Mucus (a.k.a. spit) is more of a marital aid than a standardized precision shooting component…with the windshield fluid, does one spray the cotton mouth or the patches?
Maybe I'll try putting some in a blend jet and see what happens.
I hope it works!
Am using Swiss 3fg.
I just use Dawn soap and water mixed 50/50 on my patch. Shoots all day without a cleaning.
A lot to unpack here from a chemical point of view. Viscosity doesn't correlate with lube effectiveness: think of the 0W20 (low viscosity) oil we now typically use in our engines instead of 10W40 (higher viscosity). Spit is fairly low viscosity yet it seals a patch well and lubes it adequately. If your moose milk recipe is not adequately sealing your patches, that could be a patch thickness problem. I think spit or emulsions (such as moose milk) work well for patches because they also help dissolve/loosen black powder residue. I wouldn't use spit or emulsion lubed patches for hunting, though: spit dries out and can cause a ring of rust and I worry (probably needlessly) the same about moose milk. So for hunting all day or multiple days I go with tallow and if necessary (for a second or third shot) spit-then-dry swab between shots.
Yes: keeps it simple..Or just go back to what our ancestors would have done. Animal fat of what ever variety is on hand. Warmed to liquid, patch material soaked in it, then allowed to solidify. Goes rancid quickly, the firearm doesn't know the difference.
Or perhaps the hunter on the frontier kept his mouth full of precut patches, most likely thin leather.
I’ve never heard of “ sealing the patches” is that literal statement as in making the fibers swell. ?
Ok, put 8oz by volume in the blend jet, got about 64oz by volume, somewhere between the consistency of egg custard and Cool-whip topping. Going to leave it overnight and see if it goes down, just have to make sure my wife doesn't come by and put a dollop of it on a warm slice of pie.
When gunpowder burns, it produces large volumes of hot gasses, increasing pressures in a confined space, this is what propelles the projectile down the barrel, if there isn't a good "seal" between the projectile and the barrel, gasses flow past the projectile resulting in decreased power and inconsistent velocity.
How do you apply it? Do you sqweeze it directly on the patch from a flip up spout, or use a spray bottle, or put pre-cut patches in a ziplock and squeeze in some lube?
Yes, I have a couple of squeezed bottles, put a little on the dry patch smear it with my thumb. I don’t do prelude strips or patches. I don’t think it would work if it dried out. Though I haven’t tried it that way either….
Plenty of ways to increase viscosity, but why? Experts have or will weigh in the how to, but how will a patch lube with more viscosity make it a more effective patch lube? What does your data on viscosity show? How are you measuring viscosity and what units are you using?
Honestly, I don't have a baseline for comparison yet. So far, I have put a total of about 400 rounds through the rifle, most of it just trying to test out various ball sizes, patch materials, lubes and cleaners, so don't have a huge experience base, and haven't decided what I will ultimately use yet.
