I just bought my navy revolvers in red dead redemption and I was really curious about the live real version of reloading one of them. Great video, thank you!!
When you press the ball in the cylinder you see a thin ring of lead from the ball around the cylinder opening. Thats how you know you have a non chain firing gun
Because of some regrettable choices I made when I was younger and the current social climate, I need some good information. I found that and then some, thanks a bunch!!
It's funny how relaxing it is watching him going through the loading process as he's explaining it. I've gotten that feeling since I was a kid just watching people doing various things with their hands. I used to get it sometimes when watching classmates doing something with their hands like just cutting paper with some scissors in elementary school.
Thanks for the videos, Mike. I decided to make getting into cap & ball one positive thing to come out of this pandemic. Your timing couldn't have been better!
I have the same weapon and I didn't really know a whole lot about it since I'm not trained on those class of weapons I couldn't be happier that all this information was in one place. I'm for sure going to find out if my weapon works now. Thank you!
I do use Crisco with Bee wax if it seems to susceptible to heat from the sun I use more Bee wax. Works just fine and have over 100 rounds throug the same pistol in one event. I have changed to multiple cylinders since. I preload 7 cylinders now 6 in my belt and one in the gun never had an isue. But you go ahead with Mutton tallow if that is what you like but I find that sort of thing just gets rancid to easy. Otherwise great video signed The "Wretch"
Thank you for the information, I'm new to the black powder pistol stuff and have been considering purchasing one, you made up my mind, thank you again.
Another Simple and Informative Video! I Found " Cap and Ball" Just before Discovering Your Channel! So Much to Absorb but Simple Basic Explanations! Thank You for Sharing All Your Knowledge With us Newbies!
Thank you for doing this Mike. When I started, (many moons ago), I spent a lot of time hunting for the needed information. And, it wasn't all from a single source. 👍
My Son bought me a couple of nice Uberti C&B revolvers a while ago. I did do the Kirst conversion on both, but left the loading lever on both revolvers (1851 & 1860). Both are great fun to shoot. Now I've recently supplied up on the accrutments needed to shoot cap and ball, so we'll give that a try. Thank you Mike for all of the great info on blackpowder firearms!
As usual excellent practical easy to follow information. Thank you Mike for all the work you do yor are very much appreciated by real old time Gun Powder (like it says on DuPont cans) shooters. .
Thank you for educating me. I was gifted this exact firearm for Christmas and wanted to be sure that I loaded it properly. (I am lacking the grease that I was told helps stop chain fire and am confident that it is safe to discharge without it but will acquire it to be sure it is properly loaded.)
Mr. Mike that is impressive because I happen to know from watching your other videos that each of those bullets striking a different place like the round balls probably hit closer to your sights the conicals and the conicals in the paper cartridges I think if I remember shoot low and you hitting those plates awesome you're really quite knowledgeable fellow thank you for sharing it Joe security Oklahoma
This is a great idea to have this as a stand alone video. Coupled with the gear for loading cap n ball this is great for someone who just wants a primer (pun intended) on how to get started
thanks very much for sharing the info. i'm a new black powder shooter indeed, (got a few SA,s) nothing beats a visual demo. best regards ! Michel Morin
Pre-load Multiple Cylinders and 1858 Remington. Great channel. Had the same problem using lard trying 1860s research, fowling the cylinder in extreme heat. Add some candle wax to lard.
I have some convenience (at least for me) when it comes to lubricating the chambers. This works well with your own beeswax grease. After mixing the ingredients and cooling them, I form balls with my fingers, maybe 2/3, sometimes 1/2 the size of the ball I am loading. I keep it in RWS1081 cap boxes or a similar size, they hold about 70 grease balls. I don't have to take any spatula, knife, etc. I just take a ball of grease and either use my index finger or thumb to press it into the loaded chamber. You have to play a bit at home with preparing the BBs, but it actually saves a lot of time at the shooting range.
I was taught to cap off each nipple once first before loading to dry out the oil and help prevent misfires. I've found that cabelas brand lubed felt wads work great between the powder and ball and in my experience a lighter powder load tends to make the cylinder rotate better and not seize up after 6 shots like a 15 grain load in .36 and a 25 grain load in a .44 colt style repros. Plus with colt repros after the first shot rotate the piece to a 45 degree right angle and cock the hammer on that angle and keep an eye on the hammer and back of the receiver to make sure no cap swallowing happens. Do that every shot after the first shot. Doing that I've never had a cap get swallowed and I've shot thousands of shots out of colt repros
Mikes great, and I like him... but I have to agree with Mike that CabAndBall here on youtube is also Great, and TONS of content! you should really check him out!
