In the late 1890's to early 1900's, E. A. Leopold of Norristown, Pennsylvania was producing and selling various formulations of bullets lube to the schuetzen community.  One of Leopold's products was No. 12 Oleo Wad Sheets which came in a 2" X 3" X 0.032" thickness.

He provided an instructional page which provided for the proper use of the resulting circular wads.  Apparently, Dr. Mann was a big proponent of this material in his shooting activities.  Accordingly, I am seeking information from anyone who may happen to know about the ingredients that go into making Leopold's No. 12 Oleo sheets.

I was under the impression, perhaps mistakenly, that oleo was a food product used in cooking as a substitute for the dairy product butter.

  Creedmoormatch

Web,
The term oleo just means oil. Generally something made from oil can be called oleo. I ate a lot of that Oleo oil on toast when I was a kid, too.

Frank

  To Steve ; 

   I greatly appreciate receiving the formulation for Leopold's oleo wads.  I assume that quantities for each ingredient would be ounces by weight, since you haven't said otherwise.  My next task is to search for each of the items you've mentioned.

To Frank and BP :

  So oleo with a lower case " o " is a generic term that may be used to describe something that is oil based or contains an oil.  Interesting, I had not known that.  Whereas, oleo with a capital " o " is a trade name for a specific butter alternative, such as "Oleo spread on toast?"

  I plan to give it a try using Stevens formula as a bullet lube, as did Leopold.

   Creedmoormatch

Ozocerite?  Who knows what this is or where to get it?  I looked it up and it may be a natural wax which is also spelled ozokerite.   See Wikipedia  (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

If I can find the ingredients I'm game to make some of this.  I note that Ozokerite is found in Utah...maybe close by   Seriously it sounds like a parafin wax extracted from some organic rich rocks.  I'm sure it is chemically similar to parafin from hydrocarbon deposits.   

Dave 

The commonly held impression is that the exact formula for Leopold's Oleo Wads died with him, although the one recorded by sureshot is commonly accepted to approximate the original formula.  Previous shooters who have tried it report that this formula does not exactly duplicate results from the original.  If anyone can find/recreate the exact formula from Leopold, they will themselves become famous and much beloved! 

Froggie

A ranch around here is named "Oleo Acres--The Low Priced Spread".
Chuck

Quote:


I believe that E.A. Leopold collaborated with a expert rifleman named Charles Herrick, who was an M.I.T. graduate, on a lot of this bullet lube experimentation.  At some point C. Herrick's brother, Rufus, became involved and Rufus Herrick was either a chemist or a chemical engineer in industry.

I also believe that it was Rufus who first introduced the use of caustic soda into the mix in order to saponify the lube, as 40-Rod points out, and thus render it much more resistant to separation, and to also raise the melting point. 

  Creedmoormatch

  Thanks DWS---

   I am presently using Charlie Dell's lube, in a hand pump and die, which lube was prepared by a friend who was there when Charlie was working at putting his various lubes together and testing various component parts.

   When I learned of Leopold's lube sheets, a saw an opportunity to accomplish two things, lube and wad, in one component.

   I doubt that many shooters today use the sheet lube, as Leopold did in the past, as a substitute for lube in the bullet grooves.

   I will, however, follow your suggestions to see where it all leads me.

   Thanks again,

   Creedmoormatch