ohland
03-19-2014, 07:17 PM
Today's reading from the holy "The Story of Pope's Barrels", by Ray M. Smith, page 97.
"The following is Mr. Pope's own formula for bullet lubricant, and can be used with perfect confidence for lubricating any bullets that are cast:
Six ounces mutton tallow.
Four ounces bay wax.
Two ounces beeswax.
Two ounces steam cylinder oil.
170 grains (two heaping teaspoons full) of Acheson's graphite.
Melt the ingredients in a double boiler, and agitate while cooling to aviod precipitation.
If this lubricant proves too hard for use during cold weather, omit the bay wax, which will usually aid in tightening the groups. Also, a hard bullet will usually perform better with a soft lubricant, and a soft bullet will shoot more accurately with a hard lubricant. The "Ideal" lubricant sold by The Lyman Gun Sight Corporation, Middlefield, Conn., is also excellent; and I do not hesitate to recommend it. The Leopold lubricant, made many years ago by E. A. Leopold, is practically unobtainable today. It is satisfactory for hot weather, but for me has never performed satisfactorily during cold weather".
:coffeecom
http://www.smokstak.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23302
Steam cylinder oil is most frequently known as "600W" oil and can be or might not be compounded with other substances such as grease/graphite/beeswax. It barely pours at room temperature but is designed to be an adequate lubricant as it thins out at steam temperatures.
There used to be different "grades" of steam cylinder oil. The seminal book "Steam Engine Principles and Practice" by Terrell Croft describes various grades of oil available in the 1920s when the book was printed and mostly these grades seemed to follow steam temperature and whether the steam was wet or dry or superheated.
Specialty Blenders of Heritage Lubricants
http://www.steamenginelube.com/cylinderoil.htm
"The following is Mr. Pope's own formula for bullet lubricant, and can be used with perfect confidence for lubricating any bullets that are cast:
Six ounces mutton tallow.
Four ounces bay wax.
Two ounces beeswax.
Two ounces steam cylinder oil.
170 grains (two heaping teaspoons full) of Acheson's graphite.
Melt the ingredients in a double boiler, and agitate while cooling to aviod precipitation.
If this lubricant proves too hard for use during cold weather, omit the bay wax, which will usually aid in tightening the groups. Also, a hard bullet will usually perform better with a soft lubricant, and a soft bullet will shoot more accurately with a hard lubricant. The "Ideal" lubricant sold by The Lyman Gun Sight Corporation, Middlefield, Conn., is also excellent; and I do not hesitate to recommend it. The Leopold lubricant, made many years ago by E. A. Leopold, is practically unobtainable today. It is satisfactory for hot weather, but for me has never performed satisfactorily during cold weather".
:coffeecom
http://www.smokstak.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23302
Steam cylinder oil is most frequently known as "600W" oil and can be or might not be compounded with other substances such as grease/graphite/beeswax. It barely pours at room temperature but is designed to be an adequate lubricant as it thins out at steam temperatures.
There used to be different "grades" of steam cylinder oil. The seminal book "Steam Engine Principles and Practice" by Terrell Croft describes various grades of oil available in the 1920s when the book was printed and mostly these grades seemed to follow steam temperature and whether the steam was wet or dry or superheated.
Specialty Blenders of Heritage Lubricants
http://www.steamenginelube.com/cylinderoil.htm