Oakum
Oakum is a preparation of tarred fibre used to seal gaps. Its main traditional applications were in shipbuilding, for caulking or packing the joints of timbers in wooden vessels and the deck planking of iron and steel ships; in plumbing, for sealing joints in cast iron pipe; and in log cabins for chinking. In ship caulking, it was forced between the seams using a hammer and a caulking iron, then sealed into place with hot pitch.
Paper cartridge
Paper cartridges were often coated in beeswax, lard, or tallow, which served a number of purposes. It provided some degree of water resistance, it lubricated the paper-wrapped bullet as it was pushed down the bore, and it melted upon firing to mix with the powder residue and make the resulting fouling easier to remove. Since the standard procedure for loading a musket or rifled musket involved biting open the cartridge, this caused problems for those with strict dietary restrictions. The grease used on these cartridges was rumoured to include tallow derived from beef, which would be offensive to Hindus, and pork, which would be offensive to Muslims. The Sepoy soldiers in the employ of the British in India, for example, were largely Hindu, who were forbidden to eat beef, or Muslim, who were forbidden to eat pork. Rumors of the use of lard and tallow in the lubrication of the cartridges they were using were part of the cause of the Indian Rebellion of 1857.