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Olive oil?

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I think Ford Automatic transmission fluid is a closer replacement to whale oil.

That's a misconception born of the fact that in the distant past whale oil served as automatic transmission fluid. Somehow it seemed to follow that the ATF that replaced it must be a good substitute for whale oil across the board.
 
Among the various vegetable and seed oils...Jojoba Oil is generally considered to be the most "Direct" replacement for Whale oil by folks that have used both for shooting purposes.
Ed Harris had a modified formula to use with the mercuric chlorate primers that were so prevalent at one time. It also works for BP cleaning.
(Note to moderators...If this violates forum rules, I will not be offended if it is removed upon review.)
Posting for reference:
www.shootersforum.com
/tips-comments/3313-bore...
Ed's "Pink" for Blackpowder and Chlorate Primers For blackpowder residue and chlorate salts you do need to have a water-based cleaner. If you add 4 fluid ounces of a fire retardant hydraulic fluid concentrate, or water-based machining coolant concentrate, such as Arco Emulsiplex or Trimsol to your Ed's Red recipe, it will then form a stable emulsion with blended slowly into boiling distilled water in a 50-50 ratio.
 
I mix 1/2 cup of olive oil with 1/2 lb melted bees wax and 1/4 cup of walnut oil.

The walnut oil is hardening oil, much like Linseed but not nearly as gummy. When the walnut oil reacts, it turns the mixture into a pasty substance, much like chapstick.

Olive oil was used to polish gun stocks in Colonial times as it was widely available.
 
I've been mixing OO with alcohol and applying it evenly to a strip of patch material. When the alcohol dissipates it leaves an even application of the oil. I like consistency!

It's not the only lube I use just because experimentation is irresistible.:rolleyes:
 
I use to mix olive oil and beeswax for patch lube, and coated my barrel when cleaned. now days I don't use it. I found a better patch lube. I still use the olive oil beeswax mix for boolit casting in my pistol and rifle rounds. but there is nothing wrong with it,,,,,,,,,,
 
What i find works good,as does everyone elses recipe, is 40% lamb tallow, 40% beeswax, 10% olive oil. Makes a good lube cookie. I bag ske them in some fine corn meal and they are easier to handle.
DL
 
Pssst, don't tell nobody but the double extra secret and hope to spit best ingredients are DAX pomade and a purple crayola.
:rolleyes:
But I usually just use LOOB*.

*lanolin - olive oil - beeswax
 
I looked on the interwebs far and wide for the right bullet lube and the one I went with was a 50/50 mix of beeswax and Crisco shortening. It seemed to work great! After extracting the Minnie's from the wax/shortening mix I made a tray with some hard wood drilled with a fostner bit to make the bottom flat. I drilled the holes just deep enough to protect the grease grooves and skirt of the ball. I have a cigar box that is exactly the right size for the board. I made a second board for the Knight .50 (I also drilled smaller holes for the 209 caps in the plastic insulators so I don't have to bother with it at the shooting line) I can either change the board out depending on what gun I'm taking to the range or get a second box (I'm working on that,LOL)
 

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I have used olive oil for more years than I want to say, because it was handed down to me by my ancestors as the oil to use. Grandmother mixed it on a wood cook stove, I didn't know any different, until I started to work in the machine shop. I was taught to mix it with bees wax, 50/50, sometimes more oil than wax to lighten the viscosity. Use the actual non refined stuff that comes out of our bee hives. I have never had a problem with rancidity. Once a cotton rag gets soaked with the mixture is when it is the best.
 
My experience with Olive Oil...,

(regarding muzzle loading...what a bunch of pervs....LOL)

Looking for a non petroleum lube for muzzle loaders and cap-n-ball revolvers. Folks told me in the 1970's to use Crisco or lard....

Well lard or Crisco on a hot summer's day..., melts.
So I added paraffin to the lard. (but paraffin is a petroleum product, Dave...well I was a teen and didn't know that :confused:) That still melted on a very hot summer's day, and didn't work so well either, making cleaning a bit of a chore.

:eek: So I'd use pre-lubed, pre-cut patches for round ball, and store bought "bullet lube" for conicals or bore-butter:confused:.

Well I got into flinters 20 years later, and stuff gets misplaced, and heard about beeswax and lard. So I tried that. That worked but then the local store stopped carrying lard (something about trans-fats and cholesterol or some such). Well..., Olive Oil is a "fat". I found the cheapest Olive Oil on the shelf. Turns out it's not what you want to be eating as food anyway, so...50:50 mix. Some I left on a shelf for a year, and when I found it, I mean checked on how it was doing..., it hadn't gone bad. So I've been using it since, trying various ratios. My results so far are:

50:50 or perhaps a bit more beeswax to olive oil = very stiff and no fun rubbing it onto one side of a cloth patch..., but good for conical bullet lube. Too stiff for shotgun wads, especially if you have to get the wad past a choked bore.

1:2 Beeswax to olive oil = good all around patch lube. (Another way of putting it is 1/3 beeswax to 2/3 olive oil.) I use this to lube fiber shotgun wads too

1:3 Beeswax to olive oil = good patch lube in very cold temps (around 32 degrees air temp or colder) Another way of looking at it is 25% Beeswax to 75% olive oil. Some folks like this for a round ball year-round lube but in very hot weather at the range I worry about it melting = a fouled powder load.

You can use unsalted lard or Crisco for the olive oil if you wish. Actually folks also use canola oil, and walnut oil (pricey stuff) too.

If you're a deer hunter and worried about scent..., you can add food grade wintergreen oil to the lube before it hardens, but you need a lidded jar to store it. This added to yellow beeswax and lard in 1:3 ratio seems very very much like bore butter...hmmmm.....

LD
 
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