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Suitable Lube in Ruger Old Model Army.

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Sunbeam

40 Cal
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Oct 30, 2019
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Hi,

I have made some 3mm thick wool wads soaked them in 1/3 beeswax & 2/3 Olive oil, the wads are nice and solid and greasy and fit tight in the chamber. I have found a few shot wads in the range grass and they seem to have had all the lube displaced. I place them between the powder and ball.

Before shooting, I run a greased wool mop in the barrel and load gun.
I shoot all 6 chambers and then run a patch in the barrel and all 6 chambers and run the greased mop in the barrel again, then reload and shoot again.
And so on.......

Is the lubed wad enough or do I also need to add lube in front of the ball?
How can I tell if the gun is lubed enough?

I am new to shooting my Ruger and I'd like to make sure I'm doing the best for it.

Thanks.
 
The lubed wad should be enough. If your gun isn't getting hard to cycle or load, then it probably has enough lube. I don't normally oil/grease the barrel on my revolvers prior to shooting. They were lubed after the last cleaning and should still have enough. I don't have issues with leading in a Cap and Ball revolver either. The low velocity along with soft lead just doesn't cause a problem. The only issue I run into is with Remington 1858 replicas becoming hard to cycle due to fouling getting on the cylinder pin. You probably will have less of an issue with that on a Ruger. My solution is to have some Hoppys black powder solvent in a plastic squeeze bottle and add a few drops to the cylinder pin. Years ago before using greased wool wads, I used the old Crisco on top of the ball trick. Lubing was the least of my worries with that as grease got everywhere.
 
"run the greased mop in the barrel again"

You can skip the greased mop, it's not needed. After the first shot, it's gone.

But, if it makes you happy it's not hurting anything.
 
I find my home made felt wads, lubed with the Gato Feo formula #1 lube, do the job. No need to put grease over the chambers. I use white lithium grease on all cap and ball arbors (and nipple threads) when cleaning and that works for the next shooting session. I do rotate the cylinder before loading to make sure it still spins easily.

Jeff
 
I find my home made felt wads, lubed with the Gato Feo formula #1 lube, do the job. No need to put grease over the chambers. I use white lithium grease on all cap and ball arbors (and nipple threads) when cleaning and that works for the next shooting session. I do rotate the cylinder before loading to make sure it still spins easily.

Jeff
I use a grease that is deigned for my wheelchair ball bearings on my nipples and arbor like you use your grease with great success. I also use lubed felt wads with no need for grease over the ball for target shooting. For hunting and longtem loading, I use those OxYoke chamber sealers. They a bit pricey, but I have left my pistol loaded for six months, then shoot all 6 without any difference of a freshly loaded gun. I live in the humid Southeastern NC. I've tried bore butter, crisco, etc., over the ball without success.
 
Hawk78,

I'm not familiar with the chamber sealers you mentioned. But I never leave any of the C&B revolvers loaded for long since they are strictly range toys for me. I'll have to look them up.

Do you happen to remember which grease you use on the ball bearings of your wheelchair? (Sorry you need it.) I like to keep track of materials suitable for firearms.

Jeff
 
No problem bull! I but my wonder seals from OxYoke.com and my felt lubed wads. I get the "grey smoke" wads because their cheaper and just as good. The wonder seals are like $13 per hundred. I bought 500 lubed felt wads for $23 total, shipping included. For that price, why worry about buying the felt and other ingredients to make them. But my wheelchair dealer gave me this grease and have not a clue where to get it. But man, I can shoot all afternoon without any cylinder drag. And buy a 5 mm, socket, file and fit it to a nipple. It makes removing them a breeze.
15986266106935426554905052529404.jpg
20200828_105134.jpg
15986264867535308239333400264732.jpg
15986265154468101421995659488083.jpg
 
Hawk78,

I'm not familiar with the chamber sealers you mentioned. But I never leave any of the C&B revolvers loaded for long since they are strictly range toys for me. I'll have to look them up.

Do you happen to remember which grease you use on the ball bearings of your wheelchair? (Sorry you need it.) I like to keep track of materials suitable for firearms.

Jeff
Here is my spare cylinder with powder, ball, and wonder seals.
15986269221628448185499200216875.jpg
 
I've been using toiletpaper wads for several years now. Simply apply a light smear of beeswax & tallow lube, fold it up, and load like any wad. Too much lube & it can squeeze out into your powder.

A double roll of 2 ply can last you for years.
 
Hawk78,
Many thanks for the information. When I first started shooting C&B revolvers decades ago I would be lucky to get through 3 cylinders full before binding got bad. With what I've learned over the years I can shoot for a long time with no problems.

The same goes for my rifles. I rarely need to swab during a range session. I use Hoppe's 9 Plus, their black powder solvent, as a patch lube with great results. A little knowledge and experience helps.

Jeff
 

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