Bear Grease..............

[Mad L]

A chunk of bear grease........as in a frozen chunk of bear grease. Neighbor brought it over in a large zip lock freezer bag. I put it in the freezer and a few days later when I got it out of the freezer, I cut a smaller chunk off and put the rest back in the freezer. I was surprised to see after the chunk I cut off sat out for a while, it melted into a thick oil as is.

Neighbor said a buddy killed a bear and gave that chunk to him. That's all I know about that frozen chunk of bear grease, other than its slicker than slick. I know not if it has been rendered or not. I used it straight, as is, for a patch lube and the only parts of the .015" patch I found was blown all to pieces. I am, however, in the process of mixing it with different mixtures of beeswax and have actually done so but haven't tested it yet.

I also know its great to apply to the outside of a barrel as well as the stock. But I will most likely not be using it for that, it was just a test. I want to hang onto what little bit of bear grease I have for patch lube recipes.

Are you soaking the patch?
I never had patches blown out but I only dab one side (patch to barrel side) rub a bit with finger and down the barrel it goes.
Also you mentioned 'cotton' patch...perhaps it is not a good tight weave? I have never used cotton for patches, generally linen or ticking

 

[Relic shooter]

Does it get rancid?

Dale I recently came across a couple jars of bear grease that was given to me about 50 years ago by an old ML friend Howard Dutton, now deceased.
During the early frontier period it served as an excellent skin lotion, gun & patch lube & as fellow members state is also unbeatable for making fantastic pie crusts & cookies ?
Mine has never been refrigerated & has been stored in both extreme heat & cold yet still has a snow-white color & has zero odor when opened. Good stuff.
Relic shooter
Idaho

 

[Pierre009]

I use Foggy Mountain's Bearguard leather dressing. All natural, made from bear fat and beeswax, no other ingredients, but I don't know what the mix ratio is between beeswax and bear fat. You can use it for a bullet lube, as well as patches, just pass the patch across the dressing or drag your patching strip across the surface. I coat the barrel channel and also rub down the barrel with it. If you decide to try it, just make sure you buy the "Original" with no pigment as they do make it in brown and black. We began using it in our shop as a leather dressing back about 1991, then the original manufacturer stopped making it. It has been back in production for a number of years, 15 years or so, under new ownership. Back in the early days, we even sold a few cases to the USMC for use as it was originally designed, as a boot dressing during cold weather training and it was also tested and evaluated by troops at NATEC. Thought I would try it after I kept seeing all these comments about using beeswax and other vegetable oils or fat, including bear oil. I even rub the edges of leather wads across the wax for use in smoothbores. I had a few cans left from when I sold it years ago and had forgot about. Some of these cans of Bearguard have to be at least 15 to 20 years old. No signs of spoilage or going rancid, looks like it was just packaged yesterday, and still has that that honey/beeswax smell.

Knowing Marines wonder how many tried it with C-Rats???

 

[user 48702]

Knowing Marines wonder how many tried it with C-Rats???

It would probably tear your bowels up.

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

Are you soaking the patch?
I never had patches blown out but I only dab one side (patch to barrel side) rub a bit with finger and down the barrel it goes.
Also you mentioned 'cotton' patch...perhaps it is not a good tight weave? I have never used cotton for patches, generally linen or ticking

Well, maybe if/when I get that Pedersoli Kodiak .54/.54 double rifle, I'll investigate bear hunting. I've never done that. Should have plenty of fat to render down... if I am successful.

 

[Bunk]

Used to fix a squeaky bear's joints?
Mobil1would work just as good and is easier to find.
I am lost here but i am just a hand gun guy.
Bunk

 

[Mad L]

Well, maybe if/when I get that Pedersoli Kodiak .54/.54 double rifle, I'll investigate bear hunting. I've never done that. Should have plenty of fat to render down... if I am successful.

Check out the photos at Tribal Spirit as the bottle up Bear Oil
(Unfortunately they can not ship across the border)

https://tribalspiritmusic.com/artists/bear-grease

 

[Bunk]

Well, maybe if/when I get that Pedersoli Kodiak .54/.54 double rifle, I'll investigate bear hunting. I've never done that. Should have plenty of fat to render down... if I am successful.

