Maxi ball and Lee REAL lube

[tomme boy]

What is everyone using for lube for these? I need to be able to source locally and available to make lube. So Bear fat is NOT going to work.

I have been using TC Bore Butter but it is leaving hard deposits in the barrel and causing hard loading

 

[curator]

tommeboy:

You have opened a can of worms! There are more "favorite lubes" than muzzle loader shooters. However, the purpose of lube when shooting REAL or Maxi bullets is to keep fouling soft for subsequent loads without wiping the bore and possibly to help seal the bore until the bullet upsets or obturates sufficiently to do the same thing.

I have used a 50/50 mix of bee's wax and store-bought (in the baking section) lard or Crisco for all my muzzle loading bullets (patched balls are a different matter) with excellent results. A little more wax in hot summer weather, a little less in cold weather. Works great, easy to make, doesn't go rancid, cleanup is a snap. As far as keeping the powder fouling soft, I have loaded and fired 50+ REAL bullets using this lube without having to wipe the bore once. Accuracy was as good on the last shot as the first. Works as well with BP Substitutes as it does with the real thing.

 

[rodwha]

I use Gatofeo's #1 lube, which is a recipe for outside lubricated bullets that Gatofeo found in a very old magazine.

By weight it is:
1 part mutton tallow
1 part paraffin wax (Gulf Wax)
1/2 part beeswax

This is made in a double boiler.

I use it for my REALs, my revolver conicals, and felt wads. I've been told it works well as a patch lube and some make lube cookies with them also.

 

[Maven]

As curator suggested, Crisco (or lard) and bees wax is a good choice. Btw, tried Ox-Yoke's lube sizer version of Bore Butter, and found I had to damp swab the bore after every shot if I want easy loading. Although I haven't yet tried it, coconut oil and bees wax may be another option.

 

[NEW222]

Another great topic that saved me from starting another. This is important to me as I cast and am going to try out both the Maxi Ball and Lee R.E.A.L. bullets in my 50 calibre Traditions Deerhunter Flintlock. This is also another main reason I was wanting to, and since have, made a Moose Snot derivative. My 'Snot' is what I will be using.

 

[mooman76]

An over powder wad often helps with REALs and other conicals to shoot better.

 

[Billnpatti]

There are more bullet lube recipes than there are folks to tell you about them. Is one better than another? I don't know :idunno: It's sort of like asking if chocolate ice cream is better than vanilla ice cream. It all depends on who you ask. As a basic recipe idea, you need to use a vegetable or animal oil or grease thickened with bees wax. More bees wax in the summer and less in the winter. For instance, there are a lot of folks who like to use lard mixed with bees wax as their lube. Others like to use something like Crisco and bees wax. Still, others like to start with olive oil or caster oil and thicken it with bees wax. Then there are folks who like to use more complex mixtures incorporating more than one lubricant and thickening with bees wax. Of course, there are the ones who do not use any bees wax and thicken with such things as tallow. Lordy mercy the gazillions of bullet lube recipes. Just avoid petroleum products and you will be okay.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I made some of this up, but substituted unsalted lard for the lamb fat as I wasn't having much luck finding it locally at a reasonable price. I have a couple of pints of it made up and it works great for wads. I have also used it on patches and may even try it on some cast boolets for a suppository pistol.

 

[rodwha]

I'm not sure if you consider this reasonably priced but it's where I bought mine, which is one of two places I know of:
http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?products_id=3686

 

[tomme boy]

I use a over powder felt wad now. I am out and need to make more. That was the reason behind this post as I like to lube the wads as well.

 

[Kansas Jake]

Thanks Rodwha. I had hoped to just get some locally from a butcher that processes lamb, but the one I contacted said most of the lamb they do is very lean and has little fat.

 

[Billnpatti]

Oh, when I was talking about bullet lube recipes I forgot to mention that I like to put about a tablespoonful of Murphy's Oil Soap in my lube while it is still pretty warm. I whip it with a fork as it cools to incorporate the liquid soap and make a creamy lube. The soap causes the lube to become creamy and it aids in keeping fouling down and makes it easier to remove. Just a free tid bit.

