Patch Lube Recipes

[wvmtnman]

I know this subject has been covered before but I was unable to find it.  I am wanting some lube recipes.  I will be shooting both patched round balls and minie balls out of a 58 caliber musket. 
                                               Thanks in advance, Brian

[T*O*F]

I use Brylcream.  It contains all the essential ingredients for an ideal patch lube and keeps the fouling soft.  Contains no greasy kid stuff and a little dab'l do ya.

[Mike R]

I use Brylcream.  It contains all the essential ingredients for an ideal patch lube and keeps the fouling soft.  Contains no greasy kid stuff and a little dab'l do ya.

Now there is a new one for me!  And I thought I had heard them all!   You will likely need different lubes for the round ball vs minnie ball.  The old tried and true spit works well for range shooting round balls.  You'll need some sort of "grease" for the minnie--the old standby was Crisco.   There are several commercial lubes on the market, but I presume you are looking for home recipes? 

[BrownBear]

I've been messing around just cuzz, while knowing full well there are lots of alternatives.

I've been real satisfied with two or three parts rendered deer tallow to one part olive oil, applied to a patch just before cutting at the muzzle.  So far it has been producing perfect recovered ticking patches even with hot hunting loads in 50, 54 and 58 cal.  2:1 is fine in our cooler climate, but I'd go to 3:1 in a warmer place. 

Further along the line of just cuzz, I'm tracking down some bear oil to replace the olive oil so I can use all local products.  No good reason except to see what can be done with materials on hand.

[T*O*F]

I'm tracking down some bear oil to replace the olive oil

I used bear oil for years.  It made cleanup real nice.  Still got a couple of bottles.  The only problem with it was if you let the gun sit for a period of time, some kind of white fuzz would start growing out of the touch hole and clog it up.

[BrownBear]

That's good to know.  In our wet climate fuzz will grow on things and in places you never imagined!

[Harnic]

I tried a lot of weird concoctions recommended here but have gone to good old Hoppes #9+.  It's the best stuff I've used, keeps the bore very clean when applied generously to pre-cut patches.  Sopping wet is best.

[Leatherbelly]

Harry,
 Can't find it up here! Who sells it and for how much? Thanx,roy

[roundball]

Hoppes #9+

Most outstanding commercial lube I've ever used for range work...have a case of bottles of it I bought from a business close out...shoot 50 shot range sessions, never wipe between shots, and can hardly get a trace of color out of the bore when cleaning up afterwards.

[Harnic]

Harry,
 Can't find it up here! Who sells it and for how much? Thanx,roy

Here ya go Roy: http://www.wholesalesports.com/onlinestore/control/category/~category_id=11474/~pcategory=11471

It is as good as everyone here says, best darned patch lube I've ever tried!

[California Kid]

How does Hoppes #9 compare to LV lube? I'm stuck on LV lube, but am about out of it.
Maybe Daryl S. can shed some light on this. Hoppe's is available here locally. -Kid

[wireman]

Hoppes #9 for me it works real good not going to change makes loading easy i love that stuff

[swordmanjohn]

 When I went to dixons fair ,in the store they had Shenadoah lube which is the same thing just renamed. http://www.dixonmuzzleloading.com/index.php?section=muzzleloadingshop                    I dont know if they ship orders or not?                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

How does Hoppes #9 compare to LV lube? I'm stuck on LV lube, but am about out of it.
Maybe Daryl S. can shed some light on this. Hoppe's is available here locally. -Kid

[Daryl]

Hey Brian - minnies and other bullets will work well with 60% Beeswax/40% Vaseline. Yeah, I know Vaseline is a petrolium product and shouldn't work, but it does - just as well as SPG and Lyman's Black Powder Gold, also excellent bullet lubes.  I use goo pure beeswax - from a bee keeper - not melted down beeswax candles which contain a high percentabe of paraffin. For me, that which doesn't work well.
: For RB patches, Hoppe's#9 PLUS seems to work as well as LHV for us - never have to wipe, clean shooting no matter the humidity and accurate - high or lower temps.  I don't know how it'll work in the freezing temps- hopefully, my LHV will last through another year or more. I'm using it sparingly and trying for loads that work with spit during warm weather.
: One thing I've found, is it takes a different powder charge to shoot any other lube than what works well with spit.  None of the rifles nor barrels I've tested shoot the same powder charge accurately with both spit and oil or grease lubes.  for example- .40 shoots well with 55gr. 2f and patched RB with spit on the patch. To shoot 2F well with LHV it needs 70gr. With 3F, it's 50gr. with spit and 65gr. with LHV.  The .45 likes 70gr. 3F or 80gr. 2F with LHV, but shoots spit with 55gr. and 60gr.  Of course, this is due to the lubricity of the oil-type lubes compared to sticky spit. It is amazing that spit works so well - and it does.

