Patch lubing ?'s

[mnbearbaiter]

I use TOTW Mink Tallow as a patch lube! I like it for its anti freeze properties, as well as it being natural! I take a patch, lay it in the tub of lube, and work it around evenly with the ball of my short starter! It seems to load kinda hard, but i use .018 pillow ticking w/ .530 ball in my 54cal T/C Renegade to get a good tight seal around the shallow grooves, i was also told that a 1:48 twist barrel will load a little harder anyway! I dont find that my patches burn, or tear, and the things a tack driver with 85gr of Triple7 and a over powder bore button! When i see prelubed patches in the store, they seem totally saturated, do i need more lube? I also will say that i dont have alot of fouling in the gun when i clean it either! Any insight, am i ok?

 

[jethro224]

Sounds like what you are doing is working.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. :thumbsup:

 

[Bill Hall]

I think you'll find you can uncomplicate things if you prelube your patches. Although what you're doing is working, it sounds like it can be messy and slow at the the range.

Try this. Put a little lube on your index finger and thumb. Rub it into the patch until you think it's taken all it can. Lay it on a paper towel. Lube up about 20-100 patches, all laid out on the paper towel. Blot off the patches lightly with another paper towel. Now stack them in a container like an altoids can or cap tin. After a while, the amount of lube in each patch becomes homgenious, since the lube soaks from patch to patch.

Now when you pull out a patch from the container, you can load it either side down, there is little lube transfer to your fingers, and the patches all have the same amount of lube. Plus, it's faster and more convenient than trying to smear lube on a patch at the range, in between shots. I think this technique is close to how most shooters use lubed patches, spit not included. Bill

 

[mnbearbaiter]

I always put the patch side down! I lube 'em one at a time at the range, but make sure that i have plenty of patches when i go hunting(usually only use one though :thumbsup: )! I usually lube two patches and stick them together like an Oreo cookie! it seems to work well for me!

 

[jamesthomas]

This is what I do, put your patches in a small jar say 20 to 30 patches. Then put in a bunch of patch lube, if its like Mink Oil in with them. Then just zap them in the microwave for about 15 seconds or until the lube is all melted. the patches soak up the lube. I just get'um out with a fork and spread them out on a couple of cheap paper plates to dry. when they're dry I just put them in an empty Mink oil can I have, and I'm ready for the range. You can do a whole lot patches in a short period of time this way.

 

[east texas]

i usually buy pre lubed but on occasion i get the un lubed as they are a lots cheaper, so i dump them in a baggie and add a little olive oil and shake them for a while then i toss it in the dresser drawer for a while and let the oil soak up and it usually evens itself out pretty good.

 

[roundball]

Based on your post, everything you're doing is working fine and you're satisfied with it, so I'm not sure what you're asking for.
With many different ways of doing things, I personally like things a little more prepared before I go to the range and prefer pre-cut, pre-lubed patches...have used them for years.

Coincidentally, 1000 dry patches and a couple cans of TOW's mink oil came with a recent .40cal Lancaster I just got...nuked 3 bags of 100 patches with the mink oil to try it out / start using it up during the summer

 

[mnbearbaiter]

I just kinda do my own thing, and was fishing for confirmation if i could be potentially harming my gun in the long run thats all? I have shot the pre lubed bore butter patches before, and they are saturated with lube! I have to almost search to see what side of my patches are lubed! I had good results with the pre lubed patch, but when you hear that it(bore butter, wonderlube) freezes in cold weather its true, thats why i went to a natural lube! I have toyed with the idea of melting the lube into the patch, but i was under the assumption that the side of the patch that cradles the ball should be dry?

 

[roundball]

"...was under the assumption that the side of the patch that cradles the ball should be dry?..."

Can't imagine why...at least I've never heard of or worried about such a thing...the several hundred MPH wind blast that greets a patch after muzzle exit takes care of patch/ball separations in short order regardless of type / amount of lube

 

[paulvallandigham]

There is both a smooth side, and a coarse side to patch material. The smooth side should be placed so it rubs against the lands and grooves of the bore. The coarse side should be towards the ball, so that the threads of the WEAVE of the cloth have a better grip on the soft lead ball, inside the barrel.

There is NO way that you can NOT get lube on both sides of the fabric, unless you are using prepared Teflon Coated patches, where its "painted" on one side of the fabric. If you use spit, oils, or greases, those fluids will soak through the fibers and threads to appear on both sides. Even Dutch Schoultz's "Dry lube" leaves light oil on both the smooth and coarse sides of the fabric.

