Where does the lube go?

[Pogo57]

New to BP/
First post.

I've read where the pistol load order is powder, wad, ball, lube. The lube is to prevent chainfires and keep residue soft.

I've also read that a tight-fitting ball prevents chainfires and that in the good ol' days no lube was used.

Wouldn't a load order of powder, wad, lube, ball work just as well or maybe better since the was would push the lube down the barrel in sort of a scrubbing action?

 

[David Teague]

In a revolving pistol (Sam Colt's name for his "revolver") the lube goes on top to seal the chambers.

Powder, ball,lube.

With wads it should be powder, wad, ball.

Lube with a wad is over kill... the point of the wonder wads was not to need lube.

It adds to the cost of each shot.

Cheers,

David

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

The lube is there to keep fouling soft and to allow more shots between cleaning. Using the correct size ball is what prevents chainfires, not lube or wads. When you seat the ball, you should shave a nice, even ring of lead off of it. In a .44 caliber revolver, .454 balls are a good size to start with. They won't walk out of the chambers under recoil and the gap flash can't get by them. Chainfires originate with caps that are too loose and fall off the nipple or aren't firmly seated on the nipples. Sam Colt always said that a properly loaded C&B revolver would not chainfire and he never mentioned wads or lubing the chamber mouth. Wads appear to be a new thing like packing the chambers half full of breakfast cereal--between the powder and the ball.

Stand by. Somebody is probably going to jump in here and tell us about how his gun always chainfired from the front of the cylinders and he was cramming the biggest balls he could find into his chambers. He also used wads and lube and his favorite cereal AND his caps fit as tight as O.J.'s glove. Welcome to the club! :thumbsup:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I use a felt wad overpowder and the Lee mold conical slug that I have lube in the grooves from pan lubeing. groups are a little tighter with a felt.
tight fit of ball or slug is essential for safety. and caps/nipple too.

 

[jtmattison]

Wouldn't a load order of powder, wad, lube, ball work just as well or maybe better since the wad would push the lube down the barrel in sort of a scrubbing action?

I think if you loaded that way you would have a mess on your hands. If you put the lube before the ball you would be squashing the lube into the cylinder and into the powder with the ball. Plus, if you didn't get the exact amount of lube in every time the ball wouldn't seat the same. It would probably blow your accuracy also since the ball is not seated firmly against the wad/powder because of the semi liquid lube in between.

HD

 

[RADeO]

Pogo57 Said:Wouldn't a load order of powder, wad, lube, ball work just as well or maybe better since the wad would push the lube down the barrel in sort of a scrubbing action?

Huntin Dawg said:I think if you loaded that way you would have a mess on your hands. If you put the lube before the ball you would be squashing the lube into the cylinder and into the powder with the ball. Plus, if you didn't get the exact amount of lube in every time the ball wouldn't seat the same. It would probably blow your accuracy also since the ball is not seated firmly against the wad/powder because of the semi liquid lube in between.

Huntin Dawg hit the nail on the head. I made that mistake once. The wads used were just maybe a LEETLE too small. After the lube (Bore Butter) was applied, ramming the ball down atop it all acted just like the plunger in a grease gun, forcing the lube past the wad and through the powder. Took me a couple of three unsuccessful attempts to shoot before I figured out what had gone wrong :redface: :redface:

I'll never do that again!

 

[Pogo57]

Thanks for all the help. I forgot that little bit about liquids (in this case a lube) not liking to be compressed and having to go somewhere.

I guess this leads to another question though.

When I load it up with 30gr of Pyrodex P, should I fill up the empty space completely with lube or can I use less or what?

 

[Zonie]

IMO, if you use enough lube to seal the area where the ball meets the wall of the chamber you've done enough.
After firing the first shot after filling the chambers mouth with lube, if you look at the front of the chamber you will notice that the only areas that still have lube are the areas where the ball meets the chamber. :hmm:

 

[Mike Brooks]

I use my colts for Cowboy action shooting. I use wads and lube. The wads take up space in the cylinder to get the ball closer to the barrel. The lube (crisco) Is to put a little lube on the ball, but mainly it splashes on the cylinder pin and keeps fowling soft in that area so the cylinder keeps rotating freely due to softer fouling.
My use of the wad and lube has nothing to do with eliminating chain fires. I have used the fake powders with no lube or wad and have no problems with chain fires.
I'm reading a biography on the Jesse James at the moment. They loaded full cylinders of powder and smashed a ball in over the powder. The ball sat right at the end of the cylinder. I've also seen this in several civil war era pictures of guys holding loaded revolvers when the pose for pictures, balls right at the end of the cylinder.

 

[khwils]

Where does the lube go?

All over the place! :grin:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

smear a stiff mix lube over the ball squeezing it into the area between ball and chamber well. any excess will likely get blown away unless it's a real stiff lube which it shoud be IMO. I use 7 parts wax 3 parts boot grease.

 

[dsuursoo]

so, how many out there are putting crisco in as a lube? i've used the bore butter, and recently pulled the gun out, and found crud.

still.

wow.

and what a bastard that stuff was to clean out.

 

[crockett]

There are no rules of thumb on no lube being used in the old days. usually no lube however Robert E. Lee's Colt Navy has some some of red wax/sealant over the ends of the chambers. Seven years after he had died the gun was fired and all chambers went off.

 

[Mike Brooks]

I use crisco. It's cheap and I have never had any problems with it.

 

[arcticap]

Lube pills can be used between the ball and wad as a lubricant. The pills or "cookies" are a mix of wax and oil or mutton tallow. By placing them under the ball, the heat from the powder melts them which in turn lubes the barrel.
Another method to use with wads is to only lube 1 or 2 chambers for every loaded cylinder.