over ball lubricant recommendation

[hanshi]

I use to use various proportions of Crisco, bees wax and, sometimes, Vaseline. In Ga. heat is always a problem but [strike]if[/strike] when it melted I didn't worry about except for wiping the revolver down to keep it from being slick. It still served its purpose which is to seal any chamber/ball leak. Chain fires are normally a characteristic of "cap & nipple" leakage.

 

[olliesmypup13]

I guess most folks don't care for the Crisco anymore, but it is what I started with, and I like how it keeps the fowling soft. I usually keep some old socks, cut up for rags, in my range bag, and wipe the revolver down when it gets slick. One little trick someone taught me a while back is to use popsickle sticks to apply it to the cylinder over the ball. Works pretty well; I also use the sticks to seat my caps.

 

[M. De Land]

I have switched to a lubed felt wad under the ball after 40 years of lubing over the ball.
To soon old , to late smart! :rotf:

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I can vouch for my shooting a Ruger OA without needing to stop and clean the action and not gumming up from fouling. fired as many as 150 shots in an afternoon.
I once tried shooting dry and got only through to half way through the third cylinder when I had difficulty rotating the cylinder. IMO dry wads under the ball serve no purpose at all.

Now whether you shoot real black or a fake, and whether you are in a very humid climate or very arid climate makes a big difference. Another difference in fouling is how compressed the powder is.

 

[M. De Land]

One of the problems with lubing over the ball is the continual inconsistent amount of lube being used in each successive shot.
The first shot blows most of the lube off the adjacent chambers immediately lubeing up the whole front end of your gun and if the winds right your shooting glasses and spotting scope!
A properly lubed felt wad will give the same amount of lube for each shot and will keep you shooting accurately as long as you care to without all the mess.

 

[bob308]

as pointed out the over the ball lube lubes the whole pistol. with grease over the ball I can shoot all day. no grease gun binds up second cylinder full. no cleaning just go back to the grease over ball and the gun loosens up after the second cylinder full and shoots as long as I use grease every shot.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

not sure why anyone would think the lube is inconsistent. Depends on the lube. stiff water pump grease stays in place. Old timers dripped candle wax on top the balls. The white lithium grease will be blown around one the first shot, if i fill the cylinders over the ball. I only need it in the corners around the ball and it doesn't take much. That does not blow away until that chamber is fired.

Never had a problem with any mess anywhere but around the cylinder to barrel gap. Not on the hands, loading lever etc. You guys must be shooting some bizarre stuff to have it vaporize onto your glasses and scopes.

 

[hawkeye2]

+1 what you said. I don't care for the idea of sending a ball into the forcing cone and down the barrel without some lube in front of it. I have never shot with anything except lube in front of the ball. A typical team match is 3 or 4 events, 6 rounds/event, with no time to clean the outside of the revolver in between events so if grease on my hands, glasses or gun was an issue I would have reconsidered my loading/shooting procedure. A problem, not.

 

[TFoley]

This.

Or, even cheaper here in UK, E45 emolluent hand cream. Being an emulsion it washes away on cleaning, taking much of the crud with it. I use it on the wood and metal around my rifle percussion locks, too, just smeared on - keeps the flash from the musket cap from long-term damaging of that part of the gun.

tac

 

[swathdiver]

Hello gentlemen, I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good over the ball lubricant that will hold up to repeated recoil and also not melt out in summer heat.

For shooting here in Florida, we use this recipe for greasing over the balls:

6 Parts Mutton Tallow
1 Parts Beeswax
1 or 2 Parts Olive Oil

As you can see, there are endless recipes, this is what we use and it works for us.

 

[nkbj]

This.

Or, even cheaper here in UK, E45 emolluent hand cream. Being an emulsion it washes away on cleaning, taking much of the crud with it. I use it on the wood and metal around my rifle percussion locks, too, just smeared on - keeps the flash from the musket cap from long-term damaging of that part of the gun.

tac

Ah ha! Now you've double clutched my noggin and got me in gear wondering on how to make the LOOB a homemade wash-off soap.

 

[99whip]

I'm with Hawkeye and Zimmerstutzen. I live in So Fla and use a pretty stiff over the ball lube of beeswax and olive oil. It does not run out of adjacent chambers, and I never have it all over my hands, etc. If the ball is loaded to sit close to the chamber mouth, there's really only room for a thin ring of lube around the edge of the ball and the cylinder.

 

[william l evans]

I am trying to find punches to make my felt wads without any success. My harbor freight or local auto parts stores do not carry these punches. Tandy leather only has 3/8 and 1/2 in. punches. Any help please.

 

[nkbj]

Do a search for Osborne arch punches.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I am trying to find punches to make my felt wads without any success. My harbor freight or local auto parts stores do not carry these punches. Tandy leather only has 3/8 and 1/2 in. punches. Any help please.

Revisit the HF web site. They sell sets with a variety of sized punches. And very reasonably.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Dixie sold a 45 wad punch for years.

Check at Harbor Freight under metric sizes. You want something a little over size, so an 11MM at .43 would be too small. A 12mm ought to do it. That comes to .468

To get anything closer but not under size, you would have to get a 29/64 punch. .453.

 

[nhmoose]

https://www.amazon.com/SE-791LP-Hea...qid=1491586666&sr=8-3&keywords=arch+punch+set
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/...342-5c9e-bf62-e10a9fc63ac3&pf_rd_i=2225054011

 

[olliesmypup13]

Haven't tried this yet, but wondered if you could de-prime a 45acp cartridge and punch them out with it. Since chambers are usually a little undersized, would this work?

 

[Tom Compton]

That oughta work.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

neither set has a size usable in the 44 revolver. too small or too big.

single 12 mm are on ebay