BP lube question

[brysongw]

Hi Guys! I'm pretty much new around these parts. I do a bit of lurking from time to time though..... So here's the story:

I have been successfully casting, pan lubing, and loading my own 45acp, and 40 S&W for about a year now. Though yesterday while cleaning out the upstairs of my Grandparents house I discovered two old 1890's pistols. One Iver Johnson top break .32 S&W, and the other a British Bulldog 7 shot .32 S&W Long revolver. As well as a bunch of old .32 S&W and .38 S&W ammo. (Wondering if I'm going to stumble onto a .38 somewhere else in the house) Needless to say I felt like a kid on christmas morning! Instantly of course I thought of casting and reloading my own rounds. However because these guns are from the BP age I have no experience in this department. On a previous thread I found it was noted that a BP boolit lube should be used.

Does anyone have experience loading .32 S&W (Reg or Long) in BP? What would be an appropriate lube?

Thanks!

[Maven]

I'll occasionally load my .38Spl., .357Mag., and .44Mag. with FFFg and use commercial BP lube for the CB's, in this case Ox Yoke stick lube for my lube sizer. However, Emmert's Lube is easy to make and quite a bit more economical than the Ox Yoke stuff. Search this site for the recipe or google Emmert's Lube. Btw, Felix Lube, which you also can brew at home, works OK too (Emmert's is better though), so look for it in a sticky at the top of the screen. Hope this helps!

[220swiftfn]

Or there's the old standby of 50/50 beeswax and olive oil (by volume). Even works for smokeless (I'm using it @ 60/40 for .45 Colt and .45 Auto) but I think that the Auto might be pushing it a bit.....Speed green here I come......



Dan

[brysongw]

That's great info guys! Thanks! Any idea how these lubes would perform pan lubed? I haven't splurged for a lubrisizer yet.

[OuchHot!]

This is more a question than an answer and I was hoping someone can illuminate. Most of those old revolvers were fed early smokeless loads that were "transition" loads from the BP era. I am not near my library now but the Lyman manual lists BP pressures for some cartridges and it might be feasible to reload smokeless and restrict yourself to those pressure limits. I am wondering myself as I have a S&W 32-20 from the BP era and I sure would like to run it but I prefer not using BP in it. Bullseye powder is not greatly changed from 100 years ago...just a thought.

[cajun shooter]

You need to check out your guns with a gunsmith as some of this period did not fire BP ammo but the new for the time period smokeless powder. I have a box of 32S&W longs from this time and they are loaded with a smokeless powder. Later David

[brysongw]

Thanks for all the input guys. I did read that it could have been possible that "semi" smokeless could have been used in that time period. Though i'm sure BP ammunition was still readily available. For safety's sake (mine, and the guns) I am going to stick w/ BP. I loaded up a dozen CB's yesterday lubed with Emmert's. Can't wait to test them out tomorrow!

[cajun shooter]

I was not giving you this info to have you stray away from loading your BP ammo. I shoot nothing but 100% BP all the time.
I was giving you this information so that once they are checked out you may be able to load some different powders for it. BP shoots at a much lower pressure and would be the safest powder to shoot. Just trying to give you the information you requested.

[Beagle333]

Or there's the old standby of 50/50 beeswax and olive oil (by volume). Even works for smokeless.

I shoot this as my lube for my BP .44s and also use it in my .357 with slow loads of Unique and a HP boolit. (850±fps)
And I pan lube em. I like the 50/50 mix, but I add a crayon for color just so I know when I've "tweaked it a little" for colder/warmer weather shooting.

You didn't ask, but for faster smokeless loads, I am a believer in TAC#1.

[jesflorida]

I shoot Cowboy Action, with BP only.
Saturday's match was 80 rds pistol, and 80 rds rifle.
After a 15 minute soak of sprayed Moose Milk, the first patch had a minor amount of fouling and all other patches were clean.

My lube mix is 40% Gulf Wax paraffin, 40% mutton tallow, and 20% bees wax.

The Moose Milk is equal portions of Murphy's Oil Soap, 91% isopropyl alcohol, and hydrogen peroxide.

I use the same lube and cleaner for my 45-70 BP loads.

Amarillo Rattler,
a/k/a John Spiller

[Buzzard II]

I shoot Cowboy Action, with BP only.
Saturday's match was 80 rds pistol, and 80 rds rifle.
After a 15 minute soak of sprayed Moose Milk, the first patch had a minor amount of fouling and all other patches were clean.

My lube mix is 40% Gulf Wax paraffin, 40% mutton tallow, and 20% bees wax.

The Moose Milk is equal portions of Murphy's Oil Soap, 91% isopropyl alcohol, and hydrogen peroxide.

I use the same lube and cleaner for my 45-70 BP loads.

Amarillo Rattler,
a/k/a John Spiller

This post is older, but the info is still great! I lost my recipe for this lube and could not find it anywhere. This popped up on the search. Home run!! Thanks!
Bob