Author Topic: Bear oil for patch lube (Read 9750 times)

David R. Pennington · « **on:** January 04, 2012, 05:58:10 AM »

Picked up a jar of bear oil as blanket prize at primitive match and have been experimenting. Works great on chapped lips and dry hands. Have been using it to oil my rifle barrel after cleaning and seems to make cleaning easier. I only use water (above freezing) and ALWAYS clean in the field immediately after shooting, then really oil it up good with the bear oil. This year I greased hunting patches with it and it seemed to do OK. Have tried beeswax and tallow but always seemed to get inconsistent results as to accuracy. Any one know of any historical reference to using it as patch lube or have any experience.

bob in the woods · « **Reply #1 on:** January 04, 2012, 06:07:39 AM »

i use bear oil all the time,and like it.

Ezra · « **Reply #2 on:** January 04, 2012, 06:52:33 AM »

I use bear grease for my patches, have for several years. I like it.

Ez

Dphariss · « **Reply #3 on:** January 04, 2012, 06:23:32 PM »

Quote from: David R. on January 04, 2012, 05:58:10 AM

Picked up a jar of bear oil as blanket prize at primitive match and have been experimenting. Works great on chapped lips and dry hands. Have been using it to oil my rifle barrel after cleaning and seems to make cleaning easier. I only use water (above freezing) and ALWAYS clean in the field immediately after shooting, then really oil it up good with the bear oil. This year I greased hunting patches with it and it seemed to do OK. Have tried beeswax and tallow but always seemed to get inconsistent results as to accuracy. Any one know of any historical reference to using it as patch lube or have any experience.

Bear oil was EXTREMELY common as a patch lube/gun oil. I would not waste it as a rust preventative. You cna get better rust preventatives almost anywhere.
Oil the patches and then squeeze out almost all of the oil for best accuracy. Wet patches may be best for a long string without wiping. In between is best for hunting where oil in the bore can help if water/snow gets in the bore.

If you oil the bore with ANYTHING stand the gun muzzle down overnight to drain it out the muzzle.
Otherwise it ends up in the stock. If you put a lot of oil on its doubly important. Then note how much runs out. Its very easy to over oil a bore.

Dan

BrownBear · « **Reply #4 on:** January 04, 2012, 06:42:33 PM »

Quote from: David R. on January 04, 2012, 05:58:10 AM

Any one know of any historical reference to using it as patch lube or have any experience.

My reading is not as extensive as some here, but in the limited early cases where I've seen lube mentioned they always said "tallow" and didn't specify bear. I wondered at the time whether it was a specific reference to tallow, or if it was another case where a generic term was used, and the lube could have been tallow, grease or oil from a range of sources.

Dunno one way or the other. All I know is that it works well as a patch lube. For my own convenience I blend it will deer tallow to make a stiff paste because I don't like liquids rolling around in a bag. And nope, I don't use it for oiling the guns.

Daryl · « **Reply #5 on:** January 04, 2012, 07:25:52 PM »

Ned Robert's book "The Muzzleloading Cap Lock Rifle" talks considerably about bear's oil and his collection of it with Uncle Alvero, their "trying" out of the oil from the fat and selling what they didn't need for themselves.

There is a difference between bears oil and bear grease. Bear's oil is thin and clear. Grease is heavy, thick and like, well, grease. The oil is made primarily from the fat from inside the cavity. The outside far contains far more solids and makes the grease or shortening. This is also a good lube but gets stiffer in cold weather. The grease makes wonderful pastry and pie crusts.

Hint - use only as much heat as is necessary to "try" out the oil. If boiling the fat in a double boiler like Dan uses, more oil can be extracted containing less solids, thereby converting more of the outside fat into oil, not grease.

I've kept bear's grease in an open can in the basement for 3 or 4 years before it soured enough to discard. Taken care of, it probably would last for very much longer.

As a patch lube, it worked OK for me, but Marmot oil was better.

Longknife · « **Reply #6 on:** January 04, 2012, 10:32:41 PM »

Marmots??? Dang Daryl, now ya tell me, they do have a purpose, besides target practice!! Now do you recommend the yellow bellied marmots or the old fashioned whistle pigs??? (Got lots of 'em around here)...Ed

Michigan Flinter · « **Reply #7 on:** January 04, 2012, 11:56:34 PM »

I use bear grease for my patch lube,lubeing the bore after cleaning,use the oil to lube all working parts of the rifle,lock,triggers and the threads of all the screws.Plug the touch hole pour in some tap water let set a few minutes dump out the water and use a few patches to dry out the bore no buildup on breachplug face what so ever then run bear greased patch down the bore.It also makes a good lube when tapping holes. Loaded up my yeager Dec. 14 th. with a bear fat lubed patch was out in all kinds of weather shot out the load New years day .The rifle fired as if it had just been loaded.

