Preferences for patch lube

MMOMEQ-55

So what is best?

dandak1

This goes against everything I read where people SWEAR by their favorite lube.....but they are pretty much all the same for me! Store bought, I always used Bore Butter, then since I got into blackpowder cartridge shooting I found I was going thru lots of lube, I wound up making my own. A thick one for cartridges and a slighly mushier one for patches. The patches recipe was 50% beeswax and 50% deer tallow. really tho, I dont notice the difference with any of the lubes.

hillbille

I buy the prelubed, to lazy to deal with the mess.

MMOMEQ-55

Apparently not a lot of side lock shooters around here. No prelubed patches to be found. Bore Butter is good but expensive. I will have to try the bees wax and deer tallow recipe. Sounds good. Thanks.

Still learning all the little secrets of shooting BP. I love it and plan to expand further.

firstharmonic

I've used both Crisco and olive oil with about equal success. But, as you might expect, each lube requires a different load to shoot the best when used in the same rifle.

In both cases, I use as litle as possible; just enough to moisten the patch. Always concerned with both minimizing any mess and not deadening the powder charge. Good luck and have fun.

MMOMEQ-55

quote:Originally posted by firstharmonic
I've used both Crisco and olive oil with about equal success. But, as you might expect, each lube requires a different load to shoot the best when used in the same rifle.

In both cases, I use as litle as possible; just enough to moisten the patch. Always concerned with both minimizing any mess and not deadening the powder charge. Good luck and have fun.







LOL you should have seen my first attempts. Crisco all over the place. I think I had more on me than the patch. I like the idea of the beeswax/deer tallow recipe. Seems that would not be as messy and better on the BP.

elubsme

2 ounces Hoppe's #9. 2 ounces liquid dish soap. 2 ounces water. about 1 tablespoon Lee liquid alox. about 1 tablespoon Thompson Center Maxi Lube. About 1 tablespoon STP or the old type case lube.Mix all together in a clear plastic bottle. Put 30-40 patches in a patch box. (I use a plastic chewing tobacco container). Put enough lube mixture to saturate patches, but not enough to make them dripping wet. I can shoot all events at the rendezvous and never need to clean the barrel. Each time the rifle is loaded, this mixture will clean and lubricate the bore. Also, the measurements do not have to be exact. Eddie

MMOMEQ-55

Thanks for the info.

dandak1

Re: the deer tallow/beeswax recipe. You could use any tallow (beef, sheep, etc). But deer Tallow has the highest liquifying point of them all (that is why your teeth feel "greasy" after eating deer fat...the liquifying point is higher than our body temp so the grease solidifies on our teeth). I think deer tallow liquifies around 115 degrees, beef tallow around 90. Or so i read somewhere. Soooo......if you substitute some other tallow you may have to kick up the beeswax amount so the lube is not so runny. Have fun!

grizzclaw

Rig or Rem grease.

MMOMEQ-55

Thanks for the info guys.[:D]

mbsams

TC prelubed patches for balls in rifles and dry lubed wads under balls in revolvers. If I can't find stuff locally there's lots of places on the www. Why make a bleedin' mess? And you can't shoot fast enough to run into money.

MMOMEQ-55

quote:Originally posted by mbsams
TC prelubed patches for balls in rifles and dry lubed wads under balls in revolvers. If I can't find stuff locally there's lots of places on the www. Why make a bleedin' mess? And you can't shoot fast enough to run into money.




Just bought some yesterday. $2.69 per 100. Can't beat that price with a stick.

wpage

Bore Butter

Gatofeo

Years ago I stumbled across the old, 19th century factory recipe for lubricating heeled bullets, such as the .22 rimfires. I was reloading .32 Long Colt heeled bullets for a Marlin Model 1892 lever-action rifle at the time.
The old factory recipe was simple: 1 part tallow, 1 part paraffin, 1/2 part beeswax.
All measurements are by weight, not volume.

I refined the recipe by using very specific ingredients:
1 part mutton tallow
1 part canning paraffin (for its purity, who knows what's in old candles, especially the scented variety?)
1/2 part beeswax

Bingo! I ended up creating an excellent black powder lubricant as well.
I use it for all black powder applications: bullets, felt wads in cap and ball revolvers, patches and felt shotgun wads.
The recipe I improved upon was named after me, as Gatofeo No. 1 Lubricant.

Mutton tallow is sometimes hard to find at a reasonable price, but worth the search. The British Army of the 1850s specified mutton tallow for their black powder paper cartridges. Because it was specified, I suspect Tommy realized it was particularly good for keeping black powder fouling soft.

Using one lubricant for all applications simplifies things. I presoak my patches and felt wads and keep them in a small tin. I use an Altoids Sours tin, which seals completely and is opened by pressing an indent on one side. An empty shoe polish tin works well too, as long as it has a turnkey on the side or an indent to pop it open.
Trying to unscrew a tin lid with greasy fingers is maddening. Whatever you use, ensure you can get to the contents with greasy or cold fingers. Learned that little lesson years ago, the hard way!

He Dog

I usually buy a tube of bore butter, and some patches. Bore butter on the patches in a clear deli cup which I set in the New Mexico sun. In an hour or so I have lubed patches cheaper than pre-lubed.

mbsams

TC prelubed - you can't shoot fast enough to run into any money.

andrewsw16

Automatic tranny fluid for the patches for my Hawken. Fill up an old pill bottle with patches, than squirt in a liberal amount of tranny fluid and let sit overnight. They will soak through with a nice lube effect. For buttering up the front of the cylinder of a C&B revolver cylinder, waterproof high temp boat trailer axle grease.
Sounds weird and YMMV, but those two have worked great for me for several years.

SoreShoulder

quote:Originally posted by andrewsw16
Automatic tranny fluid for the patches for my Hawken. Fill up an old pill bottle with patches, than squirt in a liberal amount of tranny fluid and let sit overnight. They will soak through with a nice lube effect. For buttering up the front of the cylinder of a C&B revolver cylinder, waterproof high temp boat trailer axle grease.
Sounds weird and YMMV, but those two have worked great for me for several years.
May I ask what powder you use and how many shots you get? Also, do you buy regular or synthetic atf?

andrewsw16

I usually use either fffg BP or Pyrodex. Depends on what my local store has in stock. For my Hawken, I have never run up against a limit on shots. The lubed patch seems to keep the bore pretty clean. For the 1851 Colt revolver repro, I usually get about 30 shots or so before I need to tear it down and clean. Soot and fouling seem to make their way inside the center of the cylinder and it starts slowing down the rotation. But, the grease helps keep the fouling very soft and easy to wipe out. I shoot a lot out here in the NV desert so the high temp feature helps keep it from getting runny. Tried the Crisco route long ago. Never again. That stuff melts way to soon. Makes a mess. Hot water and dish detergent work quite well for cleanup. As far as tranny fluid, I just use the standard fluid that I use in my engines. I don't use the expensive synthetic.

SoreShoulder

Hmmm, I guess the extra cleaners and detergents in ATF offset the supposed fouling-increasing effect of petroleum oil.