Chamber Lube Recommendations Requested

[Buckskinquin]

Thanks. I've heard many say to use bees wax and Crisco. Thanks for the ratios. I'm going to try to source some wax soon.

Any craft store has beeswax for candle makers.

 

[Stantheman86]

Crisco or Tallow , keeps the gun running all day . It is more for dedicated range shooting, not if you're carrying guns around.

I am trying the popsicle method to keep my hands cleaner

I also play with wads, usually more so in .36's or Medium frame .44's

My Dragoons and Walkers need more than a wad to keep them running unless you want to be field stripping and wiping them out every 12 shots

 

[rhart]

If the shooter is using properly oversized balls, it is impossible for a chainfire to take place from the front of the cylinder.
There are multiple videos showing them happening by fire jumping from nipple to nipple.
Even if a chain fire takes place, it is not a catastrophic event. Does no harm to gun or shooter.
If you make your own wads you can make them up with more grease.
Also know that they do not have to be of chamber diameter. Even square wads work just fine.

Saw a vid recently where a guy was getting a nice thick ring of lead on every chamber when ramming his round balls home, but then noticed the balls coming loose later in a couple chambers. Come to find out these chambers had burrs around the chamber mouths that swaged the balls under sized (can't remember if he had a chain fire as a result or not).

 

[rhart]

I'm thinking of experimenting with adding beeswax to bore butter to thicken it up since I got a really good deal on a bunch of bore butter at a local gun show.

 

[smoothshooter]

Saw a vid recently where a guy was getting a nice thick ring of lead on every chamber when ramming his round balls home, but then noticed the balls coming loose later in a couple chambers. Come to find out these chambers had burrs around the chamber mouths that swaged the balls under sized (can't remember if he had a chain fire as a result or not).

That would not cause a chain fire but would not be good for accuracy.

 

[rhart]

That would not cause a chain fire but would not be good for accuracy.

Oh really? An undersized ball wouldn't allow sparks/hot gases past to ignite the powder?

 

[rhart]

I appreciate what you're saying, but I like the idea of more lube during the shooting process than the very lightly lubed wads I have been using. As far as chain firing, you might want to check out a video I watched the other day that seemed to handle this topic well. It's on YouTube and entitled "What Causes A Chain Fire?" The channel "Everything Black Powder" tested theories for chain fires and they could not get one to happen from the back of the cylinder, I.e. from the nipples. But they were able to get them from the front of the cylinder. Not conclusive, but a good test with interesting results.

Pretty emphatic video to convince me that chain fires happen at least some of the time from the front of the cylinder - especially when they tested whether the caps on the chain-fired cylinders would fire afterwards AND THEY DID! Convinces me that chain fires can happen from the front or the rear... But unlikely to happen from the front with correctly oversized balls with sprues located correctly and no burrs on cylinders.

 

[rhart]

There was a 12-shot pistol during the Civil War era that carried two charges per cylinder (Walch). Each charge had it's own ignition source (cap) and was timed to fire the top load before it fired the rearmost load (it had two hammers). This configuration could only have worked if properly sized balls were used (especially on the rearmost load) - otherwise the firing of the foremost load would have ignited the rearmost load almost immediately (it did not use wads or lube between loads to my knowledge). It seems to me that this design demonstrates that it is not necessary to use lube for the purpose of preventing chain fires as long as: 1. correctly oversized balls are used, 2. the sprues are located correctly so that they don't cause a path for hot gases/sparks to follow to the powder, and 3. none of the cylinders mouths has a burr that swages the ball so that it is under-sized in a cylinder (i.e. burr removal recommended). Lube is probably good to keep the gun running smoothly longer though. Just my opinion...

EDIT: Having read Walch's patent it is clear that he meant the revolver to be used with a "composition" of soap and oil to both 1. clean the barrel and 2. create an air tight seal to prevent the rearmost charge from igniting when the first charge went off. So oversized bullets was not a factor in his design - I was mistaken... My apologies.

 

[smoothshooter]

Oh really? An undersized ball wouldn't allow sparks/hot gases past to ignite the powder?

Sorry-I misread your statement.
A really bad burr could shave enough lead off the ball to cause a problem, but it is very unlikely that would be an issue.
I always check the chamber mouths on a new gun before loading, but have never found a problem.

 

[Pete453]

I'm thinking of experimenting with adding beeswax to bore butter to thicken it up since I got a really good deal on a bunch of bore butter at a local gun show.

Give it a shot, that's how we learn. Mix a small batch first, after you find your mix you can mix go crazy.

Lately, I've been lubing my wads by putting them in a small frying pan over a low fire and stirring them and lumps of lube around. Start with less than you need and add til you get the results you're after. I don't over lube that way.

 

[smoothshooter]

Pretty emphatic video to convince me that chain fires happen at least some of the time from the front of the cylinder - especially when they tested whether the caps on the chain-fired cylinders would fire afterwards AND THEY DID! Convinces me that chain fires can happen from the front or the rear... But unlikely to happen from the front with correctly oversized balls with sprues located correctly and no burrs on cylinders.

I never pay any attention to sprue location.
My Lee molds only leave a very tiny flat spot on the ball anyway.
Sometimes i will tumble them around in a container for 5 or 10 minutes and the sprue marks disappear.

 

[Ed C.]

What is the 50/50? 50 beeswax and 50 olive oil? Also, what had you used and how many shots in the pic?

I use 50/50, Beeswax/olive oil on wads. No tallow. It works good for me here in Florida up to my usual set of 30 shots. Maintains accuracy, no binding and easy to clean afterwards

 

[Rhyno]

I use 50/50, Beeswax/olive oil on wads. No tallow. It works good for me here in Florida up to my usual set of 30 shots. Maintains accuracy, no binding and easy to clean afterwards

Thanks. I need to try making my own lubed wads.

