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Patch lube for round ball shooting..........Lawdy.

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I didn't know that Gunpowder was originally a trade name. Interesting....
DuPont de Nemours was the name of the company that was the maker of the product. Du Pont and Gunpowder was the name of the company and product on the can. I will check the can it may have been in all caps. The stopped using cans so marked a long time ago. But I have been shooting black gunpowder for a long time and still have some of the cans. Some with the original powder.
They also made blasting powder and that had a different packaging I am sure.
More tomorrow
Bunk
 
Been a long time since I shot patch and RB, and actually, that's all I really wanted to shoot. However, after owning a few TC ML rifles that did not play well with RB, I took the route of conical bullets. They have served me well overall. Took a lot of critters with them. But my heart is in shooting RB.

With that said, and before anyone makes the comment of "whatever your rifle likes best" or something along those lines, I am well aware of how some rifles prefer different recipes. What I am looking for is an overall patch lube, or a good starting point, if you will. The only lube I have ever used, to the best of my memory, was either Bore Butter or whatever some commercial patches were lubed with.

Reason for inquiring on this is simple. From my research I have found about a million different patch lubes that people swear by. From homemade to commercial. Its enough to make anyone's head spin. And yes, I have been taking notes.

Accuracy aside, there are other reasons why so many claim they like this or that lube better. Many swear some lubes will dirty up the barrels more than others. Yet many will say just the opposite. Some claim weather conditions is a factor. Some do not using spit due to it putting moisture down the barrel. Some use a wad on top of the powder due to concerns of the lube soaking into the powder. There are other reasons people site.

Moving along, I will certainly make my own patch lube if I know of a good starting point. If there's a commercial lube that is pretty darn good in many aspects, as well as many people have had good results with, then so be it.

Just looking for a general consensus on an overall good patch lube that has served many well in the past.

Oh, one last thing to note. I will be shooting a Crocket Squirrel rifle and a .54 Lyman Great Plains rifle.

Thank you.

You can line it with pretty much whatever. Heck a lot of guys doing some plinking for fun just dampen a patch material with their mouths.

I've done that, preluded patches, homemade lines, store bought.
I haven't seen any change in accuracy with anything I've used. Patch size seems to be a bigger factor in getting accuracy for me.
 
I've done that, preluded patches, homemade lines, store bought.
I haven't seen any change in accuracy with anything I've used. Patch size seems to be a bigger factor in getting accuracy for me.

Must agree. I've tuned and schmoozed quite a few guns to shoot balls and in my opinion, lube was the least important factor. I'd go so far as to say that when any lube is applied consistently in the same manner and the same quantity it will be as good as any lube out there.
 
I've often thought of some of the guys with Braddock...Washington, Boone, Daniel Morgan, John Finley, Christopher Gist and I'm sure countless others that were born and bred in the woods....Just like we do now at deer camp, I bet they showed off their rifles, discussed sliding wood patch boxes vs brass...Double set triggers vs single...Bore sizes, barrel length, stock design, probably even powder charges, etc...Supposedly this is also where Boone learned of Kentucky from the trader Finley...

Wouldn't it be great if we could go back and hear the conversations...
Well, I am slowly dying from cancer, so pretty soon, I hope to look some of those folks up and maybe ask them what they talked about back on the Earth. Hopefully, we get to hunt and have camp fires. Looking forward to meeting Sacagawea, Daniel Boone, Squanto, Davy Crocket, Matoaka/Amonute/Pocahontas, Jim Bridger and Sam Clemmens... among many others. I'll probably have more questions than they will. Gonna be good times I suspect.
 
I think you outed the "secret." Everybody is searching for the one magic lube, when in fact there are several lubes that will give equal results. No need to get too exotic. Plenty of common gun cleaning agents and pantry goods will do as lube. After a lot of experimenting, my motto is "keep it simple."
The good ole K.I.S.S. method.
 
A lot of things said here, some good and some are so-so. However I have been shooting BP for about 70 years. It took a while to learn ball and patch fit but I tested every patch lube I could make or buy and there really is an accuracy difference. Just a change in lubes could bring a group from 6 inches to a ragged hole at 50 yards. My suggestion as always is to test and test until you see spots.
The same holds true for modern revolvers and other guns with cast bullets, a lube can do wonders or cause pulled hair.
Why is a tight group important to me? I shot competition where I would bring home $60 worth of groceries for a small entry fee. Then I was able to take deer over 100 yards easily.
Two of us won so much in Va that the club changed it's rules so every shooter got a prize even if they missed every target.
 
