I tested Sperm Whale Oil, Neetsfoot Oil, Marmot Oil, motor oil, Crisco 'oil', Crisco shortening, some kind of yellow commercial Vegetable oil and Bear Oil, & Tracks Mink Oil when I lived in Smithers & Surrey, BC, back in the 70's & then in PG since 1979.
The Marmot Oil and Bear Grease & then track's Mink Oil worked better for me than the others. The Crisco & Vegetable Oil products were quite inferior to everything but motor oil. It was a total failure, as expected. I ran out of Marmot oil in '78, and Marmots became protected in BC so I could not get any more of it. It was really good lube and a terrific water proof agent as well.
Part of our problems were due to the various produces becoming rock-hard in the winter. We needed a lube that would remain soft, or at least 'go soft' the instant you touched it. This was one of the reasons I tried tight fitting paper ctgs. in my .69. I would load the gun in the camp, usually in the tent, with patched ball covered in .030" denim and Mink Oil. I'd then shove 5 or 6 ctgs. into a pocket, tie the thong from my circle-capper onto the button hole of a top pocket, shove the capper into the pocket and head out hunting. The temp could be anywhere from 33F to -50F. THIS was the BC Primitive Weapon's moose hunt - ML's or archery equipment.
Any lube with beeswax in it was useless.
