Bear Grease Question

[Mad L]

Mine looks just like your amber oil while still warm before solidification but then the whole thing turns to pure white grease when it cools over night. Stays the same wither summer hot or winter cold in my exterior shed. There is no oil on top or on the bottom just white grease top to bottom.
I wonder if reheating would separate oil from grease? I will give that a try and see what happens .

I was wondering the same (reheating), let me know how it goes.
Mine stayed clear (amber) for a year until I used up the first bottle, just a little 'clouding' formed over the winter.
The frozen bottle 'separated' top/bottom after thawing at room temp, I just poured off the top to refill the small bottle...I have been wondering once I am down to just the 'frothy' bottom.

The 'Bear Grease' I got from a drum maker is a bit differen, brownish in color but just as slick, and it's very watery...I have not done anything with it yet, just sits in the tub it came in....

 

[Crazdgunman]

Hey, all I can say is my bear oil rendered out as an amber, and congealed white in the refrigerator.

 

[Jim K]

Hey, all I can say is my bear oil rendered out as an amber, and congealed white in the refrigerator.

Same here.

 

[HighUintas]

I've been thinking of getting some of this bumbling bear grease to try. I currently use tracks mink oil.

How do the two compare? Is the bumbling bear grease a lot slicker? Does either one keep the fouling down better than the other with a tight patch? Does the POI change drastically between the two with all other load factors being the same?

 

[RiverRat]

I bought a quart of rendered bear oil years ago at a rondy. I mixed it with bee’s wax for my patch lube. I am almost out of the bear oil and when I am done with it, I will be using olive oil in its place. I really don’t think that I will see a difference from the bear oil. Time will tell.

 

[HighUintas]

I bought a quart of rendered bear oil years ago at a rondy. I mixed it with bee’s wax for my patch lube. I am almost out of the bear oil and when I am done with it, I will be using olive oil in its place. I really don’t think that I will see a difference from the bear oil. Time will tell.

I was just thinking of trying it because I was going to get some balls and flints from October country.

But, the bumbling bear stuff is so pricey I think it would actually be cheaper to just buy the mink oil from track and pay the extra shipping

 

[Mad L]

I've been thinking of getting some of this bumbling bear grease to try. I currently use tracks mink oil.

How do the two compare? Is the bumbling bear grease a lot slicker? Does either one keep the fouling down better than the other with a tight patch? Does the POI change drastically between the two with all other load factors being the same?

I was just out shooting the other day and here is my take:
I have used TOW Mink for a long time now and love it.
A couple years ago I got some pure Bear Oil...I don't know what "bumbling bear" is??
I really loved the Bear Oil, YES it is slicker, but liquid was a bit of a hassle so I mixed some into my TOW Mink oil. Not a lot, just enough that I could whip it up into a lather, I thought I had used too much but it settled back down into a toothpaste texture...softer then TOW but not drippy.
NOW THAT I really liked and have been using ever since.

Now the other day:
I was out of my mixture so I took a can of TOW and tossed some dry patches in my tin, it was a cool 42 degrees out, the TOW was solid and took a little work to grease a patch (my mixture stayed soft).
Well I fired off about a dozen shots, my whining patches were dirty (using Swiss 2F and I always whip every to every other shot).

Then I noticed I had a layer of pre-lubed patched on the bottom of my tin, my mixture patches from about three months ago (I have been down with back issues and heat here has been bad).
My mixture patches were still soft and slick, ball went down smoother and when I whipped the cleaning patch was almost clean, just some black lines from the grooves - I would say 3x cleaner then my TOW Mink patches!

Fluke? Iduno. But I LIKE that Bear Oil! And I Love my TOW Mink/Bear Oil mixture.

Get some, you never know until you try!

 

[HighUintas]

I was just out shooting the other day and here is my take:
I have used TOW Mink for a long time now and love it.
A couple years ago I got some pure Bear Oil...I don't know what "bumbling bear" is??
I really loved the Bear Oil, YES it is slicker, but liquid was a bit of a hassle so I mixed some into my TOW Mink oil. Not a lot, just enough that I could whip it up into a lather, I thought I had used too much but it settled back down into a toothpaste texture...softer then TOW but not drippy.
NOW THAT I really liked and have been using ever since.

Now the other day:
I was out of my mixture so I took a can of TOW and tossed some dry patches in my tin, it was a cool 42 degrees out, the TOW was solid and took a little work to grease a patch (my mixture stayed soft).
Well I fired off about a dozen shots, my whining patches were dirty (using Swiss 2F and I always whip every to every other shot).

Then I noticed I had a layer of pre-lubed patched on the bottom of my tin, my mixture patches from about three months ago (I have been down with back issues and heat here has been bad).
My mixture patches were still soft and slick, ball went down smoother and when I whipped the cleaning patch was almost clean, just some black lines from the grooves - I would say 3x cleaner then my TOW Mink patches!

Fluke? Iduno. But I LIKE that Bear Oil! And I Love my TOW Mink/Bear Oil mixture.

Get some, you never know until you try!

Thank for the information. Bumblin bear grease is sold by October Country and it's a mixture of bear oil and beeswax, with a few other items mixed in. Someone in another thread, or maybe earlier in this thread, said they contacted October Country and they said it was about 10-15% beeswax.

 

[Mad L]

Thank for the information. Bumblin bear grease is sold by October Country and it's a mixture of bear oil and beeswax, with a few other items mixed in. Someone in another thread, or maybe earlier in this thread, said they contacted October Country and they said it was about 10-15% beeswax.

Check with these fine folk for Pure Bear Oil.
It sells out fast, best to contact before ordering, but I think bear season has just begun (by spring it will be gone!):

https://bvcolonialcrafts.com/category/3-leather-dressing/bear-oil-3-leather-dressing/

 

[rp77469]

As I understand it (could be wrong) the 'Oil' is rendered down and filtered clear where the 'Grease' is less rendered, more like lard or something in between.
Natives used Bear Grease a lot for water proofing buckskin, I have heard it also makes it stronger.
I have some "bear grease" for drum skins but it is very watery but it's also not clear, been meaning to try it on some rawhide.
A video I wonce saw of an Indian treating his buckskin it looked more like lard (but was described as "bear grease").

I have rendered two bears taken from the same mountain behind my cabin in the Smokies two years apart. Processed both the same way with the same equipment. The first made lovely, bright white grease at room temperature and canned well in mason jars. The second made a yellow tinged oil which turned white when refrigerated, but hard to get a canning seal. Talked to my old time neighbors about the difference and they told me it depended on what the bears were eating.

You know know as much as I do about it. Both forms shoot just fine and make the lightest biscuits you ever had.

 

[Mad L]

I have rendered two bears taken from the same mountain behind my cabin in the Smokies two years apart. Processed both the same way with the same equipment. The first made lovely, bright white grease at room temperature and canned well in mason jars. The second made a yellow tinged oil which turned white when refrigerated, but hard to get a canning seal. Talked to my old time neighbors about the difference and they told me it depended on what the bears were eating.

You know know as much as I do about it. Both forms shoot just fine and make the lightest biscuits you ever had.

Never had a chance to try bear biscuits, not allowed to shoot bear here and the oil I ger is "not fir consumption": but what I have is like your second description, still have about 8 ounces in the freezer and half an ounce on the shelf. GREAT Stuff!