Bore Butter

[doug]

     Just curious if many of you have had problems with smoldering patches when using Bore Butter as a patch lube.  We had a fellow on our trail today using a fairly thin patch lubed with bore butter.  I would describe them as slightly oily to the touch but neither dry nor dripping wet.  I didn't notice any smoldering patches for the first few shots, perhaps because many were in a swamp and fell amongst the skunk cabbage.  About half way through the trail we started noticing a smoldering patch on the ground after he shot.  By about the 4th patch we stopped him using his patches.
    Strange thing is that I thought that borer butter was not supposed to burn.  Everyone else on the trail was using some form of moose milk (water soluable cutting oil plus water) with no problems

cheers Doug

[Candle Snuffer]

Doug, I can't say as I've ever seen a patch smolder using bore butter, but my guess would be that if he was using a thin patch - maybe that was the cause and not the bore butter?  I don't know?

[roundball]

Something doesn't sound right about that description...have used patches pre-lubed with Natural Lube 1000 bore butter for about 18 years... .005"/.010"/.012"/.015"/.020" thicknesses under various labels of Oxyoke, T/C, CVA, Traditions, Remington, etc...thousands of shots.
IMO, for him to have SEVERAL smoldering all on the same outing it makes me wonder if it might be some other kind of lube, not one of the thick greasy lubes genrally referred to as "bore butter"

[doug]

    I would guess the patches at around .007 and no more than .010".  The lube was definitely TC Bore Butter because he had  the tube with him and he had lubed his patches the night before.  Also know whose patches they were in part because they were much thinner than used by the other shooters and in part because I saw a couple of them smoking right after he shot.  He did seem to be blowing the patches although it was hard to tell.  Essentially bang and there was a smoldering patch and when I walked over to put it out, about 1/2 the patch was either already blown or already burned or both.
     The only other smoldering patches I recall over the years, were spit patches with minimal spit, although I have also seen a great many spit patches shot with no smoldering.

cheers Doug

[roundball]

OK, the nature of your question took me off on a tangent about "bore butter" as a lube.

It sounds like the patches he was using were simply too thin for the powder charge he was using...a simple cheap test would be to seat a spare lubed patch or two down on the powder to act as a firewall, then seat a PRB down on that.

I've used various combinations of patches together when experimenting with a particular load by adding a .005" or .010" patch with another size patch like a .012" or .015" to create a thicker patch, but never use any patch thinner than .015" for an actual load...and even with .015" with deer hunting size rifle loads I have to use an Oxyoke prelubed wad over the powder as a firewall

[LynnC]

Yes it happened to me many years ago with store bought pre lubed borebutter .010 patches in a 50 cal. - Patches too thin and the lube was probably somewhat dried out.  On the shelf too long I spose.

Thicker patches with fresh lube cured it................................Lynn

[ChipK]

When I used ot live in AZ smoldering patches were a real concern.  Almost all that I can remember were from old pre-lubed patches with some from of the bore butter on them. 

Since I moved to the Great Northwest I do not see it as much since the humidity is much higher, but I have seen some smoldering patches from old patches.  Just two o months ago at a monthly shoot.  We all stood around and watch the patch smolder in the grass wondering if it would eventually flare up.

[Daryl]

 no commment

[Roger Fisher]

Too loose!!!

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Way too loose, and there are far superior lubes.

[t.caster]

I've used BB for a long time with .020 patch and no problem. I can pick some of them up if shooting on the range, relube and shoot em again, just to see if possible. Again, no problem.

[Candle Snuffer]

I wonder with the use of such a thin patch and the bore butter having bees-wax in it, that the patch simply just didn't become a candle wick once it had blown through and out the barrel.

[doug]

     I have occasionally had blown patches with poor ball/patch combinations but don't recall ever having them smolder.  Also have never used bore butter (pretty uncommon up here) which is why I am suspicious of the combination of blown patch plus bore butter

cheers Doug

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I don't think the lube had anything to do with the burnt patch.  It was just too thin.  No matter what lube had been used, the same result would have occurred.

[Roger Fisher]

I don't think the lube had anything to do with the burnt patch.  It was just too thin.  No matter what lube had been used, the same result would have occurred.

Well meeebe not with asbestos patching

[hanshi]

Since I use mostly water based lubes smoldering doesn't happen.  I also use .015+ patching material.  If using grease lubes I'd say patch is way too thin if it smolders.

[Daryl]

A proper fitting patch will never catch fire.  I've shot dry patches - first shot only and not had them catch.  The only time I've seen smoldering is when trying patches that don't seal.

If a person can't load a tight fitting combination, they should try using a flameproof barrier such as a wad of something - paper, card, felt or fibre shotgun-type wads, or another patch.  Every gun I've test this in using thin patches with fibre wads or cards, has given substandard accuracy - but that accuracy was better than without the sealing wad.  The best accuracy is given with a tight, ball/patch combination, properly lubed, of course.

[Leatherbelly]

 I recommend Bore Butter for your trailer wheel bearings. Never tried it on toast.

[Leatherbelly]

   Ok, I tried it on toast,spreads well but tastes like ...!

[erdillonjr]

Too loose a patch. Try a thicker patch . I use spit and never had one smolder. I use wonder lube for hunting and with a thick patch have no trouble. Ed

[Daryl]

But if he used a thicker patch, he wouldn't be able to load it with his finger and he'd not be following the tracks of some ancestor who got arrowed due to his inaccuracy of shooting & leaving smoldering patches to mark his location.

[Candle Snuffer]

I have used spit over bore butter patches.  The taste ain't that bad after you had a few to tempt your taste buds and strangely enough it also helps to create new spit for the next biscut, I mean patch...

[Mad Monk]

But if he used a thicker patch, he wouldn't be able to load it with his finger and he'd not be following the tracks of some ancestor who got arrowed due to his inaccuracy of shooting & leaving smoldering patches to mark his location.

The preferred patching, according to some sources, was linen from well-worn shirts.

A linen patch will better conform to the ball when both are pushed into the bore.  Compared to cotton, linen gets stronger when it is wet while cotton gets a bit weaker.  Linen is also more resistant to being ignited by heat or flame.  Thin linen would be stronger than cotton of the same thickness and less prone to ignition.

E. Ogre

[tiger955]

after reading these posts I tried an experiment....
I lubed a patch with CVA "grease patch" lube, another damp, but not wet with Leheigh Valley Lube...
took out my Zippo and tried to burn them, grease patch burned like crazy, hard to put out, LHV lubed patch would not burn... had some pre-lubed patches around with TC bore butter but can't find them right now
In case some one would care to know 

[roundball]

"...had some pre-lubed patches around with TC bore butter but can't find them right now..."

Well, according to the records I keep on my PC, I've shot just over 11,000 precut patches...if I set aside the few hundred where I've added some liquid Hoppes No9 PLUS BP on real dry days at the range, there would still be at least 10,000 that were factory prelubed with Natural Lube 1000...brand labels include Oxyoke, TC, Traditions, CVA, Remington, etc...(all from the same source I'm sure)...and haven't had any catch on fire yet...course I've never tried to set fire to them with a zippo lighter.