Home Made BP Lube recipies?

[montana_charlie]

Jojoba oil = sperm whale substitute for the most part.

Yeah, I should have mentioned that jojoba is the commonly accepted substitute for sperm oil, but there is another that I've only seen mentioned once...and I think it was Dan Theodore who said it.

I used to have a note saved that had the name, but I may have discarded it...
CM

Ha! Found it!
No, I didn't find my saved note, but I did find a document which contains the name...and it is a discussion of sperm oil substitutes.
http://books.google.com/books?id=g6R...5iFpuR-Tzju6oM

The substance is "meadowfoam" oil.
CM

[Boz330]

I've seen this mentioned as an ingredient for boolit lube but don't remember where. It didn't sound like it would be all that easy to find.

Bob

[Bullshop]

BP,
You forgot the smoke point of your beeswax... That's the weak point. And then there is the type of fouling left when it burns off. I don't use beeswax anymore, there's better lube carriers.

martinibelgian
Go ahead, I am listening!
BIC/BS

[martinibelgian]

BS, the often maligned paraffin is better - holds more active ingredient for a same consistency, and gives less burnoff residue. Just try it. Moreover, it is purer than most beeswaxes as purchased. the other stuff is microwax, another paraffin-like wax. This is what I use as carrier. The active ingredient is mainly lanolin with some oil added, to finetune the consistency (olive oil - peanut oil - whatever).
How did I get there? By reading some shooting books from the 80's - 1880's, that is...

[rockrat]

I thought paraffin was a petroleum product and as such, was a no-no for black powder shooting?

[felix]

Yes, the paraffins are petro waxes. The finer the grain, the more "micro" it is, and each grade more micro usually carries a higher melting point as well as viscosity. The so called canning wax is the largest grained petro wax, and has the lowest melting point. ... felix

[Hip's Ax]

4 parts refined beeswax
2 parts LubeGard's "Valve and Assembly Lubricant"
2 parts anhydrous lanolin.
[/i]

FYI

I went looking for LubeGard VAL and found their website but no product with this name. I e-mailed them

"I've been looking on your website for a product I've been told you make called "Valve and Assembly Lubricant". Has it been discontinued?"

and got the following respose.

"This product has not been discontinued. We actually did a major packaging change to the product and now sell it as Lubegard Premium Lubricant. The product comes in a 16 Oz Silver Spray bottle. The product is under the same part number as the Valve & Assembly, 61016."

Through internet searching I found that this product may be soy based.

[martinibelgian]

I thought paraffin was a petroleum product and as such, was a no-no for black powder shooting?

Rockrat, one of the 'mythical' generalisations BP shooting is suffering from (kinda like the no airspace thing) - it works perfectly, doesn't leave any nasty residue. Only a small fraction of the petro products will get you the nasty stuff - and some non-petro ingredients too! You don't have to believe me, just try it...
FWIW, paraffin was a typical ingredient in BP rounds in the 19th century - if it gave problems, the oldtimers would have never used it.
This is just one of those things that gets repeated over and over on the 'net, and while there is a grain of truth in it, you have to look very far for it. Paraffin leaves less fouling than beeswax - just put both in a pan on a fire and check the residue when they start to carbonize. while there, also check at what temp they start to do so, and you'll see...

[Gussy]

A thought on storing in the freezer. Freezer burn comes to mind. It will dry out your lube unless you vac pack it.
Gus

[enfield]

am I the only one using bacon fat I just mix bees wax, crisco, olive oil (not sure if it's virgin or not ) and bacon fat (because it was there). I don't measure , just go by feel. is the salt in bacon bad I just mixed this up once and made plenty so I haven't tried anything else.

[montana_charlie]

I think I heard that bacon fat is the perfect lube for out-of-round (egg-shaped) bullets...

Anybody have good things to say about soy wax?
CM

[Black Prince]

Wal gol dang it, thar ya go again Montana C. You are so far over my head, I doan even know how far it is cause I doan know what soy wax is. Ya'll jiss S-L-O-W down a little so us s-l-o-w learners can catch up how about it?

And what are micro waxes while I'm confessing ignorance here? All I can find is the common canning parafin wax. Where would one find micro waxes and would one even want to find them?

As I understand it, the purpose of the lube is to keep the BP fouling soft so that the next round can be fired down the barrel through the fouling of the previous shot. So if the lube also produces an ash or fouling, we have a problem. What we want is a lube that restricts leading and one that maintains a soft, consistant coating of BP fouling instead of a hard ash coating.

Some of ya'll figer this out and let me know what the formula is please cause I doan know nuthin' about this kinda stuff and when I get to thinkin' on it, it makes my head hurt and I hafta drink whiskey to make it stop. Ya'll makin' ah drunk outta me.

[Bob S]

http://www.jojobaking.com/?gclid=CP2...FR3qgAoduWyrEQ

Resp'y,
Bob S.

[Black Prince]

Got any idea of the smoke point of the ho ho baa oil Bob?

Also, why isn't glycerin an ingredient in BP bullet lubes? It is slick and hydroscopic. Seems to me that it could be beneficial to a black powder bullet lube that needed moisture, but then, you could write a book about what I don't know about bullet lubes.
_________

Black Prince, who is shooting Emmerett's with no problems, but would like to stop having to give his rifle a blow job after every shot.

[Boz330]

I'll bet that smels good anyway. It would have everyone on the line wanting to break for breakfast.

Bob

[gregg]

I have wondered about the use of Dexron III ATF in lieu of Sperm Oil as it was developed to replace Sperm oil in early automatic transmissions.

I was wondering the same thing.

[gregg]

Yes, the paraffins are petro waxes. The finer the grain, the more "micro" it is, and each grade more micro usually carries a higher melting point as well as viscosity. The so called canning wax is the largest grained petro wax, and has the lowest melting point. ... felix

Where would one find the different grades of this wax??

[felix]

Candle making suppliers for small quantities. Get the melting point variety necessary for the application. Anything over 180 is not needed and in fact can be detrimental. 140 is typical for canning wax, and if you can find a micrograin that melts there, that would be my preference, especially for BP. ... felix

[Black Prince]

Wal now gol dern it Felix, furss it's Montana Charlie, and now you goin' waaaay over my hiad. If canning parrafin wax melts at 140, why would anyone want to go to all the trouble of finding a "micro wax" that melts at 140? WHUTZ tha difference? Seems to me like melting at 140 is melting at 140. WHUR am I going wrong here?

Yew jiss jerkin' my chain ain'tcha? I done tole ya this stuff gives me a headache and I hafta drink whiskey to make it stop and yew ain't helping none, no yew ain't.

Besides that, I'm all outta whiskey.

And that's Charlie's fault fer confuzicating me tha furss time about soy wax. Betcha he wuz jiss jerkin' my chain too. Betcha they ain't even no sech thang as soy wax.
________

Black Prince whose wondering why ya'll are picking on him.

[vmt_hntr]

Not many mentioned the Paul Mathews lube from his books. Guess Neatsfoot oil is not used by many....along with the other 2 ingredients..Murphy's oil soap and beeswax....in a 1:1:2 ratio as per above. Just wonder if anyone else has used his recipes?..I like the way it flows thru the heated Lyman sizer dies...and from what I can tell...works real well in my 45-120 Sharps, but I don't shoot competition......FWIW...Bob in Indiana