Hey Stumpy!!

[laney1566]

I have convinced myself to make your Moose Juice and Moose Snot. I have been using bore butter for storage of my rifles by heavily lubing patches and ramming them down the barrel as well as rubbing the outside of the barrel to give a thin coat all over the gun. DO you think the Moose Snot will serve the same purpose or should I reserve Bore butter for that task and use your recipes for shooting only?

 

[Stumpkiller]

All I can tell you is that Moose Snot was applied inside & out to one of my rifles that was left loaded in my (unheated) garage in NY for 11 months as a test. I had no rust or other problems. BUT!!! Myself, I like to clean my rifles and guns well and then use Beechwood-Casey Sheath or Barricade as a penetrating protective oil. Before shooting I wipe the bore with 91% alcohol and pre-lube with a patch thick with Moose Snot before loading.

The Moose Snot is a grease type shooting lube and the Moose Juice is a liquid lube and blackpowder solvent. The Juice happens to contain compounds that reduce the chance of rust but I do not make the claim that they are worth spit for long-term protection of metal. Castor oil and beeswax are both good metal protectants IF WELL AND THOROUGHLY APPLIED (as is Murphy's Oil Soap). I even did long term exposure tests with cold-rolled sheet steel and found they did as well as Bore Butter and better than a lot of other choices. But please don't trust them alone. Too many variables in individual cleaning and storage methods. I recommend a penetrating oil to prevent rust in humid regions.

PS - MJ did better than BB in my test, but those are my results and yours may vary. Search on "Lube Wars" from five years ago or so for further details.

 

[Zonie]

For those newcomers that don't know, Ole' Stumpy ran a bunch of tests years ago on this forum to test all sorts of oils to find out what prevented rust and what didn't.

The Moose Juice and Moose Snot are based on his findings back then.

 

[laney1566]

Thanks for your reply. Sounds to me like it's worth a shot. I keep my .50 in a hard case so it's well protected, but my GPR .54 is too long for the hard case and I use the suede sleeve with fringes that can be bought many places to store it in. Bore butter has kept everything rust free so far, so I think I will trust your recipe as a less expensive and possibly better solution.
I clean them every couple of months even if I don't shoot.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I have an Ithaca/SKB 200-E 20 ga. SxS shotgun with three sets of barrels I got cheap because someone stored the shotgun and barrels in a hard, fitted velvet-lined case and it rusted badly. Great for wing shooting in briars but it breaks your heart to look at it. I don't keep my firearms in contact with fabric or leather with the exception of Gunny-Soc type sleeves.

 

[BrownBear]

I have an Ithaca/SKB 200-E 20 ga. SxS shotgun with three sets of barrels I got cheap because someone stored the shotgun and barrels in a hard, fitted velvet-lined case and it rusted badly. Great for wing shooting in briars but it breaks your heart to look at it. I don't keep my firearms in contact with fabric or leather with the exception of Gunny-Soc type sleeves.

We learned the same sad lesson here in Wet Country. Fabric of any sort wicks moisture from the air and holds it right against the metal. Bad, bad news.

 

[laney1566]

Here in Oregon I have learned to peek at my guns often. SO far.....No problemo!
My cases are lined with egg carton shaped foam.

 

[BrownBear]

The worst case scenario is fluctuating temps, no air movement and fabric/fleece/foam against the metal. In colder climates, there's usually lots of humidity indoors, but we let the temps fluctuate up and down, night and day.

If you live in an older house, the nastiest place to store guns is in a closet against an exterior wall. The minute your heat goes off for the night, the cold outside temps start moving right through the thin exterior wall insulation. Next morning when the heat comes back up, that moist air starts to condense on the chilled surfaces.

I was fighting rust in my gun safes when they were pushed back against an exterior wall. Moved them to an interior wall, and the rust problems went right away.

 

[Tumblernotch]

Stumpy, I've never made the Moose Snot but I have the MooseJuice (or Moose Milk). I haven't used it for protection, but I use it for my shooting patches and I have used it for wiping the bore while shooting. While I generally use plain water for wiping and oil for protection, the Moose Juice is what I use for patch lube and I like it! That reminds me, I need to soak some more ticking.
:hatsoff:

 

[trent/OH]

We learned the same sad lesson here in Wet Country. Fabric of any sort wicks moisture from the air and holds it right against the metal. Bad, bad news.

+1 on that information. I stored my Brown Bess in a fabric case, and while the barrel isn't a rusted mess, you can see the pattern of the fabric on the unfinished metal of the barrel. Gotta get some brick dust to fix that.

 

[jbtusa]

I use this stuff, pretty universal. It has solved my flash rust problem and it is great for patch lube at the range:

Napa water soluble cutting oil, 2 oz. (if your local napa store doesn't have it in stock the part number is 765-1526 for 1 pint)
Murphy's oil soap, 2 oz.
1 liter water bottle of rubbing alcohol

Shake it all up in one of those water bottles from the store. I get the rubbing alcohol at the dollar store. Cheap.

I also like that it doesn't freeze so readily as water based solutions.

 

[Huntin_Dawg1215]

Be careful with that foam, left my Ruger no 1 in a hard case with that type foam for a week and it rusted and pited in a couple of palces. I live in S. W. Va. and we have a good bit moisture here.