Lube pills and a lube pill punch

[Griz44Mag]

After doing the messy lube capping thing and thinking there must be some way to improve on that besides putting a wad in the cylinder -
I thought it through - and since I had a little extra time on my hands today -
I melted some lube (beeswax, lanolin, olive oil - the staple of black powder lubes.) I made this batch a bit stiff.
Poured it into a shallow plastic container lid that has a smooth surface and let it cool.
For the cutter I used a 460 S&W mag brass, and drilled out the end to the size of a "shaft"
For the ejector I used a 40 S&W brass, it is exactly the diameter of the inside bore of the 460 case.
I drilled out the end of that as well. I had a spare Allen wrench so I used that for the actuator.
Since the photos are large - the next few messages will contain the pics.
The tool:

The Lube (melted in the microwave)

Poured into a shallow basin

Cooled for cutting

 

[Griz44Mag]

The tool ready to use

 

[Griz44Mag]

Loading the gun -
I loaded the cylinder with a full 30 grains load to see if it would all fit -
The pill sitting on top of the chamber

Pushed down and into the cylinder - a perfect fit with no messy waste!

Perfect lubed cylinder top, ready for action!

 

[Carl in France]

I am impressed by your work here but this is a lot more work than a lubed wad under the ball and less effective for fouling modification and lube.
Having tried both methods I find lube over the ball inferior, messy and a challenge in hot weather.

 

[Griz44Mag]

I am impressed by your work here but this is a lot more work than a lubed wad under the ball and less effective for fouling modification and lube.
Having tried both methods I find lube over the ball inferior, messy and a challenge in hot weather.

Think traditional Carl...... If I was looking for easy I would not be shooting a cap and ball in the first place. I do have a 44 revolver that I can reload in less than 4 seconds. If I wanted easy I would be using that instead. And I am sorry that you are too lazy to get the full experience of traditional reloading.
I am going to shoot this in a match that requires traditional loads and loading methods. No cheater wads allowed. No loading tubes allowed either. Reloading will be done at the bench, using the guns loading lever, no spare cylinders allowed.

 

[wb78963]

I tried these lube pills in an 1860 Army. An interruption occurred and the guns sat in the August Texas sun for about an hour. Between the two guns I had one piff and nine pops., no bangs. That was a mess to pull and clear. Perhaps in the cold winter it would work, but I go with home made (Mike Beliveau) felt wads.
Respectfully submitted
Bunk

 

[FishDFly]

Just have to alter your lube mixture. I have December lube and August lube.

 

[Carl in France]

Think traditional Carl...... If I was looking for easy I would not be shooting a cap and ball in the first place. I do have a 44 revolver that I can reload in less than 4 seconds. If I wanted easy I would be using that instead. And I am sorry that you are too lazy to get the full experience of traditional reloading.
I am going to shoot this in a match that requires traditional loads and loading methods. No cheater wads allowed. No loading tubes allowed either. Reloading will be done at the bench, using the guns loading lever, no spare cylinders allowed.

Gosh. Being called lazy!!
I just shoot, i was not aware wads were'cheater wads'.

I am out. It is a shame when some one is unable to explain their point or reasoning civily.

 

[appalichian hunter]

Griz, what yo have done is basically the same thing as making a grease cookie that is used in making BP cartridges. For my sharps rifle I use the basic lube of bees wax ,olive oil and a bit of unsalted lard and maybe sometimes a bit of A-Lox as you said the mixture can be adjusted depending on the weather temps. I will lay down a sheet of wax paper on this place two popsicle sticks about 6 in. apart next take a wad of the lube place between the popsicle sticks place a second sheet of wax paper on top of the lube then take a large dowel rod (think rolling pin) roll out the lube to the thickness of the popsicle sticks next use a punch of the dia. you want and punch away, I use a plastic cutting board for this process, what you wind up with is layered lube discs like a ice cream sandwich, these can be kept in a small tin prior to use for your pistol, I would think these would be a bit less messy when capping over a ball in a revolver cylinder. I have never had a problem with these in the storage of loaded rounds, but have never used them in a cap and ball revolver. Just a suggestion.