I've been making my own lube and wads ever since you first posted your homemade wad video. They work very well and the lamb tallow/beeswax mixture works great. Keep up the good work.
I couldn't find lambs tallow, wrong time of year when I went looking. Beef tallow worked, but made me hungry for some reason I haven't entirely put my finger on...
Much appreciated. I had been using Bore Butter on top of the ball and it is seriously messy to handle. (Probably going to stick with pre-lubed patches. Life is short.) Particularly helpful - seating the caps. I get a bit nervous about setting them off, and I am not going to get them down with my thumb or the capper. The dowel looks like the best option.
Nice video! I have an 1800s something Pietta replica navy colt revolver (.44 caliber, not sure if they have different calibers back then) I received as a gift from my grandpa and grandma, and I’ve always wanted to learn how to load and fire it, this video helps tremendously and hopefully I can acquire the items to load it sometime soon, should make an interesting show for my family’s 4th of July lol.
It would actually be a Colt ARMY if it is .44 caliber. I'm totally not sure why, but they used to call the .36 caliber the NAVY model and the .44 caliber the ARMY model. Like I said, I have no clue why. But I figured I'd share that piece of knowledge with you. It's rare that I get to pass on any of my "useless knowledge"😂. I hope you've fired your revolver by now, since your comment is already pretty old. I probably should have checked the date of your comment before I started replying 😅 Safe shooting my friend!
Have to add to other comment, Seen yea do it many, many times But I guess, I just enjoy it, wishing I was loading my 1851 or Hawkins rifle. Thanks Keep up the good work.
Excellent, comprehensive view of both loose ball and paper cartridge use. The lubed wads keep your bore bright the entire shooting session. Using a revolver loading stand at the range keeps the muzzle pointing up and speeds the process considerably. The best part is, these old revolvers will out-shoot most of the black plastic pistols accuracy-wise, but of course sort of suck for concealed carry. Love watching you shoot!
Very informative video. You know your stuff and are a darn good shot. The one thing I'd add, being a 51 shooter myself, is to roll the gun up when you cock the hammer for shots 2-6. I've had pieces of busted cap get into the darndest spots in my gun and bind it up tighter than Dicks hat band. Muzzle up while cocking let's gravity make the pieces fall free.
great video, i bet most chain fires are from burrs on chamber mouth from careless loading or dropping it. The burr carves a furrow in the lead ball on the way in, making a path
There's a gun shop in Chattanooga that I go to sometimes just to look around. Well they have to cap and ball 44 revolvers. They are both of yous but appear to be in good condition. This man was in a Cowboys tournament for many years and I think he died and his relatives sold a bunch of his guns. I need to learn how to take it completely apart so I can look inside of the gun. I really want to learn how to do this. Both guns are made in Italy. I really want to learn how to do this. I can take apart and shoot almost any gun on the plants but I've never done this and I think it would be fun I want to learn how to do the paper cartridges because I think it would be a lot faster on the Range.
Thank you for sharing this video. Sadly, England, my birth nation, has virtually killed off shooting as a pass time due to a series of knee - jerk reactions to criminal shootings by successive governments. Luckily, I live in France which has far more sensible gun laws! I eagerly await delivery of my new Pietta - Remington .44 Sherrif next week. In the meantime, your videos tell me all I need to know! Thanks again.
Richard, may I ask if a tourist from the UK visited a French gun club specifically to fire a black powder weapon, would this be legal under that country's laws?
I just ordered 1851 Navy 44 - 5 1/2 and 1851 Colt Navy 36 - 7 1/2 revolvers, doing searches for everything else I need, so far the only thing I can't find is the 44 ball ammo. thanks for the video
I loved shooting Cap n ball revolvers when I was younger. Then I discovered how easy reloading ammo was and bought a cimarron model p. No more loose powder and ball and no more of those infuriating cap jams!
