Mixing Bear Grease

[iloco]

I have a quart of nice white bear grease.  I have a big block of beeswax.
 How should this be mixed for a lube for my rifle patches.

Would you mix it in a double boiler on a stove eye....?

[Hungry Horse]

 None. Tallow is much better. venison, or mutton, tallow stiffens the bear grease, and allows it to stay solid. Bees wax can create goop that plugs touch holes and flash channels. Bee's wax gets almost rock solid in cold weather. JMO.

                   Hungry Horse

[Kenny]

agree with hungry horse here. Never had good luck with bee`s wax. I know a lot of guys use it but my experience was as HH stated.

[iloco]

I will get me some beef fat and boil it down to tallow.
 What is a suggestion for ratio or bear grease and beef tallow to make the grease a little soft but not hard so can store in small round tins to carry in hunting bag.

[Dphariss]

I have a quart of nice white bear grease.  I have a big block of beeswax.
 How should this be mixed for a lube for my rifle patches.

Would you mix it in a double boiler on a stove eye....?

Forget the beeswax.

Dan

[Dphariss]

I will get me some beef fat and boil it down to tallow.
 What is a suggestion for ratio or bear grease and beef tallow to make the grease a little soft but not hard so can store in small round tins to carry in hunting bag.

Have no idea of what you are trying to do here. Is the bear tallow really that hard?  In really could weather oil is better.
Dan

[smylee grouch]

Bear oil and bear lard are two different animals but both can be used for patch lube. The oil is better IMHO. Forget the bees wax as others have said.

[Michigan Flinter]

I use just bear grease or oil straight up have some grease that is stiffer than the rest I use in summer and the softer grease in the winter also after I clean the bore I lube the bore with bear grease and set it on the rack until I use it again . I also have a chunk of sheep wool that has some bear grease on it to wipe down the entire gun both metal and wood .

[David R. Pennington]

I agree, leave the bees wax out. When the weather and humidity changes so will your groups. I use bear oil alone and works fine. I tried mutton tallow and bees wax mixed half and half and couldn't get consistent results on the paper.

[iloco]

Thanks everyone for your replys.
 I will try just bear grease next time I go to the range and when loading for hunting.
 Will use my beeswax for linen thread and making candles.

[twotails]

I had real problems with oil and bees wax mixture in cold weather in MN.  Went to straight bear grease and it stayed soft and solved my cold weather patch issues.  That is all I will use in cold weather now.

[David R. Pennington]

I set my bear oil in a brown bottle in the window sill and after a while it separates with a finer clear oil on the top. I pour this off to use for lubricating and use the other for patches.

[iloco]

I have about 1/4 inch of the clear oil I am going to drain off today and put into a seperate bottle.
  Does anyone know when the grease will quit giving up the oil....?
I transfered the grease to smaller containers so can carry in hunting bag. Boy this stuff is slick.  I think I am going to like it for a patch lube.

[blackbruin]

Oil works great for lubricating locks etc....the grease makes a great patch lube, also great for biscuits or putting on the griddle while making buckwheat cakes.....In two weeks hopefully we'll connect on a few more, bear season here in pa, heck i still got over 50lbs of fat in the freezer yet from last year......

[Daryl]

I used straight bear grease for patches - worked very well, but marmot oil (from the inside far around organs) was better than the bear oil and grease.  It is also  better for water proofing boots - BUT - the bear grease worked fine as a patch lube. My wife's best pie crust was made using bear grease.

[Long John]

I've been using bees wax/bear grease for my patch lube for over 20 years.  I haven't has any of the unsavory experience others have reported.  I find that a little bees wax added to bear oil improves the ease of loading.  I have fired over 50 rounds without a single wipe many times. This is especially true if you like a small ball & thick patch load in a slow twist rifle.

If you have white grease you might want to cook it at about 300 F for a few hours.  This will convert the grease to a lighter, more of an oil material.  I generally use about 1/5th bees wax to 4/5ths bear grease, by volume.  Just melt the grease and drop in the wax.  Stir until the wax is completely dissolved.  The key is to end up with a lube that has the consistancy of the shoe polish that comes in those little round tins.  It should spurt out beneath your thumb when you press on the surface of the cooled mixture.  This mixture will be good from summer temps (90's F) to winter (20's F).  If you are hunting in colder temp you will need to reduce the wax content.  I never use bear grease without any wax as I find the wax tends to make loading easier.

I melt the mixture, and dip the patch into the melted mixture, let the excess drip back into the pot and then stack on a piece of aluminum foil.  I make them up a couple hundred at a time. 

So every one else can say I'm wrong.  But this is what has worked for me for over 20 years. Tallow might be easier to get but it never worked as well for me.

