Anyone try any teflon grease?

[Fiv3]

Greetings Gurus

After shooting a little BP (not nearly enough...dang this stuff is addictive if messy), I am slowly starting to figure out the stuff that I need to do in order to make the hobby of shooting my '58 both safe and enjoyable. I appreciate all the knowledge and goodwill on this board.

I had a bit of a thought today, I realize that Crisco is a common lube to use over the ball. However, it melts like crazy in the 100+ degree heat we have had. I work in the swimming pool industry and I have at my disposal (in copious quantities I might add) a product called Magic Lube. It's a Teflon grease used to to seal gaskets and whatnot. It's non-melting (but still messy) and operates at higher temps without oozing out. It's pricey stuff, but I literally have pounds of the stuff around here for work.

Here's my thought process: The Magic Lube can be caked into the cylinder much like shortening. However, If I put it in my holster, I don't have to worry about a pool of fat when I draw my gun. Also, the product is by design supposed to be water resistant and keep corrosion at bay. Could one postulate that it would keep the fowling soft AND maybe offer a bit of a buffer to cleaning the gun right away?

I have already used it as a lube on the cylinder pin in order to make take down a bit easier.


Anyone used any teflon based products or anything like it? Am I on to something, or am I better off just sticking with Crisco? It wouldn't be an every time thing, but might be useful during the hot months.

Just random thoughts.
Thanks Gents.

[Doc Hoy]

This discussion always prompts a lot of responses from folks who have their own pet recipe for bore lube.

I don't know aout teflon by I would fear that it would leave a nasty residue in the chambers and barrel. I would await more definitive info from others who may have tried a teflon based lube.

I like to mix Crisco and wax rings from toilets at about half and half. It gets to a waxxy consistency and if you get the mix right, it stays where you put it even if the temp goes up. Too much Crisco and it can be too runny.

Others in the group will say that the fact the wax rings are no longer made of bees wax is a drawback. I can not argue with that. But I shoot relatively little in comparison with nearly everyone else on the forum. I also clean my pistols in a way that most everyone else thinks is way over the top. So I can get away with using some stuff in the pistol that others in the group shy away from.

[Noz]

Doc, It's apparently not the petroleum in a product but how refined is that petroleum product. Canning pariffin works ok in BP lube as does petroleum jelly and the "wax" in toilet rings. Motor oils do not.

I would far rather put a lubed felt wad under the ball than a wad of grease of any sort over the ball. They both serve the purpose of wiping the bore, softening the fouling and keeping some lube on the arbor. The felt is much less messy.

[Pahoo]

If you are going to cover the ball with grease then I'd to with Doc's recipe. First off it would be more economical and you would have less mess. I stopped using any grease over my balls a long time ago and just use the bore button as Noz has suggested with no problems.



Be Safe !!!

[Fiv3]

thank you gentlemen Just wondering. I DO need to make up some wads of my own. I'm hoping to get out to the range more this fall, so maybe that will spur me on to try my hand at some of this stuff

[arcticap]

There are shooting patches impregnated with liquid teflon spray that are used by muzzle loading rifle competition shooters. That teflon helps to load very tight patched balls, but it leaves a sticky residue which needs to be swabbed out between every shot or loading becomes progressively more difficult.

I don't know how pure the teflon grease is that you have, or if the grease is primarily another ingredient that carries the teflon or not.
Different powders may react differently with the grease and the heat, and all that anyone can do is to test them for compatibility.

But to be honest with you, the grease sounds like it's pretty thick. I wonder if it could be too thick? If you're going to test it anyway, use the smallest amount possible. You don't want it to cause any obstruction issues if it builds up.

[Doc Hoy]

....among black powder shooters is the propencity to be resourceful and imaginative in making much of the items and materials used in the process.

I like my Crisco and toilet donuts recipe, not so much because it is the best thing since sliced bread, but more because I make it myself. It works well enough that I don't feel the need to go looking for something else. I know it works better than Thompson's Bore Butter. If I start using wads I will never buy any, I will just start making them.

