How much patch lube to use ?

[kyron4]

I've been using prelubed patches for shooting, but recently got some .018" pillow ticking and TOW Mink Oil lube. I assume only one side needs lubed not both ? Do you smear a heavy amount on the patch or just lightly wipe the patch on the mink oil ? Or does it not make much difference ? -Thanks

 

[Archer 756]

I use Moose Juice and shook patch in juice than take out and let dry before using.

 

[user 49399]

I cut at the muzzle and have a lubed strip of patching material hanging from my shooting bag. I lube both sides of the strip so that it doesn’t matter which side of the strip faces up or down when loading. I use a homemade lube and put enough on the material to make it easy to load. It took a few shooting sessions to figure out how much lube I needed.

 

[Erwan]

For me, it is only cotton patches (.010") with five drops of beef foot oil (pure beef, not the brand Neatsfoot oil). For the drop I use a pipette of electronic cigarette : that gives pretty nice small drops at the right size and volume...

 

[tenngun]

There is a school of thought popularized by the late Dutch Schultz that lighter is better. And he used an oil.
He was a champion shooter
I’m not a champion shooter
So I owe you change for my free advice.
Mink oil has about the consistency of butter or just a little firmer. I rub a patch across it. There will always be dry parts and a little mound of lube. Using my thumb I rub that little mound in till it’s all covered.
I learned to only lube one side. It’s an old wives tale but I still lube one side
My goal is to have it all greased but no standing hunk any where.
You just need enough so the whole patch got some

 

[Grimord]

As above, I only lube one side of the patch with a light smear of Mink Oil. The dry side of the patch holds the ball better to impart the rifling when the gun is fired.

 

[CTShooter]

You will get as many answers to this as to what to use for lube.

I shoot with a wet patch, straight olive oil for lube. It works for me.

 

[hanshi]

I only use prelubed patches that I cut out and lube. I'm not a great marksman by any stretch of the imagination. So this is only what I do in my rifles. I'm one of those "lots of lube" types. With TOW mink oil I rub the patch across the lube cake, often more than once. Then I rub it vigorously between thumb and forefinger. The lube melts and saturates the patch to the point a bit of lube is squeezed when seating the prb and is left on the muzzle. I use a lot of Hoppes #9 BP patch lube. I stack the patches in an empty tin and drip in the liquid. The patches as seated are WET but not at all drippy and lube again collects on the muzzle as the prb is seated. This has always worked for my rifles and the tight loads I shoot.

 

[Bassdog1]

I lube a few patches before shooting. I use Mink Oil and Hoppes #9 Also and like them damp feeling. I shoot small calibers 40 and below most of the time and I feel like this helps to keep fouling down and my guns shoot very accurately using this method.

 

[deermanok]

I'm a one side luber.

 

[GunCat]

Don't you figure that the lube on one side only.... by the time it soaks in to the patch and then the patch gets compressed when loading, equates to lube on both sides, and in the middle of the material too?

 

[Omahkapi'si]

I use bore butter. Just run a little stretch of it on the inside of the tin, and then wipe a patch across it before use. Sometimes I'll pre-lube a bunch if I want something to say on the "what muzzleloading stuff did you do" thread

 

[deerstalkert]

i use Frontiers lube. take the lid of the tin, scoop 2 table spoon full of lube into it and melt on my wood stove. take a stack of precut patches and put them into the melted lube using forceps (aka roach clips). take them out and spread like potato chips on a paper plate. usually do a couple hundred at a time. once the lube sets up again i put them into a pill bottle that holds about 100. placed across the muzzle they stick nicely and dimple into the bore giving a cradle for the ball. the patch is soaked through so i guess i use 2x as much lube as needed but it works good for me. on my best bore i can get 40 shots without cleaning the fouling. on my worst i get 10 shots between a dry patch cleaning.
everyone has their own pet process.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

I don't soak them that's for sure, they have lube on them but just enough to be a little slick.

 

[deerstalkert]

my wife claims i coined the phrase " if a little works a lot will work better". plus i kinda like the little cotton potato chip look! wonder what cotton soaked with bear grease would taste like?

 

[oldwood]

For years I've used patches greased with light grease. Patches are stored in flat , plastic , round , electrician tape containers. I put some thin commercial patch lube grease one side , push as much grease off the patch as I can with a finger , then do the other side next. I pre -grease as many patches like this for the day's use. The flat container is about 4 " in diameter , and fits in a shot pouch or pocket, and is easy to set on a loading bench at a range. Works for me.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

I use a period snuff can made of brass to hold my patches. I insert the patches and pour Number 13 cleaner into it. Grab the top patch, and pinch it with me finger to drop excess back into the container.
Not soaked, but semi close.

 

[Joemolf]

I have as of lately been loading my 45 cal rifle like I load my 1851. Instead of a wafer on top of the powder I use a little ball of tow followed by a pea size amount of TOTW lube followed by a well lubed patch and ball. I figured if it works on revolvers it will work on rifle. I fired 20 rounds yesterday and had no accuracy issues and reloading was as easy as the first and never wiped the bore. I’m doing it again today. I only saw positive results and that is an easy to load rifle shot after shot. Why is it excess lube is frowned upon? I was using a Kibler SMR.

 

[Timber Wolf]

I have only used prelubed patches before today. This morning I had my new Pedersoli Trade rifle out to the range and the only suitable patch material I had was dry .018 pillow ticking. I had TOTW Mink with me but decided it was as good a time as any to try spit patching. Some I did a better job of soaking than others, but they all worked fine as near as I could tell.

 

[SlidePicker]

I precut patches and put them in an Altoids tin with Murphy's Oil Soap straight from the bottle. They soak it up very slowly. I pretty nearly saturate them. I'm shooting at the range, not keeping it loaded for long, so it doesn't dampen the powder. I had the spit patch idea in mind. The liquid soap mixture is very slick, and the residue keeps the bore easy to clean. I probably got the idea from reading as a kid about muzzle loading shotgunners wetting their cushion wads with soapy water.