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Sight aligner, trigger squeezer, brass flinger
OK, USA
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Posted: 8/11/2022 10:04:05 AM EDT
I think I'd like to go and shoot my revolver for the first time this weekend, but I saw that a lubed wad or grease is recommend (but not necessarily required?) In each chamber.
Would Vaseline or Crisco be an adequate substitute? If so, which of them would you use? I imagine Vaseline would be harder to remove during cleaning but since I have zero experience I will defer to your knowledge in that area! |
Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom.
~John Adams I'd rather see farther than I can shoot, than shoot farther than I can see. ~Unattributed arfcommer |
Long ago I used Crisco, it was ok but would melt. I wonder if Vaseline could burn more easily.. Lately been using Bore Butter which is more solid.
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Correct about crisco if it’s not too hot out crisco will work.. crisco is use so you don’t have the other cylinders going off due to the sparks…
And it doesn’t have to Crisco brand the Walmart brand will work just as well |
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Vaseline is petroleum jelly. You do not want to use petroleum products with a black powder firearm.
Bore butter will work, and there are others specially formulated for pistols. |
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Do bears bear? Do bees be?
'Cause you ugly and Yo Mama dresses you FUNKAY!!! |
Sight aligner, trigger squeezer, brass flinger
OK, USA
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Temps are going to be in the 100s, and sunny. That counts as hot to me, but maybe not in context.
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Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom.
~John Adams I'd rather see farther than I can shoot, than shoot farther than I can see. ~Unattributed arfcommer |
Dry felt 1/8" thick .44 wad with healthy smear of crisco on one side dry side to powder (youll get some on anyway via handling -no worries you just dont want a big blob of grease on the powder especially in hot temps
Powder in chamber, geased wad then ball then ram it down Rotate and repeat . Seal at front shoud be by lead -you want a sliver of a ring to shave off the ball. Balls come 451-454 and while a good tight friction fit works seeing that lead ring lets you know for sure If you are shooting in a dry fire prone area be aware the you will be flinging sparks and embers and such Be safe and have fun |
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FWIW im experimenting with beeswax/crisco and beeswax/crisco/lanolin for my rifle lube and grease needs
Lanolin will make it more sticky Beeswax will raise melting temp/point and make it harder/stiffer |
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Sight aligner, trigger squeezer, brass flinger
OK, USA
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Thanks for all the tips.
It's interesting that most of you are suggesting Crisco or similar, and one of my friends elsewhere (who does also shoot black powder) recommended Vaseline. I'm thinking of dabbing just a little bit of it onto the chambers with a cotton swab; is it really all that likely that burning powder could burn *through* Vaseline enough to cause a chain fire? Maybe I will shoot a cylinder with Crisco-dabbed patches, and then the next cylinder with Vaseline. Experiments with the "get both" principle don't really bother me. |
Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom.
~John Adams I'd rather see farther than I can shoot, than shoot farther than I can see. ~Unattributed arfcommer |
Avoid vaseline it is petrol based
Just crisco will be fine |
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I use prelubed patches I believe midwayusa has them
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Originally Posted By fervid_dryfire: Thanks for all the tips. It's interesting that most of you are suggesting Crisco or similar, and one of my friends elsewhere (who does also shoot black powder) recommended Vaseline. I'm thinking of dabbing just a little bit of it onto the chambers with a cotton swab; is it really all that likely that burning powder could burn *through* Vaseline enough to cause a chain fire? Maybe I will shoot a cylinder with Crisco-dabbed patches, and then the next cylinder with Vaseline. Experiments with the "get both" principle don't really bother me. View Quote So that isn't how real chain fires happen - as long as there is a tight friction fit between ball and cylinder cavity walls there ain't a spark that will get past. Now, crisco over the tops of the balls COULD provide some weather/water proofing possibly, but it isn't there to stop a chain fire. You lube ML stuff to keep the carbon soft and from forming baked on residue in the barrel, which like any other deposit in a barrel can kill accuracy. And in a muzzle loader, slow/hard/impossible loading, etc. If you want to test using vaseline, go for it. I prefer the crisco because it works, and I started with it because that is what people who have been doing this for a lot longer than I have told me to do. That said, if you wanna experiment with vaseline, go for it. But if you alternate cylinders, it won't be a valid test - you need to shoot a session with crisco, then clean completely, then shoot a session with vaseline. But you really only want to use Crisco or some other natural lube (got any bear fat?). Has to do with the way it handles heat and burning and the carbon/ash and such. When it comes to cleaning, again I'm back at "natural only" ... because that is what I was told, and saw a demo of, and it seemed to work and it does so that is what I do. What is it I do? I clean with veg oil. Remove cylinder, mop/qtips in veg oil in cylinder holes, pipe cleaner thru nipple, then wipe/dry/cleanup and repeat. More veg oil on a mop in and out of barrel a few times, nylon brush in barrel a bit, then clean/dry mop then repeat that as well. Everything else gets a good wipe down, hammer back and wiped and q-tipped and such, and then all back together and done. I like the super heavy duty paper "shop rag towels" the autoparts store has by the roll, takes 2 or 3 for a cleaning. |
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No need for gobs of crisco over the balls. The first shot splatters it all to hell anyway.
