Pre-Lubing patches with mink oil

[dkasprzak]

This is my first year to use TOTW’s mink oil as patch lube in conjunction with “speed loaders” when hunting…..I’m curious about what others do with their patches and mink oil. Do you pre-lube a few or do you only lube when loading the gun? I’ve got two “speed loaders” I loaded two weeks ago and it may be a couple more weeks before I hunt again. Should I toss the patches or go with them?

Thanks in advance….Dave

 

[bluemule66]

you should be fine. mink oil isn't going to break down, and the patch material isn't going to rot away that quick.

 

[Bassdog1]

I keep a few lubed up all the time. I shoot quite a bit so keeping fifty or so pre-lubed is never a problem. I have 45 cal patches that are lubed for 4 or 5 months at a time with no issues.

 

[hanshi]

I pre-lube patches with mink oil and they last just fine.

 

[Heelerau]

I cut patch material into a strip and hang it of my bags strap, pre lubed, gives the grease a chance to soak in. Over a greater length of time pre lubed patches in a speed loader will dry out, you might just have to re grease them, but thats after 6 months or more.

 

[Wolfmanjack]

I don’t know about mink oil but a mix of beeswax and olive oil severely weakened my pillow ticking pre lubed patches to the point of failure.

 

[renegadehunter]

I try to always lube patches a few days before I'm going to use them but have had several occasions where I made some up for hunting season and then they sat for 2-4 months before I went to the range and actually used them. (keep your comments about my hunting success to yourself! )
I've not seen any issues with patches lubed with mink oil as of yet. My groups are the same and recovered patches look the same.
I do keep mine in an old cap tin though, they are not as exposed to the air as ones in a loading block would be.
I'm a testing kind of fella. For peace of mind, you could lube up some fresh patches for your loading block before you go out in a couple of weeks. But I'd set those old patches aside somewhere, out in the open air, and at a later date when I had a chance I'd load them up and shoot them.
You'll know for absolute certain for similar situations in the future.
I'd wager bacon wrapped backstraps that they'll shoot just fine.
Due to my afore mentioned hunting prowess, I'll need the loan of some back straps if I lose the bet.

 

[flconch53]

Living in Florida I just put some cut patches and lube in a tin and let the sun do the work. Don't overthink it. Instead of liquid vegetable oil try Crisco if the excess liquid worries you

 

[dave951]

You can get mink oil from about any shoe store. I keep lubed patches ready to take to the range in an old musket cap tin. The key is to figure out just how much is enough. Even so, I don't use mink oil in a load that will stay loaded for any length of time as it can contaminate the powder charge. In that case, I use a cork wad over the powder. It doesn't change the accuracy but does allow it to stay loaded for a while before shooting without losing accuracy.

 

[mushka]

I do all my shooting at targets now, not able to hunt as much. I use an ammo can for the range and have everything in the can except powder and range rod. I use totw mink oil to lube patches and keep them in an old CCI plastic .22 lr cartridge box that stays in the box. Sometimes for months at a time without being used and the patches stay good to use. Also use the CCI or Remington cap tins. They will hold about 15 or 18 lubed patches, and they too last a long time with the totw lube.

 

[SDSmlf]

You can get mink oil from about any shoe store.

Have you ever checked out what’s in the ‘shoe store mink oil’? Is mink oil even the main ingredient? If it works for you great, but it’s basically shoe polish with a some mink oil in it, not the pure mink oil places like TOW sell.

 

[Grimord]

The clear plastic containers that tethered ear pugs come in make good lubed patch containers. They seal well, and the cap is attached so you don't lose it.