lube for ball block

[ashtar13]

I am shooting a .45 caliber patched round ball. I want to make my own patches and a ball block. What size should I cut the patches, and what kind of lube should I use for the ball block? I was thinking of using one of Stumpy's lubes.

 

[donk]

when I load blocks I usually just load them just like I was cutting the patch at the muzzle. I use a strip of pillow ticking put it under the ball and push it into the block then cut it flush. I use I think it is Liegh Valley Mountain Man lube and just squirt some of that on the bottom side of the block and it soakes in. :m2c:

 

[musketman]

Lube it like you would lube a patch as you are loading the barrel...

Here ia a chart for the size of drill bit needed to make various size holes in loading blocks...

 

[ashtar13]

But will a liquid lube like that last long for hunting all day, or would I be better off using moose snot or the like for it to last longer? I have moose milk already, if that will do then I won't have to find beeswax.

 

[musketman]

But will a liquid lube like that last long for hunting all day, or would I be better off using moose snot or the like for it to last longer? I have moose milk already, if that will do then I won't have to find beeswax.

I would suggest a paste type of lube, but if you do use a liquid, you can always re-lube the exposed part of the patch with a few drops of moose milk throughout the day while hunting...

This way you know it will be lubed, you don't even have to remove them from the block to do this, just flip the block over and relube the bottom of the exposed patch, the cloth will absorb the lube up into the sides...

 

[rich pierce]

The wood will suck up lube unless you seal it. I recommend sealing the holes with shellac thinned with turpentine, really soak it in a few times. Rub it off with steel wool or whatever. Or wax the block if you want another period treatment. Most any lube will last in the block if the block is sealed, none will last if not, in my experience. A raw drilled hole is like a sponge.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I soak my patching twice with my castor oil moose milk and dry them on wax paper overnight between soaks (three or six foot strips). It lasts for weeks in a loading block. The castor oil is "non-volitile" and does not evaporate. I treat my ball blocks with tung oil when I make them.

Moose Snot works very well in the blocks, too. That's exactly why it was worked up in the first place. I have used some that was six months old as a deliberate test and I shot off all five without wiping between.

 

[ashtar13]

:front:Thanks for the info everyone. Stumpkiller, do you pre-lube your patches with moose snot like you do with the moose milk, or do you lube on the spot?

 

[Stumpkiller]

No. I lube as loaded, either block or muzzle, when using the Snot lube. I guess you could pre-lube a strip (or individual patches), but it would be messy to handle.

Easier to carry a small tin and lube as needed. My wife gets mints in little hinged tins that hold an ounce. I burn the paint off and fill them with melted lube. Very handy.

 

[FearNot]

OK, I'll admit my ignorance; I've always used pre-lubed patches. When you lube at the muzzle do you just kind of swipe the patch material across the snot before cutting or what?

 

[Stumpkiller]

Yep. I carry it in a little 2" square x 1/2" deep tin of lube. I hold the barrel of the gun in my left fingers with the tin in my left palm, and put my trigger hand thumb on the ball side of the patching material and wipe the strip (or you could do the same with a pre-cut) across the surface of the lube, using the edge of the tin to smear the excess off as it passes over. Then, I lay the patch on the muzzle with the same movement, still under my thumb. The lube sticks it to the flats at the muzzle. Tin goes in the pouch, fish out a ball on the same trip and press it flush, then slice it off with a knife.