T*O*F · « **Reply #8 on:** January 05, 2012, 12:12:07 AM »

I used bear oil for a patch lube years ago. It worked very well, BUT if I oiled the bore with it and put it on the rack for several weeks, I found a gray fuzzy substance growing out of the touch hole. Happened with several guns, not just one. Kinda reminded me of lead acetate and had a sweet taste to it.

Dr. Tim-Boone · « **Reply #9 on:** January 05, 2012, 01:40:00 AM »

I have read a great deal about long hunters killing as many or more bear than deer and shipping pack-horse and boatloads of bear bacon and bear oil/grease back to civilization..kinda hard to imagine them using much else other than bear oil/grease..

I have some I plan to mix with beeswax to put in the grease hole of a Gillespie rifle. anybody got a good all weather recipe??

Daryl · « **Reply #10 on:** January 05, 2012, 01:55:05 AM »

I don't see why woodchuck oil wouldn't work.

The marmot (Hoary) that I used, had tremendous gloops of oily fat in around the inner organs and intestines. I merely stripped it out and 'tried' it down to a clear oil, then stored it in snap-top milk bottles.

Just handling the fat required 2 washings with good dish detergent to get the oil off my hands. Friend of mine told me about it. He merely froze the fat in zip-lock bags, then when needed, thawed out a bag and rubbed the fat into his boots. He was a faller (tree) back in the 60's and 70's.

The only rifle I used it in, was my heavy Hawken .58 w/Bill Large Barrel - 140gr. 2f with ball or up to 610gr. slugs. I was testing those, back then. No wiping with patched round balls for short strings and good repeatable accuracy, however spit patched balls were more accurate for target shooting with closer shot to shot SD's. The marmot oil shot literally the same as the bear grease I also used then as well. I saw no difference between them except in the marmot oil's oiliness - it penetrated much better into your hands, it seemed & was so oily/slick.

Bart · « **Reply #11 on:** January 05, 2012, 06:46:19 AM »

Bear Grease (tallow) the best stuff out there !! and I have tons of it, rendered down into jars.

Bart

David R. Pennington · « **Reply #12 on:** January 06, 2012, 01:13:30 AM »

Bart. Tons of it! Are you a bear hunter? The jar I got was rendered by a friend of mine and is liquid with a creamy color. It stays liquid if I keep it inside or in my pocket but gets about like vaseline in freezing weather.

Bart · « **Reply #13 on:** January 06, 2012, 02:18:50 AM »

Yes, I hunt bear and keep the rendered fat for patches and boot dressing. The tallow is sealed in jars and kept in the freezer when not being used. It makes great biscuits and pie crust too!!

Bart

David R. Pennington · « **Reply #14 on:** January 06, 2012, 06:46:10 AM »

Never had the opportunity to bear hunt. Took a backpack trip this summer to an area where there was more bear sighn than I'd ever seen. Very remote area. Do you bear hunt with flintlock? Use hounds?

Bart · « **Reply #15 on:** January 06, 2012, 11:43:41 AM »

Yes, I hunt them with flintlock rifles mainly during the black powder deer season, here in VA bear season overlaps into that season. But mainly with cartridge rifles .44 Remington mag, 45-70, AND 6.5X55 Swede.

Bart

elk killer · « **Reply #16 on:** January 06, 2012, 01:43:37 PM »

i have only used bear grease for the past 34 yrs,, for patches
never tryed or used anything else,,works in warm and cold weather,,
zero complaints here,,best boot grease ever,,
the Whites boots that i have, have lasted me for 19 yrs
grease them generously with bear grease, wife says the old boots need replaced..
but as old Gus from Lonesome Dove says,,why give up on a garment,,just cuz its got a little wear...

WaterFowl · « **Reply #17 on:** January 07, 2012, 04:50:02 AM »

Use as patch lube mixed with deer tallow.
.great boot sealer mixed with bees wax..oil for the locks.
would not recommend for long term storage in barrel..
.It's a beautiful thing to smell bear fat trimmings in the fry pan!
Some batch's hold an odor..those get blanched and filtered again.
willing to send out samples for those interested......send me a line

wattlebuster · « **Reply #18 on:** January 07, 2012, 06:04:19 AM »

I use it an love it. Best thing in cold weather I've found. I also lube my locks with it

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Author Topic: Bear oil for patch lube (Read 9750 times)

BrownBear

Daryl

Daryl