The OP's idea to use teflon grease is interesting because it is imaginative. (Although I agree with Articap and Pahoo who presented some additional and as usual, some enlightened thoughts).

[Doc Hoy]

Noz,

I am going to have to start considering wads. To this point I have not seen the need. But enough folks use them that I can't deny that their must be value in using them.

[Rifleman1776]

Crisco is second from the bottom on my list of lubes that are just too awful to consider for my patches. (chicken fat is at the bottom :barf: )
Teflon works just fine. I can't speak for your particular grease but believe it should be OK.
One of the greatest ml shooters ever, Webb Terry, developed a Teflon lubed patch way back in the 1970s. He won numerous benchrest matches using it. I may still have some in the bottom of my shooting box.
He once did extensive chronograph testing with various patches and found, oddly, his Teflon patched balls gave slightly lower velocities than other common lubes. But, his grouping was, as his awards prove, superior.

[Noz]

Doc, I use felt wads that I punch with an 11mm punch for my 1860s from material purchased from Durofelt Products. I soak them in hot pearl lube.
I started doing this as a preventative for chain fires. I had 4 episodes in about the same amount of months. This while using the 1860s as main match cowboy guns, so there were a lot of rounds down range.
I later deduced the reason for my chain fires was the use of too hard an alloy in my bullet pouring, resulting in a ball that was too hard to swage properly into the chambers leaving open areas caused by casting errors.
I have changed my alloy to pure lead and no longer have casting problems but have continued the use of the wads. They do tend to help keep the fouling down somewhat and do add a bit of lube to the face of the cylinder and the arbor.

[kwhi43]

Ahhh yes, I used to make the Teflon patch and sell it back in the 70's.
Knew Webb Terry well. I still use the Teflon patch in my rifle shooting. Use to
buy the Teflon in a quart jar from Dupont. I used the Green color. I think I
could spray about 14-15 yards of material with the quart. I think I paid 32.00
a quart for it. Nasty stuff. Don't ever want to breathe it and get it in your
lungs. It will kill you.

[Fiv3]

Very interesting input, guys. Much appreciated. As Doc said, one of the reasons I find myself gravitating toward the Dark Side is simply because it gives me a wide breadth of experimentation at a low cost. No expensive dies, brass, or bullets. Just some lead, maybe a mold if it progresses that far, some various powders, some dirty cheap lube, and a plethora of recipes out there to try

It's as addicting as any other firearms, but the guns and ammo are cheaper...and the mess is more fun to clean up

[arcticap]

Originally Posted by Fiv3

Also, the product is by design supposed to be water resistant

Now that you mention the fun of cleaning up, I wonder what will cut through the teflon grease if it's water resistant as you said?

[Fiv3]

Now that you mention the fun of cleaning up, I wonder what will cut through the teflon grease if it's water resistant as you said?

That's my main concern right now. When i use the stuff at work, it practically makes water bead on your hands for the rest of the day. Cleaning the barrel should be no problem. It doesn't set up hard at all, so cleaning the fowling out of the barrel should be easy enough with a bore brush. Certainly no worse than super hard fowling.

My main concern is going to be if it gets back in the cylinders where it's a lot tougher to get to for clean up. Based on some of y'all's thoughts, I think I'm going to experiment with it to impregnate some felt wads with it. Probably start with a control of wonder wads, move to some wonder wads treated with teflon grease some how, then maybe try my hand at some home made wads using a mixture of "traditional" BP lubes verses the same wads with a teflon additive. I'm thinking that if if the teflon does any good at all, by using it just in the wads it should keep it from working it's way back to the nipples.

What other hobby allows you to do use the scientific method to measure the effectiveness of sending a .454 ball down range trailed by smoke and fire?

[prob]

Why use messy grease? I've been making and using the lubed wads as described by Gatofeo in the sticky at the top of this forum. Once you've gathered the materials they are easy and cheap to make - and they work great.