Spit

[smylee grouch]

With out hijacking another thread on this site I will ask a different question. Does anyone know if there is one fluid that we can drink when shooting that makes our bodies produce more spit? At some matches on those hot or hot/humid days I might shoot up to 60 shots and use spit dampened clean patches between each shot. Makes a guy wanna drink!

[SCLoyalist]

A canteen full of water comes to mind...

[smylee grouch]

Well thats what I use but was wondering if something else will induce more spit than water .

[necchi]

Ipecac?  

You could try ringing a bell,, it worked for Pavlov's dog.

[Dogshirt]

Try a bit of vinegar or lemon in your water.

[Majorjoel]

Chewing gum will keep your spit production up. I'd include chewing tobacco but you might gross out the guys next to you on the line.

[Canute Rex]

Well, there is artificial saliva on the market. It is intended for people with certain medical conditions and drug reactions that cause dry mouth. Kind of pricey, though.

Just for procrastination I looked up formulas for this stuff and xanthan gum, sorbitol, methylparaben, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, and various salts show up.

I also found some similar stuff called "lubogel-V", which is used for, um, medical examinations. $4.69 for an 8-ounce bottle.

Seems like you could hit the internets, buy a few food-grade ingredients, and whip up your own almost-spit-lube. Print up some labels and sell it to the masses.

To answer your question more directly, what I've found is that sugary drinks tend to make my spit "spittier."

[Naphtali]

Anything sour, such as orange juice, lemon juice, etc.

But the real experts were baseball pitchers, especially in the era when spitballs were legal. Burleigh Grimes, the last legal spitball pitcher, relied on slippery elm to create spit.

Hope this helps.

[Habu]

I also found some similar stuff called "lubogel-V", which is used for, um, medical examinations. $4.69 for an 8-ounce bottle.

Tried it years ago.  I did a straight substitute for my usual patch lube (neatsfoot oil) rather than re-working the entire load.  Accuracy dropped off after a couple rounds unless the bore was wiped between shots.     

Someone might be able to make it work, but there are better patch lubes available. 

[fdf]

A canteen full of water comes to mind...

Drink a swish of water and spit, seems simple to me, nothing complicated and no body chemistry needed. 

Or you could sit around and spit in a coke bottle watching he the news during the evenings, just save up a weeks worth and ready to go the range.

[hanshi]

Some of us can't produce much under any circumstance due to meds we take.

[Candle Snuffer]

Well, if your firing line is like the one's I'm usually on, and there's always a few shooters who keep running their mouths continually, just shove a precut non lubed patch in their mouth and when it's wet, pull it out.  I doubt they'll ever know you did it...

Seriously, I drink that power-ade stuff and water.  It keeps me hydrated enough throughout the day.

[alyce-james]

Smylee; This time of year here in Texas, 100+ degrees, water and a little lime, PC correct wood canteen, saves the day. Actually lots of liquid. AJ

[JTR]

I'd include chewing tobacco but you might gross out the guys next to you on the line.

  But chances are a grossed out guy might not shoot as well as normal,,,,, and after all, it is a shooting match!

John

[Sequatchie Rifle]

Lime Bud Lite produces both a satisfactory buzz and a perfect "spit" lube for your patches.  The buzz counteracts the jitters caused by drinking too much coffee around the morning campfire!

[Hungry Horse]

Boy light beer would sure make me spit, PPEEETTTOOOOEEEYYY. What about kissing a rabid cat? Rabies should make a bunch of spit.
  Doesn't it seem a little odd, that with all the knowledge we now have, on the dangers of lead build up in the human body, that we would even consider anything that might create a scenario where saliva, and lead balls, or hands that have handled lead balls, might cross contaminate? There are just too many other options, that are much safer in my book.

                                                Hungry Horse

[Kermit]

As a much younger neophyte, one of my muzzleloading mentors shot a "smoothrifle" of his own building, and shot "naked ball." He would toss a ball--no patch--into his mouth to moisten while he measured and poured the powder, then pushed the wet ball down. It was a practice I abhorred then and still do now. Somehow he's still with us decades later. Not sure how many of his little grey cells are. Not sure they ever were though.

Tossing a precut patch into my mouth seems pretty benign.

[Hungry Horse]

 Well in my tender youth, before I was allowed to take a .22 out by myself. I had a .22 caliber pellet gun. I hunted everything that little Crosman could kill, and some it couldn't, and always carried my extra pellets in my lower lip like Dan'l Boone. So, now that I am officially a senior citizen, I choose to be a little more careful, about such things. They say lead exposure can cause varying degrees of brain damage, which I believe I have been backhandely accused of on this very forum.

                     Hungry Horse

[SR James]

I actually tried Biotene arificial saliva as a patch lube not long ago.  Lots of people rave about spit as a patch lube but I really dislike sucking on a piece of cloth.  Just a weird quirk I have.   Accuracy with the Biotene was about the same to a little less as with the Hoppe's 9 Plus I usually use but had to swab after about three rounds which is not necessary with the Hoppes.  And the stuff is kind of pricey.  Saw no advantage to it but I didn't spend a lot of effort fooling around with it.  Maybe if someone made flavored patch material I wouldn't mind sucking on it.

[bgf]

Water works exactly the same as spit on patches for me.  I just spray some on the patch and make sure it is "wet" but not dripping.  I used to feel like I should add something, but I've gotten over it; it seems like a wet patch is a wet patch and a drop of this or that is not going to make any real difference.  When I stopped using oils and other stuff for patch lube (except when appropriate, such as hunting), I found the bores stayed in better condition longer and cleanup was much easier.