• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

Beeswax and Olive Oil

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I use than on occasion for patch lube. I just get me a small tin lidded can of some kind. Put in on a non burnable/scorchable surface, pour in a little olive oil and throw in a few chuncks of beeswax. ( I have a pretty good supply). And then heat it up with my $12.95 heat gun special from Harbor Freight. You can experiment around with consistency. Just the way I do it.
Even works good on felt wads for revolvers. (Cut them out with a punch). Use 5/8" punch for felt shotgun wads in my 20 bore fusils. Punched out of old felt hat. Results may vary! :)

Monkeying around with all this is a good way to develop your own way of doing things.
 
The biggest thing to remember is that both oil and wax are flammable, you do not want either to reach its smoke point when heating or you could have one hell of a fire on your hands.
I melt my lube outside for safety and mess control just in case. Don't use one of your good cooking pans.
 
The biggest thing to remember is that both oil and wax are flammable, you do not want either to reach its smoke point when heating or you could have one hell of a fire on your hands.
I melt my lube outside for safety and mess control just in case. Don't use one of your good cooking pans.
(ESPECIALLY if you are married and ever want a home cooked meal again....):oops:
 
I use a 50% beeswax and 50% olive oil mix for my lubed wads in my revolver.

To save any problems mixing i put it all into a glass bowl and then put that in the microwave on a high seting until all melts down into a uniform mix. Into this i throw my wads. When they stop hising i pour it all through a sieve into a second glass bowl which when cooled is ready to be melted when i need another batch, i just add wax and oil if it is low.
 
Beeswax and olive oil lube is very versatile and has broad applicability. You can adjust it's consistence to meet your needs or preference, something you can't do with other lubes. It's also safe to eat and you know what's in it, something you can't say about most other lubes.

It's a do-it-all and more lube. It's easy to make, the ingredients are easily available. cheap, long lasting, multipurpose, and customizable.

If you are looking for a specific niche to fill you can certainly find a more suitable lube.
 
whir does one get bees wax? and I know it comes from a bee!

Aside from knowing a beekeeper, it's available on Amazon as a base for makeup concoctions. It's also available at many crafty type stores. You can also post on the N-SSA board as there are several guys who keep bees and sell the wax to fellow black powder shooters.
 
whir does one get bees wax? and I know it comes from a bee!
Look on line for the local beekeepers association.
Check local farmers markets and talk to the farmers there. If you find one selling local honey - then beeswax is close by.
Let them know you are in the market and they will happily direct you to a local beekeeper.
Many of them keep bees for pollination purposes and some will even admit to discarding the cap wax (beeswax) instead of melting and screening it. When they discover there is a market for it. they will keep it and sell.
 
Ran into a local bee keeper at a craft show plenty of available wax, as I now have plenty did not purchase any but did get the keepers card, turns out the keeper is only about a mile or so from where I live, also it is rather cheep per pound. So now the business card is in my files for further needs.
 
a lube for bullets is a different story. On a patch, wax isnt needed.

One of my guns has a grease hole, beeswax/olive oil lube works best in that hole.

It's the versatility of beeswax/olive oil that makes it such a wonderful lube.
You can lube a patch with it,
You can lube a conical with it.
You can lube a wad with it.
You can grease a revolver cylinder with it.
You can grease cartridges with it.
There are dozens of other uses for it simply by adjusting the ratios.

Are there better patch lubes ? YES, my favorite is spit, but beeswax lube is extremely useful.
 
Back
Top