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Homemade Patch Lube?

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Ontario Hawken

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Sorry to pester you yet again, but I have another question.

Do any of you have a good homemade patch lube recipe? I have seen all kinds on the Internet, but I'd prefer something from members of the forum.

I currently use T/C Bore Butter and I'm assuming that this is overpriced and over-hyped considering what its made of (which isn't listed on the package - surprise, surprise).

Please note that as a beekeeper I have ample access to beeswax (I have about 30 lb. in my back room at the moment). If you need some let me know!

Thanks again.

Scott
 
Not to be argumentative, but I recommend not even bothering with homemade. Try TOTW's "Trapper's Mink Oil" which is $5.25 a can and lasts for many, many shots. I found that it is outstanding and use it exclusively now.
 
If you have lots of beeswax, you can mix it with olive oil and have a good lube. How much, well, you'll get various recommendations here, but 50/50 would be a good start. Depends on how stiff you want it.
 
Do any of you have a good homemade patch lube recipe?

I'm going to make several suggestions regarding things I have used along with comments about each one. This does not mean that they are the best or that the other suggestions you get are not good, but those I list here I have actually used extensively.

1. Plain crisco. It works fine and is a bit messy. Tends to grease you and your gear up. It combines with fouling pretty well but leaves a lot of goombah in the barrel. Unless humidity is pretty high, you will need to wipe after every shot.

2. Crisco and bees wax at a 10/1 ratio. Same as above but not quite as messy.

3. Plain old vegetable oil. Not quite as messy and easy to use. Tends to be a bit harder to push down the bore than crisco based. Also need wiping after each shot.

4. Plain old olive oil. Same as veg oil but more expensive. :shocked2:

5. The TC lube you use now. Works and is about equal to crisco as far as messy goes. Does not leave as much goombah in the bore and can be shot multiple times without wiping if the humidity is not way low.

6. Liquid kitchen dish soap and water about a 1/10 mix. Good lube, patched ball wipes as you load so you can shoot without wiping between shots. Put on patch just before loading. Cannot be left loaded in gun as when hunting since the water base will cause rust

7. Hoppes BP liquid solvent/lube. Good lube and works like soap and water allowing multiple shots without wiping. Put on patch just before loading. Not water based so can be used when gun loaded for longer periods in the field.

8. Castor oil and denatured alcohol about 1/7 to 1/10. This is a good lube and works like #6 & #7. The alcohol is unpleasant to handle and could damage some finishes too, I suppose. I use a small bottle and put some on the patch immediatley before loading. That way it wipes as you load. If it is left for the alcohol to evaporate, it will not wipe. It becomes a plain old castor oil lube. Isopropyl alcohol will not stay mixed with the castor oil.

Well, that's all that come to mind at the moment. Hope that gives you some ideas.
 
BriR said:
Not to be argumentative, but I recommend not even bothering with homemade. Try TOTW's "Trapper's Mink Oil" which is $5.25 a can and lasts for many, many shots. I found that it is outstanding and use it exclusively now.

I bought some of the TOTW Mink Oil, but haven't used it yet.

Can you tell me how you use it? Do you prelube?

One silly question. How do you carry lubed patches so it's easy and not messy?

Thanks.
 
I use a can from #11 caps. Just pre-lube some patches and keep in the can. I was out of Mloading for about 3 years. When I decided to come back, I opened a can and found some perfectly good pre-lubed pillow-ticking patches that had been stored in my ML box all that time.

Or go traditional: cut the pillow-ticking in strips, pre-lube and roll. Carry a small Sharp patch knife. When you need to reload, pull the roll out of your pocket (or small bag or small baggie), place the end of the roll over the end of the barrel, put a ball in and push til the ball is just at the top of the barrel, cut off the patch with the patch knife, and ram it home.
If you keep the roll and knife handy, this is an easy and quick method.

Oh, remember to put the powder in first. :wink:
 
GP1951 said:
I use a can from #11 caps. Just pre-lube some patches and keep in the can. I was out of Mloading for about 3 years. When I decided to come back, I opened a can and found some perfectly good pre-lubed pillow-ticking patches that had been stored in my ML box all that time.

Or go traditional: cut the pillow-ticking in strips, pre-lube and roll. Carry a small Sharp patch knife. When you need to reload, pull the roll out of your pocket (or small bag or small baggie), place the end of the roll over the end of the barrel, put a ball in and push til the ball is just at the top of the barrel, cut off the patch with the patch knife, and ram it home.
If you keep the roll and knife handy, this is an easy and quick method.

Oh, remember to put the powder in first. :wink:

So, does everybody prelube? It would seem to be pretty messy to lube when you load.

Strips and cutting off at the muzzle sounds interesting, but don't you waste a lot of lube?

