AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Black Powder Shooting => Topic started by: Lampro on June 21, 2025, 01:28:22 AM
-
When using a greased or oiled patch and roundball, what is a reasonable number of shots one should be able to get before having to swab the bore?
Also, are there any records of what the old long hunters, mountain men ect. would have expected from their greased patches?
As opposed to a wet patch, which seems able to give many, many shots.
-
I'm thinking there are lots of variables that will affect that. Lube type and amount, powder type, grade and amount, bore seal & and I'm sure more.
-
On woods walks here it’s common to take as many as 25 shots without wiping.
-
At times from 55 to 100.
With the .32, the 55th shot loaded easier than the first one. Pre-cut patches saturated with Track's Mink Oil. Seems to ne I was using the. 320" RB's that day as well. Short starter not necessary, just a choked-up 5/16" hickory rod started them just fine. A starter is quicker and easier so I use one.
-
I may have to try some Tracks Mink Oil. I don't think I've ever got more than 10 shots using my lamb tallow and beeswax mixture, but I never actually measured the amounts. The other day I thought I would try a more methodical approach. I tried blue striped pillow ticking .020" thick with:
1) About 50/50 lamb tallow/beeswax by volume.
2) Pure lamb tallow.
3) Pure Neatsfoot.
All of them would only provide about 3 or 4 shots before it got really hard to get the ball down. I did squeeze the patches out pretty good so maybe I didn't leave enough lube on them. Maybe a different ball or patch material. Many variables and every rifle is different, I just wanted to know what other people are getting so I know what to shoot for.
I made some more with 1 part beeswax, 6 parts lamb tallow and 3 parts Neatsfoot measured by weight. I will try that next and maybe bring two sizes of balls.
-
As was said, lots of variables. How do your patches look? In my experience, if the patch is not fully sealing, you get blow-by that fouls the barrel. With that fouling loading quickly becomes hard.
The weather here can play a part, and give hard fouling. Swiss is great powder, but in my experience can leave hard fouling and thus loading.
Daryl may know different, but I think of wet lubing as being for shooting soon after loading. Track Mink Oil is what I would suggest for hunting. It will not keep your bore clean like wet lube but how many shots will you take hunting?
Target shooters who use things like Teflon wet-patch/dry-patch after each shot. That process will build fouling on the breech face and require scraper cleaning.
Others with more experience will weigh in here.
-
I have used coconut oil with good results and you can use too much of that stuff which for me affected accuracy. As stated with heavier loads of Swiss you can get a glaze in the bore.
-
I "see" beeswax as a stiffener for making bullet lubes with other ingredients that need stiffening to make them into a grease or cake, not as a lubricant itself.
Some people simply use a tallow.
Track's Mink Oil is a stiff grease in the tin, however turns to liquid as soon as it is touched when used as patch lube. I hest the lube and saturate a stack of pre-cut patches in it then squeeze out the excess. I then place then into a suitable container for safe keeping in my possible's bag.
When hu ting in freezing weather, I found the lubricated patches patches to become soft as soon as I held them between my fingers, allowing easy loading.
I have never done a count test with greased patches, but have shot 1/2 dozen bunnies without ever thinking of doing anything other than reloading after a shot is taken. I used tracks Mink Oil for that "hunting" with a .36 of Taylor's, a .50 of my own make and my .69. Had no crawl-offs with that one.
-
I use a 50/50 mix of T.O.T.W. Mink grease and pure 100% neatsfoot oil slowly melting the mink then add and stir the two together. Out here in the lower Pacific NW, we don't see a lot of the hard to load issues as other locals do. I can go to the range and shoot a session without wiping or only wiping once.
-
Drop the bees wax would be my humble opinion. When working up loads for my 62, I would shoot 20 shots with no wiping then go down to 100 yds to change targets. Come back and swab the dried out bore and shoot 20 more with out wiping. This while using bear oil lube. Sometimes I cut the bear oil 50\50 with mink oil. Never get fouling build up.
-
I agree with losing the beeswax. It can’t handle the temperature, and can have a lot of different unknown components in it. Venison tallow, or bear grease, are my favorite lubes. I avoid stuff sold to lube patches, and recipes full of manufactured stuff.
Hungry Horse
-
Never swabbed a rifle bore ever during shooting.
-
I shoot matches and target, using mutton tallow (double boiler patches dipped extra squeezed out) all day 28 steel targets without wiping it seems the shots get easier to load, than the first shot.
In summer the patches feel greasy , winter they can freeze solid ( so I keep them in a pill container in an inner pocket till needed)
When I used wax of any kind, I would get a very hard crud ring just above the ball seat( making harder to seat the ball) 2 broken wood ram rods >:(
I think we forgot what most of our forefathers knew tallow/grease works to keep fouling soft (MAKE SURE IT'S SALT FREE) Hog, bear, mutton, deer, racoon......
-
Good point recurve, dont use your bacon, sausage or ham fat. ;)
-
swabbing is for people in the navy. i shoot literally all day long and never swab. 40/60 dawn dish soap and water,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
-
If I remember correctly, back when I used Crisco for patch lube I didn’t have to wipe frequently. However it was a a messy process and I’d wind up filthy after shooting. Needing a hand rag etc. I now prefer soap based lubes for range use. Including woods walks. Simple green detergent sprayed right out of the bottle onto a tin full of patches. For hunting I use olive oil. Not enough point of impact difference to concern me with my eye sight. Maybe with peep sights or unmentionable optics I’d see a difference. Not open sights. BJH