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Need advice Re, Moose milk

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Hoppes BP Lube is about as good a patch lube as anything around. I used mink oil in the woods and Hoppes for everything else. Wet, but not drippy, patches work in every gun I own. And I'd rather be shooting than cobbling up some liquid combo. I've used a few other substances with very good results but prefer Hoppes & mink oil.
Moose milk.
moose-milk.jpg

Hoppes, the way I used to be able to buy it.
PICT0593-1.jpg

Does the Moose being milked have a name, its just that I find Cows, Goats and even Horses settle easy like; if theyre talked to while being Milked.
 
Moose Milk:
IPA (91%) 4 Tablespoons
Castor Oil 1 1/2 Tablespoon
Murphy Oil Soap 1/1/2 Tablespoon
Witch Hazle 2 Tablespoons
Water (non-chorine) 1/2 cup (cold)

Forgi


Forgive my Aussie ignorance, but whats IPA ?

I believe it stands for isopropyl alcohol
Thank you for the definition. Sometimes I can figure these abbreviations out, but that one was totally opaque.

In my world, IPA means India Pale Ale. Never tried it as a patch lube.

Notchy Bob
 
witch hazel is mostly alcohol so why not 6 tbls of ipa? witch hazel is just an astringent.
 
For patch lube, Im gravitating to water/Ballistol 5:1 mose milk. For wiping the bore, same stuff but 9:1. Patches just damp.
 
Reading through this and wonderer if 2 stroke pre mix oil has ever been used? Something like Klotz benol or another brand with castor. Non synthetic of course. I would think you could thin it out and soak patches in it, then let the solvent evaporate and leave behind the oil.
 
Reading through this and wonderer if 2 stroke pre mix oil has ever been used? Something like Klotz benol or another brand with castor. Non synthetic of course. I would think you could thin it out and soak patches in it, then let the solvent evaporate and leave behind the oil.
Good question, I have wondered this also
 
Been using 2-oz each WSCO and Murphys to a Quart of warm water as Moose Milk for a swab for 15 years at least. Ballistol to water 1:4 as a patch lube. I'm of the persuasion NAPA changed the formulation on WSCO some years back and the stuff would no longer stay in solution when mixed.
 
I've used Stumpy's Moose Snot since I first learned of it when I joined the forum in 2004. He made it specifically to use with loading blocks but I use it for all my patches. It ends up about the consistency of Kiwi paste shoe polish and I keep it in an Altoids-sized tin container in my shooting box. To use it I take my strip of patching material and rub on side of it onto the paste. When I feel it come through to my thumb, that's all I need. Then put the ball over that lubed material in the muzzle of my rifle and cut the patching material to size with my neck knife. It always loads easily because it cleans out the fouling on the way down and shoots it out with the next shot. So you're always shooting with a clean barrel. If it's a little harder to seat than normal, that means I didn't use enough lube with it and I just use some extra the next time and it gets back to loading smoothly. I never have to swab between shots when I'm using it and just clean everything real well at the end of the day. At one time there was a sticky message with both Stumpy's Moose Milk formula and his Moose Snot formulas here on the forum. Below is his Moose Snot formula and instructions:

Stumpy's Moose Snot
A premium multi-shot between wiping (10+) patch lube stable over a wide temperature range.
SPECIFICALLY designed for use of patched round balls in a loading block

Beeswax 2 oz.
Castor Oil 8 oz.
Murphy's Oil Soap 1 oz.

Conversions weight to volume:
1/2 oz. = 1 tbsp = 3 tsp
1 oz. = 2 tbsp = 6 tsp

Heat beeswax in a soup can set inside a pot of water. (A double-boiler. I keep my beeswax in a
one pound coffee can and measure out what I need by melting it and pouring it into measuring
cups). Add just enough water so the inner can does not begin to float (should be just short of the
lube level in the can).

Heat the water to a low boil (simmer). In a separate can, add the castor oil and Murphy's oil soap
(cold). Once the beeswax is melted, swap the castor oil can in the pot of water for the beeswax.
Add the beeswax to the oils. It will clump up. Stir with an ice tea spoon as the mixture heats up
(***note** chopsticks work fine for stirring this and can be discarded after use). When it fully
melts there will be a scum that floats to the top and just won't mix in. Be patient. DO NOT
COOK THE MIXTURE
. Once the solids are dissolved there is no need to heat further. Skim the
scum off. Remove the mix from the heat and wipe the water off the outside (so it won't drip into
the container when you pour it out).

