I like the
idea of using TOW's natural mink oil, but when I've tried it, my patches come out burned to shreds. This is with a .45 rifle and .62 smoothie, with 0.015 and .018 patches, and only light to moderate loads. I don't know what loads others are using to have better results.
Plain spit works fine on the range, but isn't something you want to lube your patches with for hunting.
I play around with various Moose Milk concoctions, containing Murphy's Oil Soap and alcohol. It also protects patches fairly well, and is fantastic at keeping a bore clean, especially if you don't swab between shots. It's runny though, so like spit, I only consider it a range lube.
The yellow Wonder Lube in the pre-lubed patches does a great job at
protecting patches, but it creates a terrible tar-like glaze inside a barrel. It's aweful stuff that fouls a barrel and takes forever to clean out at home. It's worse in cold weather. The same goes for Bore Butter. (It seems to the be the same thing.) Both stink to high Heaven, too.
My go-to, all-around favorite lube is Young Country's Lube 103. It's a nontoxic lube that has a consistency a little thinner than Chap Stick. (Somewhere online, I read that it actually
is Chap Stick, with something else added.) When I bought it years ago, the store owner took a dab and rubbed it on his lips. In any case, it protects patches well and minimizes fouling, and does well across all temperatures, if only a bit viscous in cold weather. It doesn't cake or glaze in a barrel and it doesn't have an offensive odor. It's also a good barrel protectant for short term storage through hunting season. I use Break Free gun oil for long term storage, but prefer Lube 103 during the hunting season, so I don't need to worry about removing oil in the breech when I reload on my next trip. I think it's odd that I never see it mentioned. It's not a
glamorous lube, like Mink Oil or Moose Milk, but it sure is good stuff.
