Neatsfoot oil

[Leatherbark]

I have some "Feibings" pure neatsfoot oil.  Says it on the bottle.........I tried it once for patch lube.  The ball sort of "Scooted" down the barrel with ramrod pressure a little bit at a time. Not smoothly like Mink Oil or LHV. It was not slippery like there was more friction.  Maybe it would have lower standard deviations than the slicker lubes. 

Bob

[heelerau]

found the recipe in a repgrint Gunsmithing Manual from the 19th century.  I am looking at using this oil on my gun locks. I did try neatsfoot on my .72 FBG but it did not seem to like it

[Jerry]

I reckon i'll have to get some online then, can't find any down in atl. ga. let ya'll know what happens.

Deer Creek in Marietta should have it. They’re located on opposite corner from the Cobb Civic Center. Jerry

[recurve]

I find it at tractor supply in the horse section quart and half quart

[MuskratMike]

If you are using 100% pure Neatsfoot oil why would you need to clarify it? Nothing wrong with doing it I am sure just asking for my own knowledge.

[Daryl]

I also find Neestfoot Oil not as slick loading as Track's Mink Oil. Both work just fine, though.

[Oil Derek]

I also find Neestfoot Oil not as slick loading as Track's Mink Oil. Both work just fine, though.

Tritto!

[Mad Monk]

James E, your problem is the Swiss powder.  I had the same problem with a .58 flintlock I built, using 120 grains of Swiss 1 1/2 and Swiss 2 powder.  Hard fouling after the first shot, one or two more and I could not get a ball down on the powder.  The bore fouled the first 6 or 8 inches at the breech.  I bet you would not have that problem if you used Goex powder.  Otherwise you will have to wipe (clean) the bore after every shot.

With the Swiss powder.  This is a hot burning powder.  Combustion temperatures well above those of GOEX or Schuetzen.   Historically correct in powder making.  Now with the Swiss if you use charges too big for a sporting burn rate powder in that caliber and projectile you get a film of melted potassium carbonate down where the projectile sat on the charge and then in the section of the bore where the powder charge actually burned.  In my .50 GPR it was very sensitive to the charge size.  Using Swiss 2Fg an increase of 5 grains in the charge volume gave me the glass film in the bore down where the patched ball sat on the charge. Dropped the charge 5 grains and the glass film was gone.  If you go up high enough in GOEX charges to where the gas temperature behind the projectile exceeds 1630 degrees you will also see the start of that hard glass like film of melted and then cooled potassium carbonate on the bore.  There are a number of factors seen in BP bore fouling that relates directly to the presence of potassium carbonate in the powder combustion residue.  With BP about 3 to 4 parts of the solids are potassium carbonate to 1 part of potassium sulfate.   I have numerous microscope photos of bore fouling shows the effect of powder combustion gas temperatures in the bore and what it meas to bore fouling differences.
The temperature of the powder charge at the time of ignition and combustion will have a big effect on how much of the solid residue is left in the bore and how much is ejected from the muzzle in the spent propelling gases.  I finally found the old paper where I described what goes on in the bore when you fire the charge.  I had found that a single can of powder will look totally different at different temperatures when shooting.

[Daryl]

Interesting, Bill. I have seen others, (was likely DPhar) note that in charges too large for the calibre and ball/bullet, that Swiss fouled.
In my .69, I found fouling not to be a problem as high as 200gr. GOEX 2F. That was not fun to shoot, but no fouling problems, shot to shot.
I have not tested Swiss 1 1/2F in it, yet. Probably won't.

[shifty]

   I have used nothing but Mink oil for  lube  and Goex powder for years and it works good for me in my 32,50,54,and 58 cals.

[Mad Monk]

Interesting, Bill. I have seen others, (was likely DPhar) note that in charges too large for the calibre and ball/bullet, that Swiss fouled.
In my .69, I found fouling not to be a problem as high as 200gr. GOEX 2F. That was not fun to shoot, but no fouling problems, shot to shot.
I have not tested Swiss 1 1/2F in it, yet. Probably won't.