Lubed felt wads under the ball are all you need. For an extended shooting session, some ballistol to hose the arbor down will keep you shooting longer without binding. These guns were never shot more than a cylinder or three without cleaning, they were never designed to be. It was a sidearm with a tedious and complicated reloading process. |
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if your balls are slightly bigger than the cylinder chamber then I dont see the need to use anything to prevent chain fires.
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Petro based stuff that works with BP include any that are in the paraffin group, IE Paraffin wax, mineral oil and vasaline. Use these before you use any commercial goop, crisco or vegetable oils/greases. Animal based greases and oils are fine, some are better than others. In all reality, you can skip the grease in front of the ball, but it does help keep the barrel fouling softer.
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Sight aligner, trigger squeezer, brass flinger
OK, USA
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Thanks again to all of you for the advice- I had a lot of "I don't know what I don't know" before starting this thread, so I am doing better by the minute.
Last shooting session was all Crisco and only 12 shots. Next time I think I will shoot 12 with Vaseline. Probably going to be the weekend after this one. |
Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom.
~John Adams I'd rather see farther than I can shoot, than shoot farther than I can see. ~Unattributed arfcommer |
Out of those 2 choice, "crisco" (or any vegetable base product) is preferable to petroleum based but, as another poster pointed out, after your first shot the other chambers will have started to (if not completely) blow out the lube out of the remaining chambers.
A tight fitting lead ball (one that shaves a thin ring of lead when seated) and a lubed ⅛" wool wad is the best way to go. |
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Originally Posted By Y-T71: Out of those 2 choice, "crisco" (or any vegetable base product) is preferable to petroleum based but, as another poster pointed out, after your first shot the other chambers will have started to (if not completely) blow out the lube out of the remaining chambers. A tight fitting lead ball (one that shaves a thin ring of lead when seated) and a lubed ⅛" wool wad is the best way to go. View Quote Vegetable based can be the worst to use, unless you get one with a high flash point. The last thing you want to happen in a barrel is the development of a “seasoned” coating. Plus, vegetable oils and greases can polymerize over time and make functioning very hard. Mutton tallow is the best animal fat to use, but lard and beef tallow can be used, as can pure neetsfoot oil. Mineral oil can be used as well as vasaline and softened paraffin wax. Paraffin wax was used in the era of C&B pistol. |
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My father was a civil war reenactor for ~20 years. The group he reenacted with is going on 40+ years.
They all use vaseline. |
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I don’t use any lube on my 3 cap and ball revolvers. My 81 year old friend doesn’t use any lube on his revolvers.
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I've used Crisco in revolvers and rifle-muskets for 40+ years and never had any problems.
Jon |
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Originally Posted By NAM: My father was a civil war reenactor for ~20 years. The group he reenacted with is going on 40+ years. They all use vaseline. View Quote Do they shoot blanks or actual balls? Just curious. Eons ago I used Crisco religiously, but since I got back into the sport, I use a tight fitting ball atop a greased wad, specifically Muzzle Loader originals felt wads with Bore Butter lube. No issues. |
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As long as you use the correct size ball it will shave a bit of lead off as you load it and seal the cylinder.
No need for any extra stuff. |
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Look up vegetable fiber wads
Loaded between powder and ball to make a seal to keep cross fire down and leading down |
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Crisco is better. I use paper cartridges in mine and don't use any lube/seal on top of the ball.
