LUBE THEORIES???

[Southron]

There are some that say you don't have to lube the round balls in a percussion revolver at all. The theory being that when the arm is fired, the black powder fouling in the barrel left by the previous shot "lubes" the ball traveling down the barrel enough to prevent it from leading.

That is one theory...

Then there are those that dip their round lead balls in a mixture of Beeswax and Bore Butter, set them aside on a piece of aluminum foil until the wax hardens and shoots those "waxed balls." The idea being that the heat generated by the firing of the chamber melts the lube on the rear of the ball and forces it forward into the bearing surface of the ball that contacts the barrel and/or the lube on the front of the ball during acceleration and due to heat, melts with the lube moving back to contact the bearing area of the ball, and "lubes" in that way.

That is another theory.

Then there are those that use a naked lead ball and Wonder Wads that have some mysterious type of lube on them that prevents leading.

That is another theory...

Then there are those that use that "Greasy Kid's Stuff" (Crisco, Bore Butter, Water Pump Grease, etc.,) to cover the mouths of the chambers of the cylinder after it is loaded.

That is another theory...

SO WHAT DO YOU THINK?

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE METHOD TO "LUBE" YOUR PERCUSSION REVOLVER?  WHAT IS YOUR THEORY?

THANKS FOR YOUR REPLIES IN ADVANCE!

[G Dog]

My Most Used Way:

I use a variation of Gatefeo’s No. One Lube.  The current batch here is bee’s wax, canning paraffin, olive oil.  I go over ball application.  Kept in a squeeze bottle with viscosity appropriate to the expected ambient temperature,  controlled by more/less olive oil.



Some of My Alternates:

On lazy hikes I carry olive oil in a small glass bottle with a dropper.  Couple-three drops over the ball (.454 or .380,  NOT .451 or .375) seals things up, lubes and works good. Hawg has mentioned doing that.

Sometimes I use a Durafelt wad with a little of that lube mix between the wad and the ball.  I occasionally put a bit of the lube on one side of a wad, let it dry out over time and load it lubed side up. 

(The cylinder pin/arbour gets some Lubriplate 630 AA.  Learned about that lithium grease from Captain Kirk years ago…way good stuff)

[Captainkirk]

I was a fan of Crisco, Bore Butter and Maxi Lube over-ball...until I tried Wonder Wads for the first time and was amazed that I no longer needed to walk around with a rag in my back pocket and hold the gun with a death grip to keep it from squirming out of my hands like a greased pig.
It was an epiphany, of sorts....
I know I can always revert to ol' tried & true if I run outta wads...but I buy in large quantity these days.
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

[StrawHat]

I do not use lube in the chambers or on the balls.  I do lube the arbor and call it good. 

Kevin

[HAWKEN50]

  I use a mix of olive oil and beeswax 50/50. Pretty stiff. Use tween powder and ball

[mike116]

I use lubed wads if I am going shoot a lot of rounds.  If I'm only going to shoot 50 rounds or less through a revolver I don't use anything except lube on the cylinder pin.   I have tried lithium grease and Lubriplate  and bees wax olive oil mixtures,  Ballistol seems to work as good as anything on the cylinder pin.   I usually shoot several different revolvers on each range outing, usually 50 rounds or so from each gun so just a round ball and some powder most of the time for me.

[Mad Dog Stafford]

Hi Gang, I have been lubing some or not any lube at all. It all works for me. 

I just don't like to have any lube get on my grips...that sucks trying to hold on to that slippery grip! 

[ssb73q]

Hi Southron, I have used no lube, overball lub, and lubed wads. Accuracy was the same for all three methods. There's never any leading in a good barrel. Like the Captain say, overball lube has the revolver like a greased eel. After using those three methods, I now pretty much use the lubed wads method. I was concerned about chainfire and don't use no lube anymore. While the lubed ball method may work, I don't like the idea of handling lubed balls. You can get lubed wads for a reasonable price from Sagebrush:

http://www.sagebrushproducts.com/catalog/item/7354236/7655431.htm

I buy the 1000 quantity.

Regards,
Richard

[Mad Dog Stafford]

Oh Yeah...KEY word here is not to let lube or oil get on your grips. 

[shooter13]

Richard - You provide a link to Sagebrush, which has some great deals on wads and a whole lotta other things.  Sagebrush says it's a dealer site.  Can regular citizens shop[ there?

[ssb73q]

Hi shooter, I'm not a dealer and buy from them.

Regards,
Richard