T/C bore butter

[J.D.]

Every gun is different and will like different patch lubes. The only way to answer your question is to try differnt lubes.

The Mad Monk likes Lehigh Valley Lube, and he is the expert, so you probably won't go wrong with Lehigh.

Others swear by Hoppe's No9 PLUS BP Solvent & Patch Lube.

Windshield wiper fluid mixed with an equal amount of Murphies oil soap is supposed to work wonders, though I have not tried it.

Windshield wiper fluid works pretty well by itself.

Any dilute soap and water mixture should work, for that matter.

The least expensive and most readily available patch lube is simply spit. Just stick a few CLEAN patches in your mouth and suck on 'em as you shoot. I found that spit works well for target shooting, but dries out my mouth...not to mention that there is no telling where my patches have been.

For hunting and trekking, situations where the gun will be loaded for some time, I prefer a wax based lube. Liquid lubes tend to soak into the powder if the gun is left loaded for several hours.

Some oil based liquid lubes, allowed to dry prior to loading, work well for hunting too.

Any quality of olive oil will work well enough, as long as it does not contain salt. Some other additives to beeswax are Canola oil, castor oil, crisco, real neatsfoot oil, not the synthetic, mutton tallow, or nearly any natural oil or grease.

Crisco and mutton tallow, used alone, work very well, but they can be messy without the stiffness of the wax.

Mutton tallow is availabel from Dixie.

The mix is usually some where between 1 part beeswax to 2-4 parts of oil, depending on the thickness of oil and the temperature one expects to be shooting in. A 1-3 mix is a good palce to start.

A thinner consitency is thought to be better for cold weather, while a stiffer consistency is usually used for shooting in hot weather.

The rule of thumb is that the consistency of the mixture is about that of shoe polish.

Since there are no hard and fast rules, the only way to find out what works best for you is to experiment.
J.D.

 

[joliver]

J.D.,

Again, thanks for the info. I'm just getting back into muzzleloading after being away from it for about 20 years and I've forgotten what little I once knew.

One last question and I'll stop picking your brain for a while: in an earlier post you said: "Simple green, diluted per instructions...." I checked on the label of Simple Green and it stated that Simple Green should be used full strength for, among other things, "ovens and grills,...carbon and graphite deposits...." It went on to say that the stongest dilute (1:10) is for "counters and stove tops, refrigerators, sinks, showers...." Based on this it would seem to me that using it full strength would be best since powder fouling would be close to "carbon and graphite" deposits. Am I off base on this ???

joliver

 

[joliver]

Every gun is different and will like different patch lubes. The only way to answer your question is to try differnt lubes.

J.D.,

I lied, I haven't stopped picking your brain yet!
So here's one more question: how about olive oil alone as a bore preservative after cleaning? I understand the British Army used it for that purpose in the "Golden Days" of muzzleloading.

Thanks for your help,

joliver

 

[J.D.]

I have never used Simple Green as an ingredient in a patch lube, but have used 1:4 dilution for cleaning.

BP fouling will clean with with only water, so strong detergents are not necessary.

Olive oil will work for preserving the bore, however, there are MUCH better products available today. BreakFree and Balistol are both good. I use both, but prefer BreakFree.
J.D.

 

[joliver]

I have never used Simple Green as an ingredient in a patch lube, but have used 1:4 dilution for cleaning.

BP fouling will clean with with only water, so strong detergents are not necessary.

Olive oil will work for preserving the bore, however, there are MUCH better products available today. BreakFree and Balistol are both good. I use both, but prefer BreakFree.
J.D.

J.D.,

Again, thanks for all your help.

joliver

 

[alton russell]

:surrender: HEY, I am just getting back to shooting after about 12 years layoff. I am shooting a T/C 50 cal, Percussion. what powder, patch, lube, and size load do I start with?
Do I run a patch between shoots and if so what do I use?
thanks, Grits

 

[roundball]

All I can tell you is what I've settled on with my TC .50cal rifles:

TARGETS / PLINKING
50grns Goex 3F
.018" TC prelubed pillow ticking
Hornady .490

DEER HUNTING
90grns Goex 3F
Oxyoke prelubed wad
.018" TC prelubed pillow ticking
Hornady .490

NL1000 lubed patches for all hunting;

If I'm sighting in rifle I always clean the bore between shots;

If I'm just having a weekend range session using target loads I don't like to waste time wiping between shots so I use lubes that let me shoot without doing so.

Spring/summer when humidity is high, I use patches prelubed with NL1000, but they won't carry me through a 50 shot range session in the low humidity/dry winter months, so I switch to Hoppes No9 BP Plus...it's a liquid and let's me shoot right on no matter how dry the conditions.

