Grease hole

Banjoman · Sep 18, 2024

Added a grease hole to the .45 percussion rifle. Southern mountain rifles from East Tennessee and western North Carolina sometimes had these. We’ll see how it works.

I got the idea from this,

Nobody85 · Sep 18, 2024

Hey looks great! You planning on using it as such, or just looks ?

Banjoman · Sep 18, 2024

Oh, I’ll definitely be using it! Hopefully soon. The grease I put in it is a mixture of beeswax and olive oil and is about the consistency of shoe polish. It’s actually yellow but looks white in the picture.

tenngun · Sep 18, 2024

Banjoman said:
Oh, I’ll definitely be using it! Hopefully soon. The grease I put in it is a mixture of beeswax and olive oil and is about the consistency of shoe polish. It’s actually yellow but looks white in the picture.

Let us know how it goes, I was alway afraid it would pick up gunk

Banjoman · Sep 18, 2024

tenngun said:
Let us know how it goes, I was alway afraid it would pick up gunk

As soon as I can we’ll find out.

Stykbow · Sep 18, 2024

tenngun said:
Let us know how it goes, I was alway afraid it would pick up gunk

This seems like a valid concern, but for some reason I always wondered how the lube would hold up in the heat.
@Banjoman no matter what, looks like a good job drilling and I hope you like it in practice.

Banjoman · Sep 18, 2024

I definitely like the way it looks. I always thought those were cool and interesting, a real southern mountain kind of thing. My grease is more of a stiff paste so I think it will be fine. Most of my shooting and hunting is in the fall and winter anyway so melting probably won’t be a concern.

JohnBHM · Sep 18, 2024

I had planned to add one to my SMR but held off as I wasn't sure just how big to make it and just called the project done so I could get to the Finishing. What diameter hole did you do. Your thread has made me want to complete my original plan for this gun. Thanks for posting yours.

Banjoman · Sep 19, 2024

JohnBHM said:
I had planned to add one to my SMR but held off as I wasn't sure just how big to make it and just called the project done so I could get to the Finishing. What diameter hole did you do. Your thread has made me want to complete my original plan for this gun. Thanks for posting yours.

I used a 1” hole saw. Drilled down about 1/4” then chiseled out the center. Don’t know if this is how it was done back in the 19th century, but it worked for me.

JohnBHM · Sep 19, 2024

Banjoman said:
I used a 1” hole saw. Drilled down about 1/4” then chiseled out the center. Don’t know if this is how it was done back in the 19th century, but it worked for me. View attachment 349789

Thanks, I've got Forstner bits that give you a flat bottom hole. I will post a picture after do it.

Banjoman · Sep 19, 2024

I used the hole saw because I couldn’t find any of my Forstner bits bigger than 1/2”. Things like that have a way of disappearing around here.

Nice gun by the way. What is it?

JohnBHM · Sep 19, 2024

Thanks. It's a Kibler 36 cal. Southern Mountain Rifle that I finished this past January.

Antelope Pete · Sep 19, 2024

Here in the dusty, dirty west the lube would quickly turn into a coarse valve grinding compound.

reddogge · Sep 20, 2024

I put one in my .32 I built back in the 80s but I wish I had not. It seemed to be the trend back then ala Hershel.

Rifleman1776 · Sep 20, 2024

tenngun said:
Let us know how it goes, I was alway afraid it would pick up gunk

I had one. They do pick up dirt. But I just wiped the top off with my finger and that onto my clothes.

reddogge · Sep 20, 2024

JohnBHM, that is such a pretty piece of wood and finish on that rifle I wouldn't put one in it if it were me.

ETipp · Sep 20, 2024

My guess is, that considering it worked back then for folks that were trying to feed their family, that it would still be conducive today. In short, if it were not effective back then, those those poor mountain people certainly would not have used such.

longcruise · Sep 20, 2024

ETipp said:
My guess is, that considering it worked back then for folks that were trying to feed their family, that it would still be conducive today. In short, if it were not effective back then, those those poor mountain people certainly would not have used such.

I agree

it's probably important to use a stiff grease. They probably used tallow of some kind. Something like crisco would probably be a huge mistake.

Smokey Plainsman · Sep 22, 2024

I’ve heard conflicting things on actually using grease holes in the field.

Many report issues with debris attaching to the lube. I hunt sandy creek bottoms a lot so it’d be a big concern in my area.

They do look neat though. If I had one I’d probably fill it with pure beeswax to ensure it doesn’t run all over and to serve just for looks.

ETipp · Sep 22, 2024

longcruise said:
I agree it's probably important to use a stiff grease. They probably used tallow of some kind. Something like crisco would probably be a huge mistake.

No doubt. As hot and humid as it gets here in the SE mountains, the lube would have to be stiff for at least during the summer months. Debris would not be all that much of a concern as long as the lube were thick. Also, it’s pretty darn moist and humid here year round. Not much dust or fine particles in these mountains, other than leaves or perhaps small sticks. Also, indeed, I’m sure the lube was made from animal tallow of some sort.

Personally, I still wouldn’t want one of those in my stock. Thats why God gave us small containers to put lube and/or lubed patches in. Loading blocks are great. They are the berries for squirrel hunting where multiple shots are very common.

Grease hole

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