A lot of things said here, some good and some are so-so. However I have been shooting BP for about 70 years. It took a while to learn ball and patch fit but I tested every patch lube I could make or buy and there really is an accuracy difference. Just a change in lubes could bring a group from 6 inches to a ragged hole at 50 yards. My suggestion as always is to test and test until you see spots.
The same holds true for modern revolvers and other guns with cast bullets, a lube can do wonders or cause pulled hair.
Why is a tight group important to me? I shot competition where I would bring home $60 worth of groceries for a small entry fee. Then I was able to take deer over 100 yards easily.
Two of us won so much in Va that the club changed it's rules so every shooter got a prize even if they missed every target.
Words of a marksman.
 
I keep it simple beeswax and bear tallow is my favorite. I like beeswax, Murphys oil, with olive oil and a hint of pinesol. 75/15/10/5 mix.
 
Well, I am slowly dying from cancer, so pretty soon, I hope to look some of those folks up and maybe ask them what they talked about back on the Earth. Hopefully, we get to hunt and have camp fires. Looking forward to meeting Sacagawea, Daniel Boone, Squanto, Davy Crocket, Matoaka/Amonute/Pocahontas, Jim Bridger and Sam Clemmens... among many others. I'll probably have more questions than they will. Gonna be good times I suspect.

Dale, I am sorry to hear of your cancer. I hope that things will actually improve instead of getting worse. Hang tough ole boy.
 
The good ole K.I.S.S. method.
I'm all for that one. And then we read posts such as what 45man said in post 187. His is not the only one of such. So I reckon it all boils down to a few things.

Ones individual rifle.

How far one is willing to go if they have a finicky rifle.

What one is willing to accept, in terms of accuracy.

Just give up and buy another ML. :)
 
Dale, I am sorry to hear of your cancer. I hope that things will actually improve instead of getting worse. Hang tough ole boy.
No biggie. Everybody croaks eventually. The latest scan seems to indicate that things are improving beyond what I expected. I could live another five years... which is something I have mixed feelings about. I'm pretty much all prepared to depart and don't really want to survive a nuclear war or ET invasion ;)
 
No biggie. Everybody croaks eventually. The latest scan seems to indicate that things are improving beyond what I expected. I could live another five years... which is something I have mixed feelings about. I'm pretty much all prepared to depart and don't really want to survive a nuclear war or ET invasion ;)

Understood. Glad things are looking a bit better for ya. And you have the right attitude about it as well. Hang in there buddy.
 
You can line it with pretty much whatever. Heck a lot of guys doing some plinking for fun just dampen a patch material with their mouths.

I've done that, preluded patches, homemade lines, store bought.
I haven't seen any change in accuracy with anything I've used. Patch size seems to be a bigger factor in getting accuracy for me.
If one is a ‘blood shooter’ who expects one hole five shop group at a hundred yards every time lube might make a difference.
I’m not that guy. Even at my best sharpest sights and eyes I couldn’t do it. It takes work and practice.
In my shooting I’ve not found any difference in lube. 2” at fifty yards is a target I save. So for me in my shooting lard, mink oil( that I use for the snob factor) spit olive oil, olive oil and bees wax all shoot the same for me.
Only pre lube doesn’t work for me as they dry out before I shoot a hundred patches
 
If one is a ‘blood shooter’ who expects one hole five shop group at a hundred yards every time lube might make a difference.
I’m not that guy. Even at my best sharpest sights and eyes I couldn’t do it. It takes work and practice.
In my shooting I’ve not found any difference in lube. 2” at fifty yards is a target I save. So for me in my shooting lard, mink oil( that I use for the snob factor) spit olive oil, olive oil and bees wax all shoot the same for me.
Only pre lube doesn’t work for me as they dry out before I shoot a hundred patches
that is where I am going with my Sharps a to stay on a 10" X 16" target with regularity at 75 yards open sights 91 year old eyes.
Bunk
 
To the OP- @ETipp


I have not and will not, read all the replies to your post. The ONLY TWO lubes I use are spit patch for targets/woodswalks and TOTW mink tallow for hunting. Not Borebutter/moosemilk/wonderlube/snoseal/ whatevermadeupcrap. I score in the upper 2/3rds of every woodswalk I enter and kill 3-6 deer every years with 0 wounded and not recovered.

You do you.
 

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