Contamination

[Fly]

Have any here ever got Contamination to powder from bore butter after leaving sit loaded
for a while? I had a cap & ball revolver that acted like the powder was very weak. I can't
remember for sure, but I think it was loaded with felt wads greased with bore butter.

I been using BB for years off & on, but never left it to sit on powder, so I thought I would
ask.

Fly ~

[bedbugbilly]

Were the cylinders clean and then loaded and left . . . or had you fired it, reloaded it and left it loaded?

Don't know where you are at but if nipples were left uncapped . . the powder may have picked up moisture from humidity. If loaded with a felt wad over powder, ball seated and then lubed with BB, I don't see how the BB would migrate into the powder.

If your revolver had been shot .. then reloaded . . . then sat that way . . it probably picked up humidity from the fouling left in the chambers.

Not unlike your situation with your C & B . . . I reload BP cartridges. I finger lube the lube groove in the boolit and then seat directly on top of the powder - no over powder card or wad. I have never had a problem with any of the lube migrating into the powder. My guess is that for some reason, humidity/moisture got to your powder somehow and that is what caused it to act "weak". If nipples were not covered, you still have the flash hole to let in humidity/moisture.

As an added note . . . if you have it happen again or experience what you think are "weak" loads, be aware that you should be checking to make sure that the ball exits the barrel. You can have a "squib" with a C & B just as you can with a cartridge handgun. What you don't want to haave happen is a stuck ball int he barrel and then try to put more through the barrel.

[bubba.50]

I left a rifle loaded with a maxi-ball lubed with bore-butter from one huntin' season to the next with no problem. but there was no butter on the base of the bullet. if the greased wads were between the ball & powder, the powder likely would draw moisture from the bore-butter over time.

[Fly]

Charlie that's what I,m thinking, but don't know for sure. Billy no I never store a gun that I do not clean.
This was a remmy cylinder that was caped. I bought a replacement cartridge cylinder @ took this one out
& set it on top my gun cabinet. Its been about two weeks. When I shot it you could tell it was not a strong
load.

I been shooting these guns for many years. But never put one away loaded for more than a day or two. So that's
why I ask.
Fly

[Nobade]

Never did that with Bore Butter, but felt wads lubed with Pearl Lube would definitely do that and it didn't take long. Flaming wads and balls going maybe 50 fps is pretty funny to watch but not terribly useful.

-Nobade

[swathdiver]

Bore butter is mostly olive oil, so yes, it can foul the powder.

[pietro]

.

I would think that most lubes would melt (at least a bit) & foul the powder if any heat (from whatever) is involved - but I too have never had such an issue (I've also been using BB since it was introduced) - but in my part of the country, it's usually cool to frigid during hunting seasons here.

I also don't shoot in hot weather (I'm more likely to be at a beach) - but understand that others may have no choice, living/shooting/hunting where it's usually very warm to hot.


.

[Fly]

I,m starting to wonder if I loaded a different batch of homemade. I have some batches I made in the past that
I screwed up one way or another. I save them for use with my fireworks. I always mark the container. But like
ALL men I don't always read the container. (wink)
Fly

[Hanshi]

Many years ago the only pistol I owned was a Remmy .44. I kept it loaded and lying on the bedside table. It was loaded with a ball on top of the powder and a bit of grease on top of the ball. It stayed loaded for the better part of a year. Finally when I took it out to shoot, it bucked and roared just like fresh loaded. IMO a c&b is best loaded either without a wad at all and just grease on the ball or leaving off the grease altogether.

[Omnivore]

The answer is a definite "yes". I've done this a few times; leaving a gun loaded with a BB soaked wad on the powder for weeks or months. When fired, I get a relative mouse fart. It still fires, but with far less authority. Just two nights ago I opened a tube of Bore Butter that had been laying around unused for months. When I opened the cap there was liquid that poured out. This was at room temperature, so there is a liquid oil component that will creep into the powder over time. At the range you won't notice if you load and shoot right away, but long term storage with BB in contact with powder will degrade the powder.

lately I've been using Gatofeo #1 lube, which has no added oil, and hasn't separated in the it's container in the same room for over a year, and it's been a lot better in that regard. In hot weather there is still some slight visible "wetting" of a paper cartridge case, but it's fairly slight. I assume that's coming from the mutton tallow, because the other components are bee's wax and paraffin wax. I'd say try GF1 in a wad or grease cookie against the powder in a long term loaded condition, and I think you'll have much better results. The next level of protection would be to use a tight-fitting milk carton card over the powder, then a GF1 cookie, then the ball.

Some will say that you can prevent all such issues by keeping your lube on top of the ball, which is true, but to that I say you will get a tiny fraction of the benefit of the lube that way. If the lube is behind the ball, a lot more of it stays behind in the bore to keep the powder fouling soft. The next shot will blow out all the fouling from the previous. With this system I've been able to fire over 100 shots in succession with no cleaning in between, and get a nice tight group afterwards, then the barrel wiped clean of all visible fouling with one pass of a dry patch-- that right there is your test of whether your lube regimen is enough to prevent accumulation of fouling. In other words, the 100th shot leaves the bore in exactly the same condition as the first shot left it. I don't believe you'll ever get results like that when putting all your lube over the top of the ball.

So you're doing it right by having lube under the ball, but you'll want to try some different lube, (GF1 is pretty good but I'm sure there are others that won't degrade the powder) and then experiment with lube quantity until you get zero accumulation after the first shot. SPG lube has been around for many years as a black powder lube, but I haven't tried it.

[fouronesix]

Bore Butter and many similar lubes are simply blended waxes and oils. So yes, over time, the oil separates and presto- a mess or if in a loaded gun an increased chance of some % dead or affected powder.

[swathdiver]

Bore Butter and Gatefeo's #1 are completely different lubricants.