Last word on patch lube

[MuskratMike]

It seems like every week there is a new post on the latest patch lube. Do you really think Daniel Boone, Davey, Crockett, and the long hunters constantly changed their lube? If it works for you, gives good accuracy, and the needed viscosity for your region stick with it. Mine is a lube for cartridge black powder shooters mixed with an equal amount of 100% pure Neatsfoot oil. Quit spending your time trying the latest concoction and go to the range and shoot more. Your groups will get smaller with practice.

[Mike Lyons]

I'm still trying to figure out how they get the Whale Sperm Oil. Daniel Boone and Dave’s Crockett must have been pretty clever

[stubshaft]

Sperm Whale oil USED to be legal until the treehuggers had it banned.  Brownells used to sell it by the quart.

[smallpatch]

Muskrat,
Who changes lube constantly?
I've been using the same one successfully for over 25 years.
I think those that are experimenting, are searching for the right one for themselves.
Just trying to understand the premise for your posting.

[hanshi]

The only lubes I've used for years are TOW mink oil and Hoppes #9 BP Lube.  If anything works better it's way beyond my $$ means.

[OldMtnMan]

Yup! Hard to beat mink oil for hunting and liquid lube for targets.

[rfd]

i melt in "gato feo" bullet lube to patch strips for cutting at the muzzle or ball boards. 

[alacran]

Gato Feo LOL!!!

[rfd]

yep, good ol' crazy cat lube.  the stuff is killer and easy to make ...

GATO FEO LUBE
*************
by weight, double boiler melted ...

1 part mutton tallow (dixie gun works)
1 part paraffin canning wax (gulf)
1/2 part filtered beeswax

"but isn't paraffin canning wax a petroleum product"?

a chemist provided what seems a plausible answer:
PURE canning paraffin lacks the hydrocarbons found in other petroleum products.
apparently, these hydrocarbons are the offenders with black powder guns.

i make a block of GF in a milk carton, then slice it up.  then use a chunk to prelube patch strips ...

[Hungry Horse]

Tallow, tallow, tallow. Venison, bear, or mutton, PERIOD. Bees wax is problematic in several ways, so is paraffin. This is probably the most over thought subject in muzzleloading.


  Hungry Horse

[rfd]

Tallow, tallow, tallow. Venison, bear, or mutton, PERIOD. Bees wax is problematic in several ways, so is paraffin. This is probably the most over thought subject in muzzleloading.


  Hungry Horse

there is nothing problematic with proper beeswax and paraffin.  mixed with a good non-rancid tallow such as mutton (venison and bear will go rancid), it makes a fine patch lube where most of it will stay in the cloth weave, in a ball board - straight tallow typically won't do that over time.  a board i loaded last year with gato feo is as good today as then.  gato feo lube is also one mainstay of the bpcr grease groove boys, and has no nasty barrel effect from black powder ignition.  i no longer use it since going to paper patched slicks, but have used it with match winning results for years prior.

[stubshaft]

Doc Shoultz dry patch system OR Lehigh Valley for roundballs and MCM for Minies.

[Craig Wilcox]

"Gato feo" translates to "ugly cat".  Crazy cat would be "gato loco"

Rendered beef tallow - kidney fat - has a lot of uses, including "fixin' wax", which is mixing in some beeswax to beef tallow.  You can use it on about anything without ill effect.  If you get some peppermint oil, and mix that in, it makes good chapstick.  And in an emergency, you can eat it.  Also stick a wick in it for a candle.  I mix it all up, and make little cakes of it.  I generally have an Altoid tin or two, or one of those little cans you get from MBS or TOTW.  I give them as Christmas presents.  It will work on wood or metal, and is a great lube for lock innards.

Rendering beef tallow - just heat the kidney fat (large chunk of billowy white fat) over a low heat, and filter out the non-melted parts.  Stir in some beeswax, and add flavoring oil if you wish.  Old ice cube trays make great molds.  And yeah, it is used for patches as in the above short video.

[yulzari]

The British army had access to everything the chemistry of the day offered that they could have used as patch/paper lubricants. They stuck with mutton tallow and bees wax from the first issue rifle  Pattern 1776 right up to the Pattern 1853 Enfield. They had to be used from the winter of Canada to desert summers without varying the mix.

I sometimes play about with assorted weird waxes and oils but the old tallow/bees wax always works. The only change I have found useful so far is adding a small amount of anhydrous lanolin for conicals as it makes the mix stick to the lead better but that is a convenience for me not the rifle.