I have my shoot outfit, I have pouches with simple belt clips, the flasks too. I can bring the various pouches from my shoot bag, hang them on my belt, get at them easily. While standing, draw pistol, flask charge, ball in, oiler (DGW nickel silver w/dauber), caps. I can do this quite easily. I return the pouches that were hanging from my belt, back to the shoot bag. I have 5 different caps sizes. Pouches with the various cap sizes are all labelled with a little tab with,- R10 etc. Proper cap size eleviates having to 'dowell' seat. Also cap jams are greatly reduced. Pinching can cause other troubles,- Chain fire, cap failure, cap jam ,.
Wagh! Shoulda used a Walker. Shoulda used 2 Walkers! Then fill both hands and show them how to dual wield. But then you would have had dropping loading levers to deal with, hehe. I like capnball. He is the only guy I ever seen shoot a genuine Colt ( not a replica ) cap and ball revolver, on RUclips or anywhere else.
Mike, I live in Charleston, WV. many years ago I dabbled in black powder shooting. I have remained very active in shooting, but not black powder since then. I’ve been looking around and nobody, and I mean NOBODY, carries black powder anymore. I’m sure you may have covered it at some time, but, you might consider covering the Differences between Pyrodex and all the many other brands of black powder substitutes
I fire heavy elongateds too. The elongated ball for the Pocket 49 is b i g ! 76g and long! So long, I have to nose it up into the cup of the rammer and scoot the base into the chamber. 11g max charge. Through a fir 2 x 4 at 50 yards!
Hi Mike. I hope this finds you in good health. I remember you were having some legal issues with pa. I was curious if you were still in operation. I truly miss your videos. Let me know please.
Can't wait for an episode that shows new shooters that BP Substitutes are also loaded by Volume even though they don't scale weigh the same as BP. I think that screws with more new BP shooters than anything. (In areas that can't seem to get real BP)
I use crisco mixed with plain candle wax to raise the melt temperature and thicken it up. I have never had a problem with it melting. Lamb tallow and bees wax is expensive and don't work any better but to each his own.
I just bought my navy revolvers in red dead redemption and I was really curious about the live real version of reloading one of them. Great video, thank you!!
Buy two lemats and upgrade your perks/skills. Akimbo. Get the army versions for real life or the cavalry.
You'll never reload fast as Arthur
@@brettb86 hahaaha i don't think anyone can
@@brettb86 yeah but it’s still neat rockstar put the details in.
they're quite fun :)
The grouping at the 10 minute mark on that steel was amazing! Keep up the cool videos.
That 5th one was off by just a tad more than the other ones but even it wasn't bad at all
I've just gotten into black powder shooting. I've got an 1851 & 1860. .36 & .44. Your videos have been a great help! Very informative. Thank you.
When you press the ball in the cylinder you see a thin ring of lead from the ball around the cylinder opening.
Thats how you know you have a non chain firing gun
A master class - taught by a master ! Thank you sir !
Where does the bore button go
Because of some regrettable choices I made when I was younger and the current social climate, I need some good information. I found that and then some, thanks a bunch!!
Such style and confidence in the way these classic guns are handled. Good to see theres people keep this art alive
I just bought a used pietta for 100 bucks and I think your video has convinced me that I need the 45 LC conversion 🤣
The loading and shooting videos are relaxing as well as informative. Makes me wish I could get to the range!
+
It's funny how relaxing it is watching him going through the loading process as he's explaining it. I've gotten that feeling since I was a kid just watching people doing various things with their hands. I used to get it sometimes when watching classmates doing something with their hands like just cutting paper with some scissors in elementary school.
Thanks for the videos, Mike. I decided to make getting into cap & ball one positive thing to come out of this pandemic. Your timing couldn't have been better!
I have the same weapon and I didn't really know a whole lot about it since I'm not trained on those class of weapons I couldn't be happier that all this information was in one place. I'm for sure going to find out if my weapon works now. Thank you!
I do use Crisco with Bee wax if it seems to susceptible to heat from the sun I use more Bee wax. Works just fine and have over 100 rounds throug the same pistol in one event. I have changed to multiple cylinders since. I preload 7 cylinders now 6 in my belt and one in the gun never had an isue. But you go ahead with Mutton tallow if that is what you like but I find that sort of thing just gets rancid to easy. Otherwise great video signed The "Wretch"
Very informative, and snappy outfit to boot.
Excellent shooting! Enjoy your submissions, thanks for your efforts, always informative and entertaining.
