Post
by Gatofeo » Sat Feb 11, 2012 12:09 pm
The best lubricant recipe I've found is an old 19th century factory recipe that I found years ago.
It listed 10 pounds of tallow, 10 pounds paraffin and 5 pounds beeswax.
I refined the recipe somewhat, changing it to:
1 part canning paraffin (the pure, translucent paraffin used to seal the tops of jars of preserves)
1 part mutton tallow (my research and experience have shown mutton tallow to be the best. I've tried a variety of tallows and drippings -- beef, pork, turkey, deer, bear, lard, etc. None have been as good as mutton tallow.
1/2 part beeswax. The real stuff. Ten or more years ago, toilet seals were made of beeswax. I haven't seen any such seals in a long time, they've all become synthetic. Avoid the petroleum-made beeswax and get the real stuff.
All measurements are based on weight, not volume. I typically measure 200/200/100 grams of ingredients on a kitchen scale, put them into a widemouth, quart Mason jar, and put the jar into 3 or 4 inches of boiling water for a double-boiler effect. This is the safest way to melt waxes. When all ingredients are melted, stir well and remove from heat. Allow to cool at room temperature. Trying to hasten hardening by placing the jar in the refrigerator or into a cold room may cause the paraffin to harden first and separate.
Screw a lid down tightly on the jar to keep the lubricant from drying out, and to keep dust and bugs from entering. This lubricant, if stored at room temperature, will not sour or become rotten. I have lubricant I've stored in my spare room for years, without a hint of it spoiling.
As for felt, use only felt made from 100 percent wool, if you can get it. So much felt today is polyester (plastic). This may leave melted plastic deposits in your barrel. Polyester felt is too soft, anyway. You want wool felt that is hard. The best source for this in the States is Durofelt.com in Little Rock, Arkansas. In France, where you are, a good source would be old hats. An old cowboy hat would work, but I'm uncertain if you can find such a thing there. Perhaps a hat manufacturer would sell or give you some scraps.
For the .44 cap and ball, you'll need to make .45-caliber wads. An 11.5mm punch would work, or use a fired .45 Auto or .45 Long Colt case. Punch out the fired primer, drilled out the primer well, and use a short stick to push out cut wads. The edge of a sharp knife, run around the mouth of the case, will keep it sharp enough for cutting wads. Or use the chamfering tool that reloaders use, as made by Lee, RCBS or Lyman.
To lubricate the wads, place about 3 Tablespoons (45 cc) of lubricant in a clean tuna or pet food can (with paper label removed). Place it on the stove at very low heat. Very low, you only want to melt the lubricant and not scorch it. When melted, add the wads and stir until they have all soaked up the lubricant. Remove from heat and allow to cool at room temperature.
Now, snap a plastic top over the can -- the kind made for pet food and sold in the pet food aisle of your store. This now doubles as the container you take to the range. When you are low on wads, melt some more lubricant in the can, add more wads, allow to cool and snap the plastic top on again. If you use more than one caliber, or type of lubricant, you can write this information on the side of the can. These cans will stack on top of each other, for easy storage.
In use, add a measured amount of powder to the chamber. For the .44 Remington, 30 grains is a good load. If your revolver has a brass frame, use 25 grains and do not exceed 30 grains. Brass-framed revolvers are damaged by full-pressure loads.
After adding the powder, push a lubricated wad into the chamber mouth with your thumb. Rotate the cylinder and seat the wad firmly on the powder, but not hard or you'll crush the powder grains and may affect its burning rate.
After all chambers are charged, and a wad seated firmly, then seat a .454 inch ball. Though many sources suggest a .451 inch ball, it's best to use a .454 inch to ensure that the ball is tight in the chamber and won't move from the recoil of others chambers firing.
For caps, you'll have to determine whether No. 10 or 11 caps work best on your revolver's nipples. I would guess that your Remington takes No. 11 caps, but that's only an educated guess. Before placing the cap on the nipple, squeeze it into a slight elliptical shape. This will help the cap cling to the nipple, discouraging it from falling off, oir flying off during the recoil of other chambers.
If you use a lubricated felt wad between the powder and ball, there is no need to put grease over the ball.
You're now ready to shoot!
The earliest printed reference I've found to the use of lubricated felt wads in cap and ball revolvers is a 1928 American Rifleman magazine. The late American gun writer Elmer Keith (1899-1983) began carrying a Colt 1851 Navy when he was 12, growing up in Montana. Veterans of the Civil War showed him how to load it. Though he suggests using lubricated wads in his 1955 book, "Sixgun" and earlier writings, he doesn't say whether the Civil War veterans showed him this trick.
The old-timers were known to put some lubricants such as beeswax or candle wax on the balls of their revolvers, but this was probably done more for waterproofing than lubricating.
The old, original instructions printed by the Colt factory said to use no wads or patches. This was said because prior to the revolver, pistols were single-shot and required a cloth patch to hold the ball. Colt's instructions mention no bullet lubricant at all, but later bullet moulds made by Colt show a lubricant groove around the pointed bullet, to hold some type of lubricant.
Though Colt didn't suggest any type of bullet lubricant, I'm sure that plenty of shooters used something to keep the fouling soft and the revolver operating longer. Even spitting on the face of the cylinder, during battle, would have kept fouling softer.
Shooters are also known to blow their breath down the bore, from the muzzle end, for the moisture in their breath to soften fouling. The descendant of this practice is still seen today, when a shooter blows the smoke off the muzzle of his pistol, whether it's a cowboy or a modern detective.
Have fun with that Remington.
