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Cheapest/easiest way to lube Minnie balls?
- Thread starter DavidB2
- Start date
maillemaker
New member
Cheapest way is just heat up some lube in a tin on a hot plate and dip the bullets in and take them out.
There are a variety of mechanical implements out there to apply lube also, as shown above.
I use a Lyman Lubrisizer to size and lubricate my bullets in one go when making up cartridges at home.
I use a mixture of 50/50 beeswax/Crisco.
Steve
There are a variety of mechanical implements out there to apply lube also, as shown above.
I use a Lyman Lubrisizer to size and lubricate my bullets in one go when making up cartridges at home.
I use a mixture of 50/50 beeswax/Crisco.
Steve
bedbugbilly
New member
Your index finger and a 1 lb. can of plain Crisco. Dip your finger in and get some on the end, smear into the hollow base of the Minie Ball - then repeat with remaining Minie balls needing lube. It's worked for years for N-SSA shooting of the .58 caliber rifled musket musket and other rifled muskets utilizing hollow base Minies. I have fired tens of thousands of them lubed that way over the past 50 years and they work just fine in a number of original rifled muskets as well as reproductions. There is no need to lube what most people would call the "lube grooves" on a Minie Ball.
The purpose of any BP lube is to keep the fouling soft - the Crisco does the job just fine. Good luck and have fun.
If you want to pre-measure your loads for your rifled musket - go to the N-SSA site and click on the sutler page. Sutlers such as The Winchester Sutler, Lodgewood mfg., etc. carry plastic tubes just for that purpose. Pour you measured charge in, grease the hollow base of the Minie with Crisco and put the Minie in the top of the tube nose first as a "stopper". When ready to load, pull the Minie out, dump your charge in, insert the Mine and ram home - cap and fire. With practice, you should be able to get 3 shots per minute.
The purpose of any BP lube is to keep the fouling soft - the Crisco does the job just fine. Good luck and have fun.
If you want to pre-measure your loads for your rifled musket - go to the N-SSA site and click on the sutler page. Sutlers such as The Winchester Sutler, Lodgewood mfg., etc. carry plastic tubes just for that purpose. Pour you measured charge in, grease the hollow base of the Minie with Crisco and put the Minie in the top of the tube nose first as a "stopper". When ready to load, pull the Minie out, dump your charge in, insert the Mine and ram home - cap and fire. With practice, you should be able to get 3 shots per minute.
maillemaker
New member
I agree with Hawg.
Pure Crisco will be too runny in the summer time.
Per the US Ordnance manuals, lube was specifically warned not to be left on the base of the bullet because it would foul the powder in the cartridge.
I don't doubt that you can find a load workup that works with the bullet cavities filled with lube, but I don't think it's necessary. Lube on the grease grooves does what it is supposed to do - lubricate the bullet. It also keeps the fouling down.
Even using the 1862 lube recipe of 8 parts beeswax to 1 part tallow, on traditional Minie balls with their somewhat anemic grease grooves, you can load and fire them pretty much indefinitely during a course of fire.
Steve
Pure Crisco will be too runny in the summer time.
Per the US Ordnance manuals, lube was specifically warned not to be left on the base of the bullet because it would foul the powder in the cartridge.
I don't doubt that you can find a load workup that works with the bullet cavities filled with lube, but I don't think it's necessary. Lube on the grease grooves does what it is supposed to do - lubricate the bullet. It also keeps the fouling down.
Even using the 1862 lube recipe of 8 parts beeswax to 1 part tallow, on traditional Minie balls with their somewhat anemic grease grooves, you can load and fire them pretty much indefinitely during a course of fire.
Steve