Frozen hunts, fowling shots, spit patch

[redbeard381]

This may have been covered already- but what do other folks do for deer hunting in cold temps?

I exclusively spit patch when target shooting, training, and competition, but I use ballistol and water mix (~50/50) deer hunting late season Midwest and load on a clean bore first thing in the morning. My Kibler colonial rifle shoots best with a fowling shot and spit patch. I change it up to oil/water and clean cold bore and just get use to a POA shift for hunting. I'm afraid spit will freeze and don't shoot a fowler as not to make noise. Also by the time I have a shot on game it may be hours later and the fowled bore is concrete. This seems to work for me and I haven't missed a deer in 3 seasons, but I don't like changing it up from my other shooting regimen and the POA shift between cold bore shots and competition fowled shots can be drastic.

Any advice would be great!

 

[Gun Tramp]

Fouling, fouled.

 

[redbeard381]

Fouling, fouled.

I guess I'm thinking a lot about bird hunting too. Thanks.

 

[64Springer]

What will happen to that tiny bit of frozen spit .001 seconds after you pull the trigger and introduce 2,000 degrees of heat?

 

[Nav]

I thought dry patches for hunting in any climate simply to keep the powder charge dry and potent rather than having the moisture migrate into the charge over hours. I don't think the spit, or whatever liquid is on the patch, freezing would matter much as long as the integrity of the charge isn't compromised. It actually might help rather than hurt to have it frozen rather than liquid.

I've seen a couple of videos of guys picking up their shot, wet patches and there seem to always be some wet BP corns on them that didn't ignite. If you load and shoot I don't think this is at all an issue, but for those who ram a sopping patch at the range this would probably give you a FTF if you carried the rifle around for a few hours like that.

This makes sense to me, but I don't have personal experience. This will be my first season taking a whitetail with a ML, and I plan on hunting with a dry patch.

 

[JBird]

Moose milk and spit patches are asking for rust, unless you pull your load after each hunt

Mink oil or similar lubes that handle heat and cold are the "standard" for hunting for a reason.

Good barrier for moisture in bore, can leave loaded for the entirety of the hunting season if need be without losing accuracy. I've never noticed a change in impact at the range with mink oil loads as well, clean or fouled bore.

 

[64Springer]

Moose milk and spit patches are asking for rust, unless you pull your load after each hunt

Mink oil or similar lubes that handle heat and cold are the "standard" for hunting for a reason.

Good barrier for moisture in bore, can leave loaded for the entirety of the hunting season if need be without losing accuracy. I've never noticed a change in impact at the range with mink oil loads as well, clean or fouled bore.

Would you consider a mixture of bee's wax/coconut oil/olive oil similar to mink oil.

I guess we're talking about powder contamination.

Thanks.

 

[user 31232]

Freeze

 

[Nuthatch]

I don't hunt much in freezing temps. But we have extremely high humidity in the winter with our sopping wet fog. The duck marshes can be especially tough with that humidity leaking through just about everything, dripping off trees above & seeping into every crack & crevice. I also do a late season hunt along the coast. Again, temps aren't bad at all. But I camp down at the bottom of a canyon where there's a creek and the humidity sits down there all night.

Personally, I don't do a fouling shot and I don't notice any difference between my first and last shot of the day. I use some kind of oil/wax based lube when I'm hunting. My wads for the wing shooting are felt, soaked in olive oil. My patches on the rifles are in bear grease/beeswax. The first & second shots usually load just fine. But the third will give me some grief if I don't swab or at least put some extra spit on that greased patch before I send it down. As long as the barrel is above freezing, I doubt it would give me any problems. In the marshes, I only have to give it a quick swab about every 10 shots or so. It's not bad. But a PRB that's tightly patched in my rifle will only give me about 3 shots max. Again, just a little spit on that 3rd or 4th shot to send it on top of the powder charge does the trick. I've never had to load more than that for rifle stuff.

 

[JBird]

Would you consider a mixture of bee's wax/coconut oil/olive oil similar to mink oil.

I guess we're talking about powder contamination.

Thanks.

Probably similar, it's a solid here in Georgia until it's in direct sun or 80+ degrees, then it gets a little gooey.

As for powder contamination, I just pulled a load out of my 45 this weekend that's been in the gun since may. Ball pulled out smoothly, patch was still greasy with maybe 1grain of powder stuck to it. The remaining powder (30 grain charge) poured out of the barrel dry after breaking it loose with the ball puller

 

[redbeard381]

What will happen to that tiny bit of frozen spit .001 seconds after you pull the trigger and introduce 2,000 degrees of heat?

I figure it will blow out just fine. For what it's worth, I have seen a Lyman GPR barrel that had completely banana'ed and blew the forend to pieces when someone used a 50/50 cotton/polyester patch and a 50 grains of 777. Good condition gun, but it was a bore obstruction nonetheless.

