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Thread: Emmert's Lube?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
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    Emmert's Lube?

    Have been reading up on BP lubes specifically to use in pan lubing for my Springfield 1884 .45-70. I have decided to use Emmert's Lube recipe "Emmert's Home Mix (50% pure natural beeswax, 40% Original Crisco and 10% Canola Oil)". As i understand it the Crisco made today ( zero trans fat) is NOT the same formula that was made back when Emmert's was created.

    Is it o.k. to use the modern day new formula Crisco?

    I know when we have fish fry or make Chicken we use the cheapest we can find....

    Thanks
    DWD

  2. #2
    Boolit Buddy
    buyobuyo's Avatar
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    I made a batch of modified Emmert's last year (5% canola 5% lanolin). I used the current Crisco formulation. The lube cooked up fine and worked fine for pan lubing a bunch of samples I got from member here. The one issue that I had that I never looked into how to fix is that the lube is brittle and doesn't want to stay in the grooves.

    If you do buy something other than Crisco make sure to check the label. When I was shopping for my lube ingredients I looked at the cheaper brands and noticed that most of them contained salt.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master


    randyrat's Avatar
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    Here is a version that i have made and used
    50% beeswax
    40% Crisco
    4% Lanolin about
    4% Olive oil about
    1-2% Lard- this will help
    I add more oil in the winter time to soften it for cold weather here.
    This recipe will work fine

  4. #4
    Boolit Master powderburnerr's Avatar
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    crisco was origionally cottonseed oil it is now soy oil . if you want to use the origional recipe you can use cottonseed oil which is found in sportsman warehouse and cabelas in the camping section , they use it for deep frying,.In my lube I like the cotton seed oil better ,
    lover of 74 sharps
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  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    I made some Emmerts last year for my .50 muzzleloader. Works fine with Crisco, purchased recently.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master



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    I used 50% beeswax 40% crisco and 10% lanolin. I've used it for .30 cal rifle up to about 1750 fps or so and .38 spl. with no problems whatsoever. The bw and lanolin I got from randyrat and the crisco at walmart. Stays on the boolits just fine.
    So many guns, so little time
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  7. #7
    Boolit Master powderburnerr's Avatar
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    so there you go,
    lover of 74 sharps
    MYWEIGH scale merchant
    " i'll tell the story 10 different ways before I'll lie to you."

  8. #8
    Boolit Master

    Hip's Ax's Avatar
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    My shooting buddy and I have been shooting my home made Emmert's in NRA mid range and long range black powder cartridge target since 2008 in both 45-70 and 45-90. Zero complaints and we do no plan on changing. When we need lube I stop at the supermarket and buy a new blue can of Crisco each time. We are shooting 50% Beeswax, 40% Crisco, 5% lanolin and 5% jojoba oil.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master

    Kraschenbirn's Avatar
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    I've used a 'modified' Emmert's on all my .38-55s and .45-70s - both BP and smokeless - for several years now. Only thing I really changed was to substitute unsalted lard for the Crisco and stir just a bit of anhydrous lanolin into the mix before pouring it into my pan-lube trays. No problems, minimal mess to clean-up, and stores well without refrigeration.

    Bill
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  10. #10
    Boolit Master


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    You will be fine. Just make sure that the Crisco has NO salt. The Emmerts lube is what I use in my BPCR, and have had no
    problems whatsoever.
    Jack

  11. #11
    Boolit Buddy
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    What happens if you use the salted version? My wife bought the Crisco and it sat around for probably a year before I mixed the lube but now I question whether or not it was the unsalted version. Does anyone know the outcome if salted is used?

    Jack

  12. #12
    Boolit Master
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    Salt is a moisture magnet, it will accelerate corrosion in the cartridge case while the ammo is in storage and corrosion in the gun barrel due to the salt laced fouling.

    Always use fresh ingredients when making up any lube recipe, not year old stuff. A batch of lube lasts a long time as you use so little on each bullet, so don’t pre age you lube by using old ingredients.
    Store un-used ingredients in an air tight container in your freezer. They’ll say fresh that way.

    Do you remember the colour of the box the Crisco was packed in?
    A blue box = your ok, it’s the unsalted formula.
    Gold/yellow box that advertises it self as “Buttery Flavour” this formula has salt just like butter.

    You could taste some (taste not eat) to see if your taste buds can detect salt.

    This lube is fairly cheap you could throw it out if you find the box and it’s the salted variety.

    I math’ed out the percentages vs weight so I could use the whole brick of Crisco in one batch.

    I weighed all the ingredients in grams on a digital kitchen scale it easier that way.
    A square of aluminum foil on the scale makes it easy to weigh the beeswax and the lanolin too.

    The liquid oils were also weighed. I used new fresh EVOO (extra virgin olive oil).

    Use indirect heat, that means you must melt all the ingredients double boiler fashion.

    Don’t over heat the beeswax! You don’t want to scorch any of the ingredients.

    I used a digital thermometer to keep the beeswax below the scorching temperature (Wikipedia is your friend here for the required temperature values).

    My batch of Emmerts using the whole 454g box of Crisco @ 40% of the total weight yielded ~23 solid sticks 4”x1” size for my lubri-sizer.

    Making this lube was fun unfortunately it made about a 10 years supply at my usage rate.

  13. #13
    Boolit Buddy alfadan's Avatar
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    I just tried the original formula on some 405g hb for a trapdoor Springfield and pyrodex. I was very pleased with it. It's kind o soft and slick on the bullets unless they've sat for a day or so then it kind of dries off a little. Fouling was kept soft and shot a good group.

  14. #14
    Boolit Buddy Captain*Kirk's Avatar
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    Where do you fellers find the lanolin?
    "Are you gonna pull those pistols, or whistle Dixie?"

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    I order mine off the internet. Got deliver right to my home, effortless.

    https://www.amazon.ca/Lanolin-Anhydr...3C3R0CRF0FPRXE

    My next addition to my Emmerts formula will be to swap out the EVOO for high temperature cabable JoJoba oil, which I order off the web too.
    Last edited by greenjoytj; 02-14-2020 at 06:08 PM.

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