Not that lube is that expensive. :hmm:
 
Capper said:
One silly question. How do you carry lubed patches so it's easy and not messy?

Depends on the lube. A grease lube is pretty good for loading up a ball-block or two with pre-lubed patched balls. Carry it in a hunting pouch, pocket, around your neck on a lanyard, etc.

I pre-lube by twice dipping and drying six foot by 1-1/2" strips of tick material in the "moose juice" from the earlier link. I then roll these up and carry them in a deerskin pouch that has been waxed inside with hot beeswax. These work great for any kind of shooting; but because it is "semi-dry" I have to wipe every fifth or sixth shot.
 
Capper said:
BriR said:
Not to be argumentative, but I recommend not even bothering with homemade. Try TOTW's "Trapper's Mink Oil" which is $5.25 a can and lasts for many, many shots. I found that it is outstanding and use it exclusively now.

I bought some of the TOTW Mink Oil, but haven't used it yet.

Can you tell me how you use it? Do you prelube?

One silly question. How do you carry lubed patches so it's easy and not messy?

Thanks.



Sure, I pre-lube for the range. I just lube up about as many patches as I hope to shoot that day, say 50 or so, and carry them in a zip lock bag. In the field, I use the plastic speed loaders with caps on each end and keep a ball/patch/powder/cap load in each of them.
 
I use spit that I soak into the patch material at the range, when shooting there. Put the patch into your mouth to soak between shots.

If I am preparing to go hunting, or am hunting, I use a pre-lubed cut patch I make up at least a day in advance, to give the lube time to migrate through all the threads of the weave of the fabric.

This method allows the fabric to stretch its maximum amount, making loading a tight patch and ball easier in the field.

The lubed patches are carried in a small brass "tin" similar to a percussion cap tin, in my hunting pouch.

You can also simply smear lube onto a strip of fabric, roll it up, and carry it in a 35 mm film container, or in a plastic baggie. Cut the patch off with a patch knife at the muzzle, as previously described.

Or,

you can use a loading block( ball block) that allows you to seat a lubed Patch and round ball in a block of wood, to carry in the field for reloading your gun. The PRB sits in the holes in the ball block, and you run the PRB into your barrel(after pouring down your next powder charge!) using your ramrod to push the PRB out of the block and into the muzzle.

ALWAYS take a towel or some paper towels in a pocket to use to wipe your hands off of any grease you get on them. They keep you from doing all kinds of strange things to avoid getting your hands dirty. :shocked2: :rotf: :hmm:

[Trust me. If you are going to shoot Black Powder, You ARE GOING TO GET dirty!] :shocked2: :surrender: :thumbsup:
 
For patches Olive oil works good, Snow seal is less messy. Both have to be purchased so here's another way. Mix your bee's wax with olive oil, heavy on the wax, to a creamy consistency like snow seal. Pre lube a strip of patch with that and roll it up. cut a slot in the side of a 35mm film container. Remember those? put the roll in the film can with the tail hanging out and replace the cap. Now you can pull out a bit of patch, cut it off load and trim at the muzzle and the rest stays in the can where it stays clean and your kit stays clean too. :)
 
Sorry Paul I should have read your post first. You had it all covered. Great idea about keeping a shop towel in the kit. I am making note to self about that.
 
Bee's wax and olive oil. I mix it pretty stiff. Also use it for lube in front of revolver cylinders; it stays put and is not at all messy.

I also mix a bit of Vicks VapoRub with it in a separate tin for lip balm.

I shoot really slow. Shoot, walk a bit, shoot/reload, walk a bit. I just lube a little bit of a strip and cut at the muzzle.

Sometimes even put the lubed strip in my mouth while measuring powder for a bit of oily, waxy, spit patch.


Warmest Regards,

Robert
 
Didn't mean to step on your thread O Hawken.

To all who answered my questions. Thank you. I guess i'll try all the different methods and see which one works best for me.

I saw the loading boards in catalogs and I have a question. Doesn't squeezing the patch and ball in the board squeeze out the lube? Especially since they might be in there a long time.

One other question i've wondered about. Doesn't a lubed patch contaminate the powder?
 
Another opinoin:

Mine is a 50/50 mix candle wax(scented) and Mink Oil leather treatment.

Heat the mixture and submerge the stack of pre-cut patches then compress in a shop vise to insure that all patches have the same amount of lube.

Osage
 
Back when I first started shooting black powder most of the top shooters used sperm whale oil. (Dixie sells a synthetic that I cann't tell from the real stuff ) When they outlawed the sale of it I was told by an old timer to use lard and bees wax. Over the years I have settled on 80 % lard 20% bees wax for above freezing and pure lard below freezing.Sine my nephew raises bees and most of the farmers in our area have a few hogs butchered every year I get mine very cheap! :hmm:
 
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