-
Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.
We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.
Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103
Bore lube
- Thread starter tg
- Start date
Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:
If I recall, Stumpkiller did a series of test on the effects of different lubes when he was working out the formula for his moose snot and olive oil was one of them he tested.
I will see if I can find the results of that test for you.
I will see if I can find the results of that test for you.
The old timers called it "sweet oil", not so much for the taste of it but from its resistance to turning rancid.
As I recall, olive oil does a fair job of protecting steel and iron parts but it doesn't make a very good lubrication oil.
I'm sure some folks who are very serious about their re-enacting would not agree with me but at the cost of firearms being what it is I wouldn't trust olive oil very far for its rust protection.
I would much rather use a modern substance like Birchwood Caseys Sheath or Barricade on and in my guns.
As I recall, olive oil does a fair job of protecting steel and iron parts but it doesn't make a very good lubrication oil.
I'm sure some folks who are very serious about their re-enacting would not agree with me but at the cost of firearms being what it is I wouldn't trust olive oil very far for its rust protection.
I would much rather use a modern substance like Birchwood Caseys Sheath or Barricade on and in my guns.
I agree with the modern lubes being better but was looking for something to carry for short term protection in the woods,if out for a few days that was used in the past, I don't want to carry a can of Sheath or Outer gun oil in my snapsack.
I use olive oil with no issues. I handle my guns regularly and it only takes a few seconds to run a freshly coated patch down the bore now and then.
Use what you got or want as long as it is not petroleum based in the bore, ok for the ouside or general lubrication though.
Use what you got or want as long as it is not petroleum based in the bore, ok for the ouside or general lubrication though.
tg said:
Olive oil was one of the test materials I used back in 2004 in my "Lube Wars" threads.
Lube War #1
Lube War Phase Two
Lube Wars - the summary
( I just noticed those threads were responsive on my part except the first - a LOT of work for a passive thread!)
On the bare sheet steel the olive oil did better than some samples but I did not pursue it as a stand alone or in any mixtures as the castor oil seemed to be working better, especially on the test metal that had been once flashed with blackpowder.
I'm still sold on B-C Sheath as a bore protector (not a lube) but that's a discontinued product. I've still got about a can and a half and when that runs out I'll try the replacement they offer (can't think of the name offhand).
tg...It's good you wipe the petroluem based oil out before the first shot. Problem is you don't ever want to introduce any ever to the bore. The metal although on a microscopic level is porus and sucks in the oil. The idea is to over a serious of shooting, possibly a 100 shots give or take is to work all the petroleum based oil from the manufator of the steel and the barrel itself out of the bore and keep it out. Goes a long way in improving how the gun loads and easily cleans up.
I've been using petroleum based oils in my bores for storage, and wiping it out before shooting for 25 years. I've not had trouble loading or cleaning or accuracy.
It certainly simplifies the mystic search for the "best" oil's or lube to use :haha:
It certainly simplifies the mystic search for the "best" oil's or lube to use :haha:
MikeC said:
Oiling the bore.
If steel "sucks in" oil and holds to the extent claimed here then bluing, browning or color case hardening would be impossible. In reality a couple of minutes wiping with denatured alcohol or other evaporating solvent will clean a barrel so that it will color evenly. ANY oil present, be it petroleum, vegetable or human will prevent this.
If the barrel on some "factory made" is blued its not oil that causing problems its the layer of bluing (i.e. rust) that the caustic blue method built up in the bore with the barrel was blued.
It often requires a light lapping or a lot of JB Compound and elbow grease to remove it.
Using petroleum for PATCH LUBE is another matter and has caused problems with very hard fouling.
If you are worried about oil in the bore wash it out with denatured then dry it. This is what I do before loading for a hunt or if the gun will be loaded for awhile.
For everything else I wipe it with a dry patch then either load and shoot or shoot a "blank" of 20-30 grains.
Dan
"I've been using petroleum based oils in my bores for storage, and wiping it out before shooting for 25 years. I've not had trouble loading or cleaning or accuracy."
This has been my experience since the late sixties
and I know a lot of folks who use petro bore lubes and have no problems with loading or fouling, the old iron barrels may well be a different story, but I have not seen or heard of any problems with petro oil being used as long as it is cleaned out before shooting, and this is from a lot of shooters who have been shooting longer than I have. I suspect some old guys wife may have had something to do with the no petro product issue, but by all means use what you like if it works for you.
This has been my experience since the late sixties
and I know a lot of folks who use petro bore lubes and have no problems with loading or fouling, the old iron barrels may well be a different story, but I have not seen or heard of any problems with petro oil being used as long as it is cleaned out before shooting, and this is from a lot of shooters who have been shooting longer than I have. I suspect some old guys wife may have had something to do with the no petro product issue, but by all means use what you like if it works for you.
hanshi
Cannon
We have modern protective oils our ancestors would have swooned over. Why not use them if they protect precious and costly guns? I've used petro type oils for decades with nary a problem. I just wipe the bore before shooting and oil back up after cleaning. The only times my barrel has gummed up is when I used highly touted "butter" substances to lube patches with. Frequent wiping helped that.
nchawkeye
58 Cal.
Funny thing is, the first time I recall hearing about all the "problems" with using petroleum lubes was in a TC ad on their new product back in the mid-80s...
Previous to this I had never heard anyone have problems with the tar like buildup they claimed to prevent...
Previous to this I had never heard anyone have problems with the tar like buildup they claimed to prevent...
nchawkeye said:
I think it depends on the formulation.
Use of petroleum oils for shooting patch lube has caused problems and it is apparently "provable" chemically.
But you have to remember that until the advent of the mass marketed MLs most people used tallow, crisco, bear oil, Sperm Whale oil, spit etc. It was when mass marketing got involved that all sorts of hair brained lubes and such came about.
Mostly designed to make money for those selling the stuff.
The ignorance of MLing exhibited by the buyers of these things resulted in all sorts of silliness and myths.
The "seasoning the bore" myth is one of my favorites. Some shooters still have not caught on that a rifle barrel is not a skillet.
Dan
hanshi
Cannon
Dan Phariss said:
Amen! And I don't want my bore to crud up, anyway.
Rat Trapper
62 Cal.
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2006
- Messages
- 2,648
- Reaction score
- 7
I never bought into the seasoning idea either, but have often wondered why TC pushes it?? I clean my barrels and then oil them before I put them away.
tnlonghunter
40 Cal.
What exactly is a "seasoned" bore anyway? Does it somehow make anything I shoot with it taste better?
Rat Trapper
62 Cal.
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2006
- Messages
- 2,648
- Reaction score
- 7
Thompson Center claims that if you used their bore butter and never put any oil in your barrel life will be perfect???? Problem several have posted here that they have had rusting problems using bore butter instead of oil. I've also seen this happen, so I use oil and forget the seasoning idea. However if anyone here has done the TC seasoning thing, please feel free to jump in here.
hanshi
Cannon
Makes it taste like chicken!
