Bullet lubricant / cartridge wrapping material

[Bob]

I have an 1862 Armi Sport Richmond that I use for hunting and have been using SPG bullet lubricant for the .58 Minnie balls but have unfortunately run out. With the dollar exchange rate it’s a bit expensive to stock up again with this lubricant. Does anyone have a good recipe for lubricant / grease? Further I have been wrapping the Minnie's (separate to the powder prior to wrapping the cartridge) in a grease proof paper but if I don’t use them in a reasonably short period and leave them for a month or more the grease dries out. Is there anyone who would know of a more successful material to wrap the cartridge in without the lube drying out?

Bob Crowe

[Silas]

Re: Bullet lubricant / cartridge wrapping material

Toward the bottom of the page of every theead, you'll find a list of similar threads. After commencing a thread, it's useful to go back to your post and review similar threads. One that I noticed is this one : http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/...d-Minnie-Balls

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Bullet lubricant / cartridge wrapping material

Hallo!

PM sent.

Curt

[maillemaker]

Re: Bullet lubricant / cartridge wrapping material

I have an 1862 Armi Sport Richmond that I use for hunting and have been using SPG bullet lubricant for the .58 Minnie balls but have unfortunately run out. With the dollar exchange rate it’s a bit expensive to stock up again with this lubricant. Does anyone have a good recipe for lubricant / grease? Further I have been wrapping the Minnie's (separate to the powder prior to wrapping the cartridge) in a grease proof paper but if I don’t use them in a reasonably short period and leave them for a month or more the grease dries out. Is there anyone who would know of a more successful material to wrap the cartridge in without the lube drying out?

Hi Bob,

You can make period lube from the 1855 or 1861 Ordnance Manuals and it is not terribly expensive. The 1855 recipe is 3 parts beeswax to 1 part mutton tallow. The 1861 recipe is 8 parts beeswax to 1 part mutton tallow. I bought mutton tallow from Dixie Gun Works but if you are in another country you can probably find a local source for it.

I made the 1861 recipe of 8:1 and found it to be much waxier than the 50/50 Crisco/Beeswax lube I normally use in competition. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that using a period-style minie ball with 3 grease grooves (RCBS-500M mold) that I could shoot 20+ rounds consecutively with little change in loading. So the period lube works. In fact I find the period lube recipe to feel similar to SPG to the touch. It has a firm feel similar to playdough but somewhat firmer and waxier.

I have noticed that my unused competition bullets with the 50/50 Crisco/Beeswax do dry out in short order. I have not stored the period-lube bullets for any length of time but my guess is that being far more waxy they will be less prone to drying out and/or fouling the paper of the cartridge, which is probably one of the reasons they used it. The British ultimately moved to 100% beeswax as the tallow caused oxidization of the bullet. However the British used a smooth-sided "Pritchett" style of bullet paper-patched with the paper being dipped in the wax and thus carrying the lube. This is the British "Enfield" style of cartridge. The Confederacy adopted this cartridge officially in 1864 as I recall.

For optimal results I recommend not lubing bullets until you are ready to use them. I size and lube at the same time using a Lyman Lubrisizer and while I sometimes have a cache of bullets already cast up I do not lubricate until the week before I need them.

Steve

[Bob]

Re: Bullet lubricant / cartridge wrapping material

Hey Curt.

Thanks, I have replied.

Bob