Bad tin of mink oil

[Eric Krewson]

Crazy, unexpected, never seen before, I got a bad new tin of mink oil from TOW, it locks the ball in the bore.

I was using a new tin I just bought, with the same load I used last year, I had to pound the ball down. I got a patched ball out of my possible bag from last year, lubed the patch with Hoppes #9 and I could slide it down the bore easily, I got another ball out of my ball block, tried to get it down the bore with the same pocket drill patch and the new mink oil, no go, the ball stuck just past my coned muzzle, I even had a time getting it out with a ball puller.

I have been doing this M/L stuff for 60 years, building rifles for the last 15 years so I have the process down. Using this mink oil, I have the same loading problem in my TC with a GM barrel as well as my TN rifle in .40 with the same l loads as I have always used.

Anybody else have a problem with a recent order of this patch lube?

 

[Frontier's]

My lube doesn't go bad... still shooting patches I lubed over a year ago.

 

[Antelope Pete]

Eric,
I am almost done with one tin of that lube and have another in the fridge but wondering if the new lube looks, smells, and feels the same as before?

 

[hanshi]

Never heard of anything like that happening before. I no longer hunt and so my need for mink oil, which was a favorite, no longer exists. I still have some left that I bought years ago so it does get occasionally used at the range. I like and rely on Hoppes for the most part.

I've never heard of this problem with mink oil. Was it possible to tell if it was in fact something else other than the mink oil in the tin? That would be my first thought.