Rendered deer fat as patch lube

[Col. Batguano]

Has anyone made some and tried using it? We hear about bear fat a fair amount, but more people shoot deer than bear. Just wondering about trying it.

 

[Ames]

Well................bear fat would be H.C. as a lube. Bear and deer fat go rancid if you don't work fast on at least freezing it if you don't have the time right away to cook it down. . Not that you were going to eat it.
But for all the work, as much or as little one may see it as, if I were not going for the H.C. bear fat I would just use lard. Somebody else's labor and easy to find in a tub.

 

[renegadehunter]

I've read of people rendering it and saying it works fine mixed with some bees wax, but haven't ever tried it myself.
I had it in mind this year to do just for the fun of it, but the buck I shot at the tail end of the rut had run himself dang neared to death and hardly had a skim of fat left on him.

 

[nbogan]

I rendered some down this fall from my doe. It comes out very white and hard when cooled. I mixed up a batch of lube 2:1 tallow and vegetable oil. It seems to work pretty well. It is still hard but you can easily get a small amount on a patch by just swiping it. Don't know how it will do in warmer weather but i think it will be ok. It fouls a little more then moose milk but i can still shoot most of a shooting match without having an issue. Also works well to wipe down the rifle after cleaning.

 

[Walkingeagle]

Rendered down the fat from a nice mule buck likely 15 years ago. Got lots of jars off him. Still have one left in fact. Tried it mixed 2:1 with olive oil and worked ok. Mink oil was easier, or just plain olive oil for hunting until I got a fat fall bear to render into a dozen jars. Bear oil is awesome patch lube!
Walk

 

[Winchester97]

I use it mixed with beeswax and olive oil for maxi ball lube, but found wetter lubes to work better for my patches.

 

[bluemule66]

Works great for lubing up the old fiber wads I have for my shotguns. Just started using it for patch and bullet lube. Seems to work ok so far. Melt it down and pour on the wads to soak. I didn’t mix with anything for patch and bullets. It was about 34 degrees when we were shooting, it was stiff but soft enough to use.

 

[fire bear]

I use it mixed 1:1 with crisco as a lube for my REAL and TC maxi balls; I heat and dip. I also use it strait over the bullets or balls of my black powder revolvers. I use olive oil for my patches, was going to try rendered racoon fat this year but did'nt get that project done. Being mountain grown I've been around deer tallow all my life; if you have some try it as a moisturizer on your hands and feet, you'll like it.

 

[Winchester97]

I use it mixed 1:1 with crisco as a lube for my REAL and TC maxi balls; I heat and dip. I also use it strait over the bullets or balls of my black powder revolvers. I use olive oil for my patches, was going to try rendered racoon fat this year but did'nt get that project done. Being mountain grown I've been around deer tallow all my life; if you have some try it as a moisturizer on your hands and feet, you'll like it.

I tried the rendered **** oil, it worked great for patch lube, but then discovered olive oil delivered the same results.....and smelled much better, so I stick with it.

 

[kytrapper]

Never tried for patch lube but have rendered deer tallow. Tallow historically was used for candles or mixed with bees wax for better candles... Need a light ???

As others have stated it will yield a hard white wax like product when rendered so impurities sink out of it. Bear fat renders a softer more lard like product...( need another to learn how to get it to an oil). Fats from ***** and possum will render a similar creamy type product that is much more suitable for saturated grease patch. The trick is slow rendering and refinement to get impurities and odors reduced to negligible levels. This limits my limited knowledge, Hope it helps fill in some gaps...

Respectfully

 

[Tim-Ohio]

Talk to me about the rendering process. I'm assuming its basically cooking it down to remove the excess moisture and then adding something like bees wax to solidify? Never done it but sounds like it would be fun to try just for the experience.

 

[rickystl]

Back in the 1970's I used to carry an empty shoe polish tin with the deer tallow. As I recall, it seemed to work well. It didn't dissolve in hot weather, and still stayed usable in cold weather.

Rick

 

[Col. Batguano]

So for the process you just put it in a pot and melt it down over the stove? When dressing out a deer (or any critter for that matter) there is always going to be blood and other stuff in there other than just the fat. That stuff sinks out (or boils away)?

Of COURSE commercially available products are going to be more economical for the small amounts that we use, but for the HC/PC and educational aspect of it, (which is what ML'ing is all about in the first place) it would be fun to do "just because".

 

[artrepro]

Sure have, last deer I killed on Spence10 farm, some of the fat became tallow. Or maybe not, I remember the two of us shooting our smoothies with wads soaked in deer tallow. It was a hot day and after a while the tallow turned back into a liquid. My smoothie is still protected by rubbing it once a year with that same tallow. Still have a small tin left of it.

I have also used it for patch lube.

chuck40219

 

[hunter thompson]

You know what...Being on here i read about deer fat rendering...I get 2 deer a year and id get about a 3 gallon bucket filled up with it.SO I always was buying t/c bore butter 6.00 a whack...HMMM i used the turkey fryer and a old pan and slowly melted all the pieces of fat together.After it was cool ,it was way to hard...I HAD nothing to loose and re-heated it and added Murphys oil soap and when it started to cool added some rubbing alcohol stirred it up..Wow great stuff.