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Originally Posted By Colt653: +1 avoid any petroleum based oils with black powder. https://i.imgur.com/K3U6HKJ.jpg https://i.imgur.com/5LIQc0C.jpg https://i.imgur.com/oebXE9q.jpg . . . . . A little trick I learned on another forum. Beeswax/olive oil, melted, dip paper towels, allow to dry, punch them into thin wads. https://i.imgur.com/ldiLoCq.jpg https://i.imgur.com/RtjIw5r.jpg Also, use oversized lead balls, that shave a ring of lead off when you seat them https://i.imgur.com/NyuMxr1.jpg https://i.imgur.com/aAkVhoy.jpg https://i.imgur.com/0O3NOqy.jpg https://i.imgur.com/7CYbpb5.jpg View Quote That is *extremely* clever; thanks for the idea! |
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Originally Posted By armoredman: Do they shoot blanks or actual balls? Just curious. Eons ago I used Crisco religiously, but since I got back into the sport, I use a tight fitting ball atop a greased wad, specifically Muzzle Loader originals felt wads with Bore Butter lube. No issues. View Quote Primarily blanks for reenacting, but some of them did like to get some BP range time with live ammo. |
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Lots of interesting info in this thread... thanks guys.
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I tried that whole cancer thing. It wasn't for me. Good Riddance.
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Originally Posted By JupiterMaximus: Vegetable based can be the worst to use, unless you get one with a high flash point. The last thing you want to happen in a barrel is the development of a “seasoned” coating. Plus, vegetable oils and greases can polymerize over time and make functioning very hard. Mutton tallow is the best animal fat to use, but lard and beef tallow can be used, as can pure neetsfoot oil. Mineral oil can be used as well as vasaline and softened paraffin wax. Paraffin wax was used in the era of C&B pistol. View Quote Most of what I'm reading is avoid petroleum based lube/waxes (with the exception being, maybe, parrifin) Everything I've read is that you do want your bore/chambers to be seasoned. I've been using olive oil to treat my chambers/bore for 20 years and haven't had any problems. Tell me more about how my advice was wrong please. |
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Originally Posted By Y-T71: Most of what I'm reading is avoid petroleum based lube/waxes (with the exception being, maybe, parrifin) Parrifin oil, parrafin grease and parrafin wax can all be used without worry with BP. Those are otherwise known as mineral oil, petroleum jelly and gulf wax. Everything I've read is that you do want your bore/chambers to be seasoned. Just tell me why would you want an extra layer of hardened soot of non uniform thickness in your bore? That is exactly what a seasoned coating is. I've been using olive oil to treat my chambers/bore for 20 years and haven't had any problems. Remind me not to buy any muzzleloaders from you. Its no fun getting baked on crud out of barrels when things go south. Tell me more about how my advice was wrong please. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By Y-T71: Originally Posted By JupiterMaximus: Vegetable based can be the worst to use, unless you get one with a high flash point. The last thing you want to happen in a barrel is the development of a “seasoned” coating. Plus, vegetable oils and greases can polymerize over time and make functioning very hard. Mutton tallow is the best animal fat to use, but lard and beef tallow can be used, as can pure neetsfoot oil. Mineral oil can be used as well as vasaline and softened paraffin wax. Paraffin wax was used in the era of C&B pistol. Most of what I'm reading is avoid petroleum based lube/waxes (with the exception being, maybe, parrifin) Parrifin oil, parrafin grease and parrafin wax can all be used without worry with BP. Those are otherwise known as mineral oil, petroleum jelly and gulf wax. Everything I've read is that you do want your bore/chambers to be seasoned. Just tell me why would you want an extra layer of hardened soot of non uniform thickness in your bore? That is exactly what a seasoned coating is. I've been using olive oil to treat my chambers/bore for 20 years and haven't had any problems. Remind me not to buy any muzzleloaders from you. Its no fun getting baked on crud out of barrels when things go south. Tell me more about how my advice was wrong please. Mine in bold above I tend to follow the advice of those who have been doing this stuff for 4-5 decades now. In 2 years I’ll start my 4th decade of shooting BP. |
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Originally Posted By JupiterMaximus: Mine in bold above I tend to follow the advice of those who have been doing this stuff for 4-5 decades now. In 2 years I’ll start my 4th decade of shooting BP. View Quote Sorry, I'm still firmly in the "no petroleum based lube camp", alls evidenced by most of the posters in this thread. I have never had a hardened layer of "uneven soot" or sticky black tar in any of my BP firearms and I've never had my olive oil "polymerize" (or go rancid); my bores load smooth as greased ball bearings. I can only guess that your definition of 'seasoned' and mine vary greatly. I got my first BP rifle in '87 for Christmas and had access to BP shooters knowledge since then, I had a black powder only firearms dealer, old guy who worked out of a shop in his basement, less than a block from my house that probably could've claimed me on his taxes for the amount of time I spent hanging out there as a child so I have a tiny bit of knowledge too, so I'm not exactly a newbie here. And, it's your lucky day, Champ, because my BP firearms and not for sale. |
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I use wads which should be enough protection againsta chainfire but my club requires something on top of the wad. I use Crisco.
