Dawn and water patch lube

French Colonial · Jul 17, 2024

I have been a dedicated spit patch shooter since the 70's but Grenadier and other's posts have been instrumental in me rethinking and experimenting with alternatives.

Today I took my grandson who is visiting from Seattle out shooting my .54 Woodsrunner, 83 degrees and 54% humidity, not bad for July in Illinois. I used a mixture of Dawn and water for the lube, no wiping between shots and I must say I am impressed. There was no indication of a crud ring whatsoever and clean up water was the easiest I have ever experienced, just a couple of patches and done, ready to be dried and oiled.

Obviously more shooting will need to be done on different days to confirm group size etc. etc. but this was eye opening.

YMMV

wiscoaster · Jul 17, 2024

What ratio of Dawn to water by volume? Thanks ...

Collie · Jul 17, 2024

This is what I use nowadays when shooting from a bench. In my experience, wiping between shots in completely unnecessary when using the dish soap and water patch lube. Accuracy out of my SMR is just as good as mink oil which was my previous go to patch lube.

Added bonus is I use the same squirt bottle for shooting patches and cleaning patches

Big Tom 52 · Jul 17, 2024

wiscoaster said:
What ratio of Dawn to water by volume? Thanks ...

I watched you-tube video about dawn and water patch lube, the shooter was using a 50-50 mixture. He said it was slimy, but I think he shot something like 7-8 times without stopping to swab the barrel. He had the patches lubed up in a zip lock baggy and was kind of amazed the soap and water didn't cause the powder to miss fire from moisture.

French Colonial · Jul 18, 2024

I used a 50-50 mixture out of a small squirt bottle and rubbed it into dry patches, I had to wipe my fingers off after applying on a small towel. It is pretty slimy and am going to try closer to a 25-75 mix eventually.

To Big Tom, I believe the idea of moisture degrading powder is mostly overblown due to the patches being squeezed between the ball and barrel when loading and most of the excess lube ends up at the muzzle after loading. I have never been concerned about it.

waksupi · Jul 20, 2024

Peculiar. Three of us at the shoot today tried the Dawn/water lube. 100% thumbs down on it, fouled more than moose milk, and took longer to clean from the bore. Hot dry conditions, probably a couple dozen shots each for all of us.
Climate related no doubt, as most respondents here are from more humid areas.

Phil Coffins · Jul 20, 2024

I have used the Dawn/water mix lately and with my limited experience find it very good. A new shooter I have been helping was using it yesterday on his new to him old rifle with complete satisfaction. We both mix it by eye to less than 50% Dawn to water.

Gtrubicon · Jul 20, 2024

French Colonial said:
I used a 50-50 mixture out of a small squirt bottle and rubbed it into dry patches, I had to wipe my fingers off after applying on a small towel. It is pretty slimy and am going to try closer to a 25-75 mix eventually.

To Big Tom, I believe the idea of moisture degrading powder is mostly overblown due to the patches being squeezed between the ball and barrel when loading and most of the excess lube ends up at the muzzle after loading. I have never been concerned about it.

My last time shooting I used 25% dawn 75% water on my patches. I was really impressed. With how well it worked.

RiverRat · Jul 20, 2024

Yesterday I shot my 28 gauge smoothbore rifle with dawn and water on my patches. Of course I was shooting rbs and 3f goex. My patches were .012 drill cloth and my rbs were .520’s, .530’s and .535. My groups were the best with the .520’s. The .535 rbs would not load easily with this setup so I shot those bare ball. As a result, the walls of the barrel got lead deposited so I couldn’t really tell if the dawn/water combo worked. Tomorrow I will shoot my .40cal Tennessee rifle to see how that goes with dawn/water. I also watched some u-tube videos and this patch lube looks promising.

longcruise · Jul 20, 2024

Phil Coffins said:
We both mix it by eye to less than 50% Dawn to water.

Gtrubicon said:
My last time shooting I used 25% dawn 75% water on my patches. I was really impressed. With how well it worked

The 50:50 suggestion surprised me when it popped up here recently. Guess it was another bit of U Toooob wisdom. In my experience it's way too heavy on the soap. It's probably a good ratio for washing ducks. I don't measure mine, just add water until it's a light hue of color. Pretty sure it's less than 1:10. I only use it at the range with a loading bench. You can shoot it without wiping all day long if you like. If I am using a grease lube it is used to wipe between shots. Keep it in a small spray bottle for applying.

SDSmlf · Jul 20, 2024

longcruise said:
The 50:50 suggestion surprised me when it popped up here recently.

Yep, the 50/50 mix seemed heavy on the soap to me, but if it works for some in their guns, great. Can’t argue with success and smiling faces.

Personally for shooting patched roundball at the range in above freezing weather, my preferred ‘moose milk’ is 20 parts water, 1 part Murphy’s and 1 part Ballistol (or cutting oil that emulsifies in water), though there are many other good options. In the past few months I have taken some new forum members shooting and enjoyed the comradely. Plan to shoot again with them. Interestingly, they were surprised, or at least appeared surprised, with how well the above mixture worked for patched roundball shooting. No swabbing, easy loading and good accuracy. Now I wouldn’t recommend it for hunting (or precision target work), something like real mink oil (check out TOW), that won’t evaporate or contaminate things is my choice for hunting. For target work, one is on their own for that perfect lube formulation.

When I live in Upstate NY I found that windshield washer fluid (the -40° stuff) worked great at the range in cold weather, though pretty much a non factor in North Carolina most of the year. Mink oil also works well for cold weather hunting.

RobertE · Jul 21, 2024

I switched over to the Dawn/water lube for the range a couple years ago and have been more than pleased with it.
I use a plastic container from those nicotine pouches, (no I don’t use them, son in law does occasionally), bought some round cosmetic sponges from Amazon, trimmed them a bit to fit, soak it with the Dawn/water mix, and just use my thumb to press the patch into it to lube.
I don’t soak the patch, just get enough lube to get it slippery, then place the lubed side down on the muzzle and load away.
Lot less messy than spraying and don’t end up with it all over my hands. Works equally well with pre-cut patches or strips that I cut at the muzzle.
Not sure on the mix, just add the Dawn to some water till it looks good, probably 30-40% Dawn or so. Re-soak the pad every range trip and it usually lasts the session, but I do carry extra lube in case I want to add to the sponge.
Been using the same container and sponge for over a year so it’s held up well.

Dawn and water patch lube

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