[AZshooter]

I'm looking towards the summer months for cap & ball revolver shooting. In the 110º summer heat, Crisco melts & pours. It isn't solid enough to stay put. I'm waiting for a mix of equal parts of Crisco + solid paraffin to cool to see what kind of texture it has.

Does anyone have any favorite recipes beyond just plain Crisco?

I considered an Alox + Beeswax bullet lube, but it's too pricey to be practical.

 

[tacfoley2]

Wads

tac

 

[jbw]

Ball bearing grease,

 

[JDD]

AZshooter,
For cylinder pins or arbors, I like the white lithium grease found at hardware stores in small tubes. At a few bucks, the tube will last years.
For lube over the ball, I mix half deer tallow and half beeswax with just a little vegetable oil added to adjust thickness. I like mine pretty firm and apply w/ a popsicle stick.
Your paraffin/crisco mix will work as you can always re-melt and add more wax or crisco to your liking.
JDD

 

[moconfed]

Experiment with a beeswax/bore butter combination until the consistency is to your liking.

 

[AZshooter]

I went with the Crisco + parrafin recipe because that's what I had on hand. Tallow would be my first choice, but ain't got none right now.

Anyway, the 1:1 recipe is just too stiff - needs about 6 parts crisco to 1 paraffin. The 1:1 mix is hard as a crayon.

Also, been looking for beeswax - craft stores have some, but it's about the same price per pound as steak. None of the remaining Tack & Feed stores seem to have beeswax either.

Think I'll go check out the meat counter now & see if I can mooch a freebie # or 2 of some beef or pork fat to make tallow with.

 

[Coldwood]

Somebody gave me some bear fat once, which I rendered into lard and mixed with beeswax, so I use that for patch lube and cylinder toppings. I've also used Sno-Seal waterproofer, which is basically beeswax and petroleum jelly.

 

[argo69]

You really don`t need any kind of grease over the cylinder mouth. Use lubed wonder wades between powder & ball. You will notice that when you seat the ball, there is a small ring of lead left. That`s your seal. Most chain fires happen when a cap or more fall off & the fire from the fired cap jumps over.

 

[Southron Sr]

AVOID PARAFFIN LIKE THE PLAGUE if you are using real Black Powder!!! It actually creates a fouling that is horrible, similar to a low grade asphalt (after all, paraffin is a byproduct of crude oil just like asphalt!) I ditched Paraffin a long time ago for beeswax and my BP revolver became much, much easier to clean!

Good grease for the "Hot" Summertime-try water pump grease. Mobile makes a synthetic grease that a lot of BP shooters like.

 

[AZshooter]

Funny you should mention Mobil & synthetic grease - many synthetic lubes are paraffinic compounds, which are distinctly different than ashpaltic - based lubricants. Chances are, your motor oil is asphalt-based. But we'll let the other experts flog this discussion to death.

As I recall, my Dad's favorite roundball lube was partly paraffin & paraffin oil + tallow & just enough beeswax to give it some body & color. It did have a distinct tallow smell upon firing, but easily cleaned up with hot water & plain 'ol dish detergent.

As soon as the guns arrive, I have a batch of tallow + beeswax (bought what was apparently the last pound of pure beeswax in my town) vs a 50:50 crisco & tallow + enough paraffin to stiffen it up some.

I'll put money on the tallow + beeswax being better & we'll see what the stuff with paraffin does in comparison.

 

[moconfed]

A sidenote perhaps, but as craft stores apparently think beeswax is made of gold, ask around to see if there's any beekeepers in your area. If you get the unfiltered chunks from them, it'll be cheaper. I have an almost unending supply, as a friend tends bees. Of course, the fresh honey is a plus, too!

 

[AZshooter]

A sidenote perhaps, but as craft stores apparently think beeswax is made of gold, ask around to see if there's any beekeepers in your area. If you get the unfiltered chunks from them, it'll be cheaper. I have an almost unending supply, as a friend tends bees. Of course, the fresh honey is a plus, too!

Already tried to contact a beekeeper & they had a 2 page voicemail menu - never got a reply. Did get a pound of beeswax & fortunately the store had a 50% off coupon - still paid nearly $8 for it.

 

[galyc4]

Check out ebay I bought some from a nice lady bee keeper there and the price wasnt that bad

 

[frogbert]

50% lard and 50% beeswax. used it to lube lead bullets in my .38-55 loaded with BP.