 

[Slake]

Roundball speaks good words I would echo his recommendation...If you're goin target shooting you could even crank your loads down from fifty a tad and still get good results in close but fifty is pretty cool average. Many guys like to cut patches at the muzzle with a patch knife, I was there once but the T/C prelubed patches have given me some spectacular results. And I'll give T/C a further plug by saying their line of stuff is top quality American made and hard to beat
I swab between shots when shooting a lot at the range and I use a mixture of Murphey's oil soap mixed with windseild solvent 1/3 to 2/3's a damp patch

 

[Ohio Rusty]

Someone (I forget who) over on the old MLML board had said a while back before it shut down that Lehigh Valley Lube was nothing more than something like Lestoil and water mixed, or Pine-Sol and water mixed. That is why it smells familiar. That is also why it acts like a soap and separates over time. Can anyone verify if this is the true makeup of Lehigh Valley Lube? If it's just Lestiol and water, You could make a gallon of the stuff for just a couple of dollars.
Ohio Rusty

 

[alton russell]

:bow: thanks for your reply and info. You and roundball had great info. I am not sure what you mean by murphey's oil soap and
windshield solvent 1/3 to 2/3.
thanks
Grits

 

[alton russell]

is the lube you use to keep from swabing between shots the NL1000????
good info, thanks
Grits

 

[Slake]

I take a small soda bottle the kind that has the pop up top I put 1/3 Murphey's Oil Soap and 2/3 windsheild solvent in the bottle. I use that bottle to put a small splash of the mixture on a patch and I swab it down flip it over and the then swab again between shots. Perhaps not exactly every single shot but often. I get very good consistant results and clean up when I come home is never too bad. I even use the same mixture as a hand cleaner of sorts. I love it. I think it's even better than the NL1000

 

[roundball]

is the lube you use to keep from swabing between shots the NL1000????
good info, thanks
Grits

Yes, the key is keeping the fouling so soft that after each shot, when you seat the next patched ball the tight patch wipes the fouling of the bore walls and pushes it down on top of the powder charge.
Then when you take that next shot, the old fouling is ejected and one shot's worth of fresh fouling is left on the bore walls...then the cycle gets repeated with each shot.

Lube is critial to minimizing fouling and keeping it soft...during normal to high & humidity NL1000 patches are excellent at this for each shot of a 50 shot range session.

But during the dry, low humidity months it's not 'wet' enough so fouling does gradually build up and I have to clean the bore every 10-12 shots...so I switch to Hoppes No9 BP Plus during those few months and either just squirt some into a ziploc bag of NL1000 patches to get them wetter, or I just saturate a bag of new dry patches with the Hoppes by itself...incredible stuff.

Another benefit of Hoppes is at the end of a range session, I wipe the bore clean then run a couple of sloppy wet Hoppes patches up & down the bore as a bore coating for the long drive home.

 

[alton russell]

sooooooo, what you do is just use a lot of the NL 1000 lube and it works ok??? do you use the NL 1000 to clean after you shoot???
thanks again
Grits

 

[roundball]

sooooooo, what you do is just use a lot of the NL 1000 lube and it works ok??? do you use the NL 1000 to clean after you shoot???
thanks again
Grits

Not sure what you mean...NL1000 is not a cleaner, I don't use it for cleaning, it's a lube.

I use hooked breech TC barrels, remove them from the stocks, soak them breech down in a very tall 5 gallon bucket of steaming hot soapy water for 10 minutes to heat up the barrel;

Then while still in the bucket I pump flush the bore, then use a couple dozen strokes with a bronze brush, pump flush[url] again...drain[/url]...then pump flush in the clean hot rinse water.

Get the bore bone dry immediately to prevent flash rust...immediate is exactly what it says...not a couple minutes later, I mean the barrel comes out of the rinse waterlet it drip a couple secoinds then get the dry patches in there. (ideally an air compressor is outstanding if you're lucky enough to have one).

I let th barrel lay on the bench for 3-4 minutes to let the residual heat ensure the bore is dry, then plaster NL1000 all over the bore...3-4 patches heavily loaded with NL1000 lube from a tube so there's no bore metal exposed to air.
(100% clean, 100% dry, 100% lubed = no rust)

Before shooting the next time, run a dry patch down & up to patch out any excess lube that might be in there.

Then use Oxyoke or TC prelubed (with NL1000) patches for shooting...with the exception of those low humidity times I mentioned above where I use Hoppes.

Hope that helps clarify it...