Can I use grease from cooking as patch lube?

[pmccoywss]

hat’s why I wondered about people using bear fat, since it seems like bear fat particularly goes rancid fast. But that’s just what I heard, I’ve never killed a bear.

Fat maybe, oil no. I got a quart of rendered bear oil in about 1975, and still have about an inch of it left. Still good for patches, and can even be used for popping corn. I only use it for hunting, thus the long life of a quart. Spit patch works fine for range shooting.

 

[TFoley]

What’s a C? Just kidding, we are heading into the summer months right now in AZ. The average high is 35C. That’s about what it is today. In the hot part of the summer it will be regularly 40-45 and I have been in as high as 50.

Being a former redhead, added to a resultant strong aversion to direct sunlight, the very thought of temperatures like that on a daily basis is enough to make me curl up and die. A dear friend of mine, who oftbetimes posts here, recently moved back to his ancestral home of New Mexico, another state where temperatures can be fatal for me. I'm happiest at around -15C to +20C - and not ashamed to admit it.

I would be as happy as a clam to have been either a Sherpa or an Andean hill-farmer.

 

[user 34300]

Another patch lube thread. Yay!

Grease cookies? I have, sort of. A marble sized dollop of waterless hand cleaner under a 12 Gauge fiber wad, on top of the powder, will keep you shooting indefinitely without cleaning.

Greasy stuff all works about the same. I have used beef fat that I rendered from butcher shop trimmings. The ball when down, the ball shot out. It works of course. It worked the same and all other greases and oils. I have tried many, including the mystical bear oil. Also veg oils, Vaseline, Crisco etc, etc,

The only critical thing about patch lube is you need to use something. For range use, I use water based stuff.

Mutton tallow?
https://grasslandbeef.com/lamb-tallowhttps://fannieandflo.net/products/one-pound-lamb-tallowhttps://www.walmart.com/ip/Germa-Mu...00008860&wl14=mutton tallow&veh=sem&gclsrc=ds

 

[Alexander Efremenko]

My favorite lube consists of rendered beef fat, mixed 50/50 with olive oil. Kept in a small can of ing jar. I've been using it for years. Tolerable odor
I've done the same with venison fat. It works,buti f don't favor it as much

 

[Notchy Bob]

Another patch lube thread. Yay!

Grease cookies? I have, sort of. A marble sized dollop of waterless hand cleaner under a 12 Gauge fiber wad, on top of the powder, will keep you shooting indefinitely without cleaning.

Greasy stuff all works about the same. I have used beef fat that I rendered from butcher shop trimmings. The ball when down, the ball shot out. It works of course. It worked the same and all other greases and oils. I have tried many, including the mystical bear oil. Also veg oils, Vaseline, Crisco etc, etc,

The only critical thing about patch lube is you need to use something. For range use, I use water based stuff.

Mutton tallow?
https://grasslandbeef.com/lamb-tallowhttps://fannieandflo.net/products/one-pound-lamb-tallowhttps://www.walmart.com/ip/Germa-Mu...00008860&wl14=mutton tallow&veh=sem&gclsrc=ds

I like that enthusiasm!

Thanks for all the sources for mutton tallow, too! Experts agree tallow from sheep is the slickest. It's all just grease to me, though.

Anyway, for those collecting contact information for suppliers of mutton tallow, Duro-Felt Products sometimes has it, although they unfortunately appear to be out of stock right now: Duro-Felt Tallow

They also have pure lanolin, which is in stock: Duro-Felt Lanolin

They say in the product description that their lanolin is "used with felt wads for shooting." I haven't tried it, but it sounds like a good idea.

Notchy Bob

 

[Whitworth]

I needed a lie down the other summer when it hit 36c at work!

Watched "Time Team" when they came to the USA to my state, Maryland. The heat and humidity about killed them and it wasn't all that hot by our standards. Funny place, I've seen roughly -30 to 42 C by my guess, (-21 to 105 F here in USA)with humidity in the 90s. That heat and humidity is why things move a little slower below the Mason-Dixon Line.

 

[Whitworth]

The Sepoy Rebellion proved you can't make everybody. Wonder if anybody told them their SMLEs had a leather washer under the buttstock bolt

 

[Ian Straus]

Back in the beginning , 1970 , Dixie gun works Old Zip patch grease, rendered mutton fat , was good for me. Don't think Dixie sells it anymore. Any grease should be used frugally , and be viscose and not hard.

Yes, Dixie Gun works still sells mutton tallow.

LA1500 LAMB TALLOW

That's what i use to lube my Minies (with beeswax added), because it is the original lube.

 

[flntlokr]

I've been cooking a lot of ground beef lately. I usually pour it into a jar to keep it from going down the drain, and so I've been straining it through a coffee filter first thinking maybe it could be used as patch lube? I did some Googling and saw people talking about 'clarifying' it by boiling it in water, and letting it cool and skimming the grease off the top, but also saw some people saying that they wouldn't use it because of the salts from seasoning.

you can, but why would you ? Besides the possibility of it going bad on you, it will gum up your barrel with fouling pretty quickly (as does any oily/greasy lube). If you get it on your hands, it will get on the out side of your gun, and all over your clothes eventually. Then your dog or rats will eat your stuff. If you want cheap, go with spit. Or just detergent/water. Stay away from the greasy lubes unless you have to have your gun loaded for long periods (hunting?)

