Pre-Lubing Patch Material

[JLayne]

All,
I have read that you can pre-lube strips of patch material by soaking the material in Moose Milk made of Ballistol and water, squeezing out the excess, and laying the material out to dry. It is said that the water evaporates, leaving the Ballistol in the patch, which can then be taken to the range and used as pre-lubed patching. I would like to try this method. Does anybody know how long patching prepared in this manner lasts before the Ballistol dries up? In other words, if I prep the patch material days in advance, will it still work, or will it get dry and crusty?

I’ve been using Mr. Flintlock lube, which I like. But I generally carry the bottle to the range and spritz the patching material with it right before loading each shot. I would like to lighten the load of things I carry  for each trip. So I am looking for an alternate method that might help me avoid having to carry the bottle of lube around.

Thanks,
Jay

[Clark Badgett]

I've got some patches in my garage that were sat in the bowl over a year ago and the Ballistol is still not dry.

[JLayne]

Thanks. That’s what I was wondering. I didn’t know if I could prep the material well in advance or not.

Jay

[smylee grouch]

I have never used your formula for lube but there are some patch lubes that will compromise the patch fabric over time and give you some bad blown patches. I'm talking months here not days.

[Don Steele]

I’ve had excellent results using ballistol in water mixed 1:7 . Saturate the pre-cut strips of material, lay out flat on an aluminum tray until the water evaporates. Cut at the muzzle.
I haven’t tried to establish the “ useful life” of those preludes strips. What I can tell you is that stored in a ziplock bag a month is no problem and somewhere over a year renders them worthless in a tight combination. They shred at the upon loading. In a loose combination you might have less problems loading them but I don’t know how they would shoot. I use that tight combination for shooting off a rest, chunk, table, etc. Its a .500 ball and .018 ( compressed) patch dry lubed as described above.

[Marcruger]

I think you already had the best combination with Mr Flintlock as a lube and as a graphite-cutting final cleaning product.  I would not change. I think you may regret the change. 

[hanshi]

While I use different lubes, I lube a few at a time at the range and rarely have any lubed ones left to bring home.  But in the bush I carry the same number of pre-lubed patches as the number of ball.

[Leatherbark]

When you do try the dry patch system.  Check the condition of the fired patch.  You may have to change the mixture to prevent burn through.  Keep taking your other lube in case you get frustrated with the dry patch system before you abandon it.

Bob

[walks with gun]

  I pre cut (square) patches, lube them with olive oil and keep them in a tin (Secrets or Altiod tin) along with a few balls.   Easy to do, super cheap, period correct and fast to reach in the bag to grab a patch and ball while chasing squirrels.  Patches lightly lubed with olive oil hold their lube a long time.