Olive Oil Wad Lube?

[AZbpBurner]

I've been using a 1:5 ratio castor oil : denatured alcohol mix for treating fiber wads for use with roundballs in my .62 fusil. They work great, and loading is smooth throughout an entire day of shooting without need for any swabbing.

I wanted to try olive oil, but found it's not soluble in DA. I mixed 1:5 olive oil : napthalene, and have some wads out in the sun now to evaporate off the napthalene. If these work as well as the castor oil, olive oil and Coleman Fuel are both cheaper.

 

[Dewey]

You might try a bit of surfactant (detergent, soap) to see if you can make your olive oil soluble - which is what they do with mineral oil in the "soluble oils" like Ballistol. Oleic acid might be ideal for this.

Otherwise, you might need a higher MW alcohol (isopropyl, butanol or pentanol).

Just some thoughts ... haven't tried it myself.

 

[Dewey]

That should be oleic acid SALT.

Olive oil should be soluble in diethyl ether (which would evaporate well!), but that might be a bit hazardous.

 

[Billnpatti]

What you are looking for is a solvent for olive oil that is readily available, relatively inexpensive and dries quickly. I recommend acetone. It is available at any paint store. Be aware that acetone is highly flammable but can be worked with safely. Do not use near an open flame. Use with adequate ventillation and wear gloves that are acetone resistant because acetone will dissolve oils and, therefore, will remove the natural oils from and dry your skin. Acetone will burn like crazy if you get any in your eyes so I highly recommend using some protective eyewear.

 

[Alden]

I highly recommend...

...not thinning out the Olive (Sweet) Oil in the first place.

 

[flahipneck]

+1, keep it simple.

 

[BrownBear]

...keep it simple.

Amen. For over 30 years I've used straight olive oil on my wads. Never looked back.

Only thing I've found that was comparable or better is bear oil. But my supply is limited at the moment, so I stick with the olive.

 

[smoothshooter]

Try one part beeswax and three parts olive oil.
In really cold weather, you might do the above with four parts olive oil.
I use this mix for felt wads used in revolvers and shotguns, and lubing the cylinder arbor on my percussion revolvers. For ball patches, I will use the four to one ratio most of the time. I dip the wads one at a time and only submerge them in the melted lube for about two seconds each.
Don't see any advantage to thinning olive oil ( I'm with Alden on this one ), but if it works for you, go for it.

 

[Billnpatti]

:metoo: I agree with you about not thinning olive oil. Actually, it is not necessary. The only reason I suggested using acetone to thin olive oil is because the OP asked specifically about a solvent that would work for olive oil. If I were doing it, I'd just lay out the wads and use a medicine dropper to drop one or a few drops (depending on the size of the wad) on each wad. I'd let them sit long enough to absorb the oil and then put them into a zip lock bag to keep them clean until I am ready to use them.

 

[BrownBear]

If I were doing it, I'd just lay out the wads and use a medicine dropper to drop one or a few drops (depending on the size of the wad) on each wad. I'd let them sit long enough to absorb the oil and then put them into a zip lock bag to keep them clean until I am ready to use them.

Interesting theory, but a whole lot of work.

For over 30 years, I've just been putting the dry ones in a ziploc, pour on some olive oil, slosh around, then pour off the excess oil. Seal the bag and yerdone.

Took me longer to type this than to lube 100 wads. Heck, lube 200 in the same amount of time if you're so inclined! :rotf:

 

[theoldredneck]

BrownBear, probably a dumb question but could I lube leather wads the same way and store them in the same bag?

 

[irishtoo]

i use half inch fiber wads in all my guns. i take the entire new bag (500? i believe) drop them into a plastic coffee can pour in 16oz of cheap olive oil and let sit over night, turn over the can and let sit again overnight, then use them. they absorb all the oil and have not gone bad. i take out what i need for the day, when the can gets low i do it again. irishtoo.

 

[tozzybum]

thanks for this gents ,i now have a way to speed soak wads.thanks again Brown Bear and irishtoo.didnt fancy eye droppering them 1 at a time ,the jar overnite soak is ideal i can do my bag of 500 whilst catching some zzzzz,s :hatsoff: