Welcome to the TMA - the Traditional Muzzleloading Association

The TMA is always free to access: totally non-profit and therefore no nagging for your money, no sponsors means no endless array of ads to wade through, and no "membership fees" ever required. Brought to you by traditional muzzleloaders with decades of wisdom in weaponry, accoutrements, and along with 18th and 19th century history knowledge of those times during the birth our nation, the United States of America.


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91
TMA Information 2026 / TMA Founding Fathers
« Last post by RobD on January 20, 2026, 06:21:19 PM »
The TMA owes much to the vision and tireless efforts of these fine fellows ...

Longknife - Dave P. 
Ohio Joe - Joe M.
Uncle Russ - Russ B.
rollingb - Rondo B.
Captchee - Charles S.
ssev - Jimmy V.
92
General Interest / Re: Gatofeo No. 1 Lubricant RECIPE
« Last post by Salty on January 20, 2026, 04:43:42 PM »
Since not everyone could access the link I had posted, here it is as written by Gatofeo himself:

Gatofeo No. 1 Lubricant: Homemade, and worth the effort

About 1998 I began posting a 19th century bullet lubricant recipe that, when assembled with very specific ingredients, works exceedingly well with black powder. It must be made, as no one offers it commercially.
Within a year of my posting it with ingredients I specified, someone else named the recipe after me: “Gatofeo No. 1 Lubricant.”

Winter hawk,

“Gatofeo” means “ugly cat” in Spanish – and I’ve been grinning like a drunken Cheshire at the honor.

 The recipe I posted – when made with the specific ingredients I list below -- equals or exceedss SPG, Lyman Black Powder Gold or other commercially made black powder lubricants and is cheaper to make than buying the commercial stuff.

Many have attested to its excellence on other message boards, particularly when soaked into 100% wool felt wads for use in cap and ball revolvers. It’s also a good bullet, patch and shotgun wad lubricant with black powder.

The recipe is:

1 part mutton tallow. I buy mine from Dixie Gun Works, which offers it again after months of unavailability. This is the toughest ingredient to find, but worth the search.
There’s something almost magical about mutton tallow. It doesn’t go rancid and it really keeps black powder fouling to a minimum.

1 part canning paraffin -- the same paraffin used to seal preserves in jars, sold at the grocery store in 1 lb. packages containing four slabs. Gulf is a common brand. Hardware stores with canning sections have it too.

1/2 part real beeswax -- Beware of today's toilet seals, which are not real beeswax but petroleum-based. Get real beeswax, not the synthetic stuff. Though hobby shops may carry small cakes of beeswax, it’s expensive. Your best bet to find it will be at “Mountain Man” Rendezvous, Renaissance Fairs and from local beekeepers.

Check the net for reasonably priced beeswax. I’ve also seen it offered occasionally, at a good price, on Ebay. Can’t find a local beekeeper? Call your county extension office in the government pages; they’ll have a handle on who rides herd on bees in your area.

Toilet seals haven’t been made from real beeswax for at least 10 years, near as I can tell, and perhaps much longer. Check the label, if it doesn’t say “beeswax” it’s almost certainly synthetic and should be avoided.

All parts are by weight, not volume!

I measure out 200/200/100 grams on a kitchen scale, toss the ingredients into a wide mouth Mason jar, and set the jar in 3 or four inches of boiling water for a double-boiler effect to melt it. When thoroughly melted, mix well with a clean stick or disposable chopstick, then allow to cool at room temperature.
Do not try to hasten cooling by placing the jar in the refrigerator, or the ingredients may separate.
 
The result is a medium hard lubricant that keeps black powder fouling soft and eliminates or reduces leading. No refrigeration is needed to store this lubricant; just tighten the lid on the jar and place it in a cool, dry place.
I have lubricant I made in 2002 that is still like-new, stored in a tightly sealed jar. Mutton tallow does not go rancid like other natural fats, or at least not as quickly. The mutton tallow I have on hand was purchased in 1998; it’s still good.

The above recipe is not quite invented by me. I found the ratios in a very old factory recipe that listed only “tallow, paraffin and beeswax.”
The Gatofeo No. 1 lubricant calls for very specific ingredients: mutton tallow, canning paraffin and real beeswax. Any deviation from these three specific ingredients results in an inferior lubricant.

Let me restate: Do NOT substitute lard, Crisco, old candles, deer tallow, bacon grease, bear fat, vaseline, synthetic beeswax or anything else – it won’t be as good as these three in combination. I know, because I’ve made small batches of variants and others have tried other ingredients, reporting back that the lubricant worked okay, but not as well.

To lubricate pistol and rifle wads or patches, melt a little lubricant in a tuna or cat food can at a very low temperature on the stove. Add the wads. Two tablespoons of lubricant will easily lubricate 100 .44-caliber wads. Stir the wads until they soak up plenty of lubricant.
Turn off the stove and remove the can. Allow the lubricated wads to cool to room temperature. Snap a plastic pet food top (sold in the pet food aisle) over the can.

