Bore butter

[ernbar]

I make my own from a small brick of beeswax and coconut oil sold at Hobby Lobby. I added some candle wax shavings to stiffen it a bit more to my liking. I melt it and use it to dip conical or round ball paper cartridges or to put on top of loaded cylinder chambers, work great and won’t get runny on hot days like bore butter. Also works as a wad lubricant by dipping my homemade wads and set on wax paper to cool.

 

[ETipp]

Bore butter works as good as anything else. Now granted, if you want to keep it in a tin and swipe your patch over it it’s going to be crappy in summer. But if you melt some down and soak your patches in it you’re ok. Cleans up with hot water so no harder than anything else to clean. I checked Midsouth Shooters Supply and it’s a back order item. As mentioned above, if you can’t find it wonderlube is basically the same stuff I reckon.

I used Bore Butter for many years. Killed a lot of critters while using it as well. None of them complained that it wasn't good enough.

With that said, after trying some other bullet/patch lubes, I have found that Bore Butter did have a tendency to foul the bore a bit faster. Also, the last time I used it for conical lube was out of an old plastic container/jar that was very thick and firm. I'm sure that lube is every bit of 20 years old. It worked just fine. Not like the very loose, messy and runny Bore Butter in the tubes. I actually like the mint-like aroma the old Bore Butter has. Brings back lots of good memories of good hunts. To the best of my memory I have never been busted or lost a critter due to that aroma.

I have since moved on to TOTW Mink Oil for patch lube. Haven't tried it yet on conical type projectiles.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I make my own. EZ PZ on the stovetop. I've tried a half dozen mixes using various ingredients. The mix that worked best for me is 1/3 beeswax, 1/3 Crisco and 1/3 olive oil. The exact ratio isn't critical. More beeswax makes it "stiffer" and more olive oil makes it softer. Get the pelletized beeswax. It melts into the hot oil much easier.

I load the liquid into glue syringes while it's cooling just before it starts solidifying. The tip needs to be cut and opened. Easier to use that way and you don't get your hands messy. But I also have some in little condiment cups.

View attachment 238650

IF the shooter simply must have the wintergreen odor, one may add food grade wintergreen oil, and end up with a product difficult to tell from the factory item..., except for the lower cost.

LD

 

[Daveboone]

Nothing wrong with Bore Butter as a lube. forget all the hype about "conditioning a bore, etc" though. I recently picked up two tins of Tracks Mink Oil, and like it alot, but it makes for very stiff patches, but I do think it keeps the bore cleaner.

 

[wiscoaster]

Good to know, bore butter is also soft and quite a runny mess when warm

Not my formula.

 

[Rebel bull]

I have been using bore butter ,1000 plus, wonder lube, since the day they hit the market in a rifle that has a documented 20,000 rounds through the barrel and it still is able to clover leaf at 100 yards .....just not with me shooting it ! now its relegated to the display cabinet. last fall i pulled it out after not shooting it , or cleaning it or even wiping it down. it was like the day I had set it aside approx 9 years ago ran a fresh wonder lubed patch down the barrel to clean out any critters out it came out clean. took it to our monthly shoot and did as good as I'am capable of shooting now 35 years after building this much maligned kit gun (CVA Kentucky) from the 80's. I buy my wonder in 1 gallon pails from the manufacture (like all of my other supply's I buy in bulk and never worry about running out ! when I buy patch material is the whole bolt. I bought a small fondue pot and bulk lube my patches

 

[Ohio Rusty]

I did a google search for T/C Bore Butter and there were lots of places that have it in the tubes. There is no shortage of bore butter. Although I stopped using as patch lube, it is a great lube for sizing bullet casings and sizing unmentionable smokeless lead bullets.
Ohio Rusty ><>

 

[Brokennock]

What's with all the bore-butter posts lately.
There are better things to use. There are products one already has in the home that have been used for hundreds of years with great success. Stop falling for marketing and salesmen.

 

[Mike in FL]

Although I make my patch lube from olive oil and bees wax, Wonder Lube works fine for me because I can make it thinner or thicker. But II still have and often use Wonder Lube. Not a game changer either way.

 

[Tweeter and the MonkeyMan]

I use 2 parts lamb tallow , 1 part beeswax melted in the microwave, soak 1/8 inch thick pure wool felt sheets in it then punch out wads with a .38 cal hollow punch I got from TOTW. The lube doesn't run or drip out of the wads in the heat, I tried setting it on fire the wool just chars and turns black. The lube works really well, I've fired 8 full cylinders in a row and didn't run into fouling problems till cylinder 7 and that was the caps not seating on the nipples properly because of residue build up, cleaned nipples wit a toothbrush and problem solved, fouling in the bore and cylinder was minimal when I got home and took it apart to clean it.

 

[Mike in FL]

Good to know, bore butter is also soft and quite a runny mess when warm

 

[longcruise]

My first lube was crisco. I shot that for about ten years and never thought there was anything better. I killed deer and elk and did well, sometimes best, in matches. I just didn't know any better! Shoots dirty and might be the root of my wipe between shots regimen.

