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Wax and Crisco

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I've been using a 50/50 mix of crisco and beeswax but the wax is hard to find and expensive when I do find it, just wondered why you couldn't use regular canning wax (parafin) instead.
 
I saw it on Amazon for $10.99/10 oz. & free shipping. A pound of beeswax and a pound of Crisco will make 2 pounds of lube for a lot less than you can buy commercial lubes. Some folks use parafin but I would stay away from it myself. It is a petrolium based product.
 
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I've used regular hard wax melted in with veggie oil for bunches of years. Just enough veggie oil so when it sets it has a nice high cohesion quality.
 
But a little inexpensive paraffin mixed in with the expensive beeswax will stretch the mixture, right? Something like a 20%-25% mix?
 
A 50-50 mix, 50 % Crisco,50% bees wax with a splash of olive oil mixed in never really measured the olive oil. But you can adjust the %s to match the temperature, if its really warm out more bees wax, cold less bees wax. Been using this for years in all my black powder weapons. Also use it to lube the black powder bullets I shoot in the sharps. Good for a myriad of things moccasin grease, chapped hands, scratches, lip balm ect. If you want you could also put a bit of flavoring in it with different candy oils. I would stay away from paraffin just my opinion. Best lube I ever had was a tin of gun grease from the 1940s I bought in a box of weapon related items at a estate sale hated to see the end of that.
 
My experience is Crisco is the dirtiest, awfulest stuff ennywhere. Won't use it. Beeswax is the best all-around lube stuff ever. Contact your county extension agent and ask who the beekeepers in your area are. There will be more than you imagined. Buy your wax direct and get it cheap. If you make friends and buy some honey you might even be given it free. To them it is a waste by-product.
 
We go through a fair amount of gouda cheese in a years time. I save the red wax coating and use that instead of beeswax. Usually mix it with petoleum jelly instead of crisco. If you adjust the ratio, you can mix with mineral oil instead.
 
Paraffin is often added to lube mixes to "harden" them for warm weather use. It lacks the "plasticity" of bee's wax lubes particularly at cooler temperatures. Petroleum jelly is often added to Paraffin lubes to counter its crystal properties and to make them less crumbly/brittle. The "wax" component of bullet lubes is mostly that of a carrier of the grease/oil that provides most of the lubrication. Real bee's wax is vastly superior to Paraffin in making bullet lubes and is utilized in the majority of quality commercial bullet lubricants. Of course, you can make a home made lube without bee's wax and save a few pennies, and maybe it will work for you. Part of the fun of muzzle loading is making your own components. Most knowledge comes from experience which is mostly finding things that didn't work and not repeating them.
 
I’ve been using jojoba oil with beeswax and am very happy with it.

I’ve even cleaned cap revolvers with jojoba oil only and it works well. Plus my hands are much softer and my hair has a healthy glow!
 
See a lot of beeswax/crisco/oil lube recipes....does anyone use parafin instead of beeswax?

Nope...
Parafin has a much lower melting temp than beeswax. Even when using say 80% paraffin/20% fat, on a hot day you're likely to have a container of thick oil, not grease. That's why I switched to Beeswax candles, and beeswax instead of paraffin in my lube recipes. Plus the beeswax/tallow recipe is the same stuff that was used to dress shoes and mocs, though they added bone black to the mixture for the shoes. It's more than simply bullet lube.

LD
 
My sister decided she wasn't going to can anymore and gave me several blocks of Gulf Canning Paraffin. Any suggestions as to what to do with it? I still think you can stretch your amount of beeswax with it.
 
Paraffin, as stated previously, is a petroleum product and consists of the heavier ends of the carbon chain. Burning of these heavy carbon ends will leave a thin film which will be very hard to remove in your barrel. Over time this will build and create issues. This advice is coming from a lifetime of oilfield experience of downhole paraffin removal, and free at that. Take it for what you paid for it.
Walk
 
I use a beeswax and olive oil mixture. I also make it into tubes and use it in my star lube sizer for my cast boolits. it works great, we have a place down the road called bee city. the wax is cheap,,,,,,,,,
 

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