Tumble Lube Recipe for Black Powder?

northern ranger

northern ranger

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Hey there,

Anyone ever find or experiment with a tumble lube recipe for blackpowder cartridge loads of cast bullets?

I tumble lube with Lee Alox or Dragon lube for smokeless powder, and have great luck.

I pan lube for blackpowder cartridge loads, and even have used "lube cookies" under my 45/70 HB405's, but would love to see if someone had a nice recipe to tumble lube for black powder.

The floor is open.....
 
Try the alox. Perhaps if you swipe or use a blow tube between shots to keep the fouling to the minimum it could work.

I cannot see how you could make a useful tumble lube recipe for BP without making it a very soft mix, turning the whole project into a very messy affair.

YMMV, I've been wrong before...
 
PuppetZ said:
Try the alox. Perhaps if you swipe or use a blow tube between shots to keep the fouling to the minimum it could work.

I cannot see how you could make a useful tumble lube recipe for BP without making it a very soft mix, turning the whole project into a very messy affair.

YMMV, I've been wrong before...
Click to expand...

Blackpowder residue and anything petroleum based (ie Alox) makes this interesting substance called tar.

I am not planning to due that anytime soon. I have had great luck with Alox and Trail Boss, and the best results with blackpowder came from pan lubed with a beeswax/lard formula. I just like that tumble lubing works just as well with 5 bullets as 50. Pan lubing is a lot of work for small batches.

May have to just rub the mix into the lube groves with my fingers for small batches.
 
Yeah I figured as much. Although swabbing the bore clean between shots could make it work but it still would be a PITA to do.

And not all petrol based product will tar a bore. My BP lube has been BW + vaseline + Dexron ATF + bardhall's engine treatment (pretty much the same stuff I use on my smokless loads) for the last 2 years with great success.

I blow 5-6 time down the bore between shots and can shoot a whole afternoon without ill effects. Everything come off in 1 pass with a dry patch rolled on a bronze brush.

Anyway, I'm not trying to pick a fight but I discovered that there is not a lot of absolute in this pass time and that if one sets his mind to it, you can make pretty much anything work ok. Maybe not great but ok.

Frank
 
PuppetZ said:
Yeah I figured as much. Although swabbing the bore clean between shots could make it work but it still would be a PITA to do.

And not all petrol based product will tar a bore. My BP lube has been BW + vaseline + Dexron ATF + bardhall's engine treatment (pretty much the same stuff I use on my smokless loads) for the last 2 years with great success.

I blow 5-6 time down the bore between shots and can shoot a whole afternoon without ill effects. Everything come off in 1 pass with a dry patch rolled on a bronze brush.

Anyway, I'm not trying to pick a fight but I discovered that there is not a lot of absolute in this pass time and that if one sets his mind to it, you can make pretty much anything work ok. Maybe not great but ok.

Frank
Click to expand...

Hey Frank,

It's all good! Far more art than science here it seems. I have had things work one day that didn't the next.

No Magic Bullets, (Yes, intended) shortcuts up front make more work on the back end anyway.
 
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