DIY Bore Butter

Ironwrx · Jan 23, 2024

Hi. I’m new here, but a muzzleloader enthusiast for years. I know there’s a lot of options out there, and just as many recipes for bullet and patch lube for muzzleloaders. I am using BP for propellant and have used T/C Bore Butter as a lube for many years. I do like the idea of a non petroleum “natural” lube and with the now scarcity of T/C products, have decided to try to make some of my own lube. A good friend who casts bullets for a living, and also makes his own BP lube, uses Beeswax and olive oil. I was going to do this myself, but then I read somewhere that as far as ph was concerned, that coconut oil was much more neutral. Seems to me that would be a good attribute, and thus a coconut oil/beeswax mixture might be a better alternative. What do you all think?

ArmorerRoy · Jan 23, 2024

I think that you will find a hundred different opinions on the best bullet lube. What I have found living in both extreme cold environments and extreme hot environments is that temperature plays the biggest part of finding what is best. My advice is to experiment with both. What works here may not work there.

Flint62Smoothie · Jan 23, 2024

FWIW I use a 50:50 mix of olive oil and beeswax for my Minies and paper cartridge loads. Works SLICK for those loads and big long bullets! One can also vary the mix to make it thinner in cold temps, but for those hunting in the cold I really recommend the $7 tub of non-synthetic mink oil from Track of the Wolf. A tub will last you YEARS!

Some other options - For warm weather use, I use the liquid Hoppe's Black Powdah Patch Lube & Cleaner, as I can shoot all day without swabbing. Once put > 80-rounds down range one day at the 2022 NE Flintlock Championship and never swabbed even once! Accuracy was perfect and stayed the same too ... as I placed the highest score in the 100-yard offhand event match.

Felonious · Jan 23, 2024

I use tallow and beeswax, sometimes I add a little vegetable / olive oil of some kind if it's really cold out.

wiscoaster · Jan 23, 2024

pH is not an issue. Any one of a thousand recipes works. The differences being mainly in the "thickness" or "stiffness" of the resultant lube (per the ambient temperature in use), the ease of manufacture, and the availability of ingredients. The only "fer sure" common is the beeswax.

My preferred mix is beeswax and olive oil, with some Crisco thrown in during warm whether to stiffen it up a bit, but YMMV, so have fun mixing up different ratios of different ingredients. Been there, done that. Have samples of half a dozen different mixes. But in the end I just melt them all together when I need some more.

Johnny Tremain · Jan 23, 2024

In a sticky is a forum member's recipes. Ive been using it for years.
I have 5 tubes left of T/C 1000+ bore butter left. Paid $2 a tube awhile back.
When its gone, I will revert to the recipe found here.

longcruise · Jan 24, 2024

Coconut oil may not be a good choice. Its solid at 75f and liquid at 77f. So consistency probably a problem.

IanH · Jan 24, 2024

Three absolutely foolproof patch lubes:

Hoppe's #9+ black powder cleaner and patch lube.

Spit...unless it's below freezing, then use the blue 0⁰ winter windshield washer fluid made with methanol/water.

100% pure mink tallow, for hunting or any time the gun will be loaded for more than a few minutes.

deerstalkert · Jan 24, 2024

bear fat and bees wax.
depending on the weather the blend varies. plus i have always been a glop of this and a glop of that recipe type a guy so i am pretty much blending and re-blending as the temp changes.
today i fired 40 shots and had no change in loading.

ernbar · Jan 24, 2024

A beeswax/coconut oil brick from Hobby Lobby works great as a lube. I melt it to use as a bullet dip on paper cartridges and when cooled as a loaded cylinder lube using loose ball charges.

yellowhammer · Jan 24, 2024

I really like patch lube threads; fun reading and I learn a lot.

FYI I've been using this lately as a patch lube:

Whatever the "magic" ingredient is, it works....

Arkansas Paul · Jan 24, 2024

yellowhammer said:
I really like patch lube threads; fun reading and I learn a lot.

FYI I've been using this lately as a patch lube:

View attachment 288108

Whatever the "magic" ingredient is, it works....

Forgive the newbie question but when using a liquid patch lube like this or the Hoppe's, do you pre-saturate a lot of patches at a time? Or as you go?
I assume it works fine or you wouldn't use it, but is there any issue with them if you're going to be loaded for extended periods of time, like a weekend long hunting trip where you might not shoot for 2 or 3 days after loading?

I like the idea of using a cleaner/lubricant to keep fouling down. At least it seems it would work that way.

Phil Coffins · Jan 24, 2024

The magic part is water.

yellowhammer said:
I really like patch lube threads; fun reading and I learn a lot.

FYI I've been using this lately as a patch lube:

View attachment 288108

Whatever the "magic" ingredient is, it works....

yellowhammer · Jan 24, 2024

Arkansas Paul said:
Forgive the newbie question but when using a liquid patch lube like this or the Hoppe's, do you pre-saturate a lot of patches at a time? Or as you go?
I assume it works fine or you wouldn't use it, but is there any issue with them if you're going to be loaded for extended periods of time, like a weekend long hunting trip where you might not shoot for 2 or 3 days after loading?

I lube the patch at loading.

No, would not use wet lube like that when planning on leaving it loaded. Stick to the thick stuff for that :thumb:

yellowhammer · Jan 24, 2024

Phil Coffins said:
The magic part is water.

LOL thats some slick water

waksupi · Jan 24, 2024

Beeswax is the cause of the terrible fouling from Bore Butter.

rp77469 · Jan 24, 2024

Bear grease.

rchas · Jan 24, 2024

Boy, you are potentially opening a HUGE can of worms! Everybody has their favorites, and there are a few who will spend hours, if not days, expounding on why their favorite is best...

But, that's what makes it fun, so I will jump in the mud pit with everyone else.

Out on the range or a woods walk, I use good ol spit. Works great and I never run out.
For hunting, I use whatever is handy. Olive oil or a dab of Crisco out of the kitchen, or maybe a bit of motor oil. I've pulled my dipstick out of my engine before loading in the field. Anything as long as it won't promote rust while sitting in the bore for a day or two.

Unless you are a nationally ranked shooter, you are never going to notice any differences in accuracy based on bullet lube. Our guns are far more accurate than most can hold them, including me.

One thing I do know from years of experience and observation is that there is no significant difference in fouling between "natural" and "non-natural" lubes. If your lube is a low viscosity watery type lube, it will be nearly self-cleaning and you will get multiple shots without swabbing the bore. High viscosity, waxy, oily lubes will foul quickly and be harder to clean.

Ok, I'm ready! let the opinions fly!

hbasajaun · Jan 24, 2024

waksupi said:
La cera de abejas es la causa de la terrible contaminación de Bore Butter.

Can you say me what is the problem with bee wax ?thanks

longcruise · Jan 24, 2024

yellowhammer said:
LOL thats some slick water

From BC product description:

BLACKPOWDER MUZZLELOADERS
FLIP TOP FOR NO SPILL CLEANING
DISSOLVES POWDER RESIDE FAST
WATER-BASED SOLVENT

But, isn't there water in Ballistol and Hoppes?

Vegetable oil. It's cheap and effective.

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