Black powder lube - what tarry fouling?

[Stoats]

OK, all over the Internet is the claim that petroleum products leave a tarry residue in contact with black powder. But I've never seen it. I'm running a BP cartridge lube that is more than 35% Alox with no issues. Cleans up in a pinch with Ballistol-water mix.

In Britain they use water pump grease on ML revo's. In Switzerland they use a brown, lithium-soap-based grease. I have used both. No problems. Swiss 7.5mm military revolver ammunition is lubed with paraffin wax. I've shot it with no ill effects.

A friend uses Castrol grease. No ill effects.

What I'm interested in here is some hard, first-hand info - "I used xxx and it left the tarry residue." "I was on the range with this idiot who put YYY in his gun and it left the tarry residue". Not old wive's tales.

[geargnasher]

I've used a lot of different things and while accuracy was certainly better with some, I rarely got the black tar funk. Usually I was fighting hard fouling, which is where the au naturale lubes shine, particularly if they contain lanolin and maybe a hint of glycerin. Only time I got the black tar was using some really stinky, antique axle grease that had a bunch of sulfur compounds in it.

Gear

[cajun shooter]

I've never had it in my guns as I've always used a lube made by myself or a commericial BP lube. To try and make the tarry substance take form in my guns would be a no no. It would be the same as trying to see how far one can push SHMBO before she erupts.
Use the called for lube and be done with it. My homemade lube had 100% pure Lanolin and pure JoJoBa oil for two of it's ingredients. It worked as well as SPG and in the Louisiana heat and humidity it worked better. Later David

[Toymaker]

First, don't know if it counts but I use 1 part machinist oil (brown) to 7 parts water as a patch lube. Soak the strip, finger wipe the excess, dry on a non-porous surface. Nice soft fouling. Never had a black tar residue. Second, for a muzzle loading slug rifle I use 1# paraffin, 1# Vaseline, 1 tbs STP Oil treatment, melted and mixed and hand lube the bullets. Keeps the fouling nice and soft. Never had a black tar. DO have soft hands. Third, for a 45-70 I've used the same lube for BP and smokeless loads. Recently switch to Ben's Red for the smokeless. Keeps the fouling nice and soft. Never had a black tar.

[MT Chambers]

The complaint about using petro products seems to be that it adds to the amount of fouling when using black powder, I've had good luck with home made lubes using Lanolin and bees wax.

[Stoats]

Thanks all for the anecdata.

Seems that the "complaint" is mostly fiction, though. But it's all over the internet and has soaked into the public conciousness: https://www.google.ch/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1EODB_enBE564BE564&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=black%20powder%20petroleum%20tarry

Keep the personal experiences coming - next step will be to find the earliest reference to the supposed phenomenon.

[Dan Cash]

When I first started shooting black powder cartridge guns about 1995, I concocted a bees wax and ATF lube. A ten round test delivered a modified choke pattern, lead in the bore and a brown residue that just kept on coming for hours as I scrubbed the bore. That was enough for me.

[cajun shooter]

That's the point of my posting Dan, I first shot BP in 1970 and I had a mentor who led me through all the Do's and Don'ts of BP shooting. He advised me to never use a lube that contained any type of petroleum products and I followed that advice.
I've also read many postings on different forums about people who failed to believe this advice and used the incorrect products and ended up with what you experienced.
They do have certain highly refined products that will work when mixed with other products to make a BP lube. This will require some research on your part to make sure you have the correct one.
Take Care David