Best Lube For Patched Ball In T/C Hawken

[T-Bird]

I buy pork fat at the meat market for sausage making. Anyone use that? How is the best way to render? I know that's lard but would like to make my own for S+G.

[John Boy]

The “best” was Lehigh Valley Lube & Solvent but it is no longer available because I bought the last 14 spray bottles that the only vendor in the US had. Why? Because the patented Lube was discontinued

[waksupi]

Save your bear oil for cooking. When I spent a summer experimenting with various lubes, bear oil fouled out fairly quickly.

The one that surprised me most was whale oil. I had seen it mentioned fairly often in old journals. It fouled VERY quickly, with a hard crusty residue. Probably okay for hunting, not not an afternoon of play.

Vaseline hand lotion worked fairly well as far as fouling, however accuracy was lacking.

I tried the old style Goop hand cleaner, without the abrasive stuff in it, shot reasonably clean, but once again accuracy was not there.

Moose milk is still the king in my opinion. For winter use, mix it using winter blend windshield washer fluid.

Keep in mind I'm in a very dry climate, so different conditions could work entirely different for you.

[GBertolet]

I am a fair weather BP shooter. I mostly shoot modern firearms, shooting BP now, for a temporary change of pace. Being so, I load and shoot right away at the range. I just mixed up some moose milk to try, at the recommended 7 to 1 ratio, and soaked some patches. They are drying out now. I am also going to soak some patches with Hoppes BP lube/solvent to try. I hate lubing patches at the range. Pre lubing the patches is more desirable, and less messy also.

[indian joe]

I am a fair weather BP shooter. I mostly shoot modern firearms, shooting BP now, for a temporary change of pace. Being so, I load and shoot right away at the range. I just mixed up some moose milk to try, at the recommended 7 to 1 ratio, and soaked some patches. They are drying out now. I am also going to soak some patches with Hoppes BP lube/solvent to try. I hate lubing patches at the range. Pre lubing the patches is more desirable, and less messy also.

I make my moose milk 1:5. soak the patches in a cap tin or scrounge a screw top container from your wife's makeup drawer - take the WET patch out dab it on my pants leg so its damp but not drippy wet, load and shoot - continue until the shoot day is finished, if the bore gets a bit tight you drying the patches too much. Dried out patches can work but if you load heavy they much more likely to burn/blowout.

[Edward]

A damp bear/coon oil lubed patch ,bear preferred (no Oder long term)over a felt wad and under the the patched ball . Works hunting or target year round (for me) Ed

[sharps4590]

Any of about a thousand different ones will work. Find the one you and your rifle like best and that's the best one. Generally I use Bore Butter and it works fine as my match shooting days are over. I have and do still occasionally use various bees wax based lubes with some natural oil or tallow. They all work good as well.

[rfd]

this "best" thing crops up all the time about too many things. there is no such thing as a "best" of anything with regards to Everyone. whatever appears to work "best" for YOU, will surely be, well, best for you.

how do you know what is best for you?

easy, find out what variations there are and then - okay, here's the secret! - try as money as possible to see for yerself. doh.

[quilbilly]

I used old fashion Crisco for many years and it worked fine. If I was hunting in hot weather, I added some bees wax. Butter flavor Crisco taste better in camp but I believe it has some salt in it so I just bake with it. Then somehow a few years back I acquired or was given a whole lot of the 1000 Lube which I believe is the same as the Bore Butter. That has worked fine for me also and I don't have to add beeswax for hot weather.

[indian joe]

Seems to be many fair weather B/P shooters posting. As read the use of one patch lube through-out the seasons.~~ Really?
Not in the cards for me. I'll try everything once except for those stinky patch lubes laced with wintergreen. Ish!

Got no bear or deer tallow here. {dogs ate it as quick as it fell into their bowls.) Although I did rendered a small ham of its fat lately. Found such patching grease remarkably pleasing to the nostrils and noticed barrels fouling? >stayed soft. Although not the best for use in cold weather lard isn't.

one patch lube YES REALLY!

This (best patch lube?) is a question really not worth asking - ask enough shooters and you gonna get as many answers as there are lube concoctions out there.
(I agree with ya on the horse liniment deal by the way)

They all gonna swear black and blue that their favourite concoction is the best and only one

However if you are shooting competition, sitting, kneeling or offhand, and you can gain ANYTHING by wiping between shots - there is still some things you can learn about lubes. whether you want to or not is a moot point - it dont matter - but if it is necessary to swab the barrel anywhere in a competition string - that lube is disqualified from "best lube" class

oh - ps - we dont have any bears an mooses downunder - it dont snow - well hardly at all - if it gets anyways cold most sensible aussies will be found sitting round a fire (sometimes with a cold beer which makes absolutely no sense at all), we generally dont shoot front loaders in mid summer in case we set the place alight, so --- fair weather maybe ?

