Wax Biscuits a Success in 1860 Colt.

In the past, I have found that my revolvers, left loaded for extended periods of time, with a wonder, or lubed wad under the ball, would go "soft". Remember I shot the boat, with "old" loads in it, and the balls did not even penetrate the hull. Some bounced off. Recoil was noticeably light.

So I loaded her up with wax "biscuits" under the balls. These are wonder wads dropped into hot, pure bee's was and then fished out. I left the revolver loaded for about six months, and just took her out back and killed the boat again.

The gun went off like I had just put fresh loads in it, accuracy was excellent, and the balls penetrated the hull no problem, and smashed into the other side pretty good, but did not exit.

If you study the pics you can see that some wax is lubing the bore. You can see wax where the ball was up against the wad, but the sides and rear-end of the wad has returned to semi-felt again. So a lot of the wax went somewhere anyhow.

I like it. They are much easier to make than cutting wax wads out of sheet wax, or other methods. They work. They might even seal the chambers better. ??

I like it a lot! For the times you’re going to be shooting a bunch it’s a great solution....

Does pure beeswax actually do a good job of keeping fouling soft after extended shooting (as in 50 plus shots)?

Also you said you dropped wonder wads in the wax? I assume pre-lubed store bought wads, or were they dry wads?

I have a bunch of "blank" wads that havent been treated with anything yet. These wads are felt from an old hat. So just a bit of melted beeswax on a wad and you have a wax bisquit?

I don't know about extended shooting. From observing the fired wads I believe they are lubing to some extent. They come out about 50% larger, after firing, and are recognizable as felt. When they come out of the "wax bath" they look like pure wax wafers, not recognizable as felt wads. Some of the wax is going somewhere. My main goal in the endeavor was to be able to use a wad under the ball, that would still offer some lubrication, but not contaminate the powder charge...but not go to the trouble of making sheets of wax, and cutting out cookies.

I rarely run more than a couple or three cylinders through my revolvers, and more often I just take one out back, and put six shots into a paper plate (or the boat) to make sure my pistol skills have not totally deteriorated. ! So I hope someone else takes up the task of extended shooting with the was biscuits. My goal, again, was long term storage of a loaded revolver, using wads under the ball, without the charge going soft. one could load a bare ball over the powder, no wad, but I feel safer from chain fires with a wad (yes I know it can go through the nipple) and a bare ball would offer zero lubrication.

I used pre-lubed wonder wads. I figured the small amount of lube in the wads would boil out, and only a very tiny amount would remain in the wax bath as a whole. I believe that is true. They did not contaminate the powder charge even after six months. I was finding that with lubed wads, the powder charge was going (noticeably) soft after as little as 3-4 months. So, I'm not seeing a need to use dry wads, although I think it would work the same.

Just recently I fired my Plains Pistol that had been loaded since the beginning of last year's hunting season, with lubed wad under the ball, and it had gone very soft.

I cleaned the gun after only those six shots, but the barrel did seem to be exceptionally clean. ?? After only six shots it should still be clean, but my impression was that it was very clean. ??? Not a very scientific observation!

Eutycus said:

I have a bunch of "blank" wads that havent been treated with anything yet. These wads are felt from an old hat. So just a bit of melted beeswax on a wad and you have a wax bisquit?

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Yes, but I would suggest using a shallow glass cup or "tumbler", melting the wax in it, in the microwave, then you drop the wad into it, (then it kind of "boils") and fish it out with a toothpick, or whatever, and drop it onto wax paper. Of course you could heat a metal container on the stove and do the same thing. And that melted bee's wax sure smells good, even the little lady will like it.

Rat I would not advise melting bees wax on the stove top very flammable, it is always better to use a double boiler to accomplish this.

Thanks for the tips. Now if I can get my wife to give the OK to use "her" microwave? ?

appalichian hunter said:

Rat I would not advise melting bees wax on the stove top very flammable, it is always better to use a double boiler to accomplish this.

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That's probably true. Microwave has been working good for me. The double-boiler thing did cross my mind.

Another method is to blow out a candle and drip the wax atop the balls in the cylinder, or use a double boiler to melt some and ladle it one. The tight seal of the ball ensures 0 wax will get to the powder yet you still have lube and a water tight seal, especially if you dab clear fingernail polish around where the caps meet the nipple.

That would work. However, I have found that the wax does not compromise the powder. But that's an interesting concept, have never heard of that before. Perhaps a wax/lube mix, that was about the consistency of putty would be easy to press in on top of the ball, but would not be messy and sloppy like grease/crisco/etc. ?? Wonder if anyone has tried that. ?

I think the wax biscuit is faster and less trouble, and will stick with it, but need to do a lot more shooting/testing with it. Going to run some through my Remington Navy next, she needs a work-out anyhow. Seems like four cylinders/24 shots would be a reasonable test. ?? Passed the long-term-loaded test with flying colors, I'm happy with that.

Rat said:

That would work. However, I have found that the wax does not compromise the powder. But that's an interesting concept, have never heard of that before. Perhaps a wax/lube mix, that was about the consistency of putty would be easy to press in on top of the ball, but would not be messy and sloppy like grease/crisco/etc. ?? Wonder if anyone has tried that. ?

