Olive Oil Patch Lube

I am going to try this as a patch lube..just outa curiosity. I was wondering if anyone has tried this? I have already prepared the patches and soaked them in Olive Oil.I was wondering what to expect, fouling, performance, will they dry out over time.. etc,etc...

Many use olive oil or a mixture of olive oil and beeswax. I have found that it works as well as canola oil, peanut oil, castor oil, sperm whale oil, (real or sythenic),corn oil, soy bean oil, or lard. I guess I am saying that all non petrolium oils that I have tested work basicly the same. For olive oil you want the cheap stuff. The virgin cold pressed oil has water and other organic solids mixed with it. The hot pressed oil has less water and is finer filtered. :idunno:

Some guys will say you just can't shoot without using “brand X” patch lube. I have tried them all. I see very little difference no matter what the pundits claim for their highly touted product.
I think the amount of patch lube is more significant than which one. Although some are more messy than others! :grin:
Olive oil works very well as does any vegetable oil, well the ones I have tried, anyway. Usually which ever one Miss Elizabeth buys for cooking purpose. :hmm:

We seem to have the same experiences. It is more a question of how much rather than what oil you use. :idunno:

As long as I have been shooting ml's I have tried countless combos of various gunks for patch lube. The two absolute worst, IMHO, are chicken fat and Crisco.
Currently I am using beeswax/whale oil and beeswax/peanut oil.
Olive oil is popular with many but I prefer it for cooking.
I chose peanut oil because it is very slickery and has a high temp resistance to burning.
Teflon and Dutch's Dry lube are two others I have used very successfuly. But, I keep coming back to natural concoctions.

Olive oil was what I used for several years before I tried Liquid Wrench, which is all I use now for all of my round ball shooters.

For hunting, when the PRB will be down the bore for an extended, perhaps below freezing period, I use a home made patch lube of cheese wax and crisco.

For target shooting at the range, there is nothing better than plain old spit.

As for bore lube, Harry Pope recommended a mixture that included olive oil for lubricating bullets for the muzzle loading center fire guns he crafted.

almost universally, cross patch shooters lube their paper cross patching with automatic trans fluid.

In my experience olive oil does everything you want it to do for a patch lube. The only problem I had was that I would get smoldering or burnt patches. I switch to peanut oil, at the suggestion of a forum member, and have had no problems since.

In my experience olive oil does everything you want it to do for a patch lube. The only problem I had was that I would get smoldering or burnt patches.

Click to expand...

If I smelled that olive oil cooking I would have to go home and eat pasta.
BTW, was that OO by itself or did you add garlic and basil? :wink: :haha:

Which Liquid Wrench product do you use?
Last I looked there were 6 or 8 different items and all were in a new packaging that did not look like the stuff I bought 20 yrs ago. Would like to try it but not sure which one.

I suggest making a grease. You can use olive oil with beeswax experimenting to get the consistency you like. A 60/40 olive oil/beeswax is a good mix but maybe to runny for some. I 'd also suggest replacing the beeswax with rendered deer fat as soon as one could. The lube I've settled on that works very well for me and a few friends is a mix of Bear oil and Deer fat. I found though in lean years when I couldn't get the Bear fat to render, that I could replace the Bear oil and make a Olive oil Deer fat mix that worked remarkably well for me in a pinch. :thumbsup:

I use LOOB (lanolin+olive oil+beeswax) for just about everything, patched round ball, minies, plain based, fast twist bullets, percussion revolvers. Pouring the melted mix into a shallow layer in a cookie pan to quick cool helps keep the beeswax from precipitating out as hardened lumps. Then it can be scooped up and pressed into whatever container is preferred. If it is poured up directly into a can the beeswax tries to congeal and push the lighter constituents to the middle, creating a non-homogenous mix with a soft center.
The only gripe I have with it is that it makes fingers slippery like everything else. But it's easy to wipe off and not persistent on skin.

I'm of the straight olive oil category!

as others have mentioned, its what works best for you!

This one KV Rummer. Squirt it on a stack of dozen or so patches. Squeeze/massage the stack with your fingers to distribute the oil evenly. Wrap the stack in a paper towel and squeeze the bundle so the towel takes up any excess oil. The patches will feel almost dry and be very pleasant to handle. I think you will like it.

Rifleman1776 said:

In my experience olive oil does everything you want it to do for a patch lube. The only problem I had was that I would get smoldering or burnt patches.

Click to expand...

If I smelled that olive oil cooking I would have to go home and eat pasta.
BTW, was that OO by itself or did you add garlic and basil? :wink: :haha:

Click to expand...

Warning: Only add garlic and basil if you're shootin' an Italian rifle. :haha: :idunno:

like swampy I use beeswax and olive oil,I tend to vary the amount of beeswax depending on the temp I'm using it in.I melt it all up over a small hot plate on the lowest setting.then while it is melted I dip the patches set them on wax paper to dry and carry them in an Altoids tin that has been beat up,burnt and otherwise antiqued :grin:

Warning: Only add garlic and basil if you're shootin' an Italian rifle.

Click to expand...

Substitute Saffron or Paprika in your Spanish guns. I have the never ending patch lube. Crisco and beeswax. In the winter I add some more crisco, in the summer I add some more beeswax. I've been working on the same container for 4 years now.

I haven't got a chance to shoot my new Olive Oil patches yet.Will the patches last indefinitely or do they have a shelf life with the Olive Oil saturated into them?
I'm gonna try and get out this weekend..I've just been WAY too busy these days....

I've been working on the same container for 4 years now.

Click to expand...

Ye ain't doin' enuf shooting. :wink: