Grease One Side?

[DHouse]

Howdy friends. I'm self taught so please go easy on me for this, I'm probably overthinking it. I've been liking to grease patches as I shoot: Is it okay if I only 'grease' the one side of my patches that will slide against the barrel walls, while leaving the ball side dry? Is that how those ol' southern style grease-holes work?
Thanks! -DHouse

[Seth Isaacson]

I usually use patches moistened with liquid lubricants, so it is not something I've personally messed with, but as long as the side against the barrel is sufficiently lubricated, you should be fine. Check your patches after shooting to see if they are blowing through or not.

[Daryl]

When loading to my way of thinking, there should be enough grease on the patch that it migrates through the patch to wet it thoroughly.
The lube not only must allow the ball to slide down the bore, but must be enough to wet the bore on the way out, so the fouling remains
damp allowing the next load to be completed, etc, etc.
If you want to have to wipe the bore at any time while shooting, you are on your own, I don't load that way.
I prefer to shoot all day without every having any fouling/loading problems.
If using grease, oil or a water based lube, I saturate the pre-cut patches. When cutting at the muzzle, I use spit and the patch is saturated,
thus, no wiping and patches are re-usable with any "lube" I happen to be using.
It's a big world, with lots of choices.

[MuskratMike]

Tried both ways but now I grease my patches ahead of time, greasing both sides liberally with index finger and thumb then putting in an old brass tin until ready to use. Don't believe you can "over grease" a patch but you most certainly can under grease them.
Hope this is of help.
"Muskrat' Mike

[DHouse]

Thank you guys for the good advice. I think it might be time to try a switch in lube.

[stuart cee dub]

After I lube my patch roll with my finger typically with bore butter and a little ballistoil spray on one side, I briefly microwave them which saturates the patch through then put the roll in a 35mm clear film container. Sometime I add a bit of rubbing alcohol as a preservative otherwise they get moldy .I’m too lazy to cut individual patches and prefer to cut at the muzzle.  It’s not much of a plan but it’s quick . Luckily one of my pals still uses legacy SRL 35mm cameras as film containers are hard to find

[MuskratMike]

Dhouse: There as many patch lubes and ways to patch as there are stars in the sky. Find what works best for you and your rifle.
As for me I cone my barrels so cutting at the muzzle especially on the small bores (.32 & .36) doesn't always work so I precut my patches. I mix an equal amount of T.O.T.W. Mink grease with an equal volume of pure neatsfoot oil. Once it has solidified I simply grease up 30-50 patches place them in an old brass tin and I am ready to go. As I have a separate bag and horn for each gun I always have the correct patch and ball to shoot.

[hanshi]

I guess I fall into the "lots of lube" group.  At the range I mostly use a liquid lube - Hoppes most of the time - and have the patches as wet as I can without any actual dripping.  I no longer hunt but when I did TOTW mink oil was what I used.  I still use it from time to time for other types of shooting.  I use precut patches but only lube after I get to the range where I lube a few at a time.

[AZshot]

In the desert southwest, I've converted from neatsfoot oil to water and Ballistol.  I figure if a spit patch is what many use, why not just use mostly water? Loading instantly got easier, fouling softer, cleaning not needed for 3 times as many rounds.  Back in the old days in humid North Carolina I wiped a "butter" consistency lube on one side only.  Now I just spray my water concoction until the patch is slightly wet, and load.  The cleaning goes faster at home too.

[TDM]

Both sides of the patch. I personally use TOW mink oil the majority of the time, but neatsfoot oil is good, as is water & Ballistol. I like a 3:1 mix when I use it. Regardless of what lube I use, I make sure the patch weave is throughly saturated, but not dripping or clotted.

[smylee grouch]

I use straight bear oil or a 50/50 mix of bear oil and tracks grease and saturate.

[hudson]

Trial and error the way to go yes it takes time.  Some years ago I was using Teflon and tried coconut oil after having problems with a commercial product. What I found out was that lubing on both sides was too much. I actually had a lube star on the muzzle accuracy was not as good as expected. First tried lubing just the barrel side of the patch (outside) with some improvement then tried the other (next to the ball) that worked! I am now using army duct canvas patching and Ballistol and water mix with equal results and allot less messy.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I saturate the patch rubbing the grease in from both sides with my thumb and forefinger...I can't see how you can have too much grease.  But I only use grease for hunting.  I use water soluble oil and water for target shooting, and lately, have found Ballistol and water 1: 10 or so, to be excellent.  Last weekend I attended a shoot at Salmon Arm BC where the rifle trail had 26 shots.  I chose to shoot my Chambers' Virginia rifle in .60 cal with 86 gr. FFg GOEX, .021" denim patch lubed with Ballistol and water as above described, and I missed but one target, a diagonal bar at about 20 yards.  I shot the entire trail without wiping and the last shot loaded easier than the first one out of a clean barrel.  The first shot was a tie breaker card, and I don't foul my rifle before the match starts...just shoot for score right off...just like hunting!
Use lots of grease!!