When I came across TC 1000+ it was recommended by the shop owner. I found it shot just like crisco but the water in the cleaning bucket was way cleaner. So, I shot TC 1000+ for quite a few years. When the price became ridiculous I stopped using it!

Since then I've tried and experimented with many many lube ideas and formulas and they all worked. I could go back to crisco and get as good of results as any of them.

So, in the end I settled on vegetable oil in alcohol just because it's so easy to apply consistently.

Back to Wonder Lube/TC 1000+, the e extravagant claims of seasoning the bore and protecting against corrosion were clearly BS from the get go. I certainly never fell for it and most others didn't either. The few who did learned hard lessons and thence came the undeserved bad reputation which is invariably repeated over and over.

So, flame away, I'm old school, made of asbestos!

 

[bronko220002]

The wintergreen is in case you have morning breath. You just pop a ptach between cheek and gum and presto - sweet breath!

 

[Mike in FL]

I have started to believe our choice of lube is not critical. Not at all. Just ask yourself what you want the lube to do. Maybe some are better at softening fowling or cleaning the bore, maybe some are easier to make or carry, but I don't believe shooting results will change from one lube vs another. The older I get the more I lean toward convenience. I am currently buying/using factory pre-lubed patches in a loading block. I cannot tell the difference in accuracy between using a felt cushion wad and no wad, but used patching does show less fraying with pre-lubed wads between powder and ball. That means an extra step if using the block - a step I don't take when hunting. As with all changes when shooting black powder rifles, range time will help us settle on what makes us happy and confident. Sadly, we must go through that experimenting with each gun we use.

 

[azmntman]

Sadly, yes

 

[bronko220002]

I have started to believe our choice of lube is not critical. Not at all. Just ask yourself what you want the lube to do. Maybe some are better at softening fowling or cleaning the bore, maybe some are easier to make or carry, but I don't believe shooting results will change from one lube vs another. The older I get the more I lean toward convenience. I am currently buying/using factory pre-lubed patches in a loading block. I cannot tell the difference in accuracy between using a felt cushion wad and no wad, but used patching does show less fraying with pre-lubed wads between powder and ball. That means an extra step if using the block - a step I don't take when hunting. As with all changes when shooting black powder rifles, range time will help us settle on what makes us happy and confident. Sadly, we must go through that experimenting with each gun we use.

I disagree. All else being equal a change in lube can change your accuracy results. I've seen this too many times with several of my own rifles. Sidelocks, especially flinters shooting PRBs, seem to be more particular about what lube is on the patches. I have two .58s that only shoot good with olive oil lubed patches and a 45 that prefers a lube from Frontier Muzzleloading.
Inlines ain't that picky but I can notice accuracy differences between lubes when shooting conicals

 

[Mike in FL]

I disagree. All else being equal a change in lube can change your accuracy results. I've seen this too many times with several of my own rifles. Sidelocks, especially flinters shooting PRBs, seem to be more particular about what lube is on the patches. I have two .58s that only shoot good with olive oil lubed patches and a 45 that prefers a lube from Frontier Muzzleloading.
Inlines ain't that picky but I can notice accuracy differences between lubes when shooting conicals

I must bow to your experience. Sounds like you have considerably more than I do. I was mainly going by smaller bores I've owned. Never had a 54 or 58. But when I work up loads for my 50s I haven't messed much with trying different lubes unless it was a change due to convenience, like what I had with me at the range. I simply zeroed the guns, got good groups, didn't try to improve by changing lubes, just powder charge and patch thickness. I reckon my current Idaho rite rifle just coincidentally with prep lined patches.

 

[longcruise]

Must say that I m in the lube doesn't matter. Seems to make no difference although it does seem that consistent and sparing application matters.

 

[ROA457]

Have you tried using it with cap 'n ball revolvers? No, not the store-bought variety; I agree that's junk, but the homemade variety. It's pretty amazing how much less black powder fouling there is when you use it. You can coat your wad with it or if you're going wadless you top off the chamber with it. That's where the syringe comes in handy. It lubricates and cleans the bore as you shoot. Really does. Amazing difference.

Yep, all I use in my Old Army. Lots and lots of Peanut oil.

 

[TrapperDude]

I make my own. EZ PZ on the stovetop. I've tried a half dozen mixes using various ingredients. The mix that worked best for me is 1/3 beeswax, 1/3 Crisco and 1/3 olive oil. The exact ratio isn't critical. More beeswax makes it "stiffer" and more olive oil makes it softer. Get the pelletized beeswax. It melts into the hot oil much easier.

I load the liquid into glue syringes while it's cooling just before it starts solidifying. The tip needs to be cut and opened. Easier to use that way and you don't get your hands messy. But I also have some in little condiment cups.

View attachment 238650

That syringe idea is pretty neat. It would be a lot better for putting a ring of lube around the chamber mouth before ramming a ball home than using my fingertips, which is messy and imprecise. Where do you get those syringes, anyway?