DIY Bore Butter

[Alas85]

My dad used that 60's bore cleaner as a ball lube. I can still smell the burning combination of powder and bore cleaner when his rifle was fired from over 50 years ago.

 

[SPQR70AD]

In the early 1970's , there was a British black powder solvent called Young's . It was mixed with water and turned a whitish brown color , and worked great. It smelled like American WW2 gun cleaner called Cosmoline. Since the two , Young's and Cosmoline smelled and seemed the same , I mixed Cosmoline with water just as the Young's cleaner said to do , and the American version worked just as well. The water is absorbed by cleaning patches , and the oil stays on the steel. Before the local salvage store where I bought the Cosmoline ran out , I stocked up. Last week , I found a last can of it in my shop. I clean my m/l guns w/ hot water and finish with WD40 , I'll just hang on to the old can of Cosmoline , just for fun.

I am sure cosmoline was a grease like preservative not a cleaner. many surplus guns were stored and bought with cosmoline all over the whole gun

 

[RAEDWALD]

It builds up in the bore, resulting in holding fouling when you are cleaning the gun.

The British army changed from tallow/bees wax to just pure bees wax and found it worked fine in all conditions around the world. It leaves a coat that prevents following fouling adhering easily and cleans it out when the next shot is fired.

 

[waksupi]

W

The British army changed from tallow/bees wax to just pure bees wax and found it worked fine in all conditions around the world. It leaves a coat that prevents following fouling adhering easily and cleans it out when the next shot is fired.

We shoot all winter, that mix would put you out of business before you got three rounds down range. Speaking from experience, and witnessing others.

 

[RAEDWALD]

W

We shoot all winter, that mix would put you out of business before you got three rounds down range. Speaking from experience, and witnessing others.

That was for the paper patched Pattern 1853 Rifle Musket onwards. I agree that a patched round ball is another matter and the Board of Ordnance was quite satisfied with a bees wax/tallow mix up until then. Varied in India for local alternatives to tallow such as coconut oil or linseed oil in India.

The cylindrical nature of the rifle musket bullets gave a far greater bearing surface on the bore thus depositing the bees wax smoothly along the barrel interior. This served well in Canadian winters and in the Himalayan mountains as well as hot deserts.

 

[tenngun]

Hi. I’m new here, but a muzzleloader enthusiast for years. I know there’s a lot of options out there, and just as many recipes for bullet and patch lube for muzzleloaders. I am using BP for propellant and have used T/C Bore Butter as a lube for many years. I do like the idea of a non petroleum “natural” lube and with the now scarcity of T/C products, have decided to try to make some of my own lube. A good friend who casts bullets for a living, and also makes his own BP lube, uses Beeswax and olive oil. I was going to do this myself, but then I read somewhere that as far as ph was concerned, that coconut oil was much more neutral. Seems to me that would be a good attribute, and thus a coconut oil/beeswax mixture might be a better alternative. What do you all think?

What I think? It don’t matter.
I buy mink oil from track. Smells good shoots well. But I also use lard. Bees wax and olive oil work. I’m never out in the Ozarks below 0 and I don’t routinely shoot when it’s hot.
Crisco used to be a go to, I could never tell that it didn’t work.
Bore butter gets phoo phooped a lot, but shoots center.
Try bees wax and olive oil, you’ll like it. I don’t think it’s better or the best, because I don’t think there is a better or best, but you’ll have fun playing with it, from the making to the shooting
And that’s what counts

 

[Kicking&Screaming]

What I think? It don’t matter.
I buy mink oil from track. Smells good shoots well. But I also use lard. Bees wax and olive oil work. I’m never out in the Ozarks below 0 and I don’t routinely shoot when it’s hot.
Crisco used to be a go to, I could never tell that it didn’t work.
Bore butter gets phoo phooped a lot, but shoots center.
Try bees wax and olive oil, you’ll like it. I don’t think it’s better or the best, because I don’t think there is a better or best, but you’ll have fun playing with it, from the making to the shooting
And that’s what counts

I totally agree. It’s all interesting and fun to play looking for the magic but the magic I have found never lasted more than a few days before it wandered off right under my nose. If my bore cleans up and my groups stay within three inches at hunting range I’m happy to load up and spend the day traipsing through my favorite “patch” of ground rain or shine.