperate Lee]

There is a bp pistol from the late 1800's that i saw recently that came in its box with a wadcutter as part of the set, for the life of me i can not recall which it was which is frustrating....bear with me, i will ponder!

That comes with age my friend. Embrace it.
DL

 

[nkbj]

Was thinking about lube in the bases.

Haven't figgered out the right recipe.
Anybody tried lube in the bases of the old Lyman designs?

 

[Desperate Lee]

I cannot fault Griz for his lube cookies use. As he stated some matches he shoots in require lube over the ball and as such he is correct. I on the other hand do not shoot formal matches of any kind. I prefer my lube cookie under my ball. My last lube was a little soft, i rolled my cookies in some cornmeal and then they were not greasy to the touch. Did not affect function one bit
DL

 

[Bad Karma]

I cannot fault Griz for his lube cookies use. As he stated some matches he shoots in require lube over the ball and as such he is correct. I on the other hand do not shoot formal matches of any kind. I prefer my lube cookie under my ball. My last lube was a little soft, i rolled my cookies in some cornmeal and then they were not greasy to the touch. Did not affect function one bit
DL

I also dusted my paper towel/beeswax and olive oil concoction with cornstarch prior to cutting out the wads... much better to handle.

 

[Griz44Mag]

FINALLY - back from my road trip yesterday late, and made it to the range early this morning to test results with the lube pills.
At 20 yards I got some light splattering of lube on the full size target.
Other than that - the method using a pre-cut lube pill over the top of the ball was fast, a lot less messy than finger dipping a softer lube onto the ball and worked like a charm. There was very little lube splattered out and the revolver stayed cleaner using a much stiffer mix.
Accuracy was unaffected compared to using a felt wad underneath or a softer lube on top.
Barrel fouling was minimal. I usually stop every couple of cylinders and clean the barrel, but using a stiffer lube pill seemed to keep the fouling to a minimum. A quick back and forth using a patch and jag with MAP removed all fouling from the barrel.
Me? I am happy as an old geezer can get using this method. It takes less than 30 seconds to use these pills to cap all 6 cylinders.
This is my first 4 groups at 20 yards, and are as good as I can get shooting one handed at 20 yards.
The pistol is breaking in nicely and getting smoother on every outing.
I am now ready to go shoot for points - I will be fully compliant with the range rules and the match rules.
AND really looking forward it.

 

[Desperate Lee]

Looking good there Griz.
DL

 

[oldwolf]

This is an interesting thread and details pretty much how I make my wads to fit my revolver.
The wax "plugs" are interesting and I think I will try them.

Last time out, I found that I over lubed my felt wads and since it was a warm day, and after the lube and ball had been rammed, the lube leaked into the power and would not ignite. What a mess. Definitely "less is more" I think when lubing felt wads.

One idea I have been thinking of, and probably some of you have read or already tried it and can tell me why it won't work, is to coat round balls in melted lube so that when cooled a thin coating will be on the ball. Then load the ball (no wad) only. What I don't know yet is if this would provide enough lubrication down the bore.

 

[Griz44Mag]

This is an interesting thread and details pretty much how I make my wads to fit my revolver.
The wax "plugs" are interesting and I think I will try them.

Last time out, I found that I over lubed my felt wads and since it was a warm day, and after the lube and ball had been rammed, the lube leaked into the power and would not ignite. What a mess. Definitely "less is more" I think when lubing felt wads.

One idea I have been thinking of, and probably some of you have read or already tried it and can tell me why it won't work, is to coat round balls in melted lube so that when cooled a thin coating will be on the ball. Then load the ball (no wad) only. What I don't know yet is if this would provide enough lubrication down the bore.

I am no expert on revolvers as I am just learning with my first one, but the whole idea of a wad under the ball or a lube cap over the ball is to prevent chain fires.
I do not think that pre-coating a ball would provide an adequate seal that would prevent a chain fire, others who are more experienced than me - please chime in.
I did see one chain fire occur with a revolver several years ago. The guy was a lefty and he was two handing the pistol to shoot, The cylinder bore that chained was to the right side of the barrel alignment. The unfired cap hit him in the upper right arm and penetrated the skin on his bare arm. The hot gas flare from the front of the cylinder blackened the skin on his right hand. I never saw him again but I was told the burn required a skin graft to repair. The sealing of the powder by using a wad or lube plug should prevent the blast from the cylinder gap from igniting the adjacent cylinder. As it was explained to me, make sure your ball sees a compression and a "ring" cut off the outside of the ball, make sure all caps are completely seated, and make sure there is some kind of seal forward of the powder. The group I have shot with requires a visible seal over the cylinder. A wad will seal the powder in, but is not visible. If I am shooting by myself or informally range plinking I normally do use a lubricated wad.

