The Frontier Sixshooter Community Message Board - Hat wads

Hat wads (reply)

Slow Hand — Sun, 22 Jun 2025 22:43:45 +0000

I’ve heard the same but I don’t have much of a surplus of wool hats laying around these days. I’m sure it was much more common in the past. Heck, thee probably used to be morose code debates about which was better to use, felt or beaver hats!

Wool wads... one more thing to buy? (reply)

Hoot — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 14:15:43 +0000

Read about but never tried, old wool hat, hole punch, soak in melted lube. Maybe not saving anything over something like the Ox-Yoke Wonder Wads (which I have used) but it sure is DIY!

Wool wads... one more thing to buy? (reply)

Slow Hand — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 13:37:24 +0000

I bought a fairly cheap set of apex bit hole punches and some felt sheets off of amazon. I chuck the appropriate sized hole punch up on my drill press and stick a chunk of 2x4 in the vice and cut them out two at a time. Also use the waxed paper boxes from
Heavy cream to make card wads.

Wool wads... one more thing to buy? (reply)

AaronB — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 13:17:46 +0000

I wonder if there's a way around the wool/felt wad thing... maybe a dryer lint wad?

-AaronB, feeling chea- ...er, "thrifty."

Whatever you decide on just lube the bottom groove. (reply)

Bob Hatfield — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 23:28:28 +0000

and see if it shoots a tighter group. I have read that the maxi will shoot better like that. Some also swear that a wool wad under the maxi will help with accuracy.

Bob

You're possibly the only one reading this..... (reply)

RayLee — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 23:39:55 +0000

who can understand this......the native dialogue I mean

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K5yF13lPhUU&pp=ygUpU3Blcm0gd2hhbGUgaHVudCBuYXJyYXRlZC...

at about 40:48 you can see the natural, finer oil from the head that did not have to be rendered from the blubber. This is the oil that was in great demand for use on/in guns and delicate industries such as watchmaking because of its purity. I never quite understood this as certainly it must have some measure of seawater (salt) contamination the way it was collected.

You had to go and mention... (reply)

Paul — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 21:05:54 +0000

whale oil... now THERE'S a tough one to source anywhere these days!

I don't feel so bad now..... (reply)

RayLee — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 21:03:30 +0000

I'm not the only one who is completely out of bear grease and whale oil

Petrolatum is closer to a wax (reply)

Paul — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 18:15:43 +0000

I find it interesting how "common and easy to find" ingredients can be uncommon or impossible to find in other places. I keep meaning to bring down a bit of neatsfoot oil, but keep forgetting while up north. Grandpa always had a supply of it around the farm and used it for all kinds of things. Murphy's Oil Soap is another I've never run across here. I remember how much fun I had trying to replicate "Ed's Red" back in the early days of the 21st Century. Eventually I came up with a reasonable facsimile thereof, minus the Mek (IIRC) or whatever the solvent was for removing plastic shotgun wad fouling. On the other hand, sourcing bear grease is even tougher here. The spectacled bear is a heavily protected species in Coffee Country!

Petrolatum is closer to a wax (reply)

JohnKDM — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 01:49:47 +0000

Than some other petro products. A simple mix of vaseline and beeswax works pretty well. Vary the ratio for stiffness.

OTOH, i once assisted two other men in trying to remove a stuck cleaning rod from a Shiloh 1874. The owner was using his 'regular' hard smokeless bullet lube. Two held the rifle while i endeavored to pull the stuck patch out. The bore was absolutely hard crusted with fowling.

My favorite is one of Paul Matthew's:

2 parts yellow beeswax
1 part Pure Neatsfoot Oil
1 part Murphy’s Oil Soap

(easy to make in 8-oz batches)

1) Melt 4 oz of beeswax in the microwave. Usually 6-8 minutes is about the right time.
2) Stir in 2 oz of Neatsfoot oil when beeswax is melted. Stir until the mixture is lumpfree.
3) Stir in 2 oz of Murphy’s Oil Soap, stirring continuously as the soap is added. Again, mix until there are no lumps.
4) Pour into storage containers as soon as batch is well mixed.

This can be remelted and used to pan lube.

My sharps and double have never fouled out using it using just a blow tube

Only one way to know (reply)

Dave B — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 00:26:26 +0000

I'm more than willing to experiment, well with my muzzleloader anyhow. I'm not so sure about my BPCR, since I don't want to risk migration into the powder charge on rounds loaded ahead of time.

