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Is capping a (black powder) cartridge revolver cylinder with Crisco a viable method of lubrication?


Wily Willie

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Recently, I had a brain-fart while loading  a batch of .45 Colt cartridges with black powder and some commercial bullets that lacked lube grooves (which I'm not planning to buy again), and failed to put any lubed wads in the cases. Can I work around this by being sure to shoot them in  a revolver rather than a rifle, and filling the mouth of each chamber with Crisco (as if it were a cap and ball revolver)? Or is there something I'm missing that makes this impractical?

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Just put the crisco in a little tupperware container & dip the nose of the bullet in it & then slide it into your revolver chamber.

Crisco does get kinda messy, but it will work.

--Dawg

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I wouldn't use straight Crisco. It would melt out of the cylinder and be mostly all over the outside of the gun when I tried it with C&B. Better to mix about 75% Bee's Wax and 25 % Crisco. Then put a dab of this in every other chamber(1-3-5) after loading. Be plenty of lube.

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I think Goody is on the right track.  I normally lube with 50-50 beeswax-crisco and it holds its shape well in winter and summer.  In your situation I would try straight beeswax scraped into the chamber mouths, either before or after loading. You don’t have to make a plug or coat the whole chamber; just getting some in there will keep the barrel-cylinder gap juicy from one shot to another.  The undiluted beeswax should work well enough and be easier to handle.  But to avoid Murphy’s Law, I would do this at a monthly match rather than risk unwanted consequences at a big match.  Experimenting with a new procedure before a match is always a good idea.

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Wiley:

Yes, you can.  In fact, that is how I've been shooting BP for years in my revolvers, using regular smokeless bullets (I do melt out the hard lube, but don't know that that is really necessary).  But I use Butter Flavor Crisco, as suggested by some pard many years ago.  I think it may have a higher melting temp than regular Crisco.  I carry a small plastic squirt bottle (it originally came from a gunshow, was a sample bottle of CLP).  At the loading table I squirt a good blob over each of the first two rounds to fire, which are exposed on the left side of the pistol.  Never had it melt out, even in Texas summers.  Now, I'm not lubing it and then walking around with it that way or leaving on the loading table in the sun for 30 minutes.  But like I said, no problem and lubing just the first two rounds does keep the fouling soft and cleanup afterwards is easy.

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9 hours ago, Ramblin Gambler said:

Crisco smells bad.  Lube with bacon grease.  You'll be the most popular cowboy at the match. 

Bacon grease and bees wax has a wonderful smell.

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10 hours ago, Ramblin Gambler said:

Crisco smells bad.  Lube with bacon grease.  You'll be the most popular cowboy at the match. 

But do watch behind you for hungry bears.  

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I'd use Bore Butter from the squirt tube - should be available anywhere there are muzzle loading supplies.

Midway shows it out of stock, but here's what to  look for:

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1073416017/thompson-center-natural-lube-1000-plus-bore-butter-tube

 

If you had thousands of rounds to correct, then futzing around with making your own 50-50 Crisco (or lard) and Beeswax would be worth it.

Pure beeswax will not be dispensed easily into a cylinder.  It's fairly hard and stiff.  Pure Crisco will be really soft.

 

In a pinch, I'd pick up a stick of SPG or other BP lubricant used in lubri-sizing tools.   With a central hole.  Then slice off a 1/8" thick ring and press off a chunk to top off each loaded chamber.   A ring ought to do five loaded chambers easily.

 

Good luck, GJ

 

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by the way, I use this over-ball lube from Carlos El Hombre:

60% toilet seal wax

40% crisco

melt them together in a jar set in boiling water or a microwave

cheap, easy, gets the job done

 

I don't know if the bacon grease reply was serious or not, but beware of bacon grease, as it contains a lot of salt -- not good as a residue in steel barrels

--Dawg

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2 hours ago, Prairie Dawg, SASS #50329 said:

I don't know if the bacon grease reply was serious or not, but beware of bacon grease, as it contains a lot of salt -- not good as a residue in steel barrels

 

I don't shoot BP so i don't know any better.  But it was only partially a joke.  The crisco does smell horrible, and I'm pretty sure I've smelled bacon grease in a BP load.  Maybe it was something else pleasant like beef tallow. 

 

 

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Or you could just shoot them the way they are and brush clean your barrels after each stage.  Easy to clean up after 5 shots without any hard fouling.  I know BP guys that use this technique with there rifles with no issues.    Just a thought

 

chili

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On ‎4‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 3:03 PM, Chili Pepper Pete 11917 said:

Or you could just shoot them the way they are and brush clean your barrels after each stage.  Easy to clean up after 5 shots without any hard fouling.  I know BP guys that use this technique with there rifles with no issues.    Just a thought

 

chili

 

Plus one to Chili -

 

If I need to load BP shells and don't have my lubed wonder wads (my preference for lube in the cartridge), I'll just load them sans lube and swab between stages.  I do emphasize, though, that you should swab between EACH stage - especially if hot and humid.  When I fail to do so . . . let's just say accuracy suffers and jams are not unheard of. 

 

Full disclosure, I rarely do this with my revolvers, however, as they are a little harder to swab out than the rifle; since I usually shoot cap 'n ball, though, it doesn't really cause a problem.  Maybe just make these rifle-only rounds?

 

Keep your powder dry,

 

Wild Ben

 

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On ‎4‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 7:18 AM, J-BAR #18287 said:

I think Goody is on the right track.  I normally lube with 50-50 beeswax-crisco and it holds its shape well in winter and summer.  In your situation I would try straight beeswax scraped into the chamber mouths, either before or after loading. You don’t have to make a plug or coat the whole chamber; just getting some in there will keep the barrel-cylinder gap juicy from one shot to another.  The undiluted beeswax should work well enough and be easier to handle.  But to avoid Murphy’s Law, I would do this at a monthly match rather than risk unwanted consequences at a big match.  Experimenting with a new procedure before a match is always a good idea.

 

This is really all you need to do, even when running Big Lube Bullets I will put a big gubber of lube in one of the cylinder after cleaning BP.  First thing out of the barrel gap and helps to fill all the holes before the BP residue arrives

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