Why the bees wax in a lube ?

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

For as precious as beeswax is/was it seems like it would be a waste of wax if it doesn' help.  The patch should serve as the carrier, which is why we can use thing like neat neatsfoot oil (pun Intended).
I use deer tallow because it is very abundant for me.  I render it by boiling the heck out of it, not by direct heat.  I found that by using enough of it I can reload indefinitely.  I also found that cutting it with an oil or crisco helps in cold weather.

[EC121]

I was experimenting this week and mixed some non-hardening coconut oil with mink oil.  Since I just eyeballed it, it came out fairly soft, but the ratio could be adjusted to the weather.  When the rain quits, I'll try it.  Beeswax might be OK in a bullet lube, but I don't see the need for it in a muzzleloading lube.

[Hungry Horse]

A small amount of bees wax in “traditional” patch lube, that is going to be kept in a grease hole, or tallow box, will keep it from getting soft enough to run out of the box. Too much can cause its own problems.

 Hungry Horse

[OldMtnMan]

Wax is a kind word. You do know it's bee crxx   

[Arcturus]

Wax is a kind word. You do know it's bee crxx   

Uh...sort of.. Bees make it by eating honey, but it's not exactly excrement.  It doesn't travel the full length of the digestive tract, but is produced by eight glands on the sides of the bee's abdomen that excrete wax scales.  Then they chew those up again and spit 'em out to produce the honeycomb.  So, it's more like a pukey spitball?   

[OldMtnMan]

Oh well! That's a lot better.

Tell me you didn't know that but looked it up. I was just guessing with what I said.

[Arcturus]

I thought it was just common knowledge... .  A friend has a neighbor who in addition to farming is a beekeeper, and I'm fortunate to get gifted honey from time to time.  I "looked it up" a long time ago, as I wondered how they made it.  Pretty amazing bugs...

[Daryl]

Funny how some things just stay with you, seemingly forever - however other things - poof - gone.

[Eddie Southgate]

I'm with Smylee Grouch , never met a bear I wouldn't eat . Bear meat is great .

 Eddie

[Daryl]

Just checked the drawer - I'm down to about 15 pounds of really nice, 1st drip, filtered BW.
I use it only in my Sharps and '76, mixed with Vaseline.  Olive oil did not work as well for me.

[Bob Roller]

Don't see why it wouldn't work.  Where a rifle might be left loaded for some time, many people use a dry patch and ball combo for the first shot in a smooth, clean barrel.  You might want to check the POI to see if it is close to the second shot with a lubed patch.  There are as many lubes as there are shooters.  To my way of thinking beeswax wouldn't be on the list for a roundball patch lube ingredient.

Never did think beeswax was a lube in itself.It is a vehicle for carrying
known lubricants of varying types.I use (for bullets)an equal amount of
Beeswax-Crisco-Mutton Tallow.This brew was what I used in my Alex
Henry barreled Whitworth for 11 years with no leading and superb accuracy
at all ranges. It was also and still is my lube for hot handgun loads.
On round ball loads for target shooting I used a TIGHT ball and a patch
made for cleaning an M1 Garand soaked in Black Solve,a concentrate
that looked like anti freeze.It came in a small bottle and would make
a quart that felt oily on my fingers.I don't recall ever hunting with a
round ball gun but did use an Enfield carbine with 58 caliber hollow
base bullets and the above mentioned lube.It worked well on wild
dogs.

Bob Roller