Question about deer tallow.

[rabjr]

Ok, I got 20 lbs of fat from the big Doe I just got and more from another today. Started rendering the fat. Was wondering if anyone blends anything else or if it is worth it to with it? Reason I ask is, I also render bear oil and generally mix it with beeswax for a lube. Got to thinking that maybe I could replace the beeswax with this deer tallow come up with my own blend? Or is these two not compatible for some reason I'm not aware of?

 

[boar]

I don't add anything to mine. It don't run at 90% out. Just gets soft. You could add beeswax to make a stiff lube. I like it. Killed one deer this year with it and going in morning. I use it on my patches. Dilly

 

[rabjr]

I was wondering about a blend of bear oil and deer tallow and do away with the beeswax. I make bear grease now for my patch lube and am very happy with the performance. Deer tallow is new to me, thought I'd try it having so much fat on the deer I got. Just got to thinking maybe I could substitute the tallow for the beeswax.

 

[rice1817]

Swamp Rat:

I have tried the deer tallow and bear grease. This is how I used up my bear grease that went rancid on me. It works fine as a patch lube, but lacks the "stickiness" of the beewax that you look for if lubing conicals or mini-balls. It seems to be a little more runny than I like in hot weather, but that is probably the proportions that I used.

Personnaly, I would not waste valuable bear grease by blending it with the tallow. The tallow mixed with olive oil yields the same basic product, leaving your bear grease for more valuable purposes!

 

[rabjr]

Thanks La Longue Carabine thats what I was looking for. I'll save them separate.

 

[BrownBear]

I keep my tallow plain, then mix it as needed. Half and half with olive oil gives you something about like soft vaseline or bore butter at room temp, but it melts instantly when you get it on your hands. Two parts tallow to one part olive oil gives you something about the texture of moose snot at room temp. It melts when warmed up much, but not as quick as the half and half. I prelube patches with the 1:1 version, but use the 2:1 on dry patches I cut at the bore.

 

[rabjr]

Thanks for the info BrownBear. I'm on my 3rd day of rendering it lol, I got a pile of it. Not sure exactly what I'm going to do with it, figured I might put it up in blocks and stick it in the freezer till I do. I will try some as a patch lube this coming year though to check it out. :thumbsup:

 

[gmww]

I made some deer tallow a couple of months ago. It's pretty hard at room temp. as you probably figured out. I haven't attempted to store it in any special way and it has not shown any signs of going bad.

You may not need to freeze it.

 

[rabjr]

Ended up with a lot of it. :haha: Roy's father asked if I could part with some so I found the perfect container to put some in. I'll havta get some more these tins. Holds just about 3 1/2 lbs of tallow, should last him a while. :thumbsup:

 

[gmww]

Wow you sure went to town with that!

 

[Roy]

That should last him .... er... out last him :haha: :thumbsup:

 

[rabjr]

I'll get that in the mail probably the end of the week Roy. :thumbsup:

I ended up with just about 10 lbs of rendered tallow from that one deer.

 

[gmww]

You ended up with 10 lbs. from 20 lbs. to start with? Wow. How long did it take you? My little experiment was with just a little bit of fat took me 1/2 a day.

I think I got about 30 lbs. in the freezer to still do. :shocked2:

 

[rabjr]

With the kettle I used and hot plate, I rendered for 4 days lol. I started it when I got up and would turn it off before going to bed and strain the fat. Wake up next morning with a layer of tallow which I took out and started the process over again. Once it all was done, I remelted it and ran it all through some cheese cloth, filled whatever containers I could find lol. Heres some in an ice cream container. Used a couple peanut butter jars and another jar. But I really like that tin I had and want to get more. :haha:

 

[boar]

Wow, you have a bunch. You will be set for quite a while. Stick it in freezer. Get it out when you need some. Good stuff. Dilly

 

[gmww]

Thanks, we will have to exchange Lube mixing recipies for deer Tallow. I'm going to try the 2:1 mix with olive oil to start.

Coconut oil might be tried if this doesn't work. :thumbsup:

 

[rabjr]

Yep I figured on tryin the 2:1 mix with olive oil on a small sample, see how that is.

 

[rabjr]

I went to get the olive oil and was promptly notified that it expensive and not to waste it. :shocked2: Who knew! :haha:

I made a tin of 2:1 and like how it feels, it is pretty slick but I wonder though what halving the olive oil again would be like. :hmm:

 

[gmww]

As an experiment I went the opposite route just to see what would happen. At first I thought I'd end up with a liquid. I had heated both up together in a microwave and stirred. It was just short of a 2:1 Oil:tallow mix.

I then put the mix in smaller containers and into the refrigerator for a few minutes. It solidified. Thinking it was basically because of the cold temp. I let them sit on the kitchen counter. Now at room temp. the mix is yellowish like the Olive oil but it is of the consistency of mash potatoes.

I'm thinking this might be worth using for cold weather shooting as a lubed patch mix. Hopefully, I can get some time to go to the range soon. Been pretty busy. Business has been too good lately.

 

[rabjr]

This 2:1 tallow/olive oil mix is probably what I'll end up trying but I just have to see what 3:1 mix looks and feels like.