coconut oil patch lube

[Joe Schell]

i've been playin around with coconut oil  & have been having really good luck with it so far.   Has anyone else tried it , or know of any reason not to use it ?


Joe

[ShutEyeHunter]

Smells nice, natural fat, was planning to try it myself.. Great for stir fry given the high smoke point. Interested in a learned opinion.

[Daryl]

Considering it is a solid at room temperature, it is not suitable as a patch lube here. I do not like loading stiff patches.  It does turns liquid quite quickly when touched, though. I've never used it though it might be just fine, similar to mink oil from Track in consistency.

[Robby]

Its great for making popcorn!
Robby

[Tony N]

Joe,

Have you noticed less fouling or better grouping?

~Tony

[Joe Schell]

Better groups. the foulings not bad either though.

[drago]

Are you using the same powder charge?

[Joe Schell]

Yes, everythings the same just changed lubes. this rifle has a 44" b wt colerain 45 cal barrel shooting a .445 ball , pillow ticking patch & 50 grains of schuetzen fff. i'm real happy with the accuracy of that combo with the coconut oil lube.

[Curt Lyles]

Joe  I tried it at your suggestion in a 40 that has been givin me fits and it sure seems like its goin to work out fine .Mine is the 76 degree melt oil and it has no odor at all,my wife uses it in her soap makin so I have an endless supply.I want to see how its goin to work in the cold thou.Curt

[WadePatton]

Considering it is a solid at room temperature, it is not suitable as a patch lube here. I do not like loading stiff patches.  It does turns liquid quite quickly when touched, though...

It goes runny right around 70f, so it's not much solid down here in Dixie 'cept in Wintertime when the 'lasses get slow.  

[EC121]

I tried the coconut oil today.  The fouling stayed soft, and at the end of the day I wiped it out with a dry patch and never felt the patch drag. Since it liquefies at 76deg. according to the label, it is a little messy.  I cleaned the barrel with Dawn soap and water.  As a test I went behind that with the Mr. Flintlock and couldn't get anymore crud out.  $4.49 for 16oz. at Walmart.  I'm not sure it is any better than the mink oil, but you can eat it if you are lost in the woods.        

[Hungry Horse]

 I really don't give a darned when it liquifies, I live out where any farther West and you get wet, so its flash point is more important to me. It should be to a lot of you guys as well. Some of the best lube I ever used would set a fire about every third shot. Usually loose greases, and oils, have a low flash point. Venison, and mutton tallow are very good, and work very well when thinned with a little bear oil.

                   Hungry Horse

[Old Ford2]

If flash point is a concern, avocado oil makes a good oil for patches, as it's flash point is 520 degrees.
However with a felt wad and olive oil/bees wax mix over powder and patch with the same olive oil & bees wax lube, I have never had a burning patch problem.
I do look forward to trying the coconut oil, especially that it seems to improve groupings.
Now question: Is the new rage of coconut oil to fix every thing from patches, going to really work ? Kind of like snake oil !
Fred

[Curt Lyles]

Joe I mix a little mineral oil in some Friday and shot the best groups I have shot in a long time .I picked up the patchs and found no burn spots or any kind of problems so far .At $4.99 for 16 oz it seems like a bargin to me. At this point I see no reason to try any other lube unless it gives me trouble in cold wheather.   More tests comin for sure .  Curt

[EC121]

I am going to try the oil some more.  Mainly because it gives me a chance to go out in the yard and shoot.  This time I will use less of it to avoid the mess.  The real reason for the oily patching is that I spilled some and wiped it up with my patching material.   Kind of overdid it.  This time I will be more careful with the application.  I did like the way it cleaned up easily and left the fouling soft in the barrel.  People have always looked for the lube that will only shoot tens and cleans up with one patch, but that is the fun of it.  Sort of like people always looking for the best oil for their rc gas engines.  They will buy a weedeater or chainsaw and run any old oil in it, but for their plane engine they look for the miracle oil that will eliminate all wear and never carbon up the head.  They are basically the same engines.

[Joe Schell]

Thanks for the reports guys. ive done a little more shootin and am still happy with the results. so far ive  not had any problems with burning or smoldering patches.

[Vomitus]

   I believe peanut oil has an even higher flash point. I may try it.

