Minie Ball Lube Question

[gat51]

I was going through a box of old muzzle loading supplies and ran across a box of 50 minie balls a guy had given me 20 years ago. The lube was dried. I cleaned a few up to see how they would perform in my .45 side lock. Can anyone tell me about what lube to use on these? My first thought was to use bore butter. Any recommendations? Thanks.

 

[mike243]

bore butter is what they use to come with

 

[Grill-n-man]

Yup bore butter

 

[GMB54]

I hate bore butter but i did have reasonably good luck using it to refresh old dried lube on conicals. I like Alox better if you can clean off the old dried lube but its kinda messy too until it dries.

 

[gat51]

I checked these minies in the barrel and they are not snug. They will slide down the barrel with no help. Putting on a thick lube like bore butter will take up some of the space between bullet and barrel but I don't see how the bullet will stay firmly on the charge. Would someone who is familiar with shooting minies tell me what I am missing?

 

[mike243]

every barrel is different, when the powder fires it will swell the bottom of the bullet but if its loose enuf to slide out don't use them. you can bulge or bust a barrel if its off the charge when you shoot

 

[MMHunter]

It is a minie ball right? Not a round ball? That needs a patch

 

[mike243]

if they are the ball'ets they didn't require patch, never seen a round ball called a mini ball other than in cannon shot from way back when

 

[gat51]

I have always shot patched round balls in this rifle. Since these were given to me years ago and I don't know the source, I had better not use them. I am not confident they will stay in place on the charge during a day's hunt. Not worth an injury to save a couple of bucks in bullets. Thanks for your advice.