• 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

Grease hole

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I recall seeing a picture of an original Gillespie (I think) rifle that had a grease hole. It was in the shape of a tear drop with the narrow and shallower end in the direction of the butt. It looked quit attractive and was clearly "spooned" out with a gouge type chisel.

I would do one if I had an SMR. It was done in the day and commonly enough to have been functional.
 
In the Walter Cline book ‘The Muzzle-Loading Rifle Then and Now’ and the Randal Pierce book ‘Kentucky Rifles of the Great Smoky Mountains’ there are several southern guns with grease holes in the stock. It may not be for everyone, but I like them.
 
Last edited:
I recall seeing a picture of an original Gillespie (I think) rifle that had a grease hole. It was in the shape of a tear drop with the narrow and shallower end in the direction of the butt. It looked quit attractive and was clearly "spooned" out with a gouge type chisel.

I would do one if I had an SMR. It was done in the day and commonly enough to have been functional.
Indeed. They sure make a SMR look like an original/authentic.
 
Last edited:
In the Walter Cline book ‘The Muzzle-Loading Rifle Then and Now’ and the Randal Pierce book ‘Kentucky Rifles of the Great Smoky Mountains’ there are several southern guns with grease holes in the stock. It not be for everyone, but I like them.
I do, too. Totally authentic. I filled mine with beeswax as I don't want to actually use it.
 
In the Walter Cline book ‘The Muzzle-Loading Rifle Then and Now’ and the Randal Pierce book ‘Kentucky Rifles of the Great Smoky Mountains’ there are several southern guns with grease holes in the stock. It not be for everyone, but I like them.
If I had a SMR that I used as a primary squirrel rifle, I wouldn't mind having a grease hole in the stock. I most likely would not use it. Rather I would probably fill it with beeswax instead. However, there's no denying they make a SMR look authentic.

Years ago, the first time I saw a grease hole in a stock was on an old original SMR hanging on a friends cabin wall. I had to ask what that hole was for.
 
Really, they are CVA’s that the barrels were made for them by Jukar. Now Traditions sells them. It’s fashionable to not call them by what they are and to be cool and call them a Jukar. Kind of like jotos calling a flintlock a rock lock. Ghey.
 
You could fill it with some kind of whiteish or yellow epoxy and you'd get the aesthetic value if that's what you want without the hassles of grease. Just an idea.
 
Years ago - a lot of years ago - I had a CVA "Kentucky" .45 caliber, two-piece stock, you all know the one I mean. Percussion, shot pretty good. Because it was a plain rifle and my skills to add anything were and are limited, I added a grease hole to the stock. I used a beeswax based lube to fill it and for protection I simply covered it with a patch when hunting or at the range. Seemed so obvious to me. Worked pretty well too.
Having a Dixie TMR, I love the idea of the patch, so simple, yet it never occurred to me. 🤪
 
If I put one on one of my rifles I probably wouldn't put anything in it unless it was to actually use it. None of the lubes that I presently use would work due to being more on the liquid side.
 
Added a grease hole to the .45 percussion rifle. Southern mountain rifles from East Tennessee and western North Carolina sometimes had these. We’ll see how it works.View attachment 349534

I got the idea from this,

View attachment 349538
Grease holes were always a bad idea in my opinion for a couple reasons.
1. They get grit in them that wears muzzle crowns prematurely via patch transfer.
2. The grease migrates into the stock wood.
3. They are messy to gun handling.
 
Grease holes were always a bad idea in my opinion for a couple reasons.
1. They get grit in them that wears muzzle crowns prematurely via patch transfer.
2. The grease migrates into the stock wood.
3. They are messy to gun handling.
I don’t disagree with what you say but not sure I totally agree either.

First, it’s a $75 Jukar that I attempted to make look more like an original southern mountain rifle. If it gets some premature muzzle crown wear, that will just add to the character of the gun.

Next, I hope I get to shoot the gun enough to cause muzzle wear.

The bees wax mixture is not so runny that it’s going to migrate much but if it does, so what.

And the grease is no more messy than using greased patches in other forms or the soot from black powder. A good day of muzzleloader shooting ends with dirty hands anyway.

Have you used a grease hole like this and caused premature muzzle crown wear? If so, do you have any pictures?

Thanks!
 
I don’t disagree with what you say but not sure I totally agree either.

First, it’s a $75 Jukar that I attempted to make look more like an original southern mountain rifle. If it gets some premature muzzle crown wear, that will just add to the character of the gun.

Next, I hope I get to shoot the gun enough to cause muzzle wear.

The bees wax mixture is not so runny that it’s going to migrate much but if it does, so what.

And the grease is no more messy than using greased patches in other forms or the soot from black powder. A good day of muzzleloader shooting ends with dirty hands anyway.

Have you used a grease hole like this and caused premature muzzle crown wear? If so, do you have any pictures?

Thanks!
I don't have to whack myself between the eye with a framing hammer to know a bad idea when I see one. A covered patch box with a liner for patches is a far better idea in a stock then is an open grease hole , a poor idea in my opinion.
Usually patch lube is tallow based lube which will soak into stock wood over time and as long as dust of any kind is in the air it will get into the patch grease open to the environment..
Use of wood loading rods contaminated with grit, no muzzle guides, insufficient cleaning and grit contaminated patch lube( which equates to lapping compound) were the main reasons for the need of frequent refreshing.
Even soft iron barrels will last for decades if the a fore mentioned problems are addressed.
 
Got a new box of bees wax in the mail and made up a new batch of patch lube/fixing wax (bees wax & vegetable oil). I also use this in the barrels of my smooth bores to prevent rust. It works. It’s more wax than oil and not runny at all. I think some folks get the wrong idea when they hear the word grease. It’s not like axle grease, it’s more the consistency of shoe polish. When you rub it between your fingers it softens to easily apply to a patch. I’ve used it only a few days but so far so good. A good fellow on this forum told me how to make it.
7D5874C7-6939-49EC-8B78-18B306DBB143.jpeg
 
Back
Top