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Minnie ball lube ?????

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slippery50

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When lubing Minnie balls, do you fill the groves, or just coat the hole Minnie? Thanks in advance.
 
Melt a mixture of 8 parts beeswax and 2 parts Crisco. Place as many minies as will fit on a flat plate that will fit into whatever you melted the lube in. Make sure the bullets are base down. Simply dip the plate into the mixture far enough to cover the bullets just above the top groove. Set aside to dry for a few minutes before taking them off the plate. If you do another batch, set those bullets into the holes in the dried lube on the plate and repeat. After you're done, scrape the excess off the plate into the pot and re-melt. Pour the leftover lube into a ingot mold or muffin pan and save it for the next go around. Depending on the temperature when you're shooting, you can vary the mixture. In cold weather, you can put more Crisco in and less wax. The 8/2 ratio comes from the original minie lube of the Civil War. They used beeswax and tallow. I wouldn't recommend putting the lube in the base.
 
This how I do my Maxi's
Jamie from Alberta said:
I just aquired a .54/ 430gr TC Maxi Ball mould that came with several other black powder items (I mentioned this in my Maxi-Shok thread) and cast up some from pure lead. Now I've never fired a Maxi ball or Plains bullet from any of my muzzleloaders, just Lee REAL's and round ball so I dont know how they will shoot. And seeing what the Lyman and discontinued TC moulds sell for I was pretty excited to cast these up. So after I casted 2 doz of these I went to work with how to lube these up. I used a tin, fill with a mixture of TC Bore butter amd Lee Liquid Alox (75:25). Placed the Maxi balls in the tin, poured the heated mixture over to fill to the top lube band and let cool. I then used the conical holder portion of a TC quick load and slid it over the maxi ball to extract it out of the hardened lube and used to conical seater from the quick load to push it out and voila!!
IMG01353-20121215-1256_zps39d91baa.jpg

http://i1090.photobucket.c

My REAL boolits I tumble lube them in LLA
Click to expand...
 
I forgot to add that after the grease hardens on the bullet, you then drive it through a sizer. Not only does this make the bullet the right size and shape, it removes the excess grease from the bullet, leaving only the grease in the grooves. This grease also lubricates the bullet for sizing. Simply take the scraped off grease and re-melt for later use. I don't know why I can't remember this stuff when I first post it.
 
Yes you can just use some of the lube you buy at the store and rub it in the grooves (don't coat the bullet). It will work just fine. Some of the posts below or above tell you how to cheaply and more in keeping with tradition can lube many bullets at a time. That will save you money in the long run and be more in line with how they did it back when the guns were used daily.

However I must say there is nothing wrong with natural lube or traditions lube. Again just lube the grooves not the whole bullet.
 
Jamie from Alberta said:
This how I do my Maxi's
Jamie from Alberta said:
I just aquired a .54/ 430gr TC Maxi Ball mould that came with several other black powder items (I mentioned this in my Maxi-Shok thread) and cast up some from pure lead. Now I've never fired a Maxi ball or Plains bullet from any of my muzzleloaders, just Lee REAL's and round ball so I dont know how they will shoot. And seeing what the Lyman and discontinued TC moulds sell for I was pretty excited to cast these up. So after I casted 2 doz of these I went to work with how to lube these up. I used a tin, fill with a mixture of TC Bore butter amd Lee Liquid Alox (75:25). Placed the Maxi balls in the tin, poured the heated mixture over to fill to the top lube band and let cool. I then used the conical holder portion of a TC quick load and slid it over the maxi ball to extract it out of the hardened lube and used to conical seater from the quick load to push it out and voila!!

IMG01353-20121215-1256_zps39d91baa.jpg

IMG01347-20121214-1429_zps968a590c.jpg

IMG01350-20121214-1539_zps8edc1e1b.jpg

IMG01352-20121215-1134_zps60c724e7.jpg

IMG01357-20121215-1308_zpsca31fd4b.jpg

IMG01358-20121215-1309_zps59f8bd54.jpg

IMG01359-20121215-1310_zps7a68bceb.jpg

IMG01356-20121215-1308_zps0545114f.jpg
Click to expand...

I've since switched to bees wax and crisco with mixes depending on temperature outside.
My REAL boolits I tumble lube them in LLA
Click to expand...
 
That is how minies look after dipping in the beeswax and Crisco and pushing through a sizer. The only difference being the grease I use is melted and you set the tray of bullets aside to dry. I've also used your method with both the melted grease and Alox. There's nothing at all wrong with simply coating the contact surfaces with soft lube. I've done it many times, especially when I run out of bullets I'd done the old way. Years ago, they made Minnie Lube and I used it a lot. When they quit making it, I started using Maxi-Lube. It was somewhat similar to Liquid Alox, just thicker. Why they quit making it, I don't know. Far superior to Bore Butter. I used to use it on round ball patching as well. I still have a tube and a half that I bought from a shop that was getting out of the BP business. They were selling it at a buck a tube.
 
slippery50,
If I am target shooting with any of my .58 caliber rifle-muskets, I lightly lube the sides of the minnie-ball and wipe the bore with a slightly damp patch after each shot. That keeps the bore condition uniform and keeps the fouling from building up. In "skermish-style" shoots where several shots are required in a short period of time and accuracy is not so much of an issue, I fill the base with lube and don't worry about the sides of the bullet. I use a 50/50 mix of bee's wax and lard which in warm Florida is about perfect consistency.

Originally, the grooves on the sides of the minnie-ball were designed to be "scrapers" to take the fouling from the previous shot out with them. Bullets were dipped in a thin wax to prevent oxidation and act as a lubricant. Filling the base provides sufficient lube to keep the powder fouling from becoming hard and preventing loading after a few shots. I have loaded and fired as many as 50 shots in a row without wiping the bore with this method. Accuracy is sufficient to hit 8" paper plate at 25 yards from the first to last shot.
 
I can get quite a few shots off before having to swab too. Both with Lee REAL boolits and prb.
I'll keep a lubed patch for between shots. It tends to hold up well for quite a number of shots until I switch it around.
 

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