Bore Butter

[GOPHER SLAYER]

How many mink do I have to squeeze to get enough oil to make up a batch of lube? I have plenty of bees wax. Come to think of it, What is mink oil?

[Bob in St. Louis]

Bob in St. L, This one is effective and easy to make (and you can substitute canola, olive, or peanut oil for the castor oil): https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/t...e-snot.105258/

One minor caution, which I recently discovered: Patches coated with Stumpy's or with Bore Butter or its clones, deteriorate over time. Just sayin'....

I'll check out that link, thank you!

[fastdadio]

How many mink do I have to squeeze to get enough oil to make up a batch of lube? I have plenty of bees wax. Come to think of it, What is mink oil?

It's the oil most commonly used for squeaky minks.

[yeahbub]

I wonder, has anyone tried to synthesize sperm whale oil for patch lube? I read great things about it, but the last commercial availability was as automatic transmission fluid when they first started to become available. I'm going to have to try that neatsfoot oil/beeswax mix.

I use Bore Butter, mostly because it's there and easy and won't contaminate the powder charge when hunting, but I NEVER considered a marathon shooting stretch to see how many I could load. The third ball down the bore was warning enough that it wouldn't be fun. I suppose at some point, the fouling would reach an equilibrium point between the amount left behind and what's ejected and loading would get no more difficult, but I have no interest in torturous frustration. It works okay for the few rounds I need it for - good enough. Good accuracy too, but the strike point is 3" higher at 100 yards than with water-bearing patch lubes. I don't trust it to protect the bore from rust for more than the length of the hunting season. For long term storage, I use LPS-3, which provides a 2-year corrosion protection on bare metal in a stable environment. I've used it for years after seeing its effectiveness when I was a machinist. It goes on as a liquid and leaves behind a soft petroleum wax which is easily removed before shooting, if you care to do so. It's a wax, so it doesn't have that turn-to-asphalt effect with BP. I just load and shoot and haven't noticed any negative affect on accuracy.

When cleaning, I remove the clean-out screw and suck hot tap water with a drop of Dawn up into the barrel with the patched rod like a syringe plunger, thus flushing out the flash channel and cleaning the bore. This is followed by a boiling water flush with a funnel down the bore to get the steel hot, followed by two patches to wipe/dry the bore and blow out any water left behind. While the steel is hot, breech, screw and cone threads are anointed with paraffin, and the clean-out screw and cone are screwed back in while the paraffin is liquid and a few strokes with the rod to blow out any excess paraffin. When solid at room temperature, this provides a thread-filling sealant/anti-seize material to prevent fouling getting into and rusting the threads. Anyone who's had to take out a screw that hasn't been removed in years of shooting will know why this is a good idea. Should removal become necessary, they'll come out without resistance. The outside of the barrel is stroked with the block of paraffin so it melts in and saturates the finish (rust brown) and fills dovetails, under-rib joint and other spaces where water can hide when hunting in bad weather. Once cool, I re-assemble and stroke the bore with a patch wet (not sloppy) with LPS-3 and rust will not be a problem. Boeshield is a similar product containing lanolin which I hear good things about, but I haven't run out of LPS-3 yet.

[winelover]

I know most don't want to hear it, but if you used Pyrodex, you would get more than 3 shots before loading becomes hard. I get more than ten, using Pyrodex "P" in my front stuffers.

Winelover.

[idahoron]

I know most don't want to hear it, but if you used Pyrodex, you would get more than 3 shots before loading becomes hard. I get more than ten, using Pyrodex "P" in my front stuffers.

Winelover.

I clean between shots but I tortured tested my guns. Load and shoot load and shoot.

https://youtu.be/su-1Ql-Nhtk

[Edward]

I wonder, has anyone tried to synthesize sperm whale oil for patch lube? I read great things about it, but the last commercial availability was as automatic transmission fluid when they first started to become available. I'm going to have to try that neatsfoot oil/beeswax mix.

I use Bore Butter, mostly because it's there and easy and won't contaminate the powder charge when hunting, but I NEVER considered a marathon shooting stretch to see how many I could load. The third ball down the bore was warning enough that it wouldn't be fun. I suppose at some point, the fouling would reach an equilibrium point between the amount left behind and what's ejected and loading would get no more difficult, but I have no interest in torturous frustration. It works okay for the few rounds I need it for - good enough. Good accuracy too, but the strike point is 3" higher at 100 yards than with water-bearing patch lubes. I don't trust it to protect the bore from rust for more than the length of the hunting season. For long term storage, I use LPS-3, which provides a 2-year corrosion protection on bare metal in a stable environment. I've used it for years after seeing its effectiveness when I was a machinist. It goes on as a liquid and leaves behind a soft petroleum wax which is easily removed before shooting, if you care to do so. It's a wax, so it doesn't have that turn-to-asphalt effect with BP. I just load and shoot and haven't noticed any negative affect on accuracy.

