Trying a new patch lube

[Boerrancher]

I blame all of you that frequent this forum for this. I was fine and happy with my standard fare that I have used for years very successfully I might add, until I started reading about all of the different patch lubes that can be made. So now that I have used one of the SWMBO's good small simmering pans to make my new grease lube in and she is mad because it smells funny and looks horrible I blame each and every one of you for the fate that is sure to befall me once she gets back from the store, as she told me to have the mess and the smell gone before she returns. :dung_hits_fan:

Here is what I did:

I have been noticing that the few squirrels I have been killing lately are just covered in fat, layers of it. This morning I busted a couple of fox squirrels and on the larger of the two the fat was so thick it almost reminded me of a possum. I couldn't see wasting all that fat so I peeled it off and saved it, trying to figure out what to do with it. After a few hours of thinking and reading up here on patch lubes I decided to render it out and make patch lube out of it. The rendering in SWMBO's good pot on her kitchen stove is what got me in trouble. Man did it smell bad even with the vent hood running. :violin:

When I first rendered it it came out a clear liquid when hot. It was as clean and clear as corn whiskey. I rinsed it several times by boiling it in water to get rid of the salts and then chilled it with ice to firm it up so I could get it out of the water. This is where the neat thing Happened. The squirrel tallow seamed to hydrolyze, and become like lanolin, which is hydrolyzed wool oil. It still smells bad, and it took a bit of work to pull all of the excess water out of it, to the point where it was just a smooth creamy paste with no water bubbles in it. I am going to give it a try as a patch lube and see if it works as good as lanolin. I love lanolin as a black powder lube because as it is heated it releases moisture keeping the fouling soft, but pure lanolin is hard to find and is expensive. If this works half as well I will be pleased.

Once again thank you all for telling me about how great your homemade lubes work and giving me just enough information to be dangerous and get my self in trouble with the misses. It is greatly appreciated and will not be quickly forgotten.

Best wishes,

Joe

PS I will post all of the results of how it works later, both as regular lube and as a lube that can be left loaded for extended periods, when I get all of the data gathered.

[Mk42gunner]

Dang Joe,

I'm single and even I know not to use a good pan for experimental lube making.......

Assuming you get out of this without having to buy Momma a whole set of new pans, a small propane stove to use outside might be a wise investment.

Robert

[TNsailorman]

Joe, just how did you know how clear corn whiskey is? Oh yeah, you just happened to run across a still while squirrel hunting---right? James

[waksupi]

I bet she will REALLY hate it when you start experimenting with rendering skunk oil!

[JeffinNZ]

Actually, Joe could have the answer the growing obesity problem in the developed world. Round up all the 'lardies' and lipo of their fat store for MLer lube!!!

[Boerrancher]

Dang Joe,

I'm single and even I know not to use a good pan for experimental lube making.......

Assuming you get out of this without having to buy Momma a whole set of new pans, a small propane stove to use outside might be a wise investment.

Robert

Yeah, well it was a momentary lapse of judgement. I did discover that a good dose of Dawn and some elbow grease and all was well with the pan, but the wife was still not happy.


Joe, just how did you know how clear corn whiskey is? Oh yeah, you just happened to run across a still while squirrel hunting---right? James

James,

You Tennessee boys aren't the only ones that understand the true reason the good Lord made corn. It wasn't for tortillas and corn bread.

Best wishes,

Joe

[DIRT Farmer]

Joe even though I live in the fair state of Indiana, I have the plesure of being near the river and partake in the rare importation of the finest corn the Bluegrass produces.

I have just passed the 40 year mark with the Misses, and have my own supply of pots and pans, no complaints if I cook in my own kitchen (outside) with my own tools. And her knowing I have my own kit packed and ready has made for a more stable marraige.

[Boerrancher]

I have just passed the 40 year mark with the Misses, and have my own supply of pots and pans, no complaints if I cook in my own kitchen (outside) with my own tools. And her knowing I have my own kit packed and ready has made for a more stable marraige.

As I said it was a massive lapse of judgement. I have everything I need outside, my own utensils, a gas grill with external range type burner. I was inside cutting up the squirrel after I had cleaned it outside, and had a brain fart is all.

When it comes to summer evening bliss there is nothing better than pouring about a 3 finger width depth of corn squeezin's in the bottom of a Coke glass and topping it off with a couple ice cubes and some fresh lemon aide, all while relaxing on the front porch listening to the coyotes howl in the distance.

Best wishes,

Joe

[Geraldo]

Joe, I've got good news/bad news on the lube front.

First, the good news. I tried Dutch Schoultz's dry lube, and it worked well, but not any better than anything else I tried. So you could play around with that or not.

Second, the bad news. Near the end of a shooting session, a buddy gave me a package of Muzzleloader Originals pre-cut and pre-lubed patches. They were .015", and my rifle seemed to like .018", but out of politeness I decided to shoot a group with them. Three shots under 1" at 50 yards. I about fell over when I checked the target. My .40 shoots like a house afire with them and their "Precision Lube", whatever it is. Probably something simple like veggie oil and beeswax, but who knows?

Anybody own a gas chromatography–mass spectrometer so I can figure out what it is?

Anyway the moral of the parch lube story is that you can obsess like I did and play around with all sorts of things, and then a bag of patches off the clearance rack will rock your world.

[sharps4590]

Your squirrels er eatin' better'n ours!

[DIRT Farmer]

Yep, I get them Joe. You got to do something to keep things interesting.

Right now I am not "properly" getting my stuff in the truck to go to Friendship. I think she is worried that I will come home with a new gun because I forgot one I need to compete with. I don't guess I can use that one again.

[Boerrancher]

It doesn't look like I will be able to make it to Friendship this spring, so I will set my sights for the one in the fall. I had to do a lot of work this month to my old car that has been in storage for 4 years. I needed to get it back on the road, because it gives 30+ MPG if I keep my foot out of it.