Daryl,

GOEX is a rifle burn rate powder.  Maximum gas temperature behind the projectile would be a maximum of 1850 degrees and I doubt if one could get that high.  I doubt if there charcoal is up to that.  These gas temperatures I quote are out of the old Nobel & Abel writings of the mid-1800s.  No question as to their accuracy, just that the powders they used were the tops for their designation.  Those being musket, rifle and sporting.  When I looked at one of the WANO powders they tried to sell out of a Florida fireworks company I saw that bore glassing in it.    When I ran loading density on it I noted that it was rather light on weight for the grain size.  Lower density grains burn faster and produce more heat for the reduced time it takes for a charge to be consumed.  The charcoal in that powder was the European black alder.  Gave a lovely red colored acetone extraction.  It had a good amount of oil of creosote in the charcoal. That indicated it had a very good fixed carbon content for the powder and that is a major factor in fast burning powders.

When you talk about the .69 caliber.  I never saw anything historical that they used one of the fast and hot burning sporting powder in that size bore.  When you look at historical loads in the .69 military smooth bores you see slower if often better.  When the U.S. was developing the "elongated balls" for the Civil War muskets Mordecai told them to go to 70 grains of straight 1F musket powder. Prior to the the standard musket powder was the equal mix of 1f and 2f.  So as .69 caliber goes the idea of large charges of the fast and hot Swiss powder is a bit over the top in those guns.  When the Brits started using black powder cartridges in the military guns they had problems with bore fouling.  C&H was supplying them with what was in fact the fast and hot burning sporting powder.  So C&H came up with a trick. they cut 15% out of the amount of charcoal going into the powder and replaced that with charred peas.  That cut the combustion temperature and helped with the bore fouling.

[Ric Carter]

I've never tested it for the purpose, but synthetic Dexron III automatic transmission oil was developed to replicate whale oil.

[Brokennock]

FYI - since the 1930's most Pure Neatsfoot Oil is usually processed from Hog Lard and not from the legs and feet of cattle as once done. Neatsfoot Compound is Pure NFO with added mineral oil and/or reprocessed motor oil - no good stuff. This info is per the manufacturers of Neats Foot Oil .....
My favorite patch lube is bear oil, but when I can't get it plain ole cheap lard works dandy - been using it now for over 45 years
as always others mileage WILL vary..........

I know the quoted reply is old, just using it for perspective for my question.
Does anyone know the source for Tandy's 100% neatsfoot oil? Not the compound, the straight neatsfoot oil. The guy at my local Tandy didn't know.

[Daryl]

Thanks for the powder lesson Bill, that was great & makes sense about slowing the burn for larger bores.

About Tandy's Neetsfoot oil, I have no idea. The 100% PURE NEETSFOOT OIL I bought from the local Spruce Capital Feeds
Tack shop, is SHEPS  Weaver Leather INC, Mount Hope Oh. 44660-0068. I'm on my second quart of it now.

[Mike from OK]

FYI - since the 1930's most Pure Neatsfoot Oil is usually processed from Hog Lard and not from the legs and feet of cattle as once done. Neatsfoot Compound is Pure NFO with added mineral oil and/or reprocessed motor oil - no good stuff. This info is per the manufacturers of Neats Foot Oil .....
My favorite patch lube is bear oil, but when I can't get it plain ole cheap lard works dandy - been using it now for over 45 years
as always others mileage WILL vary..........

I know the quoted reply is old, just using it for perspective for my question.
Does anyone know the source for Tandy's 100% neatsfoot oil? Not the compound, the straight neatsfoot oil. The guy at my local Tandy didn't know.

I have two jugs of NFO... One is Fiebings Neatsfoot Oil Compound... It's garbage. It doesn't even work on leather. I suspect it is part petroleum, hence the "Compound" part of the name.

The other, which I purchased at Tandy, is Dr. Jackson's Pure Neatsfoot Oil... It gives better results on leather... Smells like it's an actual animal based product... Downside is the cost. I believe I paid $18 for the quart... But a quart should last a while even with doing leatherwork AND lubing patches. I do not have any info on how it is sourced/produced.

I didn't have as good of results with the pure NFO as I had hoped... For some reason I can't quite explain it almost seemed TOO slick... I might have to back off my powder charge and give it another try.

Mike

[MuskratMike]

But Fiebings 100% pure Neatsfoot oil is the real thing. I have used it for years, works great on patches and leather. Stay away from anything that says "compound".

[Jerry]

I reckon i'll have to get some online then, can't find any down in atl. ga. let ya'll know what happens.

try deer creek in Marietta. It’s located on the opposite corner of Cobb civic center