[hudson]

New to form but have followed for some time. On the coconut oil, have used it for years and found it excellent. I shoot moistly large silhouette there four heavy charges for long range. You can over do it with this stuff! I lube only one side of the patch and that on the ball side, yes the ball side. I do use a very tight ball patch combination. Present rifle is .54 cal. 1 in 70 twists. Loads 65 gr. 2F and 110 2F with .535 ball wrapped in .025 Teflon. I have shot an entire match without cleaning. I must confess I now use 20/80 mix of Ballistol and water, almost as good and not as messy. Experimentation is one of the fun things in life find what works for you.
Yes it is good for popcorn also.

[Clark Badgett]

If flash point is a concern, avocado oil makes a good oil for patches, as it's flash point is 520 degrees.
However with a felt wad and olive oil/bees wax mix over powder and patch with the same olive oil & bees wax lube, I have never had a burning patch problem.
I do look forward to trying the coconut oil, especially that it seems to improve groupings.
Now question: Is the new rage of coconut oil to fix every thing from patches,  going to really work ? Kind of like snake oil !
Fred

My wife claims that swishing it around in your mouth for period of minutes whitens the teeth. Must be a Filipino thing.

[newtire]

I'm going to try it as a maxi-ball lube tomorrow.  Actually, mixed some in with some lube I already had made up of beeswax and olive oil.  I needed to stretch out the supply for some shooting tomorrow.  Seems like it should work.  I added a little Murphy's soap and some coconut oil until it was a consistency I could easily fill the grooves of some maxi's for a little Cherokee in .32 cal.  With it's fast twist, it should do alright with maxi- ball length bullets.  I guess I'll find out!

[WadePatton]

...
Now question: Is the new rage of coconut oil to fix every thing from patches,  going to really work ? Kind of like snake oil !
Fred

My wife claims that swishing it around in your mouth for period of minutes whitens the teeth. Must be a Filipino thing.

Not a thing but for an industry to use rumor and "alternative ideas" for folks to latch onto and to want to believe so they can sell more product.  None of the clinical trials researched by the doctors I trust showed any benefit to using coconut oil for anything at all.

If you like it for flavor, great.  or shooting, great.  But don't be a sheeple and believe it "pulls" anything or has other "special" health effects (no matter how you apply it).  It's a plant oil, which makes it not much better or worse than any other plant oil for human nutritional/related needs.  Fact is we don't need any refined oils according to some nutritional experts.

So lubing patches with it is surely healthier than eating it.   

[Don Steele]

I've used it after reading reports from others that it works well for them. I'm one of those who like to try different things from time to time, mostly for my own edification, not because I'm having problems.
It worked real well but as others have observed...it's "messy".
I didn't feel the need to continue the experiment and work out the best procedure but while I was using it there were no problems at all.

[Hungry Horse]

I could understand the endless hunt for a good patch lube, if what our forefathers used didn’t work, or did’nt work well, but it does. So, I must assume this  search must have to do more with the cool factor of coconut oil, mink oil, and who knows what else. I know mutton tallow, bear grease, and venison tallow, is’nt nearly exotic enough for some of you, but, it works very well, just as it has for centuries.

  Hungry Horse

[smallpatch]

I don't have any dead sheep, mink, bear or dear. 
I use lube based on dead moose I guess.  Moose milk.
I don't live in the 18th century, so I have to use what I have for his one.

[Semisane]

OK, I'm going to be the heretic here. 

Over my 50 years of muzzleloading I've tried about every patch lube out there - spit, olive oil, peanut oil, mink oil, jojoba oil, Crisco/beeswax mix, etc.

For the last five years I've used nothing but Liquid Wrench Penetrating Oil for the patch lube in all of my guns, from .32 to .58 caliber. (OH, the horror! A petroleum product!) My powder of choice is GOEX.

I use precut patches, usually pillow ticking. I put a dozen or two patches in a stack - squirt the stack with enough LW to wet the patches pretty well - massage the stack with my fingers to distribute the oil evenly - wrap the stack in a paper towel and squeeze it so the towel absorbs the excess oil.

The patches will feel almost dry and are pleasant to handle. I get excellent accuracy. No ugly fouling build up. Clean-up is just as easy as any other lube I've used. And as a bonus, no rust worries if I don't get around to cleaning the gun until the next day.

Don't hate me because I'm Semisane.    Try it, you might like it.