My own patch, felt wad and bullet lubricant for black powder is a 19th century recipe, found in a 1943 issue of the American Rifleman. It was originally a factory recipe used to lubricate heeled bullets, such as .22 rimfire and .32, .38 and .41 Long Colt, in factory loads with black powder.
The recipe is:
1 part paraffin (I use canning paraffin, found in grocery stores)
1 part mutton tallow (sold by Dixie Gun Works)
1/2 part beeswax (available at hobby and hardware stores)
All measures are by weight, not volume. I use a kitchen scale to measure 200 grams of paraffin, 200 grams of mutton tallow and 100 grams of beeswax. This nearly fills a quart Mason jar.
Place the Mason jar in a pot or coffee can with about 4 inches of boiling water. This gives a double-boiler effect, which is the safest way to melt waxes and greases.
When the ingredients in the jar are thoroughly melted, stir well with a clean stick or a disposable chopstick. Remove from water and allow to cool at room temperature (trying to speed cooling by placing in the refrigerator may cause the ingredients to separate).
This creates a lubricant nearly identical to a well-known black powder lubricant sold commercially.
Some sharp-eyed shooters will note that paraffin is a petroleum product, and such products are pure poison when mixed with black powder. Though many older black powder manuals may recommend using automotive grease and such, knowledgeable shooters avoid it.
Mixing black powder with petroleum products causes a hard, tarry fouling that is difficult to remove and clogs the rifling, affecting accuracy.
Yet, paraffin doesn't seem to do this. In a separate post, a chemist explained that paraffin lacks the hydrocarbons of other petroleum products. Apparently, these hydrocarbons are the offender.
All I know is that the above lubricant works very well with black powder, despite its paraffin ingredient. I believe the paraffin is essential; it increases the lubricant's melting point and adds stiffness to felt wads and cloth patches, which helps scrape out fouling.
To lubricate felt wads, such as those used in cap and ball revolvers, or muzzleloading rifle patches, place a small amount of the lubricant in a clean tuna or cat food can.
Melt on a burner at a very low heat. You don't need to fry the lubricant, just melt it.
Drop your revolver wads or patches into the can and stir them around with a clean stick until all wads or patches are saturated. Allow to cool at room temperature; hastening cooling by placing in the refrigerator may cause the ingredients to separate.
After cool, snap a plastic lid (available in the pet food aisle) over the can and store in a cool, dry place. This keeps dust and crud out and retains the lubricant's natural moistness.
I don't bother to squeeze out the excess lubricant from patches or wads but use them as-is.
This is an excellent bullet lubricant for all black powder uses. I also use it to lubricate cast bullets for my .44-40 and .45-70 rifles. I've tried it with .357 Magnum bullets at up to 1,200 feet per second and it prevents leading. I haven't tried it at a higher velocity in the .357 or other calibers, but may someday.
I've used the Ox-Yoke felt Wonder Wads in the past and their dry lubricant is okay, but in my experience the wads lack enough lubricant to keep fouling soft on long-barreled revolvers or rifles.
In cap and ball revolvers, seat the wad firmly on the powder first, then seat the ball. This way, should you forget to charge a chamber with powder, it's easier to remove a felt wad than it is a lead ball.
In the muzzleloading rifle, seat the wad firmly on the powder first, then follow it with a patched round ball. Wads such as these don't work well with hollow-based bullets such as the traditional Minie'. The wad interferes with the gases expanding the bullet's skirt to engage the rifling.
In my .45-70, I seat a well-lubricated wad firmly on the black powder, then seat the bullet. This requires a slight reduction in powder to compensate for the wad's volume but it sure makes for some clean shooting.
This old-time lubricant recipe is a good one. It's inexpensive, versatile and rivals any commercially made lubricant made for black powder. It's about all I use anymore.