FINAL TOP SECRET STEP: Add a teaspoon of Murphy's Oil Soap and stir vigorously. This last
step makes the lube frothy and smooth - really adds to the appearance, though it doesn't seem to
matter to the function of the lube. Clamp the can in the jaws of a vice-grip pliers and pour into
the waiting tins. Allow to cool a half hour.

Note: it if is a hinged tin - line the edge that has the hinges with a strip of aluminum foil so it
doesn't ooze out before it cools

***Note*** I've never had a problem with it leaking out of the rectangular Altoids-like tin cans. DG - Twisted_1in66
 
I've used Stumpy's Moose Snot since I first learned of it when I joined the forum in 2004. He made it specifically to use with loading blocks but I use it for all my patches. It ends up about the consistency of Kiwi paste shoe polish and I keep it in an Altoids-sized tin container in my shooting box. To use it I take my strip of patching material and rub on side of it onto the paste. When I feel it come through to my thumb, that's all I need. Then put the ball over that lubed material in the muzzle of my rifle and cut the patching material to size with my neck knife. It always loads easily because it cleans out the fouling on the way down and shoots it out with the next shot. So you're always shooting with a clean barrel. If it's a little harder to seat than normal, that means I didn't use enough lube with it and I just use some extra the next time and it gets back to loading smoothly. I never have to swab between shots when I'm using it and just clean everything real well at the end of the day. At one time there was a sticky message with both Stumpy's Moose Milk formula and his Moose Snot formulas here on the forum. Below is his Moose Snot formula and instructions:

Stumpy's Moose Snot
A premium multi-shot between wiping (10+) patch lube stable over a wide temperature range.
SPECIFICALLY designed for use of patched round balls in a loading block

Beeswax 2 oz.
Castor Oil 8 oz.
Murphy's Oil Soap 1 oz.

Conversions weight to volume:
1/2 oz. = 1 tbsp = 3 tsp
1 oz. = 2 tbsp = 6 tsp

Heat beeswax in a soup can set inside a pot of water. (A double-boiler. I keep my beeswax in a
one pound coffee can and measure out what I need by melting it and pouring it into measuring
cups). Add just enough water so the inner can does not begin to float (should be just short of the
lube level in the can).

Heat the water to a low boil (simmer). In a separate can, add the castor oil and Murphy's oil soap
(cold). Once the beeswax is melted, swap the castor oil can in the pot of water for the beeswax.
Add the beeswax to the oils. It will clump up. Stir with an ice tea spoon as the mixture heats up
(***note** chopsticks work fine for stirring this and can be discarded after use). When it fully
melts there will be a scum that floats to the top and just won't mix in. Be patient. DO NOT
COOK THE MIXTURE
. Once the solids are dissolved there is no need to heat further. Skim the
scum off. Remove the mix from the heat and wipe the water off the outside (so it won't drip into
the container when you pour it out).

FINAL TOP SECRET STEP: Add a teaspoon of Murphy's Oil Soap and stir vigorously. This last
step makes the lube frothy and smooth - really adds to the appearance, though it doesn't seem to
matter to the function of the lube. Clamp the can in the jaws of a vice-grip pliers and pour into
the waiting tins. Allow to cool a half hour.

Note: it if is a hinged tin - line the edge that has the hinges with a strip of aluminum foil so it
doesn't ooze out before it cools

***Note*** I've never had a problem with it leaking out of the rectangular Altoids-like tin cans. DG - Twisted_1in66
Sounds like good stuff. Thanks for sharing! I like tinkering and making my own stuff.
 
Sounds like good stuff. Thanks for sharing! I like tinkering and making my own stuff.
One of the really nice things about it besides the fact that it works so well is that it doesn't freeze in below Zero Fahrenheit temperatures like I had in Vermont nor does it turn to liquid in hot and humid summer days like we got in Virginia. What made me look for something in the first place was a trip for some target shooting in a local quarry in Vermont. It was mid-Winter and I think it had warmed up to ~11°. Was a nice sunny day. I set up some targets and went to lube my patch with "Bore Butter" (the actual brand) for my first shot and it was frozen solid. I ended up spit-patching for that session. The Bore Butter was not a complete loss though because the tube of it worked just great as a hammer to pound in some of the brads I brought to hold up my paper targets.
 
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