The only patch method that equalled it was the Wild system but that needs careful measuring of the water. When it worked it worked well. When it did not work it really did not work.

[ltdann]

I've recently switched from Bore butter to Jojoba oil ( replacement for sperm whale oil) and couldn't be happier.  Much easier to load, improved accuracy.

[Rick Anthony]

gentlemen:   This is my first post even though I have been a member of this forum for several years, and a lurker even longer. I have had the pleasure of meeting many of you  the last three years at the CLA and Lake Cumberland and especially the ALR lunch party at the CLA show this year. Many of you will remember me as I packed around my most recent build-a Hudson Valley fowler on Friday at the show. Thank you Mike Brooks, Old Traveller, Ky-Flinter, C.C. Fidler, Bob Lienemann, and so many others for making my day. To all who post on this forum; even though I have been building from the plank on a  mostly hobby basis since '82, I still learn something new and useful every day from you guys. You are much appreciated! Now to the issue at hand: I have been using a patch lube mixture of 50/50 bear oil and buffalo tallow for the last 30 years and besides being period correct, it works perfectly for me.  Another plus, when hunting in high humidity situations, I prime the pan, then take a toothpick size twig and put a small bead of this lube around the top sides of the pan, then close the frizzen and put another small bead between the frizzen and the barrel. I never open the pan to check the prime after that; I just assume that all is well. I have never had this practice to fail me even in a downpour of rain. just my 2 cents on this topic.  Oh yes, my moniker is my ancestors name that I used years ago at reinactments at Ft. DeChartres, Mansker's Station, Cumberland Gap, and many others.             Uncle Hiram-      Rick Anthony

[Hessian]

Tallow, tallow, tallow. Venison, bear, or mutton, PERIOD. Bees wax is problematic in several ways, so is paraffin. This is probably the most over thought subject in muzzleloading.


  Hungry Horse

I mostly use deer tallow. I clean it in 3-4 changes of water. (no smell and slick) I also have some bear oil I use from time to time.

[Dphariss]

All around tallow is best. Beef or Deer. Kidney fat is best to start with. Boil 3 times or 4 on clean water, taking the tallow off the pot when its cold. DO NOT SALT THE TALLOW as soap makers do. This stuff will protect a bore for months. . If you start putting in Beeswax and other hard waxes it gets too hard. GG bullet lube is not the same application as patch lube. Though SPG Lube will work on patches when its warm. Cold weather? Neatsfoot oil....
If you use Beeswax melt it carefully in a double boiler and be SURE its not contaminated with honey.. It makes Beeswax almost an anti-lubricant.
A long time friend of mine has made literally tons of bullet lube over the years. Honey is poison to lube and heating without a double boiler is too...

Dan

[Daryl]

Good stuff Dan.

[Iktomi]

Beeswax will decidedly NOT get too hard when temps are over 100 degrees, which is common where I live even during deer season. I add a *small* percentage to my tallow lube to prevent it from becoming a gooey runny slobbery mess in hot weather.

[WadePatton]

Last word  !?!










good luck with that.   


My last word:  yes I prefer using lube, and will likely continue.   

[Tim]

All around tallow is best. Beef or Deer. Kidney fat is best to start with. Boil 3 times or 4 on clean water, taking the tallow off the pot when its cold. DO NOT SALT THE TALLOW as soap makers do. This stuff will protect a bore for months. . If you start putting in Beeswax and other hard waxes it gets too hard. GG bullet lube is not the same application as patch lube. Though SPG Lube will work on patches when its warm. Cold weather? Neatsfoot oil....
If you use Beeswax melt it carefully in a double boiler and be SURE its not contaminated with honey.. It makes Beeswax almost an anti-lubricant.
A long time friend of mine has made literally tons of bullet lube over the years. Honey is poison to lube and heating without a double boiler is too...

Dan

I may be able to get this at a local grocery store.
Do you think it could be used to make a  patch lube?

[OldMtnMan]

TOW Mink Oil may be misleading for those who haven't tried it. It's really mink tallow. It's a paste.

[Frank]

Bear grease.

[mushka]

I use the TOW mink oil lube on patches, lightly.  It isn't really an oil til it gets hot.  Stays softly solid most of the time but I live in Yuma Az. and it kind of melts.  No harm, just gets runny.  Works well on a lightly lubed patch.