I have used the Mink oil from Track and really like it. I am really eager to get my hands on some bear fat...I tried to get myself some up in Maine last year but the bears didn't cooperate.
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Patch lube confusion
- Thread starter Ohio Rusty
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longcruise
70 Cal.
The way I hear it is you pretty much have to kill the bear to get the oil away from them.
Been using Bore Butter for years, but just about any non-petroleum oil/grease works fine.
Sno-Seal is the only one that I can see is slightly cheaper, $.90 vs $.95 per oz. than Track's Mink Oil. But the Sno-Seal MSDS shows it contains 20%-40% petroleum distallates.
Local IGA has this for $2.99, probably the only thing cheaper is spit. Because it's food it has the food label, and lists no sodium etc, just pure lard.
After posting I see right there on the front - Hydrogenated with BHT & BHA added. Have no idea how that effects it for ML use.
Local IGA has this for $2.99, probably the only thing cheaper is spit. Because it's food it has the food label, and lists no sodium etc, just pure lard.
After posting I see right there on the front - Hydrogenated with BHT & BHA added. Have no idea how that effects it for ML use.
Phenols and they prevent oxidation, for what that's worth.
Why don't you guys, if like me, are struggling to get your hands on a bear, order some beeswax, melt it and add some olive oil, go shoot. Simples, and you can stop worrying about salty corrosive fouling 
SwanShot
36 Cal.
That's what works for me.Why don't you guys, if like me, are struggling to get your hands on a bear, order some beeswax, melt it and add some olive oil, go shoot. Simples, and you can stop worrying about salty corrosive fouling
We never tire of lube threads!
I've tried T/C Bore Butter, and I guess it works, and I bought some mink oil from Track of the Wolf but haven't tried it yet. I bought a small tin of SPG lube, melted it, saturated some patches with it and shot them, but was not impressed. SPG is used a lot as a bullet lube by blackpowder cartridge shooters and it is supposed to work like magic. It is also recommended by some as a patch lube, so I tried it. It's just too stiff.
my all time favorite lube is Dixie's "Old Zip" patch lube... 80% mutton tallow and 10% beeswax. Saturate patches and felt wads with it, load one of the wads under your patched ball, and shoot until the cows come home. Unfortunately, Dixie no longer sells it. I don't know, but suspect they caught some flak about the name. "Old Zip Coon" was a very popular minstrel show song in the 1830's and forties. If you Google it, you can find several videos of old-time bands performing it. In any event, this wondrous patch lube is no longer available. I thought I would make my own, but had difficulty finding mutton tallow. I still have one full tin of Old Zip left, and that's it.
So, I had an idea. I order buffalo meat from a ranch in South Dakota, and sure enough, they sell buffalo suet. I bought some and rendered it into tallow. It came out a very pale yellow color and I thought I might have gotten it too hot, but the lady at the ranch, a master chef, said this is typical of tallow from animals that are exclusively grass fed. Anyway, I kept bees a long time ago, and still have a couple of pounds of my own wax, now close to 50 years old. I used all my buffalo tallow and enough beeswax to make an 80/20 mix, but it came out pretty hard. It would make good candles, I think. I got some more suet and will render it and try just the straight tallow. It just seems fitting to use buffalo tallow as a lube in the plains rifles I like to shoot.
I still have the mink oil to try, also.
Best regards,
Notchy Bob
LATE EDIT: “Old Zip” is 80% mutton tallow and 20% beeswax, not 10%. I fat-fingered a number on the keyboard, I guess. Sorry about the error.
I've tried T/C Bore Butter, and I guess it works, and I bought some mink oil from Track of the Wolf but haven't tried it yet. I bought a small tin of SPG lube, melted it, saturated some patches with it and shot them, but was not impressed. SPG is used a lot as a bullet lube by blackpowder cartridge shooters and it is supposed to work like magic. It is also recommended by some as a patch lube, so I tried it. It's just too stiff.
my all time favorite lube is Dixie's "Old Zip" patch lube... 80% mutton tallow and 10% beeswax. Saturate patches and felt wads with it, load one of the wads under your patched ball, and shoot until the cows come home. Unfortunately, Dixie no longer sells it. I don't know, but suspect they caught some flak about the name. "Old Zip Coon" was a very popular minstrel show song in the 1830's and forties. If you Google it, you can find several videos of old-time bands performing it. In any event, this wondrous patch lube is no longer available. I thought I would make my own, but had difficulty finding mutton tallow. I still have one full tin of Old Zip left, and that's it.
So, I had an idea. I order buffalo meat from a ranch in South Dakota, and sure enough, they sell buffalo suet. I bought some and rendered it into tallow. It came out a very pale yellow color and I thought I might have gotten it too hot, but the lady at the ranch, a master chef, said this is typical of tallow from animals that are exclusively grass fed. Anyway, I kept bees a long time ago, and still have a couple of pounds of my own wax, now close to 50 years old. I used all my buffalo tallow and enough beeswax to make an 80/20 mix, but it came out pretty hard. It would make good candles, I think. I got some more suet and will render it and try just the straight tallow. It just seems fitting to use buffalo tallow as a lube in the plains rifles I like to shoot.
