A new patch lube I'm testing

[Canuck Caster]

Well, maybe it isn't so new. Probably isn't. After much research I've discovered that a lot of lubes contain such products as lard, Murphy's Oil Soap, olive oil, lanolin, beeswax, stuff like that. I decided that my lube should only contain stuff that was available to the old timers. If it was good enough for them, it's good enough for me! So Murphy's was out. I only shoot GOEX FFg, no modern newfangled FiroDex or Triple Six for me!! My lube should be as old fashioned as my powder. The lube I concocted contains 1" off a pound of lard (probably about half a cup) That was easy to find at the grocery store. So was the one teaspoon of olive oil. The beeswax was a different matter. I resorted to using an entire 8" by 3/4" beeswax candle, with the wick removed, of course! (probably 2 ounces in weight or so)I'll try to find a better source for beeswax later, but this is after all, just a test. Lanolin proved to be most difficult, but I finally found some at the drug store in the baby care aisle. It's called PureLan 100 and is marketed for nursing mothers to put on their...ahem.... chapped nipples! Expensive ($8 for a 37 gram tube) but again, just a test. I used 4 teaspoons in my mix. I've read that lanolin can only improve a lube. I melted the whole works in the microwave, carefully. It only took a couple of minutes. Tried dipping patches in the liquid, but this was WAY too much lube. Smeared it on instead once it had cooled, just like you would use Bore Butter. Now some people swear by Bore Butter, and some people swear at it, I myself have never had a problem with it, except that the smell, while pleasant, is too strong, and I like to make my own shootin's. My new lube proved to be better than I expected. I actually like it more than Bore Butter! Easy to apply, not too hard, not too soft, and it doesn't seem to be as affected by extreme temperatures as easily as Bore Butter. I always wipe the bore between shots, but I tried 3 shots in a row with my lube. The third shot was as easy to load as my first (.490 CRB, blue striped pillow ticking in a T-C Hawken .50) I recovered all three patches, and they showed much less damage than when using Bore Butter. In fact, I could have re-used all three patches, without relubing them. :m2c:

 

[Stumpkiller]

So Murphy's was out.

If you want to make soap from ashes and animal fat/renderings, skip the step where you add salt to form the hard cakes and you get "soft soap". Potassium Hydroxide. Or, more commonly called: "Murphy's Oil Soap." The technology to make Oil Soap is 4,000 years old. Murphy's is dervied from vegetable fats instead of animal fats, but the fatty acids are the same in both cases.

Now, you're not using beeswax formed from crops of buckwheat or clover are you? No introduced species permissable in "authentic" beeswax. ::

I applaud your efforts. :applause: I have been making efforts to use all natural and "old materials" in my lubes and solvents. Can't prove they used it, but it was available.

 

[noahmercy]

How do, Canuck. I, too am interested in doing things as close to historical as possible. For my BP cartridges, I make my own lube using bear grease and beeswax. I figured to add a little oil to that to make patch lube, but after reading your post, I may throw some lanolin in the mix. There's enough sheepses (it's a real word...look it up! :blah around here it should be easy to get lanolin. I get my wax from a local apiary. Check the yellow pages and see if there's one near you. You can get unrefined beeswax from them for a lot less than buying candles, and it has a very pleasant smell.

 

[sse]

N M - I would be interested to know your bear grease formula, and also how you prepare the grease from bear fat.

Thanks, sse

 

[noahmercy]

Well, sse, here's the embarrassing part...my bear grease came from a friend. He's no longer with us, so I'm not sure how he rendered it. As to my bullet lube, I've just been mixing equal parts bear grease and the unrefined beeswax I get from the local apiary. This is what I use for the bullets I load in black powder cartridges. It's stiff enough to stay in the lube grooves without migrating into the powder on hot days, but soft enough to leave a nice lube "star" on the end of the muzzle and keep the fouling nice and gooey even on cold ones. I imagine it's a little "hard" for muzzleloading (except maybe on conicals), so I'll cut it with some olive oil to get the consistency right. (As well as adding some of the aforementioned lanolin.)

 

[Canuck Caster]

I didn't know that Murphy's was made that way. I've heard of the old potash style soaps and wasn't aware that Murphys was that "old". I may rethink my exclusion and include it in my next test. Thanks for the input, all of you.... :hmm:

 

[Stumpkiller]

Oh, Murphy's is probably synthesized from raw chemicals, but my point is that fatty acid detergents have been around a LONG time, and Murphy's is in the same family.

It's like birch beer used to be made from . . . birch bark and roots. Now it's probably synthetic flavorings and food like additives.

 

[brushbuster]

as far as finding bees wax if you can't find a bee keeper (one who only raises indigent species :any michaels or hobby lobby will have it in their candle craft section

 

[Stumpkiller]

www.beeswaxfrombeekeepers.com

 

[Keith]

as far as finding bees wax if you can't find a bee keeper (one who only raises indigent species :any michaels or hobby lobby will have it in their candle craft section

Why do you want poor bees? :crackup:

 

[rrgr40]

Have you thought of using deer tallow? Works well for me. Good Luck eace:

 

[bdarin]

I mixed up a batch of this stuff. The lanolin was a little hard to find but I got it. Nice consistancy, smells good, too. Will try it out on some pillow ticking patches this weekend, weather permitting. Will keep y'all posted. :: :thumbsup:

 

Have you thought of using spit? Nothing more natural than that. I use bear oil once in a while but have found my .45 cal. flintlock longrifle prefers plain ol' spit for lube.

 

[Stumpkiller]

It was 8

 

:agree:I agree with all that about spit. Some applications it would not work as well as a lub. It does for me though cause I don't get out in super cold weather (it's an age thing) or let the sun set with my gun loaded. My .45 cal. Getz swamped round rifling barrel likes a piece of osnaburg covered with spit though. I've also coned this 42" barrel and it loads and cleans real easy. I've used a number of lubs and I've had other guns that like different lubes. I think the worst thing I used was patches coated with Crisco. Very messy and did not do well in the gun I was shooting at the time. I think there's pros and cons to most all them. Just putting my two cents in and what works for me.

 

I wipe between shots with a spit patch, though.

Me too!!.... Each'n every time I load ma'rifle with a roundball "wrapped" in a spit-patch. :haha: :haha:

I do use a "lube" of mixed bear-oil'n bee's wax, fer hunt'n tho.

YMHS
rollingb

 

[BLAHMAN]

I use beeswax (from a toilet bowl ring, get 'em at the hardware store) and deer fat (rendered) and a bit of[url] shortening...in[/url] cold weather it doesn't get rock hard. Feels good on chapped skin too.

 

[roundball]

I use beeswax (from a toilet bowl ring, get 'em at the hardware store) and deer fat (rendered) and a bit of[url] shortening...in[/url] cold weather it doesn't get rock hard. Feels good on chapped skin too.

Wondered what ratio you're mixing...also, have you used that synthetic toilet bowl ring stuff enough to know if there's any negative side effects from it or are you just getting started with it?