[triggerhappy243]

does anyone have real first hand knowledge of what is really in frontiers patch lube? I have my suspicions.

[stubshaft]

The “best” was Lehigh Valley Lube & Solvent but it is no longer available because I bought the last 14 spray bottles that the only vendor in the US had. Why? Because the patented Lube was discontinued

I must've gotten the last 5 bottles before you. A lot of things will work as lubes and I have had good luck with plain Jojoba oil on a patch and various home grown concoctions. Unfortunately Lehigh Valley gave me the most consistent accuracy in the majority of my smokepoles. I say unfortunately as it is now unobtainium.

[rfd]

I must've gotten the last 5 bottles before you. A lot of things will work as lubes and I have had good luck with plain Jojoba oil on a patch and various home grown concoctions. Unfortunately Lehigh Valley gave me the most consistent accuracy in the majority of my smokepoles. I say unfortunately as it is now unobtainium.

original formula *MIGHT* still available from its creator - https://www.lehighvalleylube.com/index.html

[megasupermagnum]

For targets, I use either spit or water quite a bit. Windshield washer fluid in the winter. For hunting I like a grease lube. I've found three lubes that work in most situations so far. Crisco is the easiest and cheapest. I used it from 90 degrees, down to about -10 last year. The great thing about Crisco is the consistency barely changes over that temp range. Even at -15, the stuff is still fluid. Maybe it thins out in the 95+ extreme heat, it doesn't get that hot here. The second was the patch lube from FronteirMuzzleloading. I did not stick with that lube for one main reason, and that is cost. The other thing about it I didn't like, is that it is quite thick. Patches lubed with FM anti-rust lube felt waxy. Some may consider this a benefit. I did not find it be better than Crisco, so I let things be. The third is Mink oil from TOTW. I tried it in the winter, and it works great there. So far it has only got up to about 60-65 this year, but so far so good. It does seem to get very soft in your hands, I'm guessing it will start melting around 100 degrees. The only bad thing I have found with Crisco, is that it does not seem to be a good long term product. Pre-lubed patches seem to become dry and turn colors after a couple of months. Mink oil doesn't seem to have that problem so far. While I never did have any problem with Crisco as a gun lube, due to the patches drying, I never did fully trust it more than a short term product. Mink oil on the other hand I have been using to lube for a few months now, and it seems to maintain it's effectiveness.

[barnabus]

I use Ox Yoke pre-lubed patches.

same here because they are not messy and the lube is consistent which means accuracy!

[John Boy]

rfd - Nope -not being made anymore
Here's the patent for Lehigh Valley Lube if you care to make it
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-P...S=PN/6,105,591

4 grams of tall oil is thoroughly mixed with 7.5 grams of formula 3A denatured alcohol (100 parts ethanol to 5 parts methanol). 19.65 grams of 0.432 N NaOH was added to the solution and mixed thoroughly. This neutralizes the tall oil acidity thereby forming the corresponding fatty acid salt. (The normality of NaOH solution is based on a tall oil acidity determination, such that adding aqueous sodium hydroxide solution adjusts the pH to about 9) Thereafter, 0.45 grams of pine oil was added to the solution and mixed thoroughly, for a final solution weight of 30 grams. Upon final mixing a clear colorless solution is created.

Tall oil - Tall oil, also called "liquid rosin" or tallol, is a viscous yellow-black odorous liquid obtained as a by-product of the Kraft process of wood pulp manufacture when pulping mainly coniferous trees.

I did a barter for a quart of it with intent of making my own from the patent until it came back on the market and found the source for the bottles I have

[indian joe]

For hunting, a dried moose milk patch works fine for your first shot.

I didnt do so good with dried patches - tried it last year because it sounded good - less mess and time at the range - I think I push my loads a bit hard ?
Need a session on the cronograph to test this - maybe the damp patch is cutting velocity some - and a bit less powder behind the dry patch might end up the same? Have not shot my ml enough the last year!!!! have not shot ANYTHING enough last year - or any other year really1

[waksupi]

I didnt do so good with dried patches - tried it last year because it sounded good - less mess and time at the range - I think I push my loads a bit hard ?
Need a session on the cronograph to test this - maybe the damp patch is cutting velocity some - and a bit less powder behind the dry patch might end up the same? Have not shot my ml enough the last year!!!! have not shot ANYTHING enough last year - or any other year really1

As I said, I just load like that for the hunting load, where it may stay down bore for a length of time. When shooting the dried moose milk on the bench, I was swabbing between shots.

[a danl]

thompson center #13 if you can find it .... it is also the best for cleaning

[Mr Peabody]

Anybody shooting moose milk patches see them smoldering on the ground in front of you?