Always good to watch you do a tutorial Mike!
Great video. I’ve been shooting these for a long time and still found this informative and entertaining. You do great videos.
Thank you for the information, I'm new to the black powder pistol stuff and have been considering purchasing one, you made up my mind, thank you again.
You make very nice but also informative videos. keep up the good work Buddy. love watching them.
Thank you for the instructions. I am new to these type firearms and have learned most everything from your channel. And you are a great shot sir.
Entertaining as well as informative. What more could a history/firearms enthusiast ask for? These videos are always enjoyable.
Thank alot for making this, very helpful and easy to understand !
Also appreciate the plug for CapandBall - charming & knowledgeable guy, I also have his cartridge kit and reproduction cartridge boxes.
Another Simple and Informative Video! I Found " Cap and Ball" Just before Discovering Your Channel! So Much to Absorb but Simple Basic Explanations! Thank You for Sharing All Your Knowledge With us Newbies!
Thank you for doing this Mike. When I started, (many moons ago), I spent a lot of time hunting for the needed information. And, it wasn't all from a single source. 👍
Kudos for this. I am a new black powder shooter and appreciate you guidance.
Great overview for a beginner! Thanks!
Really enjoyed this ! I have been shooting a long time! Thanks Mike!
Great video, you finally convinced me to buy a black powder revolver. Think I'll start with the 1860 Colt.
My Son bought me a couple of nice Uberti C&B revolvers a while ago. I did do the Kirst conversion on both, but left the loading lever on both revolvers (1851 & 1860). Both are great fun to shoot. Now I've recently supplied up on the accrutments needed to shoot cap and ball, so we'll give that a try. Thank you Mike for all of the great info on blackpowder firearms!
Just recieved my .44 cartridge former from cap and ball makes a nice easy job. Just loaded up ready 30 paper cartridges so far, love your channel.
As usual excellent practical easy to follow information. Thank you Mike for all the work you do yor are very much appreciated by real old time Gun Powder (like it says on DuPont cans) shooters. .
also do not load from a flask that is a bomb.use a measure as shown. I use the lube wad made using your method. Thanks again..
Just found you and thank goodness…I have an old Italian black powder .44 and this video is gospel.
New to black powder so I enjoy your videos, very helpful.
Thank you for educating me. I was gifted this exact firearm for Christmas and wanted to be sure that I loaded it properly. (I am lacking the grease that I was told helps stop chain fire and am confident that it is safe to discharge without it but will acquire it to be sure it is properly loaded.)
Great video. Definitely a labor of love. I want to get into BP but Goex is now gone. I'll keep shooting my SAA in 45 Colt with my reloads. Fun gun.
Well damn! Loading them up is a lot simpler than I thought! Thanks for the info.
Thank you so much for these videos if it wasn't for guys like you us new guys wouldn't know what to do when it comes to black powder.
Mr. Mike that is impressive because I happen to know from watching your other videos that each of those bullets striking a different place like the round balls probably hit closer to your sights the conicals and the conicals in the paper cartridges I think if I remember shoot low and you hitting those plates awesome you're really quite knowledgeable fellow thank you for sharing it Joe security Oklahoma
Genau was ich gesucht habe. Danke für das Video
Thanks for the video. Found the bit about paper cartridges especially interesting.
Thank you so much for the video. Great info.
This is a great idea to have this as a stand alone video. Coupled with the gear for loading cap n ball this is great for someone who just wants a primer (pun intended) on how to get started
thanks very much for sharing the info. i'm a new black powder shooter indeed, (got a few SA,s) nothing beats a visual demo.
best regards ! Michel Morin
Pre-load Multiple Cylinders and 1858 Remington. Great channel. Had the same problem using lard trying 1860s research, fowling the cylinder in extreme heat. Add some candle wax to lard.
I have some convenience (at least for me) when it comes to lubricating the chambers. This works well with your own beeswax grease. After mixing the ingredients and cooling them, I form balls with my fingers, maybe 2/3, sometimes 1/2 the size of the ball I am loading. I keep it in RWS1081 cap boxes or a similar size, they hold about 70 grease balls. I don't have to take any spatula, knife, etc. I just take a ball of grease and either use my index finger or thumb to press it into the loaded chamber. You have to play a bit at home with preparing the BBs, but it actually saves a lot of time at the shooting range.