Never forget this a bear is not a fuzzy, cuddly, adorable animal.
It is an apex predator and consider humans as just a crunchy snack.
The four Cooper Gunsight rules for bear counrtry
1. Be alert
2. carry and be proficient with a large caliber firearm
3 do not camp on bear trails
4 BE ALERT
Bear hunting with a single shot muzzle loading rifle is an idea that ranks right up there with bungee jumping and alligator wrestling.
At least there the casket can be open.
Check with Mountain Man Hugh Glass. about bear and a single shot rifle.
respectfully submitted
Bunk

 

[DCAN]

The quality of the bear grease will depend largely on what BoBo was eating prior to getting killed. Garbage can bear? It will taste and smell just like the inside of a dumpster in July. Apple orchard bear? Heaven on earth. I have one jar that is 47 years old and still great. It spent most of it's life in a barn's uncontrolled conditions.
The cooking grease gets treated much nicer and has been rendered twice, filtering both times. At cold refrigerator temperatures it is still an almost clear oil. Good stuff!

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

Never forget this a bear is not a fuzzy, cuddly, adorable animal.
It is an apex predator and consider humans as just a crunchy snack.
The four Cooper Gunsight rules for bear counrtry
1. Be alert
2. carry and be proficient with a large caliber firearm
3 do not camp on bear trails
4 BE ALERT
Bear hunting with a single shot muzzle loading rifle is an idea that ranks right up there with bungee jumping and alligator wrestling.
At least there the casket can be open.
Check with Mountain Man Hugh Glass. about bear and a single shot rifle.
respectfully submitted
Bunk

Pedersoli Kodiak is a double rifle. Most people who hunt black bear in Wisconsin either do it from a tree stand over a bait pile or they hunt with a pack of dogs. Also a man with stage four cancer isn't really worried all that much about lions and tigers and bears (oh my!).

All in all, though, good advice.

 

[DCAN]

Never forget this a bear is not a fuzzy, cuddly, adorable animal.
It is an apex predator and consider humans as just a crunchy snack.
The four Cooper Gunsight rules for bear counrtry
1. Be alert
2. carry and be proficient with a large caliber firearm
3 do not camp on bear trails
4 BE ALERT
Bear hunting with a single shot muzzle loading rifle is an idea that ranks right up there with bungee jumping and alligator wrestling.
At least there the casket can be open.
Check with Mountain Man Hugh Glass. about bear and a single shot rifle.
respectfully submitted
Bunk

First bear killed with a ML was when I was 16. That's the pic in my profile. Counting work and personal hunting kills, I've lost track of the number. Only had things get "western" a couple times. The rules make good sense. The one I might add is: Never, ever, ever, assume anything, about a bears behavior.

 

[Mad L]

Never forget this a bear is not a fuzzy, cuddly, adorable animal.
It is an apex predator and consider humans as just a crunchy snack.
The four Cooper Gunsight rules for bear counrtry
1. Be alert
2. carry and be proficient with a large caliber firearm
3 do not camp on bear trails
4 BE ALERT
Bear hunting with a single shot muzzle loading rifle is an idea that ranks right up there with bungee jumping and alligator wrestling.
At least there the casket can be open.
Check with Mountain Man Hugh Glass. about bear and a single shot rifle.
respectfully submitted
Bunk

With Spring soon upon us, the bear will be coming out, tired, grumpy, and Starving.

Department of Fish & Game are posting the warnings;

~WARNING, INCREASE BEAR ACTIVITY~
Campers, hikers, hunters, and fishermen are advised to take extra precautions and keep alert for Bears in the field.

They advise outdoorsmen wear noisy bells on their clothing so as to not startle the bears while on the trails. Also advised is to carry Pepper Spray with them in case of a Bear encounter.
It is also a good idea to out for fresh signs of Bear activity. Outdoorsmen should recognize the difference between Black Bear and Grizzly Bear droppings:
Black Bear poop is smaller and contains a lot of berry seed and squirrel fur.
Grizzly Bear poop has little bells in it and smells like pepper.

 

[Pierre009]

It would probably tear your bowels up.

Never when to the field without Tabasco Sauce & garlic...

 

[Rawhide67]

Use bear grease to make a good pie crust

If it tastes like it smells, no thanks.

