Home made BP lube

[sportee]

Im sure youve all seen the many recipes for BP lube...may of which include wax and oil, crisco, whatever. My question is...does the wax from a wax toilet gasket contain any petroleums?

 

[dingus]

LOL i cant answer your question BUT i use toilet bowl seal wax all the time im my 50 70 pistol lube it works ex for me

 

[ben hunchak]

The only wax that i would recommend for Black Powder lube is pure Bees wax and no petroleum products.

 

[sunray]

Most of them appear to be urethane wax.

 

[Micky Finn]

Toilet bowl rings are pure bees wax and the cheapest way to purchace it.
Get the ones without the plastic guide ring.

 

[dingus]

Toilet bowl rings are pure bees wax and the cheapest way to purchace it.
Get the ones without the plastic guide ring.

Thats right its great wax and about $2 a ring piece

 

[mooncoon]

I have read in numerous places that toilet rings are now a synthetic although I don't know how you would prove it or recognize a synthetic bees wax. I use 1/2 bear grease and 1/2 bees wax (from a honey producer). I think any animal grease would work well as an alternative to bear grease. The main thing is that it should be soft like baby crap.
I also think that you should specifically avoid the hard waxy lubes with black powder and in general found my accuracy improved when I switched to the really soft lubes from RCBS with alox which in turn was better than the green RCBS with no alox. SPG and the very similar Paul Mathews lube appear to be animal grease plus bees wax with perhaps a bit of wintergreen to smell good.

cheers mooncoon

 

[steve49]

for smokeless loads almost any 'wax', natural or synthetic can start a batch of lube...canning wax, crayons, old candles, even citronella pails from Canadian Tire will provide a base for the formula...additives vary (as do opinions) ...moly, lithium grease, auto undercoating (alox),micro-crystallines, cheese wax.. etc.

for black powder all natural products have always worked best for me...beeswax softened with natural oils (I prefer olive..less cholesterol) is the only practical base ...other natural waxes are great but much more expensive....carnuba for instance does put a shine on your bore...crisco is cheapest .....some formulas are proprietory.....SPG and 'Tom Grey's' are supposedly quite simple to make but I've never known anybody who could actually duplicate these high quality lubes effectively...and bulk SPG is certainly cost effective and efficient for a bought lube......that said most of us can greate a lube which is good enough for most applications except long term storage.....after all ....a lot of blackpowder rifle and pistol loads were made with 'just' beeswax lube..

info....Paul Mathew's books have many good formulas...web based forums discuss lubes often ..they always fall back on the standard formulas...(Felix, Paul Mathews)....try a search for homemade lubes at...

www.gunloads.com/castboolits/
www.theopenrange.net/forum

I'd be interested in the experiences others have had....especially with products which can be easily purchased in Canada.....

natural beeswax is obtainable...food waxes (not petroleum or parrafin based) and synthetic beeswax (most toilet bowl rings are synthetic in my understanding) have been good...myco-crystalline waxes with specific melting temperatures have been useful...and a 10 lb slab or two is a lifetime supply....

Steve

 

[ben hunchak]

Another key component to a good black powder lube is pure lanolin.

 

[tonyg]

I recently installed a new toilet , and the wax ring sure didn't look like the beeswax you get when buying honeycomb. I used to chew bees wax as a kid , I wouldn't want to chew toilet ring 'wax' .Not the same thing anymore.

 

[dingus]

I recently installed a new toilet , and the wax ring sure didn't look like the beeswax you get when buying honeycomb. I used to chew bees wax as a kid , I wouldn't want to chew toilet ring 'wax' .Not the same thing anymore.

Ya i buy new Toilet Wax rings Tony i dont use the old ones from under the toilets.
That way if ya do get the urge to chew on em they are at least sorta clean LOL

i see lotsa intresting mixtures here. really a wicthes brew eh!

 

[Andy]

For pan lubing I like:

- 2/3 Beeswax;
- 1/9 Olive Oil;
- 1/9 Crisco; and
- 1/9 Murphy's Oil Soap.

If you want it softer:

- 1/2 Beeswax
- 1/6 Olive Oil;
- 1/6 Crisco; and
- 1/6 Murphy's Oil Soap.

This is by volume. Melt the Beeswax and the Crisco in the microwave so it can be measured, then record their weights. After you have your recipe, you can just weigh it.

 

[kodiak1]

I like what has been stated here on lubes.
Mooncoon and his recipe of beeswax and animal fat would probably be the closest to what the old boys used originally.
The only thing that MIGHT be added to that is use fat from non farm raised animals as the fat from them would have a higher salt content as salt is readily available for them.
Natures (WILD) animals would still have a certian amount of salt but probably a lot more minute.

My two bits worth.

Ken

 

[DEZ]

I use Beeswax and lard around 40/60 mix or less I mix in just enough wax to harden the
lube enough to stay put in the groves I melt them together on the stove then drop small drops in cold water to check consistency

 

[cant_rope_the_wind01]

if you look on a new toilet seal box you might find that it is made of pure beeswax

 

[gunlaker]

I just mix pure beeswax and olive oil 50/50 by volume in a double boiler. I haven't been loading BPCR long, but it seems to be working well enough so far.

Chris.

 

[fredfiset]

I mix 50/50 beeswax and crisco, by volume. Then i add almond oil to get the softness i want. Why almond oil? Because i had it... Still, fume point for almond oil is very high so it couldn't hurt.

 

[lannard]

my lube recipe.

hey guys, although i am new to vintage shooting, im a self proclamed old salt to the world of lube! lol. seriously, i mix my own lube for choke tubes breech plugs, waterproofing my goose gear and any other application you may need a natural sent for.

i use 50/50 beeswax and avocado oil.

i get my beeswax at a billiards store, they see it for $12 for a 2lbs brick. it is guarenteed pure. odd that they would have it, but it is used in the installation of the slate.

i get avocado oil due to its flash point is an amazing 520 f. hard to come by, but look at cooking specialty shops, or heathfood shops.

the mix wont run, and it is a very mild natural sent, so good for hunting. in sub zero conditions, i simply use more oil to soften it more.
cheers

 

[ginseng503]

Does anyone buy their beeswax online? Maybe from a farmer?

 

[Andy]

I found mine on www.usedottawa.com and the guy I found is 5 minutes away from me. I pay $5/lb. Try Kijiiji and eBay, and if there's an Apiary nearby, they always have beeswax.