 

[Art Caputo]

For freezing(or any temperature) I use TOTW Mink Oil…..No fowling shot needed for consistent shot to shot accuracy.

 

[Brokennock]

but I don't like changing it up from my other shooting regimen and the POA shift

The answer here seems pretty simple and obvious.....
Ditch the spit patch if it is not what you are using for your shooting when the shot counts.
Isn't range time mostly practice for making that clean ethical shot on game? Then keep as much the same as possible.
Also, ditching spit and that other concoction has other benefits.
Using animal fat, or vegetable oil and beeswax, will protect your gun from rust, even when dirty, and is natural and non-toxic. Note all the hunting year round @Britsmoothy does, often with a gun left dirty from the hunt a day or 3 before,,,,, he uses animal or vegetable fat lubes and for protecting his bore.

If you want the same performance in "the real world" as you get on the range,,,, keep your load the same.

 

[redbeard381]

The answer here seems pretty simple and obvious.....
Ditch the spit patch if it is not what you are using for your shooting when the shot counts.
Isn't range time mostly practice for making that clean ethical shot on game? Then keep as much the same as possible.
Also, ditching spit and that other concoction has other benefits.
Using animal fat, or vegetable oil and beeswax, will protect your gun from rust, even when dirty, and is natural and non-toxic. Note all the hunting year round @Britsmoothy does, often with a gun left dirty from the hunt a day or 3 before,,,,, he uses animal or vegetable fat lubes and for protecting his bore.

If you want the same performance in "the real world" as you get on the range,,,, keep your load the same.

This is where the problem lies. I use spit patch on the range and my guns group wonderfully though my first cold bore shot is always high right. I want to keep everything consistent and I like the idea of not having to add another step on the range (IE oil, beeswax, etc.) In essence I have to change up my range routine or my hunting routine to match each other.

I appreciate the advice gentlemen.

 

[Brokennock]

This is where the problem lies. I use spit patch on the range and my guns group wonderfully though my first cold bore shot is always high right. I want to keep everything consistent and I like the idea of not having to add another step on the range (IE oil, beeswax, etc.) In essence I have to change up my range routine or my hunting routine to match each other.

I appreciate the advice gentlemen.

It would seem for practicality sake, it would be better to slightly change your range routine.
You can always prelube the patch material before you leave the house.
You should be able to find a lube/patch/ball combo that doesn't give you that 1st shot high and right flier.
Depending on how you feel about buying stuff that only has one or two uses, I'd try 100% pure Mink Oil 1st (not the stuff sold for shoe care), followed by neatsfoot oil or neatsfoot oil mixed with just enough melted beeswax to form a soft paste. If you want to use stuff you may already have on hand and/or will use for other things I would try an olive oil/beeswax blend (I do sometimes add a cap full of Murphy's Oil Soap).


Unfortunately, to get what you say you want, you will have to change something.

 

[ETipp]

For freezing(or any temperature) I use TOTW Mink Oil…..No fowling shot needed for consistent shot to shot accuracy.

I've yet to use it in cold conditions, but I too, have had very good results with TOTW Mink Oil. So far its worked great for this ole boy.

But then again, I'm a die hard hunter that only shoots my ML's when testing a hunting load and/or sight in, actual hunting shots, or unloading them. I do not target shoot just for the fun of it.

 

[Des52]

I hunt in cold as our black powder season is after the regular season, all I use is TOTW mink oil. Have used it on winter squirrel and rabbit hunts too. If I was making my own I would have to adjust the mix for hot and cold, mink oil works great in both. Use whatever you want but TOTW mink oil makes it simple for me.

 

[JBird]

Like I mentioned above, I use the mink oil in both flint guns that see hunting use. And they will see range time with said lube before the season.

That doesn't mean all my range shooting is with mink oil. A wet lube like moose milk or Lehigh works better on the firing line, not hard to come up with a load that shoots same POI

 

[64Springer]

I figure it will blow out just fine. For what it's worth, I have seen a Lyman GPR barrel that had completely banana'ed and blew the forend to pieces when someone used a 50/50 cotton/polyester patch and a 50 grains of 777. Good condition gun, but it was a bore obstruction nonetheless.

Were you actually there firsthand to see the loading and shooting and blowing up of the barrel due to a 50/50 cotton/polyester patch or you saw the banana barrel second hand and heard the story?

 

[ETipp]

I hunt in cold as our black powder season is after the regular season, all I use is TOTW mink oil. Have used it on winter squirrel and rabbit hunts too. If I was making my own I would have to adjust the mix for hot and cold, mink oil works great in both. Use whatever you want but TOTW mink oil makes it simple for me.

I've always had the thought that IF cold weather ever became an issue with TOTW Mink Oil on patches, I would keep them closer to my upper body to keep them warmer and a bit looser. But I doubt that will ever be an issue in these parts.