 

[Rhyno]

I'm thinking of experimenting with adding beeswax to bore butter to thicken it up since I got a really good deal on a bunch of bore butter at a local gun show.

Sounds like a good idea. I’ve got some old bore butter. I may try this as well.

 

[smoothshooter]

I use 50/50, Beeswax/olive oil on wads. No tallow. It works good for me here in Florida up to my usual set of 30 shots. Maintains accuracy, no binding and easy to clean afterwards

I have gotten as many as 96 shots (and could have gone longer) in my Uberti 1851 Navy without cleaning using my concoction of bee’s wax and olive oil. I punch out my own 1/8” felt wads and dip them in the melted lube mix with tweezers and laying them aside on crinkled uo aluminum foil to cool.
I also smear it on the arbors to keep the cylinder rotating easily.
Using lubed wads eliminates the godawful mess greasing the chamber mouths causes on the gun and in the inside of the holsters if you don’t keep everything wiped off.

 

[Notchy Bob]

Regarding causes of chain fires, Elmer Keith suggested that some old cap and ball revolvers he had seen were badly rusted inside the chambers. If they are rusted through the web between chambers, or rusted badly enough to blow out, this would probably result in a spectacular chain fire.

Comparatively few people are shooting originals now, but I'm sure even modern-made revolvers that were badly neglected might have some serious rusting inside the chambers. If I were buying a used revolver as a shooter, I would want to take a look in the chambers.

Regarding the OP's basic question, I used Dixie's "Old Zip" patch grease in the chambers over the balls in the past. This was 80% mutton tallow and 20% beeswax (I wrote to them and inquired. That is what they told me). It worked, but after the first shot, most of it would melt immediately and smear all over the front end of the frame and cylinder. It did appear to leave a film of grease in the chamber, though, and it was pointed out in another thread just recently that the melted grease gets on the arbor (which is good) and keeps fouling soft and easily wiped away. The only real negative is that it's messy, but you keep a big old rag with you for wiping it off.

Dixie has unfortunately discontinued Old Zip. I thought I might make some of my own, but people who sell mutton tallow were all out when I checked. I had been reading about buffalo hunters and got to wondering about buffalo tallow. I bought some bison suet (kidney fat) from Wild Idea Buffalo Ranch and rendered it myself, then mixed it with beeswax, four parts tallow to one part wax. I haven't tried it yet on a revolver, but it is really too stiff for patch lube. I've found that buffalo tallow is a lot harder than sheep or lamb tallow, and it would probably work better as an all-purpose patch and bullet lube as straight tallow. Mixed with beeswax, it might work alright as revolver lube, but I haven't tried it yet, and in any event, I'm sure most of it would still melt after the first round is fired.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[Bunk]

Regarding causes of chain fires, Elmer Keith suggested that some old cap and ball revolvers he had seen were badly rusted inside the chambers. If they are rusted through the web between chambers, or rusted badly enough to blow out, this would probably result in a spectacular chain fire.

Comparatively few people are shooting originals now, but I'm sure even modern-made revolvers that were badly neglected might have some serious rusting inside the chambers. If I were buying a used revolver as a shooter, I would want to take a look in the chambers.

Regarding the OP's basic question, I used Dixie's "Old Zip" patch grease in the chambers over the balls in the past. This was 80% mutton tallow and 20% beeswax (I wrote to them and inquired. That is what they told me). It worked, but after the first shot, most of it would melt immediately and smear all over the front end of the frame and cylinder. It did appear to leave a film of grease in the chamber, though, and it was pointed out in another thread just recently that the melted grease gets on the arbor (which is good) and keeps fouling soft and easily wiped away. The only real negative is that it's messy, but you keep a big old rag with you for wiping it off.

Dixie has unfortunately discontinued Old Zip. I thought I might make some of my own, but people who sell mutton tallow were all out when I checked. I had been reading about buffalo hunters and got to wondering about buffalo tallow. I bought some bison suet (kidney fat) from Wild Idea Buffalo Ranch and rendered it myself, then mixed it with beeswax, four parts tallow to one part wax. I haven't tried it yet on a revolver, but it is really too stiff for patch lube. I've found that buffalo tallow is a lot harder than sheep or lamb tallow, and it would probably work better as an all-purpose patch and bullet lube as straight tallow. Mixed with beeswax, it might work alright as revolver lube, but I haven't tried it yet, and in any event, I'm sure most of it would still melt after the first round is fired.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

Kidney fat is a lot harder than body fat. My experience with beef kidney fat from a steer we had processed it is a messy smelly job to render. When the tallow was used up I went to the Mark Hubbs (Eras Gone Bullet Moulds) formula one ounce of unsalted lard and a four ounce bar of paraffin wax. That makes a good lube to soak into 1/8" Duro Felt wad material. You vary the lard for hardness.
WHEE another lube formula just what we need!!!
Respectfully submitted
Bink

 

[45man]

I use a homemade BPCR lube over the balls as it does not blow away. I use it only for keeping bore fouling soft so the next ball shoots it out. For target I sure would use a wad. I don't when using the revolver for deer as I lose powder space. Yes I have taken several deer with my C&B.
The worst gun for a soft lube are the Remingtons because the cylinder is small and chambers are too close. If you use Crisco, it blows all over.
I know mineral oils are bad but STP works wonders on the cylinder pins of all my revolvers old or modern. Seems to keep the junk out.

 

[Pete453]

45man, what loads have you used for deer, at what ranges? I'm curious as to the performance