New(er) Lubes for Black Powder

[Grump]

After following the Extreme Lube thread all the way to its sputtering out, I'm now thinking about lubes for a black powder rifle in .54, with a twist best suited for PRB.

I'm not crazy about making lubes with Crisco or animal fats and stuff that starts smelling after a few months' exposure to air, notwithstanding their "authentic" period-correct attributes.

So I'm wondering if anyone here has ventured along to use SL-68 or any of its variants, or Ben's Red, or something else newer and tried and true for ca'atridge guns in BP rifles?????

I remember some posts about anything including ALOX as being fouling-generating poison for smokepoles, but my Google-fu on this site is a bit weak. Too many "results" that really don't discuss my search terms...

Experiences are king, ya know.

Thanks!

[runfiverun]

sorry Bro.
even after all that tail chasing and even moving things to another site, we all still use b-wax, Crisco, and lanolin for our black powder lube.
my first batch is still sitting in the garage and even after 2 years it hasn't gone anything but a little hard.
when I need to use it I re-melt in the wave and add a little more Crisco.

which reminds me I need some more Black Powder.

[Maven]

If it's a patch lube you want, google Stumpy's Moose Snot. Easy to make, works well enough when you have to wait between shots (as when hunting). Also 1 Ballistol : 6 H20 works very well if you keep your patches just shy of dripping. For below freezing temps., add 1 part 90% isopropyl alcohol.

[Toymaker]

Because I like Ben's Red for smokeless I decided to experiment extensively with it for black powder. I used a Rolling Block, 45-70, 405 to 525 grain (home) cast bullets (pure up to 30:1) and a Rigby muzzleloader, .451 with 500 grain pure lead cast bullets, with Goex FFg, Swiss 1 1/2, and Goex Cartridge. While initial results were promising it didn't pan out. Fouling got really bad, really quick and usual accuracy wasn't there.

I went back to my old faithful, Darr's Lube. 1 lb each of paraffin and Vaseline melted together, turn off heat and add 1 Tsp STP Oil Treatment. I've heard and read almost all the horror stories about petroleum based black powder lubes - never had any trouble. I've heard and read almost all the horror stories about hot weather - it gets soft, but never had any problems. Heard a couple of stories out of Alaska. Haven't been that cold but did get to -5°F with a -19°F wind chill last February - no problem (with the rifle - me was a different story). No, it's not good for pan lubing.

Now I'm experimenting with what I call "Pete's Lube" because it was given to me by "Pete". 8 oz beeswax, 6 oz Neatsfoot oil, 1 bar Neutragena soap. If you need it a tad softer add a little (a LITTLE) lanolin. Its intended as a BPCR lube but I've used it in the Rigby too. Warm weather results have been excellent, no lanolin. Wondering if we're going to get any cold weather for testing. It works well as a pan lube.

[country gent]

Toy maker, I havve used that beeswax neatsfoot oil nutragena soap mix soft as a bullet dip for cartridge guns in hot dry conditions. It was about the same consistancy as crisco maybe a little stiffer. It works real good, never tried it as a actual bullet lube though. I had lost the recipe im going to put it in my note book right now before I forget it.

[Old Scribe]

I have used Hoppe's 9 Plus for years and then mixed up some Ballistol and water (1:6) andlike it much better.
Ballistol is a good product and has a lot of uses.

[Geezer in NH]

Substitute Lard for the Crisco and beeswax, 50-50 or substitute bear oil for the Crisco. better for your cholesterol. :bigsmyl2:

[lar45]

We have a new BP lube, BP-01 , that a friend came up with and said that I could make and sell it.
He shot 30 rounds in his muzzle loader without cleaning inbetween and still had reasonable accuracy. Cleanup was quick and easy.
I made a batch and tried in my 45-70 Sharps with the 535 Lyman and Swiss ffg. I put 15 rounds through it without useing a blow tube, wet patch or anything. The fouling stayed soft and cleanup was fairly quick and easy afterwards.

