Change in color / odor in lube for Oxyoke & TC patches

[roundball]

There's something different about the lube being used in patches under the Oxyoke and TC label during the past year”¦it may be since being bought out by that other ML company, they’ve made the change, and I assume they also continue to make patches for TC’s label.

I bought a couple bags of Oxyoke precut/prelubed pillow ticking patches for my .62cal, and half dozen bags of TC’s .54cal.
They are identical to previous patches in every respect except that they don’t have the orange NL1000 color and they don’t have the wintergreen smell”¦it’s not an unpleasant smell and the odor that comes to mind is the same as I recall a can of boot dressing smelled that was called SnoSeal I think...a soft white paste.

The .62cal bags are labeled "Oxoke Originals, Wonder Ticking 1000 Plus", just like their previous bags”¦ and there’s no difference between TC’s labels either”¦just the color and smell...and they all "feel" and shoot exactly the same way.

(Note: in the photo to show the original NL1000 color of .62cal Oxyoke patches I actually displayed a bag sold under the name "Muzzleloader Originals, same thing)

 

[wtilenw]

I think Sno Seal has beeswax in it. Could that be the smell?
Idaho PRB

 

[Bob J]

I'm glad to hear that the newer, non-scented "whiter" version shoot the same. FWIW, Eastern Maine Shooting Supply's pre-lubed patches look and shoot exactly like the original Ox-Yoke's (dark yellow). Could be because the company is owned and operated by the original Ox-Yoke's employees :winking: They have a website.

 

[Landngroove]

About a year and a half ago I ordered some T/C .50, and .54 prelubed patches from Fox Ridge Outfitters. They are the lighter color lube (off white) without the Bore Butter smell. I never gave it a thought till I read your post. I still have some left, and I checked them to see if they were the same as yours.

 

[wtilenw]

I'm glad to hear that the newer, non-scented "whiter" version shoot the same. FWIW, Eastern Maine Shooting Supply's pre-lubed patches look and shoot exactly like the original Ox-Yoke's (dark yellow). Could be because the company is owned and operated by the original Ox-Yoke's employees :winking: They have a website.

Here's their website[url] http://emshootingsupplies.com/contactemss.html[/url]
Idaho PRB

 

[roundball]

I think Sno Seal has beeswax in it. Could that be the smell?
Idaho PRB

I just rummaged around in the garage and found what I was remembering...it was a tub of "Mink Oil"...(not SnoSeal)...and it is precisely the same smell, soft white paste...the lube in the white colored patches appears to be Mink Oil !!

 

[omgb]

Wouldn't surprise me a bit if it were. Lots of guys spend lots of bucks on "Wonder Lube" for MLs and are perfectly happy. I on the other hand, hate to pay for something I can do myself. I mix 50% Bee's Wax, 20% melted anhydrous lanolin and 30% lard to make my own lube. For winter, I back of the lard a tad and add some Olive oil. This stuff shoots great, really keeps fouling soft and a one gallon paint can of it runs less than $30.00. Do you have any idea how many patches you can lube with a gallon of BP lube? Let me tel you, I keep a cup (8oz. of it) for me and give the rest to my friends. That 8 oz. keeps me shooting for maybe 2,000 shots.

 

[Sharp Shooter]

Before they were not mink oil because they would freeze. Put one of these new patches in the freezer and see if it gets stiff. It it doese not freeze it could very possibly be mink oil. If it freezes it is something else.

 

[Mad Professor]

Roundball,

If you remember a few months ago I was going to run an analysis of wonderlube using a GC/MS. The GC/MS confirmed that the smell is due to oil of wintergreen (methyl salicylate, molecular ion 152 amu) but I did not get any other information of value. The reason being the majority of the lube was not volitile enough to make it through the spectrometer.

Maybe over the summer when In have some free time I'll try again using HPLC/MS (e.g.high performance liquid chromotography/mass spectrometry) and get some info on what kind of fatty mixture they are using for the bulk of the lube.

Anyway at least you know what the smell is. :grin:

MP

 

This is another reason I use Crisco. It always smells like whatever was fried in it: chicken, catfish, hush-puppies - whatever.