I was taught to cap off each nipple once first before loading to dry out the oil and help prevent misfires. I've found that cabelas brand lubed felt wads work great between the powder and ball and in my experience a lighter powder load tends to make the cylinder rotate better and not seize up after 6 shots like a 15 grain load in .36 and a 25 grain load in a .44 colt style repros. Plus with colt repros after the first shot rotate the piece to a 45 degree right angle and cock the hammer on that angle and keep an eye on the hammer and back of the receiver to make sure no cap swallowing happens. Do that every shot after the first shot. Doing that I've never had a cap get swallowed and I've shot thousands of shots out of colt repros
Great video! Thanks Mike!
Absolutely amazing video. your an amazing shot.
By the way. Your channel is by far the best cap and ball out there .. I understand giving credit where its due but facts are facts. Thanks
Mikes great, and I like him... but I have to agree with Mike that CabAndBall here on youtube is also Great, and TONS of content! you should really check him out!
I've been making my own lube and wads ever since you first posted your homemade wad video. They work very well and the lamb tallow/beeswax mixture works great. Keep up the good work.
I couldn't find lambs tallow, wrong time of year when I went looking. Beef tallow worked, but made me hungry for some reason I haven't entirely put my finger on...
Just bought my first 1851 navy .44 glad this was around or I would have bought a bunch more than I needed for it.
Great for a newbie. Good video Mike.
Thank you sir , very educational !!
Much appreciated. I had been using Bore Butter on top of the ball and it is seriously messy to handle. (Probably going to stick with pre-lubed patches. Life is short.)
Particularly helpful - seating the caps. I get a bit nervous about setting them off, and I am not going to get them down with my thumb or the capper. The dowel looks like the best option.
Thats really cool. Thanks for the lesson.
Nice video! I have an 1800s something Pietta replica navy colt revolver (.44 caliber, not sure if they have different calibers back then) I received as a gift from my grandpa and grandma, and I’ve always wanted to learn how to load and fire it, this video helps tremendously and hopefully I can acquire the items to load it sometime soon, should make an interesting show for my family’s 4th of July lol.
It would actually be a Colt ARMY if it is .44 caliber. I'm totally not sure why, but they used to call the .36 caliber the NAVY model and the .44 caliber the ARMY model. Like I said, I have no clue why. But I figured I'd share that piece of knowledge with you. It's rare that I get to pass on any of my "useless knowledge"😂. I hope you've fired your revolver by now, since your comment is already pretty old. I probably should have checked the date of your comment before I started replying 😅 Safe shooting my friend!
Have to add to other comment, Seen yea do it many, many times But I guess, I just enjoy it, wishing I was loading my 1851 or Hawkins rifle. Thanks Keep up the good work.
Great video Mike
Nice man. You're a good guy. I think I'll subscribe.
Amazingly helpful!! Thank you!
Paul Harrell has proven that an oversized ball does NOT stop chainfires. The over ball wad or grease stops it.
Excellent, comprehensive view of both loose ball and paper cartridge use. The lubed wads keep your bore bright the entire shooting session. Using a revolver loading stand at the range keeps the muzzle pointing up and speeds the process considerably. The best part is, these old revolvers will out-shoot most of the black plastic pistols accuracy-wise, but of course sort of suck for concealed carry. Love watching you shoot!
You mean an 8" barreled cap an ball .44 isn't stealthy 😅..... yeah... just bought one myself
Wow awesome that packs a punch
The group with the conical bullet was pretty damn tight for a gun with such crappy sights. Nice shooting
Great vid!!
Great video mike!
hell yeah thanks for this informative video cowboy santa
Very informative video. You know your stuff and are a darn good shot. The one thing I'd add, being a 51 shooter myself, is to roll the gun up when you cock the hammer for shots 2-6. I've had pieces of busted cap get into the darndest spots in my gun and bind it up tighter than Dicks hat band. Muzzle up while cocking let's gravity make the pieces fall free.
I missed your Videos Sir! Thanks for sharing
Thx you for sharing 🙏
This will be seen a ton a times by new people for reference. I, like you are have done this for years. Hopefully a bunch of new BP shooters.
