Best Animal fat for lube?

ahcollier said:

I see all kind of concoctions for patch lube. I’m currently using home made “Barrel Butter” of beeswax and olive oil.

I’ve heard people talk about some animal fats, mostly mutton/sheep.

What other animal fats do people use? Beef tallow? Clean pork fat?

What will rendered (clean) pork fat do to my rifle? Bacon fat is always the one thing I have lots of.

Thanks, Andy

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Johnny Too-Tall said:

If you value your rifle do not use bacon fat or bacon grease wayyyyyy to much salt in it which leads to corrosion. My buddy did this and left it loaded for almost a month for gun season and it completely rust the bore.

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Johnny Too-Tall said:

If you value your rifle do not use bacon fat or bacon grease wayyyyyy to much salt in it which leads to corrosion. My buddy did this and left it loaded for almost a month for gun season and it completely rust the bore.

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wiscoaster said:

He said he would render it first. Doesn't that get rid of the salt? If not, ya, you wouldn't want to use that!!

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1950DAVE said:

And sodium nitrate.

No. Rendering only separates the solid matter from the fat.

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1950DAVE said:

And sodium nitrate.

No. Rendering only separates the solid matter from the fat.

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wiscoaster said:

Animal fat won't hurt your rifle. If you have lots of bacon fat, and it's rendered clean, use it. Beef and mutton tallow you can buy at the grocery store. I don't know there's any "best". They'll all work. You might find a mixture with animal fat a little "stiffer" than your current recipe with olive oil. I vary the ratio of olive oil in mine to make it softer in cool weather or firmer in hot weather. So, I'd suggest you play around with your beeswax to fat ratio to find what works best for you.

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ahcollier said:

What about pure pork fat, right off the hog, not bacon?

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