I think the wax biscuit is faster and less trouble, and will stick with it, but need to do a lot more shooting/testing with it. Going to run some through my Remington Navy next, she needs a work-out anyhow. Seems like four cylinders/24 shots would be a reasonable test. ?? Passed the long-term-loaded test with flying colors, I'm happy with that.

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That’s very interesting and I want to try your wax biscuits in my paper cartridges. Let me know how your test goes!

Good thoughts.

The biscuits are not sticky, or greasy feeling in any way. When they cool, you would think they are solid wax. In the photos, the ball-side does indeed look sticky, but it is not. If the biscuits are following the ball, they sure are not effecting accuracy. That group on the side of the boat is a off-hand group, not fired with especially great care.

I don't believe any lube is sealed inside the biscuits, (wonder lubes is just all I have/had, would prefer un-lubed wads) and my six-month experiment showed/proved no powder contamination. The loads were as powerful as fresh loads.

I think the original lube is boiling out from observing them when I drop them in the very hot wax. First tiny bubbles "erupt" from the wad, then there's a color change, and you can kind of see them absorbing the wax, and going through changes...hard to explain. I also think that the amount of lube in the wonder wad, compared to the amount of was it absorbs, and the wad totally absorbing all the wax, no more air space in the wad, and not feeling of stickiness of greasiness when it is cool, is why I think the lube just boils out and mixes with the wax in the container, and never amounts to enough to make a measurable change. ?

The wax paper is not a bad idea, but would be an extra step, which would not be needed as I've found the biscuits, even with perhaps a trace of the old wonder lube, do not contaminate the powder. At least not in six months, which is the longest I would normally leave a pistol loaded, unless I totally forgot about it.

On pressure, I keep loads somewhat light in this pistol, (27 grains ffg) as in the past hotter loads have only led to loading lever latches flying off into the ozone. So, a slight increase is no biggie. Thanks, great/good/excellent input, alternative perspective, and constructive critique. Koom-by-yah!

I buy my own felt from a woman who has been selling it to gunners for years. I got her info either on SASS or castboolits.com. I use a hole punch and cut them while I watch the boob tube. When I have about a thousand made up, I go outside with my hotplate and melt my lube. I use 33% beeswax, 33% parafin and 33% mineral oil. Into this goes the load of wads. I scoop them out with a strainer giving it a shake to get the excess off. I then throw them into a 4 inch deep baking pan. I throw that in the refrig for a while and then pick them apart again while watching a game on tv.

This recipe firms up but is still pliable. I load it over my powder and it has never contaminated my powder in the 20 years I have been doing it. It has enough lubrication that you can fire a '58 for an entire range session without pulling the cylinder and lubing the pin.

Just my .02.

John

johnfrommd said:

I buy my own felt from a woman who has been selling it to gunners for years. I got her info either on SASS or castboolits.com. I use a hole punch and cut them while I watch the boob tube. When I have about a thousand made up, I go outside with my hotplate and melt my lube. I use 33% beeswax, 33% parafin and 33% mineral oil. Into this goes the load of wads. I scoop them out with a strainer giving it a shake to get the excess off. I then throw them into a 4 inch deep baking pan. I throw that in the refrig for a while and then pick them apart again while watching a game on tv.

This recipe firms up but is still pliable. I load it over my powder and it has never contaminated my powder in the 20 years I have been doing it. It has enough lubrication that you can fire a '58 for an entire range session without pulling the cylinder and lubing the pin.

Just my .02.

John

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Does it matter how long you leave them in the refridge?

Seems like a lot of work, I just buy the lube or non lube wads and right size balls and seat them over the powder. No lube over balls and no chain fires. I wonder where Wild Bill found a microwave?

johnfrommd said:

I buy my own felt from a woman who has been selling it to gunners for years. I got her info either on SASS or castboolits.com. I use a hole punch and cut them while I watch the boob tube. When I have about a thousand made up, I go outside with my hotplate and melt my lube. I use 33% beeswax, 33% parafin and 33% mineral oil. Into this goes the load of wads. I scoop them out with a strainer giving it a shake to get the excess off. I then throw them into a 4 inch deep baking pan. I throw that in the refrig for a while and then pick them apart again while watching a game on tv.

This recipe firms up but is still pliable. I load it over my powder and it has never contaminated my powder in the 20 years I have been doing it. It has enough lubrication that you can fire a '58 for an entire range session without pulling the cylinder and lubing the pin.

Just my .02.

John

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Your two cents is good...worth at least a nickel. What is the longest you have left something loaded with lubed cookies? In my rifles or musket, I can't really tell if the powder has become contaminated, as relative to a pistol, the much greater powder charge makes say, 5% contaminated powder kind of un-noticeable. In the pistols, I can absolutely tell the difference, both from recoil, and penetration in the target.

The goal of my biscuits is to get at least six months without powder contamination. ?? Which has been achieved. Also, I am not concerned with continued shooting, or range sessions, being more geared toward hunting, or survival situations.

Having said all that, it does seem, so far, that the pure wax is acting as a lube.