An Interesting (perhaps to me only) aspect of Track's Mink Oil, was when using it in my .32, one winter. I melted the mink oil in a tin (1/2 soup can) on a hot plate, then poured it over the patches in a tin (Sucrets), pressed them to squeeze out the excess.
The patches were 10lx denim, I measure at .0225" with my calipers' compressed. I was using a .311" ball at that time, in the .32, with 008" deep rifling, the grooves narrower than the lands. about 1/2 the width of the lands. This is normally not a good ratio.
All my loading was done with a short starter and the rifle's 5/16" hickory rod. I did not wipe the bore before loading. The first ball went down about normal for a water-based 'lube', but subsequent loading, was easier than the first. I shot the entire trail, maybe 45 shots that day, without wiping the bore. In thinking about the first loading being harder, perhaps the residual oil or residue in the bore from the WD40 was not compatible with the mink oil. Doesn't matter much as that first load was not difficult to load, just that subsequent loading was easier. Once started, the loading was with forefinger and thumb only, on the rod. With the first one, took a hand hold on the rod.
The muzzle crown of the .32.
This is the crown in the new .36 & on my "new" .50. As you can see, they are not quite as rounded as the .32, however, the sharp machine cut corner is 'broken'. which is the most important
aspect of the crown. That little rounded edge means the ball and patch can conform to the grooves and lands.