On a more positive note, I figured out the best way to eat squirrels. I had a couple of them and the wife wanted me to grill because she has started her baking for the Farmers Market this weekend. I tossed the pieces of squirrel around on the grill with the pieces of chicken and covered all of them in a honey barbeque sauce. After baking on several layers of sauce, I cranked up the heat and caramelized it real well. I love my squirrel and dumplings but I think basked in hickory smoke on the grill and covered with a good barbeque sauce is the way to go for summer time enjoyment.

Best wishes,

Joe

[TNsailorman]

Joe, have you ever tried squirrel brains and scrambled eggs in the morning? With a cup of good coffee and biskits with blackberry jam and the day is good to go. James

[Boerrancher]

Joe, have you ever tried squirrel brains and scrambled eggs in the morning? With a cup of good coffee and biskits with blackberry jam and the day is good to go. James

James,

Dad was always a big fan of that. I never cared for it. I am allergic to eggs for one thing. They have to be cooked until they are well done/nearly burnt or my face and tongue swell up like sore thumb. I do enjoy a good coffee in the morning with biscuits and black berry jam though. Dad never liked squirrel hunting with me, because I always shot as many of them as I could in the head. This season as few as there are, I shoot them any where I can, but still go for the head shot if they are sitting still.

I am going to try out the squirrel grease in the morning for a patch lube and see how it does. All it has got to do is work well for the fist shot and then it is spit patches for the rest of the hunting trip. It has passed the freezer test and did not break down when left in there for a day, so I know it will be a good cold weather lube.

Best wishes,

Joe

[DIRT Farmer]

I wounder if the squrriel fat is different in summer than winter. One more point to research.

We will plan on seeing you in September. There is a few coming in, The biggest oven I am packing is the #12, it should hold enough biscuts for at least two people.

One breakfast is planned to be biscuts and sasauge gravey, coffee with extra biscuts and strawberry jam and some of our honey for desert.

[Boerrancher]

Well I didn't get to go hunting but I had a half hour or so to kill so I thought I would try out the squirrel grease as a patch lube. I pulled out my 50 flinter, because it is the most particular about lubes for some reason. Accuracy was good for a 2 inch 3 shot group at 75 yards, just shooting off of a stick. There is a slight problem though. I get 6 shots with most other grease lubes out of the rock lock before I can't load the next ball. With the squirrel grease I got 3 shots and the third shot was tight and I didn't want to get a ball stuck half way down. I will try it on my 32 soon and see how many shots I get out of it. In all honesty, unless it works wonders in the 32 it is not going to be worth all of the trouble, when mink oil or bear grease seems to work.

Best wishes,

Joe

[geargnasher]

I'm still trying to get over the part about knowing what possum fat looks like. I've never been hungry enough to even skin one of the nasty things!

And Joe, now dadgummit don't you go blaming ME for your faux pas of judgement with rendering squirrel grease in the kitchen, I've posted "Gear's Rules" here before, dontcha know! :smile: For a refresher, here's #2: Improve our national marital statistics: Stay out of SWMBO’S kitchen with boolit stuff. I rendered some grizzley bear fat that a taxidermist friend of mine saved for me out of the toe pads and hide of a skin he was tanning, I did that outside and it still nearly got me divorced. Makes good boot dressing, though, and I've actually had dogs bark at my boots before.

As for getting more of the water out, why not just gently reheat the grease and steam it out? I know you want to leave some in there, but if you think there's still too much that should work. That's how I get rid of excess moisture in soap when using it in smokeless lube, and how I "dry" lye soap after removing the glycerin with saltwater.

Gear

[Boerrancher]

Gear,

You need to try some of that Griz fat as a patch lube. I have a tin of it that I have been using for years. As I said earlier, even in my most finicky of ML's seems to like bear grease for a patch lube. I have used bear grease as a patch lube for nearly 30 years. Possum grease works well also. Back when I was a kid, and the fur prices were still good, the neighbor boy and I use to run trap lines all winter. Every morning before school we would get up extra early and walk the 5 mile circuit checking our traps. We caught lots of skunks, possums, coons, and a few coyotes. I rendered out lots of skunk and possum fat for boot grease. Never tried it for patch lube though.

Best wishes,

Joe

[sharps4590]

Boer, are you using the bear fat straight or mixing it with beeswax? I was given maybe a pound of rendered bear fat and have yet to use it.

I've skinned lots of 'coon and 'possum, as you said, when fur was good. Fur has been good the last couple years but I'm not 30 and haven't strung any steel. I never rendered any coon fat but have been told it's nearly as good as bear.

[Boerrancher]

Boer, are you using the bear fat straight or mixing it with beeswax? I was given maybe a pound of rendered bear fat and have yet to use it.

I've skinned lots of 'coon and 'possum, as you said, when fur was good. Fur has been good the last couple years but I'm not 30 and haven't strung any steel. I never rendered any coon fat but have been told it's nearly as good as bear.

I have used bear fat both ways. It tends to soften the fouling better straight, but it so thin that it doesn't store and pack well with out being either difficult to use or making a huge mess in the bottom of the hunting bag, so I stiffen it up with about 50% bee's wax. Years ago I was given a commercial tin of bear grease and bee's wax mix. When it was gone I started hunting until I found more grease, and then found it to be too thin for practical use, so I mixed it 50/50. I have about a half a tin left so in a few years I will need to hunt more grease.

I haven't had hounds or strung any steal in 30 years. From what I remember, coon and possum worked well for patch lube when mixed with bees wax to stiffen it up some. I think I will try some deer tallow this fall after I stick a couple with either the bow or atlatl in early fall.

Best wishes,

Joe