 

[jdw276]

I am impressed by your work here but this is a lot more work than a lubed wad under the ball and less effective for fouling modification and lube.
Having tried both methods I find lube over the ball inferior, messy and a challenge in hot weather.

I am impressed he has a 460. Sorry could not resist. Never heard of that caliber in a ML. Must be from a custom shop.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Gosh. Being called lazy!!
I just shoot, i was not aware wads were'cheater wads'.

I am out. It is a shame when some one is unable to explain their point or reasoning civily.

I agree with you fully Carl, and think the OP is out of line with his rude comment.

 

[toot]

back in the day where did they get felt wads from, HUM? I for one like this method. thanks for sharing it with us. be careful, next you will be seeing your item being offered for sale by different sellers, mark my words? and if any one is concerned about hot weather just make it as stetted. make it a little stated. back when I started in the early 1950,s we all used CRISCO, any one remember that as a lubricant? talk about messy! but that is all we had, and nobody new of any thing different.

 

[Sven205]

I am a user of the lube disc/pill for revolvers. Have been making them for a bit. OP's punch device is interesting, creative. I used an opened up hollow punch to match the size I wanted and let them stack up, then pushed out with a dowel. Cant get too many stacked or they will squish together when pushed out, especially with the softer "winter" lube mix. If these cause misfires I would say it was likely because the disc was put in the wrong location. Unless they are extremely hard (high wax content) they should go over ball, not under. Powder>Ball>Disc

Here's pics of my final product, the bag of colored ones is something I tried for a bit. Color coded them to easily identify warm or cool weather blend by dropping a colored crayon shaving in the mix. Balls for size reference in the first pic.

 

[appalichian hunter]

TOOT the wads probably came from the same places that rifle wads came from perhaps leather, old hats etc.. If the old timers even used a over the bullet wad of some type. Either way it is a interesting subject and also shows ones ability to create what is needed at the time.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

back in the day where did they get felt wads from, HUM? I for one like this method. thanks for sharing it with us. be careful, next you will be seeing your item being offered for sale by different sellers, mark my words? and if any one is concerned about hot weather just make it as stetted. make it a little stated. back when I started in the early 1950,s we all used CRISCO, any one remember that as a lubricant? talk about messy! but that is all we had, and nobody new of any thing different.

The punched them from felt hats. At least as far back as the beginning of the 1900s this was done. Read Elmer Keith’s Sixguns.

 

[Gun Tramp]

back in the day where did they get felt wads from, HUM?

They didn't. Colt's loading instructions make no mention of wads or lubes...

 

[Tom A Hawk]

Griz, what yo have done is basically the same thing as making a grease cookie that is used in making BP cartridges. For my sharps rifle I use the basic lube of bees wax ,olive oil and a bit of unsalted lard and maybe sometimes a bit of A-Lox as you said the mixture can be adjusted depending on the weather temps. I will lay down a sheet of wax paper on this place two popsicle sticks about 6 in. apart next take a wad of the lube place between the popsicle sticks place a second sheet of wax paper on top of the lube then take a large dowel rod (think rolling pin) roll out the lube to the thickness of the popsicle sticks next use a punch of the dia. you want and punch away, I use a plastic cutting board for this process, what you wind up with is layered lube discs like a ice cream sandwich, these can be kept in a small tin prior to use for your pistol, I would think these would be a bit less messy when capping over a ball in a revolver cylinder. I have never had a problem with these in the storage of loaded rounds, but have never used them in a cap and ball revolver. Just a suggestion.

I have a extruder die that screws into a reloading press and is designed to use conventional SPS lube sticks. It squeezes out a ribbon of SPG lube of the correct thickness for cutting out grease cookies. No muss, no fuss.

 

[Columbus]

They didn't. Colt's loading instructions make no mention of wads or lubes...

True

 

[Carl in France]

Or did they? Recreational shooters today do many things that are not in an instruction manual. There were recreational shooters then.
A lot is supposition backed by detail such as the page above but we can not discount all practices.

 

[Perf94]

I do find it interesting that we often come up with ways to make firing our beloved BP firearms easier. Our forefathers used them in their daily lives and had long sense figured these things out.