Dave

I hope I haven't...... (reply)

RayLee — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 23:11:27 +0000

given bad advice re. not following the convention of the mixing of petroleum products & b.p. residues resulting in difficult to remove fouling. I used to believe it adamantly.

Then came the internet and the world got suddenly smaller and the aussies and the englishers talked of readily using petroleum products and many of them had never heard the "natural only" approach that was etched in granite to us "yanks" as they referred to us.

Then I read an old n.r.a. american rifleman (1948 ?) and the author was a great muzzleloading enthusiast and collector and had bought up all of the stock and good will of the original hawken shop. He tested several "1/2 ounce" guns (.53" ?) with up to 220 grains of powder and used Vaseline as patch lube and cleaned with hoppes # 9 and g.i. spec. gun oils presumably because he didn't know any better.

Items I have (reply)

AaronB — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 19:59:36 +0000

After reading the abundance of useful replies I've received on this question, I have decided that I probably don't have to buy anything. I can just make up some conical lube out of items I have on hand. They include:

- Petroleum jelly
- Pure pork leaf lard (needs refrigeration, but BEST SHORTENING EVAR)
- Vegetable shortening (which, I'm much happier shooting this than eating it)
- Wax toilet rings
- Olive Oil
- Bulk automotive grease

For pistol bullet lube I use a mix of toilet ring wax and automotive wheel bearing grease, 50-50 by volume. I may warm up a bit of that and mix in enough olive oil to soften it a bit, then try that. It's a place to start anyway.

Thanks all for the help.

-AaronB

Beeswax (reply)

Dave B — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 11:39:49 +0000

When I couldn't source beeswax locally, I ordered a pound from Amazon for about 10 bucks.

Another beeswax..... (reply)

RayLee — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 10:20:34 +0000

source that is surprisingly cost competitive.

https://www.amazon.com/Atsko-Sno-Seal-Original-Beeswax-Waterproofing/dp/B00CQJDV40/ref=...

Homebrew grease for muzzleloaders (reply)

Slow Hand — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 01:15:05 +0000

I just go simple and use beeswax pellets from Amazon and Crisco. I poured about equal parts in a cleaned out green bean can and heated it with my heat gun until the beeswax melted and stirred it all together. I use it for dip lubing most of my BP cartridge bullets. I will mix it much softer, about 4-1 Crisco to wax for cylinder lube in cap and ball revolvers. I will also use that softer mix to coat the bore and outside of many older guns. Hasn’t caused any issues for me. Crisco shows 0mg of sodium and doesn’t list salt in the ingredients anywhere.

Homebrew grease for muzzleloaders (reply)

Dave B — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 23:24:48 +0000

I prefer tallow over lard, as some lard products have salt in them. I use beeswax, coconut oil, and lanolin for the BPCR, a little more coconut oil for the Hawken to keep it a little softer. For wiping I use Murphy's oil soap (25ish %) and distilled water (75ish%), when shooting long strings, I tend to wipe with one damp and one dry patch every 2nd or 3rd shot but I live in an exceedingly dry climate in NM.

Dave

And..... (reply)

RayLee — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 23:05:26 +0000

Goop or Gojo brand liquid hand cleaners without the pumice grit is as good as any purposeful b.p. cleaner. Follow with the ballistol mix to remove the soapiness.

Soy wax...... (reply)

RayLee — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 23:02:41 +0000

One caveat, I've gotten more of the dreaded powder fouling/spent lube hard "varnishing" with both olive oil and natural waxes than with petroleum jelly or the pipe/gasket grease.

Hard to beat petroleum jelly...... (reply)

RayLee — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 22:57:36 +0000

for both ball patches and over ball revolver grease. The downside is the diesel exhaust smell when firing into the wind. The whole "natural only" with b.p. only became paramount with the bore seasoning and never cleaning with water fad. The authority Ned Roberts used Vaseline when he had no bear grease or when his supply had turned rancid.

Toilet bowl wax rings still work for filling those wide, deep maxi grooves though they now contain more paraffin than beeswax.

Pipe seating grease.....

https://www.amazon.com/Oatey-40501-Hercules-Duck-Butter/dp/B00E1BX5LU/ref=pd_aw_fbt_img...

Is quite water soluble and cleans readily with just hot water.

Hobby Lobby sold soy wax shavings for candle making is pricey but I buy it when it is marked down 50%. Melts easily and thin with olive oil as needed.

1 / 10 ballisol/water mix is your best friend for b.p. or substitute cleaning. The water neutralizes the nasties and quickly evaporates.