 

[Grenadier1758]

One idea I have been thinking of, and probably some of you have read or already tried iIn a revolvert and can tell me why it won't work, is to coat round balls in melted lube so that when cooled a thin coating will be on the ball. Then load the ball (no wad) only. What I don't know yet is if this would provide enough lubrication down the bore.

In a revolver, a thin circle of lead is shaved off as the oversized ball is swaged into the chamber mouth. There is no lubricant between the ball and the chamber wall. There will be a little bit of lubrication right at the edge of the ball and the chamber. Unless the chamber has been reamed to the groove diameter, very little lubricant will be interacting with previous fouling or doing much to soften previous fouling. This is one of those cases where the theory is kind of interesting and perhaps plausible, but practice seems to indicate little advantage. The lubricated wad under the ball would have more chance to lubricate the bore, but I would only lubricate the circumference. Lubrication throughout the wad seems unnecessary except for the Skychief load and that is for shotguns.

 

[Griz44Mag]

Just curious - but has anyone tried coning a slight chamfer on the cylinder mouth so the ball when loaded would not be shaved but would be swaged into the cylinder? Would there be any issues with that? When the ball exits the cylinder into the forcing cone there is a gap (or "throat") it has to pass before engaging the rifling already.

 

[hawkeye2]

Both methods have their adherents, all my revolvers are without chamfer and I'm fine with that. A lot of shooters have tried chamfers but what I have gathered from posts over the years neither way offers an advantage over the other. I generally load the cylinder off the gun and don't try to force an overly large ball into the chamber. Also I cut a new forcing cone on any gun I'm even halfway interested in shooting.

 

[Grenadier1758]

I have a replica Remington 1858 target model. The mouthes of the cylinders have a short rebate. The diameter of the rebate is the groove diameter. It will still shave a ring of lead from a 0.454 ball.

 

[Desperate Lee]

I also dusted my paper towel/beeswax and olive oil concoction with cornstarch prior to cutting out the wads... much better to handle.

Woodnbow my friend i never tried cornstarch. Did it adhere to your lube good? May have to try it. I use, by weight, 40% lamb tallow, 40% beeswax, 10% olive oil. How do you mix yours? Do you use over or under the ball?
DL

 

[toot]

FINALLY - back from my road trip yesterday late, and made it to the range early this morning to test results with the lube pills.
At 20 yards I got some light splattering of lube on the full size target.
Other than that - the method using a pre-cut lube pill over the top of the ball was fast, a lot less messy than finger dipping a softer lube onto the ball and worked like a charm. There was very little lube splattered out and the revolver stayed cleaner using a much stiffer mix.
Accuracy was unaffected compared to using a felt wad underneath or a softer lube on top.
Barrel fouling was minimal. I usually stop every couple of cylinders and clean the barrel, but using a stiffer lube pill seemed to keep the fouling to a minimum. A quick back and forth using a patch and jag with MAP removed all fouling from the barrel.
Me? I am happy as an old geezer can get using this method. It takes less than 30 seconds to use these pills to cap all 6 cylinders.
This is my first 4 groups at 20 yards, and are as good as I can get shooting one handed at 20 yards.
The pistol is breaking in nicely and getting smoother on every outing.
I am now ready to go shoot for points - I will be fully compliant with the range rules and the match rules.
AND really looking forward it.

View attachment 43596View attachment 43597View attachment 43598View attachment 43599

nice groups.

 

[Bad Karma]

Woodnbow my friend i never tried cornstarch. Did it adhere to your lube good? May have to try it. I use, by weight, 40% lamb tallow, 40% beeswax, 10% olive oil. How do you mix yours? Do you use over or under the ball?
DL

It’s mostly beeswax and either olive or jojoba oil. About 60/40. More oil if it’s cooler. In cold weather the pills come out like bullets otherwise! Yeah, the cornstarch sticks pretty well and makes the pills easier to remove from the punch and they don’t stick together in the bullet boxes. I’m doing that all the time now.

 

[Griz44Mag]

It’s mostly beeswax and either olive or jojoba oil. About 60/40. More oil if it’s cooler. In cold weather the pills come out like bullets otherwise! Yeah, the cornstarch sticks pretty well and makes the pills easier to remove from the punch and they don’t stick together in the bullet boxes. I’m doing that all the time now.

jojoba is pretty dang expensive to be using for bullet lube. We use it as an oil to use in soap making. (but that's for another thread - eh?)