I still have the mink oil to try, also.
Best regards,
Notchy Bob
LATE EDIT: “Old Zip” is 80% mutton tallow and 20% beeswax, not 10%. I fat-fingered a number on the keyboard, I guess. Sorry about the error.
Last edited:
user 49399
54 Cal.
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Why don't you guys, if like me, are struggling to get your hands on a bear, order some beeswax, melt it and add some olive oil, go shoot. Simples, and you can stop worrying about salty corrosive fouling
What he said works.
William Sublette
45 Cal.
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What exactly is mink oil?
Rendered mink fat?
Rendered mink fat?
I have been an avid user of TOTW Mink Oil for +20 years. Not too sure about the other “Mink Oil labeled products”, particularly those designed for treating leather, But IMO, the TOTW product sure seems to have been developed for the expressed purpose of performing as a patch lube and predominately “mink”. It also does work well with treating leather, it’s consistency is perfect regardless of temperature, provides short-term lubrication of the bore, and can loosen/clean fowling when shooting long strings without swabbing. It is dirt cheap and easily accessible. A tin seems to last forever. I have several, including one or two tins that were originally purchased a couple of decades ago that have the same appearance and consistency as my recently purchased samples. Most all my my other patch lubes and greases are long decomposed, or hard as a rock…….Long gone!
Perhaps I’m too biased, but I’ve made sure my supply is sufficient till they stick me in the ground….
Perhaps I’m too biased, but I’ve made sure my supply is sufficient till they stick me in the ground….
That first target with the TVA rifle is sure what you like to see in a hunting rifle. Good shooting, sir!
The other thing about Track's Mink Oil is that it is not that expensive when compared to other commercially available lubes.
But I also understand the drive to"make your own" as some do here. But I think it's cheaper - only if the ingredients are essently 'free'.
longcruise
70 Cal.
Oh yeah!
Trailed by patch material but not by much.
I shot nothing but crisco for lots of years. I shot better then than now but that's probably related to age more than anything
I couldn't possibly recall all of the lubes I've used nor accurately count them. They all served there purpose and none were useless. My final philosophy on lubes is; "keep it simple and cheap".
It would seem to me that Any of the manufacturers lubes (mink, bear) most likely have a high % of wax then actually desired. Profit margin in the end will dictate what one sells.
Only by making your own can you be assured of Your desired mix.
Now I do like TOW mink oil but since I got hold of pure bear oil I prefer it now.
The other day I went out, temp was around 30-31 degrees and I think about 86% humidity, cloudy, High Desert climate:
First three shot I used TOW Mink Oil and wiped between shots, I noticed the wipe patches were considerably Black, lots of fouling.
Next three shots I switched to pure Bear Oil, the temp had it begi8to solidify on the bottom but was able to pour some off the top.
My wipe patches using the bear oil came out surprisingly clean, very little fouling.
Now it was cold and i got a late start, I also like to fire my last few using Shenandoah Lube/Cleaner...that's just me, it's what I do.
These wipe patches came out with about as much fouling as using TOW Mink Oil but was softer...that is what Shenandoah says; keeps fouling soft (read the bottle).
So my conclusion, and this is second time I tried all three like this - last time was early Fall, is the 'addative' (wax) in TOW is what causes for higher fouling....just my guess.
I still prefer Pure Bear Oil (not fat, not lard; pure, clear Oil). Perhaps pure mink would be equal, but that would be a LOT of Mink to harvest and render!
Only by making your own can you be assured of Your desired mix.
Now I do like TOW mink oil but since I got hold of pure bear oil I prefer it now.
The other day I went out, temp was around 30-31 degrees and I think about 86% humidity, cloudy, High Desert climate:
First three shot I used TOW Mink Oil and wiped between shots, I noticed the wipe patches were considerably Black, lots of fouling.
Next three shots I switched to pure Bear Oil, the temp had it begi8to solidify on the bottom but was able to pour some off the top.
My wipe patches using the bear oil came out surprisingly clean, very little fouling.
Now it was cold and i got a late start, I also like to fire my last few using Shenandoah Lube/Cleaner...that's just me, it's what I do.
These wipe patches came out with about as much fouling as using TOW Mink Oil but was softer...that is what Shenandoah says; keeps fouling soft (read the bottle).
So my conclusion, and this is second time I tried all three like this - last time was early Fall, is the 'addative' (wax) in TOW is what causes for higher fouling....just my guess.
I still prefer Pure Bear Oil (not fat, not lard; pure, clear Oil). Perhaps pure mink would be equal, but that would be a LOT of Mink to harvest and render!
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Not sure but squeezing those little critters can be dangerous. They have sharp teeth and like to bite! An old timer near me used to raise mink.
I only shoot my Shenandoah roundballer 25-35 times per year. A few years ago I got hooked on prelubed pillow ticker patches.
You can insert this below in your google search box for future reference.
Thank you member Muley for introducing me to trying bumbling bear grease. Been hooked every since.
You can insert this below in your google search box for future reference.
October Country Lubed Daisy Ticking Patches
Thank you member Muley for introducing me to trying bumbling bear grease. Been hooked every since.
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I'd like to know that answer too. I've always heard don't use it, but never why.
