Problems with "Bore Butter"

[jambuster]

Ok so I regularly read that somebody on these forums doesn't like "Bore Butter" for some reason or another. What I'm curious about is what is it you don't like . I have used it as a patch lube , conical bullet lube and to wipe the bore down and have had no issues. I don't use it for long term storage but it might work for ths . What's the rub and what are your experiences?

 

[deermanok]

I've used bore butter/wonder lube.
Never had any problems either.

 

[ADK Bigfoot]

I have used Bore Butter, Natualube 1000, etc for many years. I don't know what all the fuss is about either. I have bought shooting patches pre-lubed with the stuff, and have no issues. I have used it to lube my home made patches as well. It cleans right up with hot soapy water and I have used it to coat the barrel after cleaning (inside and out.) No issues. I do swab between shots (one damp, one dry) to maintain a consistent bore condition.

ADK Bigfoot

 

[Grimord]

My only complaint with bore butter ,well actually two complaints, first the stuff gets real hard in cold weather, and second, it tends to harden in the grooves of the rifling especially towards the muzzle end. I had to use a brush to get the stuff out.

 

[Paul Nelson]

The only issue I’ve had is in the winter it gets hard. I had to knead the tube to soften it up

 

[Doc]

Ok so I regularly read that somebody on these forums doesn't like "Bore Butter" for some reason or another. What I'm curious about is what is it you don't like . I have used it as a patch lube , conical bullet lube and to wipe the bore down and have had no issues. I don't use it for long term storage but it might work for ths . What's the rub and what are your experiences?

I understand that Bore Butter is very popular, it also comes on pre-lubed patches. The problem comes out west and south west in dry conditions. About 90% of our shooting is done at large ranches on trail walks shooting over dry grass small twigs and such. Grease patches such as Bore Butter, tallow, can and have caused fires. At any shooters meeting out here you will hear.
“absolutely no grease patches allowed“
I am sure at times everyone has seen smoldering patches. We use either water soluble oil or plenty of spit .
Doc,

 

[tenngun]

The problems I see
1) you can make your own cheaper
2) sorta stinks
3) it turns brown in the bore, not a good preservative for iron
4) some one makes it and so we can bitch about it. What else can make grumpy old men happy.
5) Plastic tube
6) hard to be elitist with stuff sold at wal mart
It works, is it the best? No
Can you do better? Maybe. Ml are forgiving and Jack’s secret concoction works better at least for Jack, but Toms works better for Tom
Use it, try some other stuff or not, it’s all part of the game. I used to use it, don’t any more

 

[The Crisco Kid]

I've tried the various "wonder lubes" and for shooting at a match I always end up going back to plain old spit. It loads easier and for more shots. In fact, the only time I wipe the bore is between relays. Fouling sets up real hard real fast in the high temperatures and low humidity. For hunting, which I haven't done in a long while, I'd use Crisco. For long term storage I've had good success with Rig in damp and humid places.

 

[jambuster]

For you guys out west and other places it's cold and dry you should know i live in West Tennessee and the humidity is high and we don't have very cold winters. I have noticed that tubes of bore butter get hard when it is down near freezing but I can usually squeeze the tube enough to use the butter. So I can see that your location does make a difference in your results . Maybe not a reason to hate it but a reason to have an alternative.

PS : I am also a Grumpy Old Man

 

[SulphurForkVagrant]

I like bore butter simply for the nostalgia from when I was a kid. The mountain man picture on the tube, the smell. Rushing home from school in October to grab my rifle and crawl through the barbed wire fence to go chase down the deer on the Davis’ 40 acres…. Man the good ol days. But now, actually using it and knowing some things, it’s actually pretty terrible. Mostly due to the build up. It gets impossible to clean a bore and accuracy diminishes swiftly. Just my two cents.

 

[bubba.50]

Works fine for me. Loading the next maxi-ball scrapes the crud from the last so no wiping needed. And when yer done shootin' clean-up's a breeze with a bucket of warm water & a few drops of Dawn. But I don't use it for storage. I use a lightly oiled patch for that.

 

[Hatchet-Jack]

That it's just repackaged chapstick! Read this old post on the history of bore butter it's hilarious!

