Homemade Conical lub

[Ranger J]

What do most of you use to lub your conicals such as Maxi-hunter bullets?  I haven't shot the in lines much in the last few years and I use to use a tube of white grease like compound that I think was made by CVA.  Anyway I can't find it  anymore and all I see is bore butter which I find less than pleasing.  I have half a mind to go back to the Crisco we used back in the dark ages.  Any suggestions?

RJ

[Semisane]

Yep, go back to Crisco.  You could do a lot worse. 

I use either Crisco, or my home made lube mixture of 25% bees wax, 25% Crisco, and 50% olive oil.  Put the three ingredients in a glass bowl in the microwave until everything just turns to liquid.  Then stir it a little and pour it into a container of your choice to cool and firm up.  I use old bullet boxes for shooting at the bench and a musket cap tin for woods walking.  This mixture is a little firmer than straight Crisco.  You can vary the amount of olive oil to make a harder or softer lube.

[30-06man]

Yep, go back to Crisco.  You could do a lot worse. 

I use either Crisco, or my home made lube mixture of 25% bees wax, 25% Crisco, and 50% olive oil.  Put the three ingredients in a glass bowl in the microwave until everything just turns to liquid.  Then stir it a little and pour it into a container of your choice to cool and firm up.  I use old bullet boxes for shooting at the bench and a musket cap tin for woods walking.  This mixture is a little firmer than straight Crisco.  You can vary the amount of olive oil to make a harder or softer lube.

I might have to try this.

Thanks

[30-06man]

I am also going to sticky this thread.

[BigBossMan]

This might be a stupid question but is this formula based on weight?  For example 1 pound Beeswax, 1 pound Crisco and 2 pounds Olive oil.  The reason I ask is to be sure because one is a liquid and olive oil has various viscosities .  I appreciate you sharing this with us.

[Semisane]

I do it by volume, but the proportions aren't all that critical.  As stated, you can vary the amount of olive oil to get softer or harder results.  Try starting with 1/3 of each ingredient (volume or weight).  Let it cool and set.  If it's harder than what you want, put it back in the microwave, add more olive oil and let it cool again. 

[BigBossMan]

Thanks for the reply.  That is what makes this site so great.  Folks love to share info.

[Ranger J]

I tried your concoction out this black powder season and while I am yet to get a shot the lub works great.  It is a great improvement over most of the products on the market.  I know what some of my muzzle loading friends are going to get for Christmas.

RJ

[Gun Runner]

I just had somebody give me 2 lbs of commercial bee's wax. One light colored and one dark colored. Gonna have enough to make patches till he77 freezes over. 

Gun Runner

[Skillet]

I've been casting my own Maxi-balls for my .45s for years.

I use a mixture of one lb Crisco to one block of "Gulf-Wax" (canning wax).

Melted and poured around the standing bullets, this hardens and I use a .45-70 case as a cookie-cutter to cut them free. I'll store them in stoppered, plastic tubes to keep them clean.

For .50s, you might use a .50 cal cartridge... the bullets will stay inside the case, once you've cut them free, but I push them out with an allen-wrench through the enlarged primer-pocket hole.

Sounds complicated, but really works well for convenience in the field or at the bench. The mix is simple but works very well in my guns for me.

When I'm lubing-up the next batch, I just drop the newly cast bullets into the holes in the pan where the last bullets came from and put the pan in the oven until it melts again.

My lube-pan is just a cheap 'brownie-pan' that isn't used for anything else.

Skillet