New lube.

[Dr5x]

There are all kinds of lubes suggested and Brit Smoothies may be one of the best/
My experience, however, is that the rifle shoots best if the lubrication is minimized to almost none/The limited lubrication seems to permit a bit of resistance that delays the movement of the prb and which, for some reason, increases the accuracy.
I spent a ear or two thinking that slicker ws quicker and was surprised when very limited lubrication tightened p my gropes.

Dutch Schoultz

Made a new batch of lube today.
Bees wax and olive oil.
View attachment 2384
That is a fouled gun now coated in the new lube and that will protect it for ages around the breech.
Next I rub a patch in the lube.
View attachment 2385
The bores get a good scrubbing.
View attachment 2386
The bores now have enough lube to absorb any salts and no damage will happen for ages with the gun in a warm dry environment.
I plan on using this shotgun again in a couple of days and this will be sufficient untill then.
It works for rifles too.
This may help some new folk worried about rusting.

B.

 

[ikesdad]

As for melting, go down to the local Goodwill or second hand store and pick up a crock pot. This way, the stove does not figure in and it can be put out in the garage, or wherever.

 

[dixie5032]

Based on this I dissolved some old caster oil I had leftover from model airplane engine fuel. Mix castor oil with denatured oil. Dip patches & allow to dry.

My castor oil "dry" patches outperform all other lubes I've tried throughout several decades. Any of the "new" innovations in patch lube don't come close to measuring up & are a waste of my time.

AZbpBurner, I have a bottle of castor oil sitting around waiting for me to use...would you be willing to share the formula for your mix? What is the "denatured oil" you used?
Thanks, Dave

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

I make a version of "fixin wax" that uses equal parts of beeswax, "hard" coconut oil and rendered beef tallow. It comes out fairly hard but does not go rancid. I imagine an equal dose of Olive oil might make it a good bullet lube?

 

[renegadehunter]

AZbpBurner, I have a bottle of castor oil sitting around waiting for me to use...would you be willing to share the formula for your mix? What is the "denatured oil" you used?
Thanks, Dave

I think he meant Denatured Alcohol.
I have been playing around with this as of late. Common ratios seem to end up being between a 5:1 to 8:1 ratio of Denatured Alcohol (DA) to Castor oil (CO). To be clear, you use a larger portion of Denatured Alcohol and lower portion of Castor oil.
You make up several ratios and then go to the range and shoot groups to see which gives the best performance. You make them by mixing together, for example, 5 parts DA to 1 part CO. CO is not water soluble, but it will mix in with DA. You shake/mix it together very well and then dip your patches into it, then set them to dry on a screen or something. The DA evaporates fairly quickly and it leaves a patch lightly lubed with just the CO.

I went to the range with some 5:1 ratio I made up just recently. They loaded very nicely and shot a much better group than the TOTW mink oil that I also tried during the same range session.
Next I will try some 6:1 and 7:1 ratios to see what I get.

 

[dixie5032]

Thanks renegadehunter. I'll give that a try and see what happens.

 

[Prairieofthedog]

Made a new batch of lube today.
Bees wax and olive oil.
View attachment 2384
That is a fouled gun now coated in the new lube and that will protect it for ages around the breech.
Next I rub a patch in the lube.
View attachment 2385
The bores get a good scrubbing.
View attachment 2386
The bores now have enough lube to absorb any salts and no damage will happen for ages with the gun in a warm dry environment.
I plan on using this shotgun again in a couple of days and this will be sufficient untill then.
It works for rifles too.
This may help some new folk worried about rusting.

Do you put your patches over your wire brush when giving it a scrubbing?After you get it scrubbed do you swab again with lube,or just leave it as is till next day?

 

[Britsmoothy]

Patch over the wire brush.
It was left until the next outing just like that.
Done the same with my trade gun this week too.

 

[AZbpBurner]

AZbpBurner, I have a bottle of castor oil sitting around waiting for me to use...would you be willing to share the formula for your mix? What is the "denatured oil" you used?
Thanks, Dave

Oops! Slip of the keyboard. It's Denatured Alcohol. I mix at 5 parts DA to 1 part Castor Oil.
Don't even think of using Castor oil undiluted, since it bonds with black powder residue to form a crispy & hard to remove residue.

 

[brayhaven]

Oops! Slip of the keyboard. It's Denatured Alcohol. I mix at 5 parts DA to 1 part Castor Oil.
Don't even think of using Castor oil undiluted, since it bonds with black powder residue to form a crispy & hard to remove residue.

Have done tons of research on lubes over the years. Past few yrs, my “mule milk” recipe is @9 parts 99% isopropyl to 1 part castor oil. I used alcohol/castor mix many years ago in my race boat. Very high lubricity and low ash. Very stable and total dissolved even at low temps. Ishoot all day with never a swabbing. Even 130 shots. Last goes down as easy as the second. Muleskinner

 

[4065shooter]

I happened to have a new 1oz can of SPG sitting around so I opened a couple bags of October Country Daisy patches/.50 cal and started to work. Per the directions, I was able to treat 72 patches total with that 1oz can. Per someones $ figures above, it appears SPG cost per shot is .065 cents. If you can shoot all day and not wipe you'll have to decide for yourself if .065 cents per shot is extremely expensive.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Have done tons of research on lubes over the years. Past few yrs, my “mule milk” recipe is @9 parts 99% isopropyl to 1 part castor oil.