Best Regards,

John Cholin

[Dphariss]

I've been using bees wax/bear grease for my patch lube for over 20 years.  I haven't has any of the unsavory experience others have reported.  I find that a little bees wax added to bear oil improves the ease of loading.  I have fired over 50 rounds without a single wipe many times. This is especially true if you like a small ball & thick patch load in a slow twist rifle.

If you have white grease you might want to cook it at about 300 F for a few hours.  This will convert the grease to a lighter, more of an oil material.  I generally use about 1/5th bees wax to 4/5ths bear grease, by volume.  Just melt the grease and drop in the wax.  Stir until the wax is completely dissolved.  The key is to end up with a lube that has the consistancy of the shoe polish that comes in those little round tins.  It should spurt out beneath your thumb when you press on the surface of the cooled mixture.  This mixture will be good from summer temps (90's F) to winter (20's F).  If you are hunting in colder temp you will need to reduce the wax content.  I never use bear grease without any wax as I find the wax tends to make loading easier.

I melt the mixture, and dip the patch into the melted mixture, let the excess drip back into the pot and then stack on a piece of aluminum foil.  I make them up a couple hundred at a time. 

So every one else can say I'm wrong.  But this is what has worked for me for over 20 years. Tallow might be easier to get but it never worked as well for me.

Best Regards,

John Cholin

I made some of the old Sharps Rifle Company lube wad formula years back and tried it as a patch lube. I was putting it on one side of the patch. This  "one part PURE Beeswax and 2 parts Sperm Whale Oil by weight".  Worked great. But Sperm Whale Oil is hard to come by. I have been using Beef Tallow well rendered and like it. I suppose that adding some Neatsfpoot Oil (now lard oil) would soften it somewhat for colder weather. But its easier just to use straight oil when its cold.
Beeswax must be purified to remove any trace of honey. Adulterated Beeswax will have greatly reduced lubricating qualities.
I consider it more work than its worth for patch lube.
Dan

[bob in the woods]

A long while ago, I read somewhere that if you filled a muzzleloading barrel with bear oil, and stood it in a corner a couple of days, the oil would weep right through to the outside surface. Never tried it, but I think bear oil is about the slickest stuff there is      I use it to lube my locks, and my patches.  I mix beeswax into it for lubing my paper cartridges.
Never found anything else that comes close.

[Dphariss]

One other thing is where you live. If the Humidity is 80% or more its a far different thing than its being 8-12%. When its dry the fouling is pretty hard. This is why many in the west will blow down the barrel if they do not wipe. Not doing with when loading is almost sure to stick a ball unless a water based lube is used.
I don't shoot many shots without wiping. Shooting long strings without wiping has been proven to cause accidents, charge fires when the projectile is pushed down, at Friendship.

Dan

[Dphariss]

A long while ago, I read somewhere that if you filled a muzzleloading barrel with bear oil, and stood it in a corner a couple of days, the oil would weep right through to the outside surface. Never tried it, but I think bear oil is about the slickest stuff there is      I use it to lube my locks, and my patches.  I mix beeswax into it for lubing my paper cartridges.
Never found anything else that comes close.

If it did I sure as heck would not shoot it. Might penetrate around the threads for the breech but not thru iron or steel unless its really porous. Such a barrel would also be hard to clean since powder gases would be forced into the porosity.
 Dan
 

[Darrin McDonal]

Nope!!!! I use olive oil and bees wax year round and - it works GREAT> You just need to add more oil in colder temps. Don't believe that nonsense that bees was is no good- unless you are talking below 10degF. I have a small amount of bear oil also ( I have a hard time finding it) that I would like to try in substitution for olive oil and see how that goes. If temps get real cold oil may be the only option but in the upper teens and 20's no problem if you mix is made up for those temps. I have a warm weather tin ( more wax) and a cold weather  tin.
Darrin

[AZshooter]

I've used a Tallow + Beeswax blend for over 45 years and never found fault with it if properly applied.  Most folks with problems that I've seen at the range tend to use too much patch lube - especially when they prelube patches.  I still have a few batches of prelubed patches, and have gotten better results by warming the patches (in the microwave) then squeegeeing out the excess lube.

Imagine the Southern Po' Boy Rifle with the taller hole in the buttstock.  All you need do is wipe the patch across the lube surface, then commence seating the ball.

I Use a summer blend of Tallow and beeswax, and when cold enough, a winter blend with some Castor Oil added - Olive Oil doesn't keep as well, and Castor Oil is a bit heavier viscosity and makes a better blend.  I have no fear of it getting cold enough  for my nosehairs to freeze up, so patch lube getting too stiff  ain't a problem - and if it were, that's what pants pockets are for.