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Originally Posted By Y-T71: Sorry, I'm still firmly in the "no petroleum based lube camp", alls evidenced by most of the posters in this thread. I have never had a hardened layer of "uneven soot" or sticky black tar in any of my BP firearms and I've never had my olive oil "polymerize" (or go rancid); my bores load smooth as greased ball bearings. I can only guess that your definition of 'seasoned' and mine vary greatly. I got my first BP rifle in '87 for Christmas and had access to BP shooters knowledge since then, I had a black powder only firearms dealer, old guy who worked out of a shop in his basement, less than a block from my house that probably could've claimed me on his taxes for the amount of time I spent hanging out there as a child so I have a tiny bit of knowledge too, so I'm not exactly a newbie here. And, it's your lucky day, Champ, because my BP firearms and not for sale. View Quote I build mine anyway. Now head on over the ALR, and search for postings by Mad Monk and get ready for your head to implode from the info. |
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I love these black powder debates. They never end, even if one side is proven wrong, they stick to their methods forever. The classic example is the use of Windex for removing corrosive fouling. It works, it works well, but so does plain water.
Is this a similar case? Is there a valid reason for avoiding petroleum based products when used with black powder? My question is not if one is superior to the other, either in performance or economy. Is there a valid reason to the theory of not using petroleum based products? |
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Originally Posted By grendelbane:... ... Is there a valid reason for avoiding petroleum based products when used with black powder? ... View Quote petroleum based oils when mixed with black powder tend to make a tar like fouling that is harder to clean, and tends to gum up the action https://www.gunsweek.com/en/technics/articles/jojoba-oil-black-powder-guns |
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Originally Posted By Colt653: petroleum based oils when mixed with black powder tend to make a tar like fouling that is harder to clean, and tends to gum up the action View Quote OK, a valid point. Also historically petroleum based products would have seen very little use in the black powder era. Yet animal based lubricants were widely used, but seldom get mentioned today. There is a shortage of sperm oil today, but still plenty of lard. Is this lack of animal products economic based or performance based? |
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I clean and oil with BALLISTOL BALLISTOL + Water in a spray bottle, aka "moose milk" cleans well, and the wate evaporates, leaving the oil behind. Never had trouble with rust. I make my own bore butter from beeswax and Olive oil. . . . Disassembly and cleaning Remington Cap and Ball Revolvers Part 1 |
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So you use a petroleum based product for cleaning and oiling.
The bore butter is a mix of animal and vegetable products. (Bees are certainly closer to animals though they do make beeswax from plants). |
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Originally Posted By grendelbane: So you use a petroleum based product for cleaning and oiling. The bore butter is a mix of animal and vegetable products. (Bees are certainly closer to animals though they do make beeswax from plants. View Quote Ballistol works well on black powder firearms. I'm not a chemist, but it's very popular with back powder shooters. I'm not interested in sparing about it. Use what ever you like. https://ballistol.com/faqs/ |
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I am not a chemist either, but I can read the MSDS. Ballistol contains mineral oil.
I am not trying to start an argument here, just trying to get some clarification on things. Thank you for your information. |
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Originally Posted By grendelbane: I love these black powder debates. They never end, even if one side is proven wrong, they stick to their methods forever. The classic example is the use of Windex for removing corrosive fouling. It works, it works well, but so does plain water. ? View Quote Windex is suggested because it contains Ammonia. However no one ever recommends using Ammonia alone, and Windex doesn't contain enough ammonia to make a difference. It was convenient to have it in a sprayer, and cheap enough. But these days bottled water is everywhere. |
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When shooting my Pietta Colt style C&B revolvers, I'll take a dab of bore butter and wipe it on the arbor. This keeps everything moving and allows me to shoot it a week at a time between cleanings. I then fire 6 caps on 6 empty chambers to clear the nipples.
I like to load with dry Wonder Wads or home made wool felt wads. My loading procedure is powder, wad, dab or Bore Butter, then ball. If I didn't have Bore Butter (available at Walmart), I would use Crisco. The goal of lube is to keep the powder fouling loose in the barrel making it easier to clean. If I don't have Wonder Wads or home made wool felt wads, I'll load powder, ball, and lube over the top of the ball. If I'm out shooting, I don't find it necessary to put lube on top of the ball, every single cylinder. If all you have is Vasoline and don't want to drive over to Walmart, go for it. It's not going to hurt anything. I personally think the Petroleum thing is BS Wives' Tale. I clean my C&B revolvers with cold tap water either from the faucet or from the garden hose. I follow that with normal modern gun cleaning practices to include swabbing all the chambers. My final step is to hose down my guns with WD40 or Ballistol or whatever gun oil I have on hand. Never had a problem. Other ideas I think are BS. 1. Boiling hot water for cleaning. 2. Soap for cleaning. 3. Seasoning a barrel. |
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Vaseline will burn. Vaseline is used as a combustible velocity booster in the skirts of air gun pellets.
