Do I really need to lube my balls?

[nick_1]

Is there noticeable reduced leading from lubeing your balls in cap and ball revolvers? or does it just make a mess and is harder to get clean at the end of the day? i am not concerned with chain fire as I had a fair amount of experience with that as a teenager and INMOP it comes from overloading with real black powder. My 25g of tripple7 under a .454 ball is not going to chain fire. I tend to believe that useing bore butter on my balls will reduce leading but perhaps that is just wishful thinking?

 

[TDM]

In my revolvers I use a lubed over powder wad and a dab of my homemade lube over the ball. Probably could do without the over powder wad, but I like some lube over the ball. It works for me.

 

[nick_1]

I load my cylinders on the bench so its easy to put a dab of bore butter on the end of my starter ramrod that I load with and push that right down on the ball. really lubes it well and no mess at all. i don't have to touch it. under ball lubed wad seems like a really bad idea if you are leaveing the gun loaded for an extended period of time. also its just more money.

 

[TDM]

Well, just keep doing what your doing.

 

[M. De Land]

Is there noticeable reduced leading from lubeing your balls in cap and ball revolvers? or does it just make a mess and is harder to get clean at the end of the day? i am not concerned with chain fire as I had a fair amount of experience with that as a teenager and INMOP it comes from overloading with real black powder. My 25g of tripple7 under a .454 ball is not going to chain fire. I tend to believe that useing bore butter on my balls will reduce leading but perhaps that is just wishful thinking?

I started to use lubed wads instead of spreading grease over the balls because they seem just as accurate, are far less messy and each chamber is getting precisely the same amount of lube at each shot. The problem with grease over ball lubing is each following shot gets less lube as the gap blast blows more of it off the rest of the loads. Take a look at how much lube is removed from the rest of the chamber mouths after the first shot is fired.
I use melted lube on 1/8 inch Duro felt wads I cut in my loading press. The wads suck up the melted lube and when cool are stored in a baggy until loaded.

 

[FishDFly]

Most line shooters use lube, or those who win.

 

[Stantheman86]

I sometimes use a finger dab of tallow in my big horse pistols over the balls , because the big charges foul the gun up quicker. It keeps the arbor and cylinder face fouling soft

In stuff like Navies I use nothing, just the powder and the ball

The arbor gets a coat of Miracle Lube

 

[necchi]

Is there noticeable reduced leading from lubeing your balls in cap and ball revolvers?

What issue are you having that make you feel there is a "leading" problem?
I haven't heard too much about trouble like that.(?)
Have ya tried a brass brush in the bore while cleaning?

 

[nick_1]

not having an issue just wondering if the lube is necessary. figured someone would chime in saying that they havent lubed in 50 years and never had a leading problem....

 

[Bnewberry]

I was taught by a really knowledgeable old timer that lube over balls in a revolver was more about stopping flash over chain fire and to help with black powder fouling.

This was in Cowboy Action Shooting and we would shoot 50 or so shots out of each revolver at a match so keeping the fouling soft was needed to keep the gun running.

 

[FishDFly]

Okay, havent lubed in 50 years and never had a leading problem....

 

[new2bp]

Lubed wad (straight crisco) between powder and ball, no lube on top of ball, using .451" balls on my Uberti 1858 NMA. Have put 6 cylinders through on a single range trip w/ no issues, could've gone more but ran out of powder.

 

[45man]

The ball itself needs no lube. The lube over the ball is just to soften barrel fouling. I use a BPCR lube for that, Crisco is too thin and blows off. The Rem is bad for that as the chambers are very close. Gap pressure just blows the next chambers grease off.

 

[Stantheman86]

Lube over the ball or bullet does nothing for chain fires, the tightly fitted ball will stop any flame, the same as a bullet in a cartridge

 

[Uncle Miltie]

Lube over the ball or bullet does nothing for chain fires, the tightly fitted ball will stop any flame, the same as a bullet in a cartridge

Nipples that are too long (like most people use) are the chief cause of chain fires and cap jams.

 

[FishDFly]

Lube over the ball or bullet does nothing for chain fires, the tightly fitted ball will stop any flame, the same as a bullet in a cartridge

A definite winner.

 

[Red Owl]

Are you talking about rolling the balls in a lube? Not done. The lube over the ends of the chambers. Try it, fire two or three rounds and then look at the ends of the remaining chambers. A lot of times the lube is gone. I load: powder, lubed wad, ball.

 

[TrapperDude]

Lube over the ball or bullet does nothing for chain fires, the tightly fitted ball will stop any flame, the same as a bullet in a cartridge

Absolutely. Clean loading is also an important part of the equation. Sloppy powder pouring can leave loose powder around the chamber mouth, entraining it between the ball and chamber wall, resulting in the chain fire.

Putting lube over the balls also makes a mess that attracts that powder.

 

[TrapperDude]

Lubed wad (straight crisco) between powder and ball, no lube on top of ball, using .451" balls on my Uberti 1858 NMA. Have put 6 cylinders through on a single range trip w/ no issues, could've gone more but ran out of powder.

That's how I do it, too, after some extensive reading on the subject. The lube behind the ball mixes with the residue as it spreads down the barrel, preventing it from hardening in the bore. Lube on top of the ball just gets blown down the barrel and never gets a chance to mix with and mitigate the fouling properly.

 

[Bad Karma]

Okay, havent lubed in 50 years and never had a leading problem....

It needed to be said… leading at bp revolver velocities is typically caused by undersized balls allowing hot expanding gases to flow along and around the ball as it travels down the bore or a rough bore or some combination of the two. I ream the chambers at least a couple thousandths over groove diameter and if the bore is rough I will make a patch from 0000 steel wool and run it up and down 50 passes or so. I do use lube on bullets, SPG + Stihl HP Synthetic 2 stroke oil with beeswax added to make the consistency needed for the season. It’s there for fouling control only