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/bore-butter.133762/post-1866971

 

[Darkhorse]

I have used a lot of bore butter in the past, not so much anymore. What I don't like is the way it season's the bore. Meaning it leaves a brownish deposit and each subsequent shot it just bakes on a new layer. After enough is baked on you can no longer clean down to the metal with soap and water, your patches just keep coming out streaked with this brownish/greenish crud. I like to see a clean patch when I'm finished cleaning my rifles and I was no longer seeing one.
The only way I found to get it out was to use a couple of patches wet with brake cleaner followed by clean dry patches. The problem here is if your sloppy and get it on the finish it might remove it. But it will clean the gunk out.
What I do like is it will not leave a rust ring if left loaded for the whole deer season. I no longer use it for casual shooting but I do for deer hunting.
My first shot is with a bore butter lubed patch and ball because my rifle is sighted in for a hunting load lubed with bore butter. I don't worry about it rusting my bore like some lubes will. If I fire a shot while hunting I clean and dry the bore then load a fresh hunting load.
There are better lubes out there for casual shooting. LeHigh Valley was my favorite but it seems to be off the market now. Mr. Flintlocks is nearly or equally as good if you can find it. The trouble with this type lube is it will dry out leave a rust ring down the bore right where the ball was sitting. But if you clean your rifle ASAP after shooting, as you should, those lubes will give good service.

 

[renegadehunter]

I also find it hard to get out of the bore. I started out with BB pre-lubed patches from the store as well as a tube of Natural Loob 1000. It seems to cook into a very hard crust and requires a bunch of scrubbing with a brush to get out, and I still couldn't ever get completely clean patches. I did have groups that were okay with it. And I should also say that my cleaning did seem to neutralize the BP fouling because even though patches were never completely clean I also didn't have any rust problems. I use an oil based rust preventative and when I went to swab that back out to shoot again the patch was very dirty because the oil would break down some of the BB crust that I couldn't get out. I also found pre-lubed store bought patches to be a gamble, some would yield decent groups and others would blow apart and yield terrible groups (sat on shelf a long time).
Once I stopped using it completely it was probably another 8-10 shooting and cleaning sessions before I could easily get clean patches after the bucket of water with a couple drops of dish soap cleaning method. All of it had finally released from the bore.
Being in the Pacific Northwest I also see a wide range of temps and much prefer some other lubes like Mink oil, Frontier's, or Dutch S. style castor oil/denatured alcohol. I lube patches ahead of time and don't care to use them if they get much over 12 months old. The castor oil / denatured alcohol patches break down very fast, within about 2-3 months. Mainly why I rarely use them unless just going to the range. Lubing patches ahead of time means I never had to worry about the BB getting so hard it wouldn't come out of the tube, but the lubed patches did get very stiff and almost brittle feeling if it was real cold.
I'm not the type to get decent results with something and then never change anything again. I like to experiment. This has lead me to find lubes that I prefer much more.
We all live in different parts of the country and even the world. This means a different range of temps and different humidity levels. Makes perfect sense that some find it fine and some don't. Perhaps the cooked on stuff I experienced is because we have such low humidity here and others in high humidity don't see this happen?

 

[Ian Straus]

The only issue I’ve had is in the winter it gets hard. I had to knead the tube to soften it up

I just put it in my pocket next to my leg, and it's war enough in winter.

 

[Boston Bill]

My only complaint with bore butter ,well actually two complaints, first the stuff gets real hard in cold weather, and second, it tends to harden in the grooves of the rifling especially towards the muzzle end. I had to use a brush to get the stuff out.

In cold weather I leave the tube in my right front pocket, that problem was solved.
I use revolvers and have not had the problem with hardening in the grooves.
Love that stuff, have never had a problem with it.

 

[Stykbow]

I had some, so I’ve been using it. No complaints from me. When I run out I may try something else, but not because I don’t like the bore butter.

 

[SDSmlf]

Personally love Borebutter, but rarely use it in my own guns. I have picked up a number of guns for next nothing because they were ‘shot out’ according to the previous owners. Common denominator, they only used with Borebutter and/or well seasoned the bore with the stuff before it was shot out. After a good cleaning with boiling water and a bronze brush to remove the Borebutter gunk/seasoning, I have found good bores in more than than half. The others that are rotted out with corrosion are scheduled for a ride to Mr. Hoyt. Better than 60/40 Borebutter crud vs corrosion in shot out barrels I have received. Have over half a dozen tubes of the BB stuff that I received with the guns when I acquired them. Will save it for lip protection when I go hunting up north or maybe donate as blanket items at a future shoot.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

I use it and no issues. Use the pre lubed patches too.

 

[Daveboone]

I used to use Hoppes black powder solvent/lube for patch lube, but didnt like how it dried out in my preloads. This year I went to Bore Butter. I have shot about 300 rounds this summer with it, usually in about 1`2 shot groups. I like that the patches dont dry out. I have had no problem whatsoever with accumulations in the barrel or in cleaning it out. I do not leave it in the barrel. Next year I may experiment some more, but I cant complain with what experience I have had.
After cleaning I use Barricade or Remoil.