Rendered some mutton kidney leaf fat. Ended up with nice pure white firm tallow. I made up some experimental B.P. lubes I hope to try out this Spring. I didn't come up with this one..1880 formula from S&W & Maynard Co. 3 parts tallow 1 part beeswax. This is a nice smooth lube about like SPG in hardness..readly absorbs into skin when rubbed between fingers. Next, using same ratio as above, I added 1 part castor oil..this is even softer..and greaser, yet shows no tendency for oil to bleed..I thought this would make a good grease cookie. I might try adding 1 part anhydrous lanolin to this one. Had always wanted to try Bayberry wax..U.S. army used it in 1873. This is an extreemly hard and brittle greenish colored wax. I used a razor sharp wood chisel to cut chunks off wax block..and ended up with more fine powder and particles than chunks..the stuff is that brittle. When I first started working with it I figured only a small amount would be needed on account of it's hardness..but H.M. Pope was using it 1-1 with beeswax. I was using a beeswax base, anhydrous lanolin & castor oil. I soon found I could also use equal amounts of bay & beeswax. The bay wax didn't really impart any noticible hardness..but it did make the mix VERY smooth in texture. I ended up making samples of tallow, beesewax, baywax, anhydrous lanolin and castor oil...one with all ingredients..others in combination of one or more..all however contained tallow, beeswax & baywax. Trying out all these combinations should keep me from getting bored for at least a year!
Tallow lube.
- Thread starter .22-5-40
- Start date
KHornet
Well-Known Member
I remember reading about that same lube on some of the turn of the century or shortly after in the manuals of the day, and how they worked particularly well with black powder guns. Good for you for trying it, I would not have the enthusiasm that you seem to have for the old formulas, but just because they are old doesn't mean they weren't good back then, and wont work now! Good luck.
L
Lost Dog
Guest
As a kid I'd watch my grandfather and his older brother melt down beef or mutton tallow and blend it with beeswax. Both of them shot black powder as that was what they had to use when young and smokeless was just coming onto the scene. Even in later years they never did use, as my great uncle would say, "That newfangled stuff's for the birds. I'll stick to what I know.".
And oddly enough when I began to reload I used the same for a few months until I was talked into taking me a can of Unique and some Lyman Ideal lube by the old man at the gun shop I used. But even with the newfangled powder, I still shoot a lot of BP!
So it's good to see some folks are still interested and going at it with such great interest and enthusiasm. Salute!
And oddly enough when I began to reload I used the same for a few months until I was talked into taking me a can of Unique and some Lyman Ideal lube by the old man at the gun shop I used. But even with the newfangled powder, I still shoot a lot of BP!
So it's good to see some folks are still interested and going at it with such great interest and enthusiasm. Salute!
smokeywolf
Well-Known Member
In certain firearms and certain cases (straight walled) although I do use mostly smokeless, I still very much like BP. Of course, in cap & ball and the old Springfield flinter BP is not only essential, but is even more fun, if that's possible.
L
Lost Dog
Guest
Well I'm just tickled pink to see .22-5-40 mixing it up with BP and old school lube. 
Missionary
Well-Known Member
Greetings
Remember the old muzzleloaders with the 1/2 inch hole drilled in the stock back by the butt plate. Hot tallow/beeswax mix was pored into it. Take a patch and rub it on the mix and patch is ready to get a ball centered and rammed. Course these were the mountain rifles with no patch box. Some times today refered to as a "Poor Boy".
Remember the old muzzleloaders with the 1/2 inch hole drilled in the stock back by the butt plate. Hot tallow/beeswax mix was pored into it. Take a patch and rub it on the mix and patch is ready to get a ball centered and rammed. Course these were the mountain rifles with no patch box. Some times today refered to as a "Poor Boy".
KHornet
Well-Known Member
Had one of those Missionary, but never used it with any kind of lube. Just considered it nice to have if I ever wanted to use it. Always carried my pre greased patches in one of those little tins that percussion caps came in, OR in a block with right size holes for the patch and ball to be straight rammed down with a short starter. Good memories.
KHornet
Well-Known Member
25 or 30 years ago somebody gave me a box of cast 500 gr. 458 bullets that were stacked nicely in a small cardboard box. Had no idea of the age of these bullets. However, the bullets were lubed with what I think was a tallow (of some kind), and a wax (of some kind) and had turned hard and flaked off when you picked up a bullet. I boiled a couple of them in a tin can, and the lube came off as a skim of some sort on top of the water when cooled. Didn't have much of an odor, maybe a trace of mutton tallow, but at best very mild.