Putting it around actual fire as a “safety” measure verges on insanity. |
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Originally Posted By Surfgun: Vaseline will burn. Vaseline is used as a combustible velocity booster in the skirts of air gun pellets. Putting it around actual fire as a “safety” measure verges on insanity. View Quote Crisco burns, Bore Butter burns, Olive Oil burns. The purpose of lube is to keep the powder fouling in the bore soft. It's not a safety measure. An oversized lead round ball that cuts a lead ring is the safety measure. |
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Originally Posted By JupiterMaximus: Vegetable based can be the worst to use, unless you get one with a high flash point. The last thing you want to happen in a barrel is the development of a “seasoned” coating. Plus, vegetable oils and greases can polymerize over time and make functioning very hard. Mutton tallow is the best animal fat to use, but lard and beef tallow can be used, as can pure neetsfoot oil. Mineral oil can be used as well as vasaline and softened paraffin wax. Paraffin wax was used in the era of C&B pistol. View Quote Honestly, we never want to wash a seasoned pan in soap and water for fear of losing the seasoning. The advice for cleaning BP is hot soapy water. So I'd expect better from TC. Attached File |
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Originally Posted By drobs: Crisco burns, Bore Butter burns, Olive Oil burns. The purpose of lube is to keep the powder fouling in the bore soft. It's not a safety measure. An oversized lead round ball that cuts a lead ring is the safety measure. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By drobs: Originally Posted By Surfgun: Vaseline will burn. Vaseline is used as a combustible velocity booster in the skirts of air gun pellets. Putting it around actual fire as a “safety” measure verges on insanity. Crisco burns, Bore Butter burns, Olive Oil burns. The purpose of lube is to keep the powder fouling in the bore soft. It's not a safety measure. An oversized lead round ball that cuts a lead ring is the safety measure. Combustibility, thresholds are a thing. Petroleum based products burn with gusto versus food based burn rates of things like Crisco or the common fritto. |
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I don't post here very often... BUT i need to dig this up I was looking for some info on lube and this popped up and I thought of an old poss over on CAScity
I used to shoot Cowboy Action and I started with 2 Pietta 1858 Remington New Model Army Sheriff models and I never lubed the tops but I make lube for my Rossie M92 45 Colt. I was first like most here and avoided all petroleum products and stuck with Bees Wax, Lard/Crisco, Plant Oil. Then I read this article about using Vaseline and Paraffin/Gulf Wax and have been using it ever since and I have shot many 5 stage matches with Bees Wax, Crisco, Vaseline(petroleum jelly) Paraffin wax(Gulf Wax),. These last 2 are both petroleum products but I have shot 50 + straight rounds through my Taylor & Co 1873 Winchester ans M92 Rossi and 25 through each of my Pietta 1873 Colt single actions and not one issue I use Big Lube Bullets and the guns are greasy and dirty at the end of the day but there are no hang ups form fouling from using petroleum products. Clean up is as easy as black powder clean up is hot soap and water some Balaastol and in the safe CAScity Thread about Black powder lube and petroleum based lube basically if it's edible and petroleum based you can use it. And this is the last stage of the day. B-Western Gunfighter? Black Powder. https://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php?topic=41064.0 Shooting is Wallace Foster using the above mentioned lube Missed the last shot.... https://youtu.be/FXj-c_dyqnw |
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Originally Posted By Stryfe: Honestly, we never want to wash a seasoned pan in soap and water for fear of losing the seasoning. The advice for cleaning BP is hot soapy water. So I'd expect better from TC. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/32913/20221204_143649_jpg-2624164.JPG View Quote I never used hot soapy water to clean BP fouling, and do not advise to do such. The seasoned bore crap is just that, crap. |
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Originally Posted By grendelbane: I am not a chemist either, but I can read the MSDS. Ballistol contains mineral oil. I am not trying to start an argument here, just trying to get some clarification on things. Thank you for your information. View Quote Yes Ballistol contains mineral oil. Petroleum products in the Paraffin class can be used. Every seriously dedicated muzzleloader builder and shooter knows all this stuff. |
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