Anyone use pur bees wax

One of these days I'll try making some lube pills, but it always seemed like a lot of valuable wax going downrange.
Click to expand...
When we had bees, we'd sell our wax to a local (but nationally distributed) candle maker.
Would you rather see your wax go down range, doing something productive, or just go up in candle smoke? :rolleyes:
 
I've used a combination of Bees wax, paraffin, and mutton tallow (Gatofeo's recipe) with great results.
 
I wonder exactly they used in olden days or at least what was common.
Click to expand...

This is from a 1864 Starr fire arms catalog on loading procedures.

"The ball must always be lubricated, to prevent the barrel from leading. The best method is to fill up the chambers (after the ball is rammed home) with paraffin, spermacetti, or tallow, so as to completely cover the balls. This performs effectually the lubrication and protects the charge from dampness."
 
Spermacetti!!!
Yikes, if you think lamb tallow is getting hard to find, just try to get Sperm Whale oil these days.

With respect to pure lanolin: I tried my local pharmacy and all they had was an expensive nipple ointment for nursing mothers. Subsequently, I eBayed a 14-oz container of DAX hair product that said in large letters "100% Pure LANOLIN" on the label. When I got the emulsified goo, there was a small print qualifying prefix that read "Compounded with" that hadn't been apparent in the eBay pic, nor the DAX web site.
 
I tried Gatefeo's recipe, but used unsalted lard, bee's wax and paraffin because I cannot find mutton tallow anywhere. Used it this weekend on some felt wads, and seemed to do the trick just fine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top