• 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

lubes

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Bullet lubes? Patch lubes? Lock lubes? Rust resistant lubes?

For years I used Bore Butter as a patch lube for shooting but after making up some of Stumpkillers Moose Juice I have switched to using it.

Good stuff. :)
 
The questions that ask for the "best" are impossible to answer.
I have to guess you are asking about patch lubes.
The only answer possible, and that will be unsatisfactory for you, is the one that works best in your rifle for you.
There are skillions of different concoctions for patch lube.
Some of the most popular involve beeswax/oil mixes. Olive oil, peanut, castor, etc. all work well.
Some involve the use of water soluable oil and water.
There are chemical mixes that are far from historically accurate.
There are commercial lubes that might or might not be any good.
To start, I would suggest you make up a mix of beeswax and peanut oil. I make into a semi-soft cake that can be rubbed on the patch cloth.
Do some searching here. This is an often, very often, discussed subject on the forum.
 
I think I probably have tried them all and I keep going back to the tried and true (for me!) spit patch. My .40 and my .32 seem to work the best for me, and I emphasize for me. You'll just have to experiment to see what works for you. Of course I don't use spit when it's below freezing. Then I use TOTW mink oil.
 
Match shooting-spit, hunting-olive oil
For BPCR-equal parts bees wax, shortening and cheese wax.

For lock internals, Slick 50.

For minnie balls and C&B revolvers-light weight white automotive grease from the auto parts store.
 
One of the best all season lubes I have found to date is windshield wash for cars. It is mostly water with some soap and alcohol added.
It will not freeze in cold weather and it dissolves black powder residue. The soap makes it slippery.
Simply wet the patch, squeeze out any excess and load the ball. Mike D.
 
Spit has always has patterned great for me when just shooting. TOTW Mink Oil patterns great for my hunting loads.

Rio
 
TJK said:
Spit has always has patterned great for me when just shooting. TOTW Mink Oil patterns great for my hunting loads.

Rio
I've never understood the desire to use 2 different lubes. Why not just use 1 lube and be done with it? Every patch I use gets bear grease - target shooting AND hunting.

I will admit that I started with spit (for targets) and Bore Butter (for hunting), but went to a single lube (Bore Butter) for all patches not too long after. Just made more sense (and I never liked the taste of dry patch material).
 
Black Hand said:
Bear grease as a patch lube.

I have never heard a negative comment about using bear grease as a patch lube. In fact, I understand it is great for lubing locks, protecting barrels and the wood. Keeps leather nice and also good on sores and for cooking purposes.
Only downside is not all of us have access to the stuff. A small bottle is quite expensive and doesn't go very far.
 
Many animal fat lubes are similar----I've used bear oil, and found it indistinguishable from rendered racoon oil. As coons are a bit more plentiful where I live, and bears somewhat scarce, you can guess what I use. I've also used goose grease, and beaver fat works really well, too. Pretty much anything with really oily fat will do. I use the oil/grease for both patch lube and lube after cleaning, although I'll thicken the patch lube with a little bee's wax so it isn't runny.

Rod
 
As I have access to non-additive home rendered hog lard, I use it as-is for patch lube and mixed w/beeswax, etc., for conical lube.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top