Home-made Lube

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Isn't it between 1 & 3 lbs.?

Also, be careful about your wax rings.  They often use a newer wax, so be sure you grab the right type, the 100% natural type.

[Dakota Widowmaker]

I have seen so many weird recipes for lube, there doesn't appear to be much documentation on what each component will do other than tribal knowledge, as they say.

I will share my recipe in hopes that it solves someone elses problem.

1 ring of bol-wax
Now, I have heard folks pooh-pooh bol-wax as being petroleum based on causing problems all on its own, but, when used with other products, it has one value I find irresistable. Its sticky and makes the lube stick to the lube groves on bullets well enough to pan lube.

1 "bar" of crisco
I have nothing against tallow, lard, ...etc or otherwise, but, crisco is such a fine product for BP in general, I can't help put some in every recipe. It will go bad after a while on its own, but, when mixed with other ingredients and stored in the fridge, its never given me reason to worry.

1 "slab" of canning parafin/wax
Some form of wax, be it parafin or bees, is nice for firming up and raising the melting temp of your lube. Parafin/canning wax is easy to come by at most any grocery store.

1 cup of olive oil
Olive oil has 2 great properties. 1) is a lubricant and 2) it prevents the crisco from spoiling.



Now, if shooting in colder climates, I will use more olive oil and less parafin. If shooting in hotter climates, I will use less olive oil and put in more parafin. I rarely use more/less crisco or bol-wax.

This is my recipe, it works well, and I have not seen hard fouling with any of my guns.

I use the same thing with more olive oil and less parafin for putting over the loaded ball in my cap-n-ball revolvers/muzzleloaders.

[Dick Dastardly]

What works - works.  Yup, there's a lot of tribal wisdom around.  Some is worth about what you pay for it.  Others is valuable in the extreme.

There are lots of properties that a good black powder lube has to have.  Precise quantification and qualification is difficult.  Preferred results are easier.  Maintaining good accuracy is one.  maintaining continuing function is another.  Still another is ease of cleanup.  I'll offer one more.  There should be some corrosion protection.  The successful recipe needs to be repeatable.  Then, if it is to be shipped, it needs to withstand all that the shaved apes hired by the shipper can deal out to it and arrive a viable product.  Finally, if it's a product you want to sell, it has to be priced fair and still make a profit.

These were a few of the considerations I had to face when I developed PL-I and PL-II.

Dakota Widowmaker, it looks like you have a good recipe.

DD-DLoS

[hellgate]

Widowmaker,
How big is a "bar" of Crisco? Lard comes in a 1 pound brick.
How big is a "slab" of wax? I've seen 1 lb and 5 lb slabs of both bees & pariffin was.

[Dick Dastardly]

Thanks Cuts,

I should have said that.  This topic is well preserved in the Dark Arts area.

FWIW, crisco has some stuff that your gun can't appreciate.  Stuff like yellow color and butter aroma do nothing for the performance but add to the price.  Cheep store brand vegie shortnin' will do as well or better and cost less.

Also, look around for your paraffin wax sources.  I've seen huge candles for sale at junk stores for way less then new canning wax.  True, you may have to put up with some bayberry or heather fragrances,  but the stuff is mostly just wax.

Extra virgin olive oil is spendy.  Your guns will be just as happy  with pumice grade.  I've seen it at junk stores for around $4 a gallon.

Good luck in the Dark Arts area with the recipes.  There are a LOT of good ones.  You should find one that suits your ingredient list.

DD-DLoS

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

There really does not need to be any mysticism or wizardry behind BP lubes. All that is required is it be 'gooey' enough to impart some moisture to the fouling, and rigid enough that it does not fall apart.

A simple 50/50 mixture of Beeswax and Crisco always served me pretty well. I mixed it 50/50 by eye and did not make a big deal about measuring it.

Today I use SPG. It is a little 'gooier' than my old 50/50 Beeswax/Crisco mix and it flows very well through my lubrisizer.

[Springfield Slim]

I prefer to use Lanolin to impart some stickiness. At least i know what it is, unlike bowl rings. More expensive, thoough, but a little goes a long way.

[Arcey]

Left over Yankee Candle wax from burnt out candles 'n Crisco tossed in a glass jar 'n microwaved.

Don't think Cousin Tom liked it much when I handed 'im a jar of it but I think he'll admit it werked good.  Smells good too.  Easy to adjust for the weather.  So easy even a caveman can do it 'n no bugs.

[Delmonico]

Half deer taller and half beeswax, still lube in bulletes dug out of the backstop out of a 30 inch barrel with an RCBS 500 GRer.  Nice big wet lube star on the bizznes end and seems to work the same from 100f to -10, gets hotter or colder I'll must likely not be shootin'.  Makes a good hand cream for dry skin and works on chapped lips also.  Helps callous's on Lab knees and might even cure other things. ain't tried it yet.  The deer taller is free and the bee's wax would be if I was brave enough to rob that bee tree I know of.

[Delmonico]

Cuts I got that idea when readin' 'bout the buffalo hunters that used lubed rather than paper patched boolets.  Don't even remember where, but back before I even had a Sharps to try it in.  Just didn't have a buffalo to render so went the next best thing and being a cook I'd cooked a bunch of both and knew the taller was very similar and not at all like that from a cow or pig.

Maybe not important to everyone, but it is a period lube also.

[Dick Dastardly]

There's a reason why PL-II, SPG and other available prepared lube sticks have the kind of formulas they do.  Since there's no way of knowing the conditions, weather, temperature etc, the lube has to be a compromise that works in all of them out to the extreme.

If I could get a smaller "window" of conditions that shooters were dealing with I could make my recipe for PL-II for that specific application.  That ain't goin' to happen so I have to make a formula wax alloy that will perform in the extremes.

DD-DLoS