I dip a stack of pre-cut patches in melted lube, then squeeze out the excess back into the container. I do that say with my wet lubes, soaked up by a stack of patches,
then squeeze out the excess. They are wet, but not dripping. When seated flush with the muzzle, there will be a ring of lube around the top of the crown, either one
of the greases or oils, or one of the water based - same as when using spit. For years, when hunting with Track's Mink Oil, I would use a barrier patch, or a card wad
between the powder and patched ball. I stopped doing that after testing a load without the barrier wad on a target after being loaded for a week. There was no fouling
buildup, nor was there ANY point of impact change. I thus concluded the barrier was not needed.
Due to the tight loads I use and the action of shoving the patched ball down the bore, I can only assume that the excess lube is drawn up onto the bore as the patched
ball is seated, thus there is a smidgen of lube on the sides of the bore after loading, not a puddle of it on the bottom of the patched ball, which one might think, would foul
or wet the powder charge.