Nice Advice Mike Thanks 😀😊👍🏼
thank you for the education my first time revolver C&B i soot BP percussion every day cant wait to shoot my 2 pistols ( 1861
Excellent continuez comme ça
great video, i bet most chain fires are from burrs on chamber mouth from careless loading or dropping it. The burr carves a furrow in the lead ball on the way in, making a path
Nice work Mike! You took good care of Evil Roy and his Circle Gang! LOL!
Thank you great video
Great group with those conicals!
I just got a Uberti Walker and now I'm hooked.
Great channel
nice, so I don't need both lube and wads but one or the other, great! I've seen some puts both.
Great video!
There's a gun shop in Chattanooga that I go to sometimes just to look around. Well they have to cap and ball 44 revolvers. They are both of yous but appear to be in good condition. This man was in a Cowboys tournament for many years and I think he died and his relatives sold a bunch of his guns. I need to learn how to take it completely apart so I can look inside of the gun. I really want to learn how to do this. Both guns are made in Italy. I really want to learn how to do this. I can take apart and shoot almost any gun on the plants but I've never done this and I think it would be fun I want to learn how to do the paper cartridges because I think it would be a lot faster on the Range.
Thank you for sharing this video. Sadly, England, my birth nation, has virtually killed off shooting as a pass time due to a series of knee - jerk reactions to criminal shootings by successive governments. Luckily, I live in France which has far more sensible gun laws! I eagerly await delivery of my new Pietta - Remington .44 Sherrif next week. In the meantime, your videos tell me all I need to know! Thanks again.
Richard, may I ask if a tourist from the UK visited a French gun club specifically to fire a black powder weapon, would this be legal under that country's laws?
@@everettsharp1917 Hello Everett yes it would.
@@bsaneil Many thanks
I just ordered 1851 Navy 44 - 5 1/2 and 1851 Colt Navy 36 - 7 1/2 revolvers, doing searches for everything else I need, so far the only thing I can't find is the 44 ball ammo. thanks for the video
Perfect, thanks.
I loved shooting Cap n ball revolvers when I was younger. Then I discovered how easy reloading ammo was and bought a cimarron model p. No more loose powder and ball and no more of those infuriating cap jams!
I have my shoot outfit, I have pouches with simple belt clips, the flasks too. I can bring the various pouches from my shoot bag, hang them on my belt, get at them easily. While standing, draw pistol, flask charge, ball in, oiler (DGW nickel silver w/dauber), caps. I can do this quite easily. I return the pouches that were hanging from my belt, back to the shoot bag.
I have 5 different caps sizes. Pouches with the various cap sizes are all labelled with a little tab with,- R10 etc. Proper cap size eleviates having to 'dowell' seat. Also cap jams are greatly reduced. Pinching can cause other troubles,- Chain fire, cap failure, cap jam ,.
thanks great video for a newbie like me
You really had to make every shot count back then. Reloading takes time. Cool guns though. Just bought the army 1858 .44 cal.
Thank you sir great vidio
Wagh! Shoulda used a Walker. Shoulda used 2 Walkers! Then fill both hands and show them how to dual wield. But then you would have had dropping loading levers to deal with, hehe. I like capnball. He is the only guy I ever seen shoot a genuine Colt ( not a replica ) cap and ball revolver, on RUclips or anywhere else.
Great video thanks and God bless
Great video
Glad you enjoyed it
Mike, I live in Charleston, WV. many years ago I dabbled in black powder shooting. I have remained very active in shooting, but not black powder since then. I’ve been looking around and nobody, and I mean NOBODY, carries black powder anymore. I’m sure you may have covered it at some time, but, you might consider covering the Differences between Pyrodex and all the many other brands of black powder substitutes
I fire heavy elongateds too. The elongated ball for the Pocket 49 is b i g ! 76g and long! So long, I have to nose it up into the cup of the rammer and scoot the base into the chamber. 11g max charge. Through a fir 2 x 4 at 50 yards!
Thank you
Hi Mike. I hope this finds you in good health. I remember you were having some legal issues with pa. I was curious if you were still in operation. I truly miss your videos. Let me know please.
Can't wait for an episode that shows new shooters that BP Substitutes are also loaded by Volume even though they don't scale weigh the same as BP. I think that screws with more new BP shooters than anything. (In areas that can't seem to get real BP)
I use crisco mixed with plain candle wax to raise the melt temperature and thicken it up. I have never had a problem with it melting. Lamb tallow and bees wax is expensive and don't work any better but to each his own.