 

[user 36911]

If bear grease goes rancid on you. You're not shooting enough.

 

[Cattywompuss]

Good source of bear oil out of PA. I can't remember their names but they may be sponsors here. Something something Old Store? One pint will give you hundreds or more lubed patches. And you can use it on the rest of the gun if you want that "Extra Yogi, hold the ****oo" scent.

 

[Cattywompuss]

And bears aren't legal to hunt in Bama at all, so this old son will have to keep mail ordering. Out of state tags for travel hunting are a suckers game.

 

[user 34300]

I have tried anhydrous lanolin as a patch lube. I may have used to much. It loads very easy. It did not shoot as accurately as others things. I suspect it is to slick. A little resistance may help the powder to burn more consistently. Thus, giving more consistent velocity.

On my list is to try greasy-oily stuff but use less. By use less I mean diluting the grease with a solvent. Say a 4:1 mix of greasy stuff and mineral spirits. Soak the patches, then wring them out. Let them dry. This suggested for ballistol and water in varying ratios. Balistol is mostly mineral oil. The solvent evaporates. So why should it matter if the solvent is water or something else?

I expect to swab between shot with any grease or oil.

 

[Notchy Bob]

And bears aren't legal to hunt in Bama at all, so this old son will have to keep mail ordering. Out of state tags for travel hunting are a suckers game.

Bear hunting in Florida was banned for around twenty years, starting some time in the nineties. With relief from hunting pressure, the bears relaxed and did what bears like to do, which is to make baby bears. The total bear population here is not that great, but the bears that are here have exceeded the carrying capacities of their habitats. This is the formula for unpleasant human/bear encounters. The state sponsored a hunt just a few years ago, amidst howls of protest. The "bear problem" still exists, but as far as I know, hunting is still banned.

In addition, it is illegal in Florida to buy or sell bear products of any kind, even from a vendor selling legally in his own state. It would be illegal for me to order a pint of bear oil, or a set of claws, a skin, or whatever.

Notchy Bob

 

[Cattywompuss]

Bear hunting in Florida was banned for around twenty years, starting some time in the nineties. With relief from hunting pressure, the bears relaxed and did what bears like to do, which is to make baby bears. The total bear population here is not that great, but the bears that are here have exceeded the carrying capacities of their habitats. This is the formula for unpleasant human/bear encounters. The state sponsored a hunt just a few years ago, amidst howls of protest. The "bear problem" still exists, but as far as I know, hunting is still banned.

In addition, it is illegal in Florida to buy or sell bear products of any kind, even from a vendor selling legally in his own state. It would be illegal for me to order a pint of bear oil, or a set of claws, a skin, or whatever.

Notchy Bob

Well that sucks.

 

[user 36911]

The DOW can't get hunters to kill enough bears in Colorado. It's the easiest tag to get. Instead of the 5-9 days to hunt for deer and elk. The bear tag is 30 days. Even so, we still have too many bears. Caused by the tree huggers voting out our spring bear hunt and making hounds and baiting illegal. I don't care about the hounds and baiting but i'd sure like the spring bear hunt again.

 

[beardedhorse]

I've had good luck with carefully rendered bear grease and beeswax. When rendered fats slowly on low heat I don't have rancidity problems. Probably why I wouldn't use fried hamburger grease. I can make good soap with bacon grease but it gets carefully filtered and mixed with lye for hard soap and potassium hydroxide for soft soap. I like to use food grade bear grease for pie crust. Craft grade bear grease or oil can be used as a leather dressing. Some of the older Native American women value bear oil highly. If you rub it in your hair it supposedly keeps black hair from turning gray or if some is already gray, not increase. I wondered if Dixie added something to the mutton tallow as it can get pretty hard in cold weather as pure tallow.

 

[Flinty Scot]

I found an outrageously expensive tub of bison tallow in an upscale grocery, but I was flush and curious so I got one. It works well for me as patch lube & was tasty for cooking (small experiment - too expensive for serious use, imho). Both mutton tallow and bear oil have worked well too. I kinda like the aroma of bear oil. Maybe that, & that I like BP's aroma, helps explain why I'm thought odd by some.

By the way, I've read that the best (pork) "leaf" lard comes from around the organs - as opposed to lard that's rendered from the rest of the fat. If true, does the same apply to lard from other animals?

 

[TFoley]

Meanwhile, here in UK, those pesky Romans killed the last bear, and bisons of all kinds disappeared when the British Isles appeared put of the greater European landmass after a combination of the end of the Ice Age and the Storegga Landslip event, both around 8500 years ago, had raised the sea levels.

 

[user 36911]

I've had good luck with carefully rendered bear grease and beeswax. When rendered fats slowly on low heat I don't have rancidity problems. Probably why I wouldn't use fried hamburger grease. I can make good soap with bacon grease but it gets carefully filtered and mixed with lye for hard soap and potassium hydroxide for soft soap. I like to use food grade bear grease for pie crust. Craft grade bear grease or oil can be used as a leather dressing. Some of the older Native American women value bear oil highly. If you rub it in your hair it supposedly keeps black hair from turning gray or if some is already gray, not increase. I wondered if Dixie added something to the mutton tallow as it can get pretty hard in cold weather as pure tallow.

That's so true. My best friend is a Lakota Indian and he's always hitting me up for bear fat. He renders it and uses it on his hair and skin.