We only have it in 1# blocks for now at $16 a lb. It is not on our website yet, sorry, but you can send an email to LsStuff@aol.com if you want.
Glenn.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

When I started shootin' RB in a smoke pole, I was told to use straight bear grease for the patches...(cleaning patches as well as RB patches). I set out on a Journey to find me some bear grease. An old timer said he had a half bucket in the dark corner of his basement, that I could have. It had been there about a decade...maybe two? It did have a smell, but I was told if it was rancid, just bring all the grease up to 350º an fry up some tators, the tators will absorb all the rancid, then just throw them out, and the grease will be fresh again. So I did that, it still had a smell. A couple years later, a co-worker shot a bear and gave me the bear fat to rendor which I did. I soon learned the "smell" of that decades old bear grease wasn't rancidness, it was gaminess...surely it varies with what the bear was eating all summer.

Moral of the story, don't worry about bear grease going rancid, if you have a cool dark corner in your basement.

PS: I did spend the time to "process" most of my bear grease into quart jars for long term storage. That was done all on the same day, as I learned of the natural smell of bear grease, and was all setup to do so. If I'd learned that earlier, I would have saved the labor and the fuel.

PSS: I did blend some BG with BW for maxiballs and other conicals, til I learned I preferred the simplicity of shooting the RB.

[chuckbuster]

I don't shoot BP at all so maybe should not chime in but I think RandyRat has a BP loob now, based on his stuff I do use guessing it is good also.
kevin

[will52100]

There's a bunch of recipes out there, I've tried several of them with good results. For patch lube I've been using either Track of the Wolf's mink oil-it's a paste but a bit stiff for cold climate, or my home made patch lube. It's roughly 1/3 bee's wax, olive oil, mutton tallow. I make my patches from cotton pillow ticking and pre lube, so far this has been working well. Mutton tallow from Dixie gun works, never had any of it to go bad. General rule of thumb with black powder lubes, avoid petroleum stuff like the plague, it's got a nasty habit of turning into asphalt in the barrel. The only exceptions I know of are paraffin wax, and Mobile 1 synthetic grease. I wouldn't use the Mobile 1 in a lube, but it works for cylinder pins and frizzen pivots.

[lar45]

Just a Quick update, Our Black Powder Lube, BP-01, is up on our website and ready to ship.
http://lsstuff.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=42

[John Boy]

Contrary to public opinion - mutton tallow does not get rancid - smell or turn a different color!
* Have a 2 lb container under the work bench for over 2 years and the rest in the refrigerator
They both look and smell the same!

[ironhead7544]

One ounce of hydrogen peroxide, one ounce of water soluble oil and one ounce of dish soap in a quart of water. Cleaner and patch lube.

The hydrogen peroxide penetrate the crevices, the water soluble oil protects the metal and the dish soap washes the residue away.

Must be kept in an opaque container as light can degrade it.

[Desertbuck]

2 Parts yellow beeswax
1 Part Crisco (Plane)
½ Part Pure Neatsfoot oil
½ Part Murphy's oil
Use a double boiler. All ingredients are measured in volume except the beeswax which I did by weight.
This is the black powder lubricant I came up with when I was a teenager.I got the ingredients ideas from two lube recipes can't remember where I got it to be honest and I can't even remember what the lube recipe names were.
But this lube has never let me down for black powder hot or cold weather conditions and it will not go rancid.
It will dry out a little bit. The ingredient that dries out I am pretty certain is the Murphy's Oil Soap. But the way you keep it from drying out is storing it in Tupperware containers. And if it does dry out you can use the Crisco or a very small amount of Murphy's Oil Soap to bring it back.This lube works wonderfully for cartridges and muzzleloaders.
I've used it in
45 colt- grease cookie
45-120 SHARPS- grease cookie
30/06 - lyman 210grain lube groove with gas check 2100FPS
1858 new army revolver
Civil War 58 caliber musket lube shoved into the skirt of the mini bullet.
It kept the fouling extremely manageable.
I fired a total of around 50 rounds in my 45 colt R92 lever action as fast as I could with no fouling problems whatsoever after she was cleaned with soap and water not a bit of leading.
And the fouling in my 45-120 with a full charge of Goex powder not a problem either!

[Ricochet]

Plain automotive wheel bearing grease works fine on patched balls. It doesn't leave any tarry residue, but does take some serious scrubbing with soapy water to get out. I keep a little box of precut patches soaked with Murphy's Oil Soap straight from the bottle. It won't soak into patches quickly, you have to put it on and leave them sitting. I'm not sure I'd count on it not moistening powder if left loaded all day hunting, but it works great on the range and makes for a really easy cleanup.

[jgh4445]

lar45
How are you lubing boolits? Pan lube or melting into a lubrasizer?