lehigh valley v.s. grease or oil

[john4645]

after spraying patches with lehigh, after awhile they are dry, you can smell the stuff on them but they are dry, when you use mink oil, crisco, or olive oil ect.. they remain wet or moist. what are some comments on this, do you have to rewet them or is this what I see some guys call dry patches?
help explain this to a novice, thanks

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I've never used that lube, but my .50 shoots better with patches that are just moist, not sopping wet with Go-Jo white hand cleaner. If going afield I wet a bunch, let them dry in the sun awhile and store 'em in an 'Altoids' tin, It keeps them moist enuff for a long time, but eventually they will dry out.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I've never tried Lehigh lube dry, but here's a test I use for testing my dry lubes. Take a lubed patch over your fingertip and wipe it down a glass surface for the length of your barrel. If it smears consistantly for the full length without dry spots you're gold.

My Moose Juice "dry" patches appear dry but the lube wipes off on your fingers if handled. I wrap the dipped strips in wax paper until needed. They keep for years (so far) that way.

 

[Darkhorse]

I tried Lehigh dry. I wet some material and let it dry 2 weeks then shot it. It did fine for about 3 shots with light charges then the bore started to foul.
It works best wet to even a little damp. For practice or match shooting its all I care to use. It works really great. But for hunting I prefer TOW's 100% Mink Oil.
I also noticed that when dry the Lehigh patches tended to burn a little more where the wet ones didn't burn at all.
Your mileage may vary.

 

[Sharp Shooter]

I use that lube to! Spray them and let them dry. Spray them again and let them dry. Then, just put them in a container and they will stay sub dry. I use a cap tin.

 

[renovato]

I haven't tried Lehigh, but I dry patch with Ballistol. The patches have the thinnest amount of oil on them and feel dry to the touch. Works great! It's more accurate than anything else I had tried before it. If Lehigh shoots well dry patched, go for it!

 

[2172]

Plink, I'm just starting to use Balistol on patches..I'm using a 5 (water) to one (Balistol) mix...I soak patch material (.01 ticking) and then allow to dry...seems to work, but I'm getting fouling at about 10 shots...didn't with Wonder Lube...what mix do you use? Hank

 

[Bountyhunter]

I was in Albuquerque a couple weeks ago and hunted up Bob over at Thunder Ridge Muzzleloaders and got some stuff from him. Some of which was some Lehighs and some high priced pre lubed patches. Using the pre lubed, I could get 3 shots before I had to swab. I switched over to LeHighs, and PRB's loaded like lightening. I took a piece of the strip I was messing with and sprayed it and hung it out in the sun for a bit to dry and I got the same as the pre lubed. Three shots and then I couldnt drive a ball down the barrel. I went back to wet patches and shot the rest of the afternoon (maybe 40 more shots) without swabbing.

Speaking only to the barrel on my rifle. It is a .53 bore, and using .520 balls, ticking and Goex, the patches damp with Lehighs worked best. I used my homemade tallow lube for years, and I can get ten shots or so with it before needing to clean that greasy crud out of the barrel. After shooting all afternoon, I pulled the barrel out of this Hawken and did a hot water scrub and it cleaned right up. Patches came out white after drying. So I wet a patch with LeHighs and ran one down and it came back out cruddy. I dont know what is in that Lehighs, but it takes out stuff that hot water and dish soap doesnt get to. I finished up with LeHighs, and put it away.

 

[HardBall]

Plink, I'm just starting to use Balistol on patches..I'm using a 5 (water) to one (Balistol) mix...I soak patch material (.01 ticking) and then allow to dry...seems to work, but I'm getting fouling at about 10 shots...didn't with Wonder Lube...what mix do you use? Hank

I don't know about Plink, but I've only used Ballistol & Water mixed 1:1 and shoot with damp patches, not dry. When I used to use Naurallube/Wonderlube I would get a crud ring build up just in front of the seated ball after numerous shots. I don't get this with B&W and can pretty much shoot as many shots as I like with no fouling build up. Loading stays easy and groups stay tight. I think the stronger mix (1:1) makes loading feel a bit easier than other liquid patch lubes I've tried.

 

[renovato]

Plink, I'm just starting to use Balistol on patches..I'm using a 5 (water) to one (Balistol) mix...I soak patch material (.01 ticking) and then allow to dry...seems to work, but I'm getting fouling at about 10 shots...didn't with Wonder Lube...what mix do you use? Hank

I'm using the same 1:5 for most of my guns and 1:7 for a couple that shoot better that way. Some of them foul in about 10 shots, and some don't. Difference in the barrels I guess. I would assume going richer on the Ballistol would help with fouling, but might have a negative effect on accuracy also. It's worth a try though. I generally just swab when I start getting fouling buildup.