When cleaning, I remove the clean-out screw and suck hot tap water with a drop of Dawn up into the barrel with the patched rod like a syringe plunger, thus flushing out the flash channel and cleaning the bore. This is followed by a boiling water flush with a funnel down the bore to get the steel hot, followed by two patches to wipe/dry the bore and blow out any water left behind. While the steel is hot, breech, screw and cone threads are anointed with paraffin, and the clean-out screw and cone are screwed back in while the paraffin is liquid and a few strokes with the rod to blow out any excess paraffin. When solid at room temperature, this provides a thread-filling sealant/anti-seize material to prevent fouling getting into and rusting the threads. Anyone who's had to take out a screw that hasn't been removed in years of shooting will know why this is a good idea. Should removal become necessary, they'll come out without resistance. The outside of the barrel is stroked with the block of paraffin so it melts in and saturates the finish (rust brown) and fills dovetails, under-rib joint and other spaces where water can hide when hunting in bad weather. Once cool, I re-assemble and stroke the bore with a patch wet (not sloppy) with LPS-3 and rust will not be a problem. Boeshield is a similar product containing lanolin which I hear good things about, but I haven't run out of LPS-3 yet.

I use bear oil but have used neatsfoot with great results ! Note ,no where did I mention bees wax for patch lube ,that"s for boolits with grooves . At least in my guns/Ed

[Bob in St. Louis]

I clean between shots but I tortured tested my guns. Load and shoot load and shoot.

https://youtu.be/su-1Ql-Nhtk

Great video, thank you!
So.. the wool wad with BB on it, that's not something I've used or thought of. That, in and of itself, should help keep things firing almost infinitely, right?
I mean that's all you really need. Because you're cleaning and lubing as you push it down the barrel. I was blown away at the fact the rod "fell down" like it did, as I've got to shove mine even on the first round. I saw in your comments it's a .45. Is a round ball? What size ball? and what ticking do you use?
Good stuff man, thank you very much!
Bob

[smoked turkey]

Ron, that is a great video, and one that shows what can be done by a man experienced with his muzzleloader, and the load. I have seen enough of your videos, and pictures of the game you and your son have taken to know that this stuff works for you, and works well. Your "secret" I believe is your knowledge of your weapon and load. There are no smoke and mirrors here. Just the facts. Thanks for all you do to advance the art of hunting with a muzzleloader.

[idahoron]

Great video, thank you!
So.. the wool wad with BB on it, that's not something I've used or thought of. That, in and of itself, should help keep things firing almost infinitely, right?
I mean that's all you really need. Because you're cleaning and lubing as you push it down the barrel. I was blown away at the fact the rod "fell down" like it did, as I've got to shove mine even on the first round. I saw in your comments it's a .45. Is a round ball? What size ball? and what ticking do you use?
Good stuff man, thank you very much!
Bob

I was using a RCBS 11mm rifle bullet paper patched and sized in my 45.

[idahoron]

Ron, that is a great video, and one that shows what can be done by a man experienced with his muzzleloader, and the load. I have seen enough of your videos, and pictures of the game you and your son have taken to know that this stuff works for you, and works well. Your "secret" I believe is your knowledge of your weapon and load. There are no smoke and mirrors here. Just the facts. Thanks for all you do to advance the art of hunting with a muzzleloader.

I am glad you liked it.

[Bob in St. Louis]

I was using a RCBS 11mm rifle bullet paper patched and sized in my 45.

Thank you Sir.

[Eddie2002]

I've been using BB for a few years now with my .50 caliber front stuffers with BP and have found that it seems to work best when the patch gets a thin coating of BB and then a shot of spit or water rubbed in the patch also. I have been able to shoot 25 or 30 shots before needing a quick swabbing to remove the crud ring. Even then a wetter patch will remove the crud ring most of the time. Too much BB with not enough spit causes the crud to build up faster and my patches are on the wet side, not damp. The yellow BB in the tube is a pain in cold weather while the green BB works great but turns runny when it gets hot. I don't use it for storage, have had a couple of barrels start rusting after only a week after using BB for storage. Been thinking about making my own lube but haven't got the proportions right yet. Guess I'm a bit lazy and like the fact it comes in a tube.

[T-Bird]

I like bore butter for patch lube. I've used it since it came out, before that I used crisco. This was before all this other stuff was available. I would never use it to prevent rust etc. I clean with soap and water then finish with oil. Works for me.

[quilbilly]

There is a replacement for sperm oil that NASA used at one time because, as I understand it, it could be used in space or at any extremely low minus temperatures. It is ratfish liver oil. I used to know the guy who made it and sold it in tiny quantities. He bought the fish from local PacNW trawlers and set the livers (very large for a rather small ancient sharklike fish) out in the sun where the oil would just spill out. There were guys who hunted in winter in the Arctic back then who loved it. For the record - this trivia isn't even good to impress anyone at cocktail parties.

[DeadWoodDan]

Just wanted to share something that happened to me in my youth. Dad gave me his Stevens 12ga side by side (anniversary present from mom) for x-mas after they divorced. It sat under my .50cal later that summer after a shooting session I cleaned just like the T/C manual said ( or I think ); hot water and then season the bore with BB. I must have applied it on outside also, only thing I can think of is the BB melted (we didn't have AC) and a couple of spots had landed on the Stevens. Next time I went to grab on of the guns and found the top of the Stevens had blueing removed! Bad enough I had to have it re-blued.
Stoped using it after that...but never did hurt the T/C