Regardless of the lube you put on a patch, you should be able to distinguish the Coarse side, from the smooth side. Get that right, and you will get consistent performance from your patching. :thumbsup:

 

[Rifleman1776]

Even though I don't agree with the hard to load a 1:48 thing and shallow groove concern, if what you are doing works, stick with it. There are no rules except do what works for you.
I have tried many lubes. My current (ones) are beeswax and sperm whale oil in a soft block form or beeswax and peanut oil in the same block form. I use two different patch cloths, one is ticking the other a thin tight weave cotton. I lay large pieces of the material on a flat surface and rub the lube blocks over the 'out' or rough side. Then I fold on itself and store in plastic bags. When I need some, I take out and tear into strips and put in my shooting bag or box then cut at muzzle. Much cheaper and easier than buying the commercial stuff. For me, it works. I have used Dutch's dry lube and liked. I may go back to it.

 

[David W.]

I use TOTW Mink Tallow as a patch lube! I like it for its anti freeze properties, as well as it being natural! I take a patch, lay it in the tub of lube, and work it around evenly with the ball of my short starter! It seems to load kinda hard, but i use .018 pillow ticking w/ .530 ball in my 54cal T/C Renegade to get a good tight seal around the shallow grooves, i was also told that a 1:48 twist barrel will load a little harder anyway! I dont find that my patches burn, or tear, and the things a tack driver with 85gr of Triple7 and a over powder bore button! When i see prelubed patches in the store, they seem totally saturated, do i need more lube? I also will say that i dont have alot of fouling in the gun when i clean it either! Any insight, am i ok?

With the shallow grooves, a .010" patch will load much easier and may deliver very good accuracy, but I have used .021" denim and would give the short starter a good tap to get the ball started, but had darn good groups. I used wet patches soaked in synthetic whale oil. Dixie sold it and may still have it. I have been told it is nothing but jojoba oil. another lube I used and it was the best I ever had was called "Falkenberry Juice". If anyone knows if it can still be found under a different name maybe? Please let me know.

I don't own my T/C Hawken .50 and .54 rifles any more.

 

[mnbearbaiter]

Alot of the patch lube sold commercially arent the best for the late nov/early dec muzzleloader season here in MN :nono: They can, and have froze in the cold weather! I had a bad experience years ago with a pre lubed bore butter patch! It was -10 and i shot a fat doe at 15yds or so, i did get her, but noticed the patch laying on the snow and it was all tore up, im confident that if she would have been 50yds or so i wouldve missed due to that! Now, nobody likes to hunt in weather like that, but i have catered my patch lube so that im prepared! I may try my own home brew, but if it aint broke dont fix it :wink:

 

[jamesthomas]

Man, Ya got me there! -10 below! The only thing I'm shooting at that temp is some Wild Turkey! The drink that is.

 

[mnbearbaiter]

Haha, yeah its rough! Ive hunted in -20 with the TOTW Mink Tallow since then, and it performed flawlessly! In "Normal" hunting weather, any patch lube will work, but living in MN i dont know whats normal anymore :surrender:

 

[paulvallandigham]

You might try thinning the patch lube with Denatured alcohol( Please, not even 9% water- as in Isopropyl!) to soften the lube and extend its working life inside the bore, on those very cold days. Alcohol is a solvent, and it will certainly thin the oil portion of any mix. I have not messed around with just Beeswax and alcohol, but I would not hesitate to try. :hmm: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[sdhunter]

i dont mean to steal your thread but i am new to this game as well and i also hunt in the -20 below weather. i have been using olive oil and was wondering if that would work for the winter weather?

 

[Rat Trapper]

You could try more lube and see what happens. You might find you already have the correct amount figured out then who knows if you don't try. Guns will shoot different with differen lubes and you just have to try one thing at a time until figure it out. Start with your current lube and work out the powder charge and then play with the lube and see if that helps any.

 

[redwing]

At -20 the pines are popping like fire crackers. Even Elk and Moose are moving down the Mtn. I know all this because I am standing in my living room watching the Mtn. I can't move fast enough to pull a Moose hide at -20. Gees at -20 I would use a good permenate anti-freeze. :rotf:

 

[Billnpatti]

I figure -20 deg. is God's way of telling me that that day's hunt is off. I absolutely love to hunt but at -20 deg., my butt is by the fireside and I am sipping a cup of good strong hot coffee so, I have absolutely no idea of what lube works best at that temp. If you are out there hunting when it is that cold, as Rudyard Kipling wrote, "You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din."