NASA Lube from Dan at Bullshop....

[RBak]

Received a pound of NASA Lube from Dan today and I was wondering how you guys use it.

With most patch lubes I just rub a little dab into the patch and set 'em aside....or, I will melt the lube, put a hundred or so patches in to soak then squeeze most of the good stuff out and set 'em aside.

However, since I didn't get instructions from Dan, and since I've never used this before, I was wondering how you guys use it, before I go wasting a bunch of it.

Russ

[Nobade]

I never have tried it on patches, but if you melt it on a double boiler and pour it in your lubrisizer it works great on bullets!

[405]

Actually, I think because it is called blackpowder lube doesn't mean its use is primarily for muzzleloaders. I would imagine most of it is used for blackpowder cartridge where either those bullets are pan lubed or lubed via a lubrisizer. Secondary use could be considered for muzzleloaders. I'd just smear it on the patch like any other thick BP lube. Same would apply to minie balls- just smear it on to fill the grooves.

[405]

RBak,
After letting your question sink in a while I think I understand maybe what the question is. If the NASA is too stiff for your purpose you could take a small quantity and add some oil- vegetable or mineral. Experiment a little until you get the right mix for your application- patch or GG conical. If you are looking for a consistency something like bore butter then you will have to thin the NASA a little. I use something like NASA for my regular grease groove bullets- for both smokeless and BP cartridge- works equally well in both. But for my muzzleloader bullets both grease groove and minie I have to thin it a little with oil so it can be smeared on. You could PM Bullshop and ask him the best oil to add. I'm sure he knows which is most compatible with his NASA formula.

[RBak]

Thanks 405...You did understand the question correctly.

I also shoot BPCR along with my muzzleloaders so it's no big deal really. I do have a good use for the lube as designed.
That plus I intend to try a little dab on a paper patch on its second trip through the sizer for the .501-440

I have known for a long time that Dan sold this stuff, but I always used SPG and had kinda forgotten about Bullshop, that is until it was mentioned by BigTed here recently in regard to shooting the .501 Lee Pistol bullet in a 1:28 from Green Mountain.

Quite often it is "cost efficient"....neat term, no? To ask a few questions before jumping in with both feet...there's darn few places you can go in shooting that some of the old boys from this forum haven't gone before. Asking that question is somewhat synonymous with tippy toeing into deep water.... which can have merit, right?

Thanks again bud, how-a-about we start with a little dab of Mineral Oil and go from there?

BTW: Got any thoughts on MMO (Marvels Mystery Oil) some reports say it defies the conventional wisdom of petroleum with black powder...just never had the nerve to go there yet...at the same time I strongly "doubted" Kroil to clean a mold............what's a feller to do?

Russ

[405]

At least I was on same wave length. :)
Don't know about Marvel- it's interesting stuff. I know if mixed with a solvent it makes a fair to midlin cleaner & lubricant. Another thinning oil that may have merit is the newer type of 2 cycle. In some ways I think Dan's Bullplate lube is similar to some types of hi tech 2 cycle oil. I do know that basic mineral oil (baby oil) works fine for my purposes in both BP and smokeless lubes. It may boil down to what mixes well and doesn't separate out as it cools. I also know that olive oil works well in most lubes. The only reason I started using mineral oil instead of a vegetable oil is that I think the veggy oils turn rancid over time.

I do swab and clean often so may not have the best advice on shooting strings of BP without swabbing where the lube is so important in keeping the fouling soft- whether it be BPCR or ML. Seems everyone has a favorite. One theory is that the lube/fouling needs to be hygroscopic to take advantage of blow tubing between shots- especially in low humidity. Dan may have some ideas on what works best with his NASA.

[RBak]

405..."talked" to Dan by PM, he doesn't have much to offer, but he is watching this thread for whatever bits of information that may show.

Since we are fairly close to being on the "same wave length", perhaps you could explain to me, and the rest of the world, why are shooters, black or smokeless, always trying to re-invent the wheel? (I wouldn't dare ask Dan that same question...LOL)

I have a perfectly good BPCR lube from Bullshop, and here I am trying to do something that the lube was not actually designed for.
There are likely no fewer than hundreds of perfectly good muzzleloading lubes available....and here I am talking about doing something a little different.
Even makes me wonder myself.

Anyway, thanks for chiming in.
Maybe, with a little luck, someone else will jump in, someone with a bit of experience with this very same thing, and they can tell us both where our thinking has gone south....if indeed it has.

Russ

[405]

Nature of the hobby I guess. Curious minds have to know. Constant tinkering. Experimentation- always looking for something a little better and if not better then unique to the individual tinkerer. Heaven knows I have too much lead, too many molds, too many different lubes, too many different powders, too many shooters, etc. :)

Since you have some NASA, wouldn't hurt to take a small quantity, melt it, put in some veg oil, stir, let sit and see how it works, thinned, as a ML lube- both for patches and GG conicals/minies. Then do the same with mineral oil and some of the other candidate oils. I wouldn't doubt at all many if not most of the combinations would work very well in the muzzleloader applications.

[RBak]

....snip....
Since you have some NASA, wouldn't hurt to take a small quantity, melt it, put in some veg oil, stir, let sit and see how it works, thinned, as a ML lube- both for patches and GG conicals/minies. Then do the same with mineral oil and some of the other candidate oils. I wouldn't doubt at all many if not most of the combinations would work very well in the muzzleloader applications.

I will do just that, and I will report back.
Dan is a good man, a good Christian, and a faithful and dedicated member of this forum. I will be doing this as much for him as for myself....well almost as much, I will still have an interest...LOL

Anyway, Thanks a bunch.

BTW: I agree with you on the many reasons of why we do this.

Russ...

[cajun shooter]

I have used NASA a long time as a bullet lube. I use it for all my bullets. I shoot a 50 cal T/C percussion that I use Bore Butter on the patches as a tube goes a long way. No need to use my NASA. BullShop would be the one to give the answer though.

[Bullshop]

First thanks for your support Gentlemen!
Now if I actually found time to experiment in the field of patch lube starting with NASA as a base I think what I would start with as an additive would be water soluble mineral oil. That will be the trick to help with hydration.
I have done a simple test to see if equal parts of Bullplate, and WS mineral oil, and water would blend without separating and they did. May be just the ticket!
Have fun!