Lube on minie balls?

[jonk]

I've heard everything from "don't lube 'em" to "Pack 'em with crisco" to "pan lube with SPG."

I've had a .58 Enfield for some years now. Replica that is. I'm shooting a Lyman .575213OS. Before getting savvy in the world of cast bullets, I generally lubed them with 50/50 lube, not knowing that it was not optimal for blackpowder; I also lubed a lot with LLA. I can't say that they shot horribly, and I cast up a LOT of them- I'm just getting to the point of needing to cast more. So the question of lube raises its head again.

I have some blackpowder lube purchased from Bullshop. I bought it mainly to use in BPC guns but could pan lube some of the minies with it. My concern is that it would fill in the base, waste a lot of lube, and possibly reduce accuracy on firing.

What else would be worth considering?

[44man]

The Minie' does not have huge grease grooves, why not smear it in with your fingers?

[mazo kid]

T/C used to have a plastic minnie luber that was caliber specific: screw a tube of Bore Butter on, insert minnie, squeeze tube to lube, push out with next minnie. Don't know if they are still available or not. I got one on ebay and one from madcaster. Usually, I just use my fingers and smear lube into the grooves. Emery

[shooter575]

Minnes are a diffrent breed alltogther.I have all sort of lubes and ways to do it.When I started out skirmishing I did like most guys on the team did.Just filled the bases with crisco.We were all using the Lee ashcan ie no lube grouves.Easy to track with the smokie trail going downrange.Down side is using in warm temps.It just runs.It will go rancid after a few months in the base also.
When I swiched to a minne with a lube grouve I had options,Base,grouves or both.Some barrel/minne/powder combinations will like one way.Change one thing and your back to expermenting.I know not the answer you wanted to hear.
If you are just shooting a few smearing the grouve works OK or if lubing the base I melt the lube then pour in about a pea size amount in the cavity.A dish soap bottle or a horse siringe gives me the control.
Pan lubing works well also.But buying enough SPG to pan lube will break the bank
I do not get much in the base when pan lubing if the bases are flat along with the pan.
As I make up 2-300 rounds for a weekend shoot I use a luber sizer with a custom die.Did I mention Im lazy along with beeing cheep
If you want to try making your own lube try 50% beeswax and 50% olive oil[or what ever oil you like] I like my minne lube harder than SPG for summer work.

[Buckshot]

.............Any lube intended for BP (NOT patch lube!) will work. Some will work better then others. The search continues! I think more importantly is to find where or how much YOUR RIFLE wants. And this may even change with different slugs.

http://www.fototime.com/E51C3DA2A695694/standard.jpg

The above was a quick and dirty lube test. Benched at 50 yards. The Crisco group wasn't bad, and each group had a flyer. I have a P58 Naval pattern 2 band repro. If I lube the grease grooves of any Minie's it will enlarge groups so I place lube in the base only.

It will also do well if I mix the Bore Butter 50/50 with Crisco. It will foul a bit sooner and groups consequently expand some, but it's cheaper! A freind of mine had a 70's era Lyman import of a P53 Enfield. I don't know the maker, nor do I know the twist but it had a 3 groove bbl. That was the shootingest musket I'd ever seen!

One afternoon we tooks turns shooting at the 200 meter gong. We used Lee 505gr Minie's and Crisco for lube with 70grs of Goex 2Fg. I'd shoot and hit the plate then hand the rifle across the bench to him. He'd load and shoot, hit the gong and hand it back to me. That musket got HOT! :-)

We finally quit shooting because we'd run out of slugs or caps, I forget now. I would have dearly loved to have had that thing but he sold it for $500 and that was several years ago and I just couldn't swing it. Why did he sell it? Well he was a bit odd I think. When asked, he said it was because the Marines (he'd been in the crotch) were never issued Enfields, and finally (get this) it was TOO ACCURATE!

That's right it was too accurate. He said there was just no challange. I'll admit it was VERY accurate but that's not the way it's supposed to be done, I don't think :-).

..................Buckshot

[Rattus58]

Ive been using beeswax and crisco for some time now.... and now I'm going to try all that with a touch of murphy's to see if that helps any as I've been told it will.

Aloha... 8-) :drinks:

[jonk]

hmm. It sounds like just filling the base is a good way to start. I'm going to dust her off and shoot some this weekend, so we'll see how it goes.

[jhalcott]

A friend of mine who shot in the North/South skirmishers said he lubed his minnies with a bees wax mutton tallow mix. His guns WERE accurate with this lube. he wanted me to join his group. I was more interested in hunting with my guns than standing out in the sun shooting at clay birds on a board! I often wonder what happened to him!

[Baron von Trollwhack]

I shot the Veteran's Skirmish in Winchester in July. We were squaded by random computer pick. The fellow shooting next to me was 82 years old and outshot me on one event. I don't guess old skirmishers go anywhere, they just keep on shooting. BvT

[JeffinNZ]

Hey Buckshot: what breed of mould did that minie come from? Smart looking bullet.

[Buckshot]

Hey Buckshot: what breed of mould did that minie come from? Smart looking bullet.

.............I bought the mould from MAven several years ago. The box and mould are marked "Challanger. Never heard of'em and I don't know how long MAven had had the mould. It appears to be VERY close to the Raphine HB mould designs. The Minie' drops at 535grs and .580".

............Buckshot