99% is pricy stuff and hard to keep that way (it rapidly absorbs water out of the air). I use 91% Iso (drug store grade) and that seems good enough for 1/4 the cost.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/stumpkillers-lube-recipes.26771/

 

[brayhaven]

99% is pricy stuff and hard to keep that way (it rapidly absorbs water out of the air). I use 91% Iso (drug store grade) and that seems good enough for 1/4 the cost.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/stumpkillers-lube-recipes.26771/

I tried 91 & 70% in my testing, but the 99 definitely is better at keeping the lubricant in solution. You do need to keep the lid on. I use a flip top when shooting. That’s true for any alcohol, absorbing moisture, also alcohol evaporates leaving the water behind, decreasing the ratio. I don’t like any water in my barrel when shooting. As to cost, I don’t worry. 99% at Amazon is 26$ for a dozen pints shipped, and 91% is 19$ for the same amount. 6 quarts is a lot of alcohol.. I’ve been using a case I bought 15 years ago, wife also uses it. Down to a couple pints Left, I think. Also used it as a solvent for other uses. Muleskinner

 

[dixie5032]

Oops! Slip of the keyboard. It's Denatured Alcohol. I mix at 5 parts DA to 1 part Castor Oil.
Don't even think of using Castor oil undiluted, since it bonds with black powder residue to form a crispy & hard to remove residue.

Thanks AZbpBurner. I figured that out with help from the forum and made a dozen 5 to 1 patches to test but the snow that's still on the ground and more coming today has put any testing on hold. Our local range becomes a wading pool and mud pit when it gets wet and the neighbors complain when a big boom goes off in the woods behind the house! As for the alcohol, I buy Crown brand 99% denatured alcohol by the gallon at Lowe's hardware. It's $16 a gallon now but I bought it a couple of years ago for around $14.

 

[M. De Land]

Made a new batch of lube today.
Bees wax and olive oil.
View attachment 2384
That is a fouled gun now coated in the new lube and that will protect it for ages around the breech.
Next I rub a patch in the lube.
View attachment 2385
The bores get a good scrubbing.
View attachment 2386
The bores now have enough lube to absorb any salts and no damage will happen for ages with the gun in a warm dry environment.
I plan on using this shotgun again in a couple of days and this will be sufficient untill then.
It works for rifles too.
This may help some new folk worried about rusting.

B.

I have a bunch of black bear rendered oil I made up last year and have read in Ned Roberts book (The Caplock Rifle) I think it is called, that there is nothing better for patch lube or gun preservation. My regular black powder cartridge lube is 50-25-25 bees wax, Murphy's oil soap and pure Neatsfoot oil. My plan is to use bear oil in place of the Neatsfoot oil for BP cartridge lube and just bear oil on patches for muzzle loader lube.

 

[Greenjoytj]

Have done tons of research on lubes over the years. Past few yrs, my “mule milk” recipe is @9 parts 99% isopropyl to 1 part castor oil. I used alcohol/castor mix many years ago in my race boat. Very high lubricity and low ash. Very stable and total dissolved even at low temps. Ishoot all day with never a swabbing. Even 130 shots. Last goes down as easy as the second. Muleskinner

How does such a dry patch keep powder fouling soft, soft enough to push the next load through the fouling without swabbing occasionally? With an occasional swabbing being not as accurate as swabbing between shots which maintains as more consistent bore condition.
It’s been my experience that without swabbing reloading becomes impossible after a few shots. Even a well greased patch doesn’t carry enough lube to wet the fouling to keep it soft.

 

[matttdalton]

All the time friend.
That same gun is propped up in the kitchen. Doubt I will use it today, maybe tomorrow, not worried at all.
I have left guns for weeks thus.

Said many times before, once a gun is dry the nasty salts can't do anything, that fact and combined with animal and or veg fats there is no need to fret at all.

B.

Wait, did I read this correctly? Shoot day after day without cleaning and only swabbing?!?! This is game-changing amazing!!!

Question: before reloading after swabbing, do you run a dry patch and/or pop a cap to ensure the powder stays dry?

Thanks for sharing this Brit!

 

[Britsmoothy]

Wait, did I read this correctly? Shoot day after day without cleaning and only swabbing?!?! This is game-changing amazing!!!

Question: before reloading after swabbing, do you run a dry patch and/or pop a cap to ensure the powder stays dry?

Thanks for sharing this Brit!

Nope. Just load and go.
If it is hot weather and or the lube is runny I may prop the gun muzzle down.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I don't favor use of alcohol for patch lube. It evaporates so rapidly I question whether any remains after a few hours/days/weeks when applied to the cloth. BTW, I cannot find reference to the characteristics of castor oil that make is useful for our purposes. Can somebody help?

 

[Stumpkiller]

Try a wax lube.

When I do use a liquid lube I make six foot strips of patching and dip them in the liquid lube (see Stumpy's Lubes linked above a few posts), let it dry overnight on waxed paper, then repeat. The alcohol evaporates off . . . but it's job was to hold the castor oil dissolved and in suspension with the other components, so once the cotton is saturated it can leave.

Soap dissolves in water. Castor oil dissolves in alcohol. Witch hazel (an astringent) keeps them from separating as quickly when used together, and I found in smear tests with a bit of soft soap helps the castor oil to stick to the barrel metal.