Raccoon fat for patch lube?

[Ethan Grotheer]

Just rendered a pile of coon back on a whim and got to thinking: "Could a guy use this stuff as bore butter/bullet lubricant?". Has anyone ever tried it? If not, do you see any reason why it wouldn't work?

Thanks,
Ethan

 

[mooman76]

Allot of other fats work. Give it a try and report back.

 

[curator]

Most animal-based fats work well for lube in muzzle loading guns. They also go rancid in short order. Keep your lube and lube patches in the freezer and you will not have a problem. Rancid mutton lard and bear grease both will make you extremely unpopular in polite company. My first visit to Friendship Indiana was marred by my slightly ripe patches lubed with Goose-grease. No one would stand down wind of me. I ended up burying them but the smell permeated my possible bag for years.

 

[mooman76]

You get plenty of room at the shooting line though! :rotf:

 

[tenngun]

Fats fat, and it preserves and libs,I have used lard tallow mink oil unsalted butter with success. At the very edges some greases may work better then others but I bet a dab of coon grease will work as well as mink.

 

[nit wit]

coons a lot like bear, mix it with bees wax!
NW

 

[Billnpatti]

I've never used coon grease but it is an animal fat and should work okay. But, as has been said, it is subject to going rancid. There may be some kind of additive you can put in it to preserve it but I don't know what it might be. I'd say that if you give it a try and find that it works for you, you should then divide it into small portions, enough for one day of shooting and then freeze it to keep it from going rancid.

Nit Wit suggested adding bees wax to it to thicken it and that is a good idea, too. Just add whatever amount of bees wax you need to make a lube that is stiff enough for the ambient temperature. More wax in the summer and less in the winter.

I like to melt my grease and before it cools add about a tablespoon of Murphy's Oil Soap to a couple cups of melted grease and bees wax mixture. As the grease cools, whip in the Murphy's with a fork to form a nice smooth creamy lube. The Murphy's not only makes a nice smooth lube, it also keeps the fouling in your bore soft so you can wipe it out more easily. Who knows, it may also help preserve the grease. I ain't sayin' it will, just that it may help preserve it and keep it from going rancid.

 

[wattlebuster]

If you render it slow an dont get it too hot it should be very close to bear grease. I have been using the same batch of bear grease now for 2 yrs an it sits in room temps an is doing just fine. One of the Parker brothers that taught me the love of flint longrifles yrs ago used coon grease as he said it was so close he could hardly tell the difference. If rendered right it will keep for yrs :thumbsup: