Lubing patches with mink oil ?

[smoothshooter]

can I use bacon grease,? Bears and MInk are hard to find in my area

Some bacon grease has a lot of salt in it.

 

[tenngun]

Some bacon grease has a lot of salt in it.

I’ve heard that all my life. And don’t really expect to start using bacon grease. But you know my iron pots don’t rust, and I use a lot of bacon grease on them.
Black powder is about 3/4 salt Peter, it’s chemically bound so won’t rust a bore. However the black mush in side a gun after shooting is heavily salts. While not table salt, all salts are water lovers and rust every metal they touch.
I don’t have a gun I would experiment on, but I have to wonder if the salt in bacon grease would really cause a problem.
We clean when done so all the salts from a days shooting are washed away
Sometimes when I grease an iron pot I’ll leave a little too much in one spot. There is no rust underneath the glob. So even if you left a gun loaded with a greased patch for a week or a month do you reckon it would rust?
Some times I think the old wives are giggling

 

[Rató:rats]

You'll have to excuse my stupidity, but what size would I need for a 62/20G?

5/8

 

[TNJed]

Once I started using the bear fat and bees wax, learned all the benefits, I never returned to anything else. An old friend (gone now) had told me about it, but I think I was afraid of it's mess. When you shoot with it, the barrel gets hot and melts the wax and lines in with the oil. It cleans with one dry patch. What I found amazing was nothing else was needed to set the gun up for extended periods. That just blew my mind. It's a 38 cal round groove barrel made for me back in 2005 to my specs by Ed Rayl. The finest of all the barrel makers. It's won 4 State championships and deadly. The mix I use is awesome. If you just find someone who hunts bear, beg the fat. It's a pain to make, but it's great stuff. You just cook the fat down into a liquid and it will usually stay that way until you're ready to warm it up again and add to melted beeswax. It doesn't require very much on your patching. I cut strips then drag it across a ton of the mix, then roll up the strip. I use a patch knife to cut the load flush on the muzzle. Hunting, I have a little ball board.
historicalarmsmaker
@gmail.com

Historical Armsmaker, if you don't mind me asking, what ratio of bear fat to beeswax do you use? I've got a buddy that takes a bear every year and maybe I can get some fat from him next year. You've sold me on using it!

 

[david w]

can I use bacon grease,? Bears and MInk are hard to find in my area

I tried bacon grease once on a whim. I don't think it works so well. My dog seemed to love it though!

 

[david w]

I tried hunting mink once. The local fur shop called the police on me!

 

[Mad L]

For my .45 and .50 calibers;
Mix some pure Bear Oil into some TOW's Mink Oil, whip it into a thick slurry - makes some right nice super slick lube.
Use a small mint tin (any flavor will do) with the paint burnt off.
I never counted but I think I can fit roughly 40 to 50 patches in it.

Been carrying in my bag for years now and even when I do pre-lube with just Bear Oil it has never leaked on me.

 

[TDM]

Sure would like to try some bear oil one of these days.

 

[ETipp]

I use well lubed patches and that works for my shooting. With TOW mink oil I wipe it across the grease cake then rub it in well with thumb & index finger. Any excess collects on the muzzle when seated.

Yes sir, same here.

 

[Daveboone]

I bought a couple tins of Tracks mink oil when I couldnt find Bore Butter (which I actually like..strictly as a lube). Very thick, I nuked it then soaked my patches, adding patches to soak up all i can. It shoots great, with less fouling than BB for me, likely because it is a MUCH tighter patch/ball fit now. In cooler weather, the patches are down right rigid. I would expect in cold temperature very difficult to drive down the bore. I likely wont stay with it once I run out because of that.

 

[ETipp]

I like Tracks Mink Oil for patch lube just fine, in terms of accuracy and keeping patches together. However, I do find it to be a bit messy in hot temps. Perhaps I'm using too much on my patches but it certainly is accurate. I'm considering mixing up a small batch with some beeswax in it and seeing how that goes in the hot weather.

 

[Mad L]

TOW's mink became my favorite some time back but I really like pure Bear Oil (not a 'brand's but the real deal).
Recently I saw my tins of Mink just sitting there so I mixed in some Bear oil, whipped it up to the consistency of thick honey, it set back up to the consistency of a smooth jelly - I tried it and I Like it!
Very slick, more so then the mink alone, but yes it is 'messy' if trying to lube on the line but pre-lube and put in a tin and no trouble at all.

I just while one side across the top, slight rub with my fingers and then stack the next one. Stack them all with the Lubed Side Down and each one puts lube on the back side of the other. When I peal them out they go Bottom side Down (facing the barrel ie the wettest side down).