olive oil for lube? (revolver)

[reverendg]

Olive oil should only be used on "Italian Typewriters".

[illus1on]

Forgive me, but what is an "Italian typewriter" ? type of firearm im guessing?? my C&B is Italian, ASP to be exact.

[Doc Hoy]

I think the reverend is making a joke.

[Hawg]

I think the reverend is making a joke.

yep

[arcticap]

Originally Posted by illus1on

Forgive me, but what is an "Italian typewriter" ?

It's interesting that an Italian named Pelligrino Turri invented one.

Italian Pellegrino Turri invented a typewriter in 1808. He also invented carbon paper to provide the ink for his machine. Many early machines, including Turri's, were developed to enable the blind to write.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typewriter

Italian Pellegrino Turri invented a mechanical typing machine, one of the first typewriters in 1801 for his blind lover Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzono.[1] He also invented carbon paper[1] to provide the ink for his machine. Although not much is known about the machine, some of the letters written on it have survived.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellegrino_Turri

[illus1on]

haha what are the odds!

[Gehrhard]

Trader Joes used to sell spray 100% Olive Oil.

[illus1on]

specificly for bore butter purposes?

[Gehrhard]

"The most common use, of course, is as a non-stick agent. A quick spray on a skillet, grill or even a spatula will keep your food from sticking. They can also be used to enhance flavor. Spray on garlic bread, steamed or grilled veggies, pasta or even salads – it's an easy way to add a light touch of oil."

They'd probably get a kick out of hearing that blackpowder shooters were using it to dust their patches with it as lube. Then they'd ban it from their stores methinks.

It was/is Extra Virgin -- can't get any better than that.

http://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-f...article_id=157

[Gatofeo]

I'd go with lubricated felt wads. Once you have the 100% wool felt and punch, you can use whatever lube you wish.
In my experience, a lubricated felt wad between the ball and powder is better than lubricant over the ball. I use hard all-wool felt sold by Durofelt of Little Rock, Arkansas.
Get online and you'll find its website. Prices are good, it's 100% wool felt, and shipping is free in the U.S. You're in British Columbia, Canada, so you may have to pay for shipping but wool felt is light so it shouldn't cost you too much.
For .31 caliber, use a 5/16 hole punch, for .36 a 3/8 punch. The 7/16 punch is a trifle small for .44 caliber cap and balls, which are really closer to .45 caliber.
You may have to order a .45-caliber punch from Buffalo Arms, as I did.
The 7/16 punch is a good fit in .44-40, .44 Special, .44 Magnum and .444 Marlin cases if you desire to use a wad in them.
Lacking a .45 punch, you can sharpen the edges of a .45 ACP or .45-70 case mouth and use it to punch wads.
Punch wads against the end grain of a small log or 4X4. The punch will sink into the wood, past the felt, and create a well defined wad. A hard plastic cutting board, especially the self-healing type, is also good and may be found at thrift stores.

You'll notice that I stress 100% wool felt. Much of the felt made today is polyester (plastic) that can leave small nodules of melted plastic in the bore. You'll also want hard felt, not the limp stuff typically found. An old felt hat is a good source, if it's pure wool, as such hats are usually quite stiff.

Durofelt offers sheet felt in a variety of thicknesses. Buy the 1/8" thick sheet felt. Check the Clearance section on the site for the best buy. Also, buy the Hard felt.
The hard felt appears to have a scraping effect upon bore fouling. I've used both soft and hard felt, and hard works best to remove fouling.

I use a 19th century black powder lubricant recipe that I improved with specific ingredients years ago, and began posting to the net. That recipe was soon named after me: Gatofeo No. 1 Lubricant.
It resembles SPG or Lyman Black Powder Gold but is much cheaper to make.
Search the net for Gatofeo No. 1 Lubricant recipe, and instructions on making it.
Those who have used it swear by it. It's made numerous converts, not only for its effectiveness but for its value.

Everyone has a favorite recipe, and most work fine. I would not use olive oil on a wad, though. You run the risk of ball compression squeezing it out into your powder.
Go with a stiff lubricant to grease the wad, not a liquid one.

Also, avoid petroleum-based lubricants or greases. Most petroleum products combine with black powder to create a hard, tarry fouling. Use greases or oils derived from plants or animals: tallow, lard, Crisco, beeswax, bacon grease, etc.
An exception, and one of the ingredients in Gatofeo No. 1 Lubricant, is canning paraffin. I'm told it lacks the hydrocarbons that create the hard, tarry fouling. This has been true in my experience but I can't explain it.

Be wary of toilet seals. The older ones were real beeswax but in the past 10 or more years they've become a petroleum product. I tried making Gatofeo No. 1 Lubricant with such ersatz beeswax some years ago and it was a disappointment: it clumped, didn't melt or mix well, and created an inferior lubricant. I threw it away, used real beeswax (harder to find at a good price but worth it), and have never looked back.

Real beeswax may be purchased at Renaissance Fairs, Mountain Man Rendezvous, Reenactor Rendezvous or from local beekeepers. Usually it's at a price much cheaper than what hobby shops want for a small cake. I've paid as little as $3 a pound, which goes a long way.

Sorry to go on like this, but I've learned some things in 40-plus years of shooting cap and ball revolvers that I can't help but pass on.
Search the net for my other posts: "So You Want a Cap and Ball Revolver," "Proper Use of a Cap and Ball Revolver" and "Found: Original Loads for Cap and Ball Revolvers."
These will give you a bunch of info.

[illus1on]

Thank you so much gatofeo for your post! i loved your "So you want a cap and ball revolver" thread and hung on every word!

I plan on searching for ur recepie and trying to make it, as well as a few others. I'm quite determind to find a recepie that will work for making wads i can put overtop the powder charge and then put the round ontop of it.

I did manage to make it to the "range" finaly tho a few days ago and i used lard for an over ball lube/chain fire precautionary and i found it to work MUCH MUCH better then the olive oil, what was happening was if i did not fire the olive oil rounds RIGHT AWAY it would seep thru beheind the round and get to the black powder and affect the velocity of the said chamber, so much infact that some rounds didint even make it anywhere near as far as others did using the lard thru an old computer case i was using as a target with the motherboard still inside.

With the lard, i found consistency in velocity and muzzle energy with all the rounds penetrating through both sides of the metal case and the motherboard as well. Not to mention the giant sized holes that were left beheind

Anyways my findings were in-fact that olive oil is absolutely a BAD idea for an over ball lube unless u use a very small amount and even then its hard to seal the edges of the round to prevent chain fires, forget lube for the round with a small amount like that.

Thanks again for all the replies everyone! i feel privileged to be talking to some of you!

-illus1on