Write .44 Greased Wads (or whatever) on the side of the can with a wide marker. Store the can in a cool, dry place. You can easily bring the can to the range in your bag. When you get low on greased wads, simply place the can on the stove at very low heat, add more wads and lubricant, and recharge your stock.
The cans stack on top of each other on the shelf. The plastic lid keeps out dust and critters, and holds in the lubricant’s moisture. It’s a quick, easy, transportable system to make and use the greased felt wads. The same system can be used for unlubricated wads, small parts, balls, conical bullets or whatever you need to organize.

Plastic, pet food lids are inexpensive. Check a Dollar Store or its equivalent for a good price.

Smaller quantities of greased wads are easily carried in Altoid sour candy tins or shoe polish tins. Both types have indents or keys to open the lid easily with greasy fingers, and that’s important. Trying to pry open a greasy lid with greasy fingers, without some lever or side-indent, is maddening.
Hinged tins are not as good, because moisture escapes around the cutout for the hinges. The Altoids sour candy or shoe polish tins seal tightly.
Zip-Loc bags are also good for holding small amounts of wads (greased or dry) for the range but I most like the cans. They seal tighter and resist damage to their contents.

Gatofeo No. 1 Lubricant is good for a variety of black powder applications. I also use it for heeled bullets in my Marlin Model 1892 in .32 Long Colt caliber, over small charges of smokeless powder, and in my .44-40 rifle bullets over black powder or smokeless powder.

Give Gatofeo No. 1 Lubricant a try. I haven’t found anything better for lubricating the felt wads and Lee conical bullets in my cap and ball revolvers.

"And therein did I see a vast desert. Flying lead. Holes in parchment. Smoke. Brimstone. The old cat is much amused."

-- The Quantrains of Gatodamus -- (1506-1566)


Winter hawk, have you tried this lube on cotton patches with LRBs in a ML?
93
General Interest / Re: What muzzleloader stuff did you do today?
« Last post by No Powder on January 20, 2026, 04:32:39 PM »
Not too hard to do Jim. Just don't lose those little parts. Especially the fly. I wish I had a heated shed so I could cast some balls too. Suppose to be about 36 deg. tomorrow.  :applaud Maybe I can keep the mold hot enough tomorrow to cast a few.
94
General Interest / Re: What muzzleloader stuff did you do today?
« Last post by Salty on January 20, 2026, 04:20:34 PM »
That?s a great idea. I have had my flinter for almost a year. Time to disassemble, clean and lube.
I spent the day casting more LRBs. Never have too many.
95
General Interest / Re: What muzzleloader stuff did you do today?
« Last post by No Powder on January 20, 2026, 03:02:04 PM »
Generally after deer season has ended, I start taking my TC locks off of the rifles I used for deer season and this past summers shoots, to disassemble them for a good cleaning. Today was a good day to start. So started with the lock on the .50 cal. Hawken. Must have been doing a good job of cleaning because there was very little dirt under the bridle and tumbler. I have to do the same thing to the .54 cal. Hawken next. That will be another day.
96
Gun Building and Repair / Re: Shenandoah Oops and Repair
« Last post by No Powder on January 19, 2026, 04:58:11 PM »
I knew you could do it Kees. Is that your postal shoot gun?
97
Gun Building and Repair / Shenandoah Oops and Repair
« Last post by Winter Hawk on January 19, 2026, 04:39:01 PM »
;banghead;   I made a major goof with my Traditions Shenandoah :o which resulted in about 14 inches at the muzzle end of the stock splitting and the split section breaking off the left side.  I'm not telling what stupidity I pulled, but the broken off portion has been glued back on (with Tite-Bond III).  I have sanded it smooth and stained it, need to finish it and it will be, not good as new but not too noticeable.  It seems to be solid again, and will look "used".  :laffing

~Kees~

P.s. - We need a crying emoji for these occasions!
98
The Campfire / Re: HAPPY BIRTHDAY rollingb!!!
« Last post by Winter Hawk on January 19, 2026, 04:22:11 PM »
;banghead; Two days late, and at least several dollars short!  Congratulations on making it this far, may you have many more!
     :hairy

~Kees~
99
The Campfire / Re: HAPPY BIRTHDAY Ole Scratch!!!
« Last post by Winter Hawk on January 19, 2026, 04:17:59 PM »
:toast Happy B-day, Ole Scratch!  I hope that is an incentive to be here more often; you are missed!  :wave

~Kees~
100
People of the Times / Re: 1/19/1839: Waterloo approved as new capital of Texas
« Last post by RobD on January 19, 2026, 02:49:57 PM »
Love the history, always good to learn.  :bl th up
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