DIY Bore Butter

oldwood said:

In the early 1970's , there was a British black powder solvent called Young's . It was mixed with water and turned a whitish brown color , and worked great. It smelled like American WW2 gun cleaner called Cosmoline. Since the two , Young's and Cosmoline smelled and seemed the same , I mixed Cosmoline with water just as the Young's cleaner said to do , and the American version worked just as well. The water is absorbed by cleaning patches , and the oil stays on the steel. Before the local salvage store where I bought the Cosmoline ran out , I stocked up. Last week , I found a last can of it in my shop. I clean my m/l guns w/ hot water and finish with WD40 , I'll just hang on to the old can of Cosmoline , just for fun.

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waksupi said:

It builds up in the bore, resulting in holding fouling when you are cleaning the gun.

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RAEDWALD said:

The British army changed from tallow/bees wax to just pure bees wax and found it worked fine in all conditions around the world. It leaves a coat that prevents following fouling adhering easily and cleans it out when the next shot is fired.

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waksupi said:

W

We shoot all winter, that mix would put you out of business before you got three rounds down range. Speaking from experience, and witnessing others.

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Ironwrx said:

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?

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tenngun said:

What I think? It don’t matter.
I buy mink oil from track. Smells good shoots well. But I also use lard. Bees wax and olive oil work. I’m never out in the Ozarks below 0 and I don’t routinely shoot when it’s hot.
Crisco used to be a go to, I could never tell that it didn’t work.
Bore butter gets phoo phooped a lot, but shoots center.
Try bees wax and olive oil, you’ll like it. I don’t think it’s better or the best, because I don’t think there is a better or best, but you’ll have fun playing with it, from the making to the shooting
And that’s what counts

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