 

[Billnpatti]

I am going to plead ignorance here and ask what the advantages are of mutton tallow over other tallows? The only thing that comes to mind is the possibility that it may be a harder tallow than others. But, if that is the answer, my next question is why not use a different and more easily obtained tallow and just add a bit more bees wax. Or, since it is the lubricant in this mixture, is there not a more easily obtainable plant or animal lubricant having a similar lubricity?

Just a question from an ignorant old man. :hatsoff:

 

[Kansas Jake]

I can't answer your question directly, but I think folks believe mutton has some lanolin in it and that helps with the lubricity.

 

[rodwha]

Gatofeo claimed to have tried just about every well know lube, as well as various tallow in this particular lube, and stated it was just the best. No doubt this is subjective and may well be different in another environment. He hasn't posted in years, and being a much advanced fella I'm afraid he may not be posting anymore.

 

[curator]

While no where as experienced as Gatafeo on animal grease selection, I have had some experience with mutton tallow, bear tallow, as well as Elk and Moose tallow as ingredients in patch lube over my shooting career. One seems to work as good as another although the "old-timers" I knew as a kid swore only Bear grease was as good as Sperm oil, which was the best but getting hard to find in the 50s. One thing I learned the hard way, and several times at that was to keep these animal grease concoctions in the refrigerator or buried in the yard far from the house. NOTHING is as stinky as Bear grease lube that has gone rancid! Well, mutton tallow gone rancid is a close second. The advantage to Crisco and baking lard is the preservative that prevents them from becoming rancid even if kept in the garage or basement without refrigeration. I have had some unrefrigerated in my shop for a couple of years and it is as good as new.

 

[bpd303]

My go to home made lube is bees wax with enough Jojoba oil for the consistency I want. Jojoba oil is as close to whale oil you can get now a days.

 

[rodwha]

Should I be concerned with my lube? It's kept at room temp and made maybe 4 years ago. At what point does going rancid become a concern? It's obviously not there yet as it's in my closet.

 

[Billnpatti]

I have some lube that I made several years ago that contains bear grease, bees wax and Murphy's Oil Soap. After reading the comment about bear grease going bad, I opened my last can of that bear grease lube and it still smells like it did the day I made it nearly 7 years ago. It has been stored at room temperature all this time. Why didn't it go rancid? I don't know. Perhaps it is because of the way I thoroughly cleaned the grease before using it or it may be due to the Murphy's Oil Soap content. I don't know. All I know is that it still smells okay to me.

Now that I have gotten it out, I may start using it again. I have used it on bullets and patches and it works just fine. It is good stuff and the only reason I quit using it is because I got a couple of tubes of Bore Butter as a blanket prize and got off on using it. When I did that, my bear grease concoction got ignored for a while. :idunno:

 

[BrownBear]

After reading the comment about bear grease going bad, I opened my last can of that bear grease lube and it still smells like it did the day I made it nearly 7 years ago. It has been stored at room temperature all this time. Why didn't it go rancid? I don't know. Perhaps it is because of the way I thoroughly cleaned the grease before using it or it may be due to the Murphy's Oil Soap content. I don't know. All I know is that it still smells okay to me.

Maybe there's a difference between bear oil and bear grease. Dunno either. But I got my oldest bottle of bear oil about 20 years ago from a guy who had it a long time before that. Been at room temperature the whole time. And it still smells the same as the stuff I made up a couple of years ago.

Uncleaned bear FAT will go rancid in one big hurry though. Or at least that's what happened to me. A bear guide buddy dropped off a 5 gallon bucket full last spring when I was busy, and I let it set a couple of weeks before getting to it. Popped the lid off, and I bout fell over dead, it smelled so bad. Even after dumping it, no amount of soap and scrubbing would sweeten up the bucket, so I ended up dumping that, too.