I keep hearing about home made Muzzle loader lube for ball and patch..Ive used Crisco mostly and some bear fat I rendered up, but it went sour prett quick!! but turned out to be the best fly control bait in the world.

Olive Oil and Beeswax sounds like a good mix, I think its 60% Olive oil and 40% beeswax..Since one is oil and the other is a solid, I assume you melt the beeswax and pour it in with the OIl, correct? So does it remain oil or turn into wax, what is the process to get the 60/40 mix, weigh It or measure it ???????? Clear this up before I mix up a batch..

Whoa! somebodys gotta have an answer..

I have used a 60/40 mix of beeswax and petroleum jelly for black powder bullet lube and cookies and it stays pretty workable in most weather. I measure by volume.

I suspect that the olive oil will make a thinner lube - perfect for roundball patches with the same ratio.
The lube doesn't have to be an exact science to work well, in fact, depending on weather conditions, you may choose to adjust the ratio one way or the other to thin or thicken.

Also, I do melt the beeswax first and then add the other. Seems reasonable to do with the olive oil recipe too.

Ray, if you have access to pure tallow -- preferably sheep -- try mixing half and half with beeswax in a double boiler.
The guys who shoot a lot of Sniders up in Canada are big believers in lanolin.

I had a coffee can full of beautiful bear tallow, but used most of it up making tortillas and biscuits, also pie crusts...was using it in my 54 also, but when I got the stuff out it was rancid and full of flys..Do flys mix well and shoot?

Got it down pat in the Black Powder section, I think I'll just go with Crisco, sure a lot of BP experts like it, and this stuff is complicated enough without worrying about what I put on a patch..

TC's "Bore Butter" is just olive oil and beeswax.

Most "waxes" are really oils that solidify at normal temperatures.
If you want to make your own you can heat the oil enough to melt the wax then mix well until it cools.

Adding wax just makes things a little less messy

Snyper,
wouldn't you know it, amazing how we can complicate the obvious!

I made some lube out of beeswax and olive oil. Seems to work as good as any commercial lube I've used. The consistency is sort of like a thick grease. It's more or less solid but if you swipe a patch through it the patch will pick some up. Its been a while but I think I mixed it about 50/50.

A lot of the time I just use a spit patch for target shooting.

Well I got out moms Olive Oil and dumped my bowstring beeswax in it and got a Vicks bottle full of the same stuff I bought at Sportsman Whse, thick and yellow..

I also bought some pre lubes mattress ticking patches, and with them my gun shot better and the patches looked like they are supposed to..This Ml stuff is getting easier the less I know about it!

Ray, if you are interested in bp lube (and I'm assuming REAL bp here), then sheep tallow (from Dixie gunworks or elsewhere) and beeswax in 50:50 proportions and then throw in a "slug" of jojoba or sperm or meadowfoam seed oil. Maybe a shot of it in say 1/2 # of the above.

easy, simple cheap - beats Crisco 10 ways 'til Sunday.

Perfect, got my sperm from my local vet, so my bullets are registered with the quarter horse Assn. and my barrel never goes limp!

If you hunt deer, save the fat trimmings and
render them down into tallo. Just put them in
a pot and boil. Shut off the pot and let cool.
When cooled down, remove the white grease off
the top of the water and put in a pan. Then
melt this fat on low heat till liquid. Then take
a clean pot and put a piece of screen an place it over the pot and pour the hot grease through
the screen into the pot. The screen will remove
the meat scraps leaving a nice white tallo when
cooled. You can use the tallo as is, or mix with
a little beeswax to firm it up. Store in plastic
tupper ware container with lid. The tallo will
not go rancid and will keep without freezing.
Good for patch lube plain or bullet lube mixed
with the beeswax. Just have to try different mixes to find the consistency you like. Best
blackpowder lube you'll find, Better then bore
butter. Also good for treating leather or for
chapped hands.

Surprised I have not chimed in on this one; best, cheapest, and easiest Minie ball lube?
Crisco. Period.
None of this boiling down bear fat thing; yes it works, but why?

I rendered a bucket full of bear fat out. Man that stuff stunk!
Took a bunch of the tallow home and Mom ran us out of the house!

Sure worked great as boot water proofing. Don't think we could have gotten much cooking done with it at home.

Just knew Ray was going to say something like that!!

George

quote:

Originally posted by Snyper:
TC's "Bore Butter" is just olive oil and beeswax.

Most "waxes" are really oils that solidify at normal temperatures.
If you want to make your own you can heat the oil enough to melt the wax then mix well until it cools.

Adding wax just makes things a little less messy

And a little peppermint oil.

Some I worked up a long , long time ago.

http://www.muzzleloadingforum....opic.php?tid/203261/

Ever try straight Neatsfoot oil right out of the can? You want the pure stuff, with the blends you're on your own.