 

[beardedhorse]

Mad L, A chunk is larger than a smidgen which is more than a dab but less than a mess of which is more than a doodle but smaller than a handful, etc. Look up the dialog of Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies for her kitchen measurements and recipes.
I think you will find that the 1:1 ratio of beeswax to bear grease is too stiff and uses up a lot of beeswax. Depending on where you live, beeswax may be more expensive but easier to get than bear grease. Bumblin' Bear patch lube from October Country advertises their lube as bear grease and beeswax and something else natural. I prefer just the two main ingredients and not a mystery additive. They should say what the extra natural stuff is.
Gunny, appreciate the tip on Foggy Mountain Bearguard leather dressing. Curious what it cost in whatever year you sold them in.

 

[Mad L]

Mad L, A chunk is larger than a smidgen which is more than a dab but less than a mess of which is more than a doodle but smaller than a handful, etc. Look up the dialog of Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies for her kitchen measurements and recipes.
I think you will find that the 1:1 ratio of beeswax to bear grease is too stiff and uses up a lot of beeswax. Depending on where you live, beeswax may be more expensive but easier to get than bear grease. Bumblin' Bear patch lube from October Country advertises their lube as bear grease and beeswax and something else natural. I prefer just the two main ingredients and not a mystery additive. They should say what the extra natural stuff is.
Gunny, appreciate the tip on Foggy Mountain Bearguard leather dressing. Curious what it cost in whatever year you sold them in.

Aye! I was just wondering if perhaps the OP had a 'chunk' of bear Fat as opposed to grease or oil.
I live Jed's description of Mountain Measurements, I have a copy of that skit on my hard drive.

And yes, I hate those 'mystery' additives and why I generally steer around them...except for TOW's mink oil.
But for me, straight bear oil works just fine - a dab on one side, a smear with the finger, and down the barrel.

 

[Pierre009]

Mad L, A chunk is larger than a smidgen which is more than a dab but less than a mess of which is more than a doodle but smaller than a handful, etc. Look up the dialog of Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies for her kitchen measurements and recipes.
I think you will find that the 1:1 ratio of beeswax to bear grease is too stiff and uses up a lot of beeswax. Depending on where you live, beeswax may be more expensive but easier to get than bear grease. Bumblin' Bear patch lube from October Country advertises their lube as bear grease and beeswax and something else natural. I prefer just the two main ingredients and not a mystery additive. They should say what the extra natural stuff is.
Gunny, appreciate the tip on Foggy Mountain Bearguard leather dressing. Curious what it cost in whatever year you sold them in.

Thanks for the update...I made it years ago and probably doctored it up as needed. I know I started with a so called even measure.

 

[user 48702]

Mad L, A chunk is larger than a smidgen which is more than a dab but less than a mess of which is more than a doodle but smaller than a handful, etc. Look up the dialog of Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies for her kitchen measurements and recipes.
I think you will find that the 1:1 ratio of beeswax to bear grease is too stiff and uses up a lot of beeswax. Depending on where you live, beeswax may be more expensive but easier to get than bear grease. Bumblin' Bear patch lube from October Country advertises their lube as bear grease and beeswax and something else natural. I prefer just the two main ingredients and not a mystery additive. They should say what the extra natural stuff is.
Gunny, appreciate the tip on Foggy Mountain Bearguard leather dressing. Curious what it cost in whatever year you sold them in.

Back when we sold Bearguard in the 1990s, best I can remember sales price was $5.95 for a 5 oz tin. Our cost wholesale was about 3 bucks per unit when ordering a case of 48. I see now that it is currently selling for about 16.95 for a 6 oz tub. I still have a couple tins left that I found the other day. When I opened this one, it still smells the same and has the same consistency. It's really great stuff, I've used it on everything from saddles and bags, tack, holsters, and even some of my exotic western boots. I use to deal a lot with the founder, Wayne Bosowicz, master hunting guide and founder of Foggy Mtn Guide Service, sadly he left for the great hunting grounds in the sky in 2017. Great guy, he was set up at just about every SHOT Show that I attended. I will always regret not going on one of his guided bear hunts up in Maine, but I always seemed to be too busy. Just wanted to give Wayne honorable mentions, as he was the one who revived and first to package the old recipe for resale. Here's one of the original cans and how it was packaged.