[Warner]

Over the years I've tried many differnt lubes.
As a born again BP shotguner I recently tried veg oil that I was using for cushion wads .It has worked real well in my .54 and .40 cal.After comparing it to some of the prelubed patchs I,m starting to wonder if thats what some of them are using

[longcruise]

I'l second (or is it fifth or 6th) the #9.  A great patch lube but as a solvent, it does not cut it very well (pun intended).  Last time I cleaned up after an extended shooting session I tried using it to wipe some of that stubborn black fouling off the stock in front of the lock.  It barely touched it but a patch wet in plain old water cut right through it.   Sooo, for me, the #9 will be in the hunting pouch as a lube but plain old water for clean up.

[Daryl]

Mike- there is little that does as well as cold water - which is why one of the most knowledgeable and respected muzzleloading (past) and modern ctg. gun maker in the world recommended it for their old Damascus BP doubles.

[Harnic]

Daryl, I have listened to you guys go on ad nauseum about using plain cold water to wash barrels, so I tried it after the last time I went shooting.  It took me twice as many patches & twice as long to get the bore clean as when I use hot tap water & a few drops of dish detergent.  Plain cold water might work in a pinch, but not as well as 130° F water with some dish detergent.  I'm sticking with what has always worked best for me & with no flash rust either.

[Daryl]

Interesting, Harry - you use what works for you, by all means.  I don't understand about using more patches, though.  I use one patch for cleaning and 3 or 4 for drying and that's it.  Years ago when I used hot water, I used 1 for cleaning and 3 for drying, the last 1 coming out with rust on it. I quit using Hot water and go not more rust, nor have I ever rusted a bore since. They've been stored for up to 8 years without use and not rusted after being cleaned with cold water and nothing but WD40 to prevent rust after cleaning and never top-up with oil, either - no other preservative.

[Harnic]

Daryl, I usually use 2 patches whilst cleaning with soapy water, 2 more when rinsing, a couple more to dry, then a good flushing with bulk WD-40.  I leave the barrel with the muzzle down for several hours or even overnight to allow any water in the breech to run out, then wipe with a patch or 2 lightly coated with more WD-40 & assemble again.  Often the last of the dark fouling comes out with the WD-40 patch(s), it seems to collect in the grooves & doesn't always flush out easily.  I never had the trouble on my hand rifled barrel, but this Green Mountain barrel seems reluctant to release all the fouling easily even though it feels very smooth when a patch is run down it.

[Daryl]

Interesting - I get no such fouling from the grooves on a WD40 patch run through my GM barrel after cold water cleaning.  They come clean just like the other barrels I've used it in.

[Edd]

I never had the trouble on my hand rifled barrel, but this Green Mountain barrel seems reluctant to release all the fouling easily even though it feels very smooth when a patch is run down it.

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Same here Harry. I've got five Green Mountain barrels on various guns. I have learned to use double patches, in an effort to get patching thick enough to dig in and get the final fouling out.

I have read and heard about folks cleaning up their guns with only two, three, maybe four patches.  However, in an effort to really clean my barrels, I've always needed about ten diaper patches or more...

I've used hot water, cold water, saliva, solvents...you name it  -  still, in an effort to really clean a barrel, I need plenty of patches and elbow grease...

Edd

[cal.43]

since years I use as patchlube vegetableoil and water with a little splash (hope thats the right word)
of liquid soap, shake well before use. I never wipe between the shoots.

[Harnic]

THANK YOU EDD!!!   I go through all sorts of patches cleaning this barrel & if you believe Daryl & Roy with their clean-up stories, you'd think they were shooting smokeless!  Are you guys shooting Pyrodex guys?!

I think I tried something like your lube too cal.43, but I'm sticking with Hoppes #9+ now, it's cheap & works very well. 

[BrownBear]

I'm wondering if like most other aspects of patches and muzzleloaders, thickness of a cleaning patch, at least relative to the diameters of the bores and the jags, doesn't have something to do with effort of cleaning.  That's especially true when I hear Harnic's account of bits left behind in the corners of the grooves.  I bring it up, because it seems like every time I use a different patch material, effort to swab is different and results are different.

Then there's the possibility of differences in "plain old water."  That means a different thing at almost every tap.  We've got a fair bit of iron in our water for example, and it doesn't clean nearly as well as the time I cleaned with distilled water.