Daryl, with your tight patch/ball combo without hammering, do you use precut or cut at the muzzle? And this with
WWS/neetsfoot mix?
I use pre-cuts with the wws/neetsfoot mix and cut at the muzzle when using spit. Either/or shoots the same and loads the same as well.
I find products like Hoppe's #9 Plus and LeighValley lube, being slipperyer, load easier yet - - and they require more powder to shoot well - up to 10 to 15gr. more, but the presision - oh $#@* - it's accuracy to me, is better than with a water-based lube. With the 'products' I use pre-cuts - with spit, I've used pre-cuts or cutting at the muzzle.
So far, I've only shot Track's mink oil in the .32 and the .69 with the same loads as with water-based lubes & got identical results. The poi and group sizes maintained the same as with water-based- ie: wws/neetsfoot oil. This went for the first shot from a clean barrel as well as subsequent shots.
I tried neestfoot oil for lube with the normal .0225" patch in the .58 double rifle & with a .570" ball and got widely different impacts with the first 2 shots- 5 " apart vertically and 2" horizontally.
Subsequent shots put one on top of the other, cutting heavily at 50 yards, making a nice 1 1/2" group for 4 shots, 2 from each barrel. This 'fouled' group was 2 1/4" above centre at 50 yards, perfect for hunting.
Unfortunately, the separation of the first two shots is not good enough for hunting. A fouling shot would have to be fired from each barrel, then loaded for hunting. I will have to try mink oil and see what happens wth it. The change in regulation is not acceptable in a double rifle. Using WWS/neetsfoot oil, the first 2 shtos, clean bores, are in the same group as subsequent shots - there is no change, clean to dirty. THAT is a nice scenario to have - if it's possible. Not yet with grease from the .58 - only with the .32 and .69.
