Yep, I've used the toilet sealant rings for lubricant.
My favorite black powder lubricant --- for felt wads, patches and lead bullets --- is actually a very old factory recipe once used to lubricate .22 rimfire bullets and other outside-lubricated bullets for cartridges such as the .32, .38 and .41 Long Colt.
When I first found the below recipe in a 1943 American Rifleman magazine, I couldn't find real beeswax. So I made a batch with the toilet sealant ring, which is reportedly synthetic beeswax.
It worked fine. Frankly, I can't tell the difference between the synthetic stuff and the real stuff. I don't use the synthetic beeswax anymore because I purchased four pounds of beeswax for $8 nearly two years ago. I'm still using the real stuff.
Perhaps I can't notice a difference because there is comparatively little beeswax in the recipe below. The difference might manifest itself if a greater amount, or straight beeswax, were used. I can't say.
Incidentally, the recipe is:
1 part paraffin (canning paraffin, sold in the cooking aisle)
1 part mutton tallow (sold by Dixie Gun Works)
1/2 part beeswax.
All amounts are by weight. I use a kitchen scale to measure out 200/200/100 grams of ingredients, which nearly fills a quart Mason jar.
I put the ingredients in the jar, then place the jar in four inches of boiling water for a double-boiler effect (the safest way to melt greases and waxes).
Some will argue that paraffin is a petroleum product and should be avoided, since petroleum products typically create black powder fouling that is hard, tarry and difficult to remove.
Paraffin appears to be an exception to this prohibition. A chemist in another website said that canning paraffin lacks the hydrocarbons that other petroleum products have. I don't know about this, but I DO know that the above recipe does NOT produce the hard, tarry fouling associated with other petroleum products.
But back to your original question: Yes, I would use the synthetic beeswax used for toilet rings if it was all you could get. But in the meantime I'd look for a source for real beeswax.
I bought mine at the annual Fort Bridger (Wyoming) Rendezvous during Labor Day weekend. Keep an eye peeled for a rendezvous or a Renaissance Fair in your area. I've often seen beeswax for sale at Ren-Fairs too.
