Lubing Patches

[Mike.44]

When you lube your patches, what is your method? Do you heat the lube and soak the patch then let it air dry? Need some input. Does this affect the powder when left in the gun for hunting? I like to do the same thing at he range as I would do in the field.

[Maven]

Mike, In cold weather and on trail walks, I use a beeswax + olive oil based lube (recipe to follow). I first cut a length of patching ( 2.6 x ball diameter = correct width), rub it on both sides with lube, then roll it and put it in the microwave on full power for ~15 secs. When it's cool enough, I cut it into individual patches using a pinking shear as they won't fray or otherwise unravel. The lube shouldn't degrade the powder, but I load and shoot so I can't speak to this.

Lube recipe: http://www.google.com/cse?cx=001951264366462437169%3Aggn3vg-bjum&ie=UTF-8&q=stumpy%27s+moose+snot+lube&sa=Search

[Mike.44]

Thanks for the reply, Maven

[ken s]

old 150yr trick. wash your pillowticking 5 times. air dry. cut into 2 inch wide belt.
put the end in your mouth and wet, put it on the muzzle and the ball on top and use a short starter to get it below the muzzle. then patch knife cut it even with the muzzle.
each patch will then be PERFECTLY CENTERED ON THE BALL. groups will cut in half.
you can never get the ball centered with a pre cut patch...
aim twice shoot once...Ken

[10 ga]

each patch will then be PERFECTLY CENTERED ON THE BALL. groups will cut in half.
you can never get the ball centered with a pre cut patch...
aim twice shoot once...Ken

My experience is that roll and cut patches vs. pre cut yields no difference in accuracy. I use scissors to cut octagonal patches and just wipe them across a cake of lube and load with the lube side out against the barrel and unlubed side holding the RB. Lube is beeswax/deer tallow/grape oil . I lube as I load at the range or just carry prelubed PRB in speedloader when hunting.

If ken s has to use roll patching to cut group size in half vs. precut and lubed he's doin something very wrong. Of all the PRB shooters I know there is no detectable difference in group size with precut and lubed patches vs. roll patches. Of course they use patches that are round or octagonal and proper size.

10

[swamp]

I cut my patching into strips the right width. Then soak in molten lube. Pull thru two popsicle sticks to remove excess( do not use fingers) and then dry. Use in cut at muzzle method.
swamp

[Maven]

"If ken s has to use roll patching to cut group size in half vs. precut and lubed he's doin something very wrong. Of all the PRB shooters I know there is no detectable difference in group size with precut and lubed patches vs. roll patches. Of course they use patches that are round or octagonal and proper size."

My thoughts exactly, 10 ga.!

[johnson1942]

i admire shooters who can shoot precut patches with the same accuracy as those cutim off at the muzzle, your better than i will ever be. im with ken s i put them just below the muzzle and cut them off with a straight razor and then i get tight groups. i just finished a .45 cal round ball side lock. could only get hunting groups at 100 yards but when i went back to basics and cut them off at the muzzle they take the x out of the center at 100 yards. im going to shoot this gun alot because it is so inexpensive to shoot as compared to my others and beside it is accurate. wish i was like the rest of you but im not so ill just stick to old basics.

[bob208]

i used to shoot precuts. then went to cutting at the muzzle. now i am back to precuts. got tired of sucking on the pillow ticking. it does not make a differance in my rifles.

[mooman76]

I usually use spit patch where I just set the precut patch in my mouth until it gets wet. When I use regular lube like bore butter or crisco I just set it in the lube and rube it around until the patch is lubed on one side.

[fouronesix]

:mrgreen: I just watched Hershel House load and fire one of his flintlocks on a KYAfield short video.
He's getting up there and is most assuredly old school. Pours powder into a horn tip charger, pours down bore, lays a ticking strip over the muzzle and spits on it, places a ball, taps it down with the end of his "patch" knife, cuts at the muzzle and rams it down to the powder.
gotta luv it!

I prefer to cut at the muzzle also but use a little moose milk for patch lube.

[GaCop]

Has any one tried Ballistol as a patch lube? I'm getting good results with it using it straight on precut patches.

[451 Pete]

Mike,
Any number of lubricants will work as a patch lube to get the ball down onto your powder charge. I generally try to use one that will work also as a fouling softener or a cleaner for your bore as those generally will keep things consistant a bit better from shot to shot.
Hunting is a different situation. There are many times where a rifle can be left loaded and not shot for a day or several days. Using spit as a patch lube is a nice romantic touch and will work at the range where you load and shoot shot after shot, but in the hunting situation where the load is left in the bore for a length of time it will dry out, or in the case of hunting in more northern climates it can freeze in the bore. Spit or saliva is water and if left in your barrel for any length of time, even for a days hunt , it can cause rusting in your barrel, something I would rather avoid in my rifles.

Just my thoughts ..... Pete

[Mike.44]

Thank You everyone. This is just what I needed.

[johnson1942]

to ga cop, their is a fellow not too far from me just accross the state line who uses ballistol for patching all his muzzle loaders. he wont use anything else. he has a lot of muzzleloaders and huntsi alot and gets very good results. the young man who sell guns at the local hardware store recommends ballistol to every one local for patch lube. must be good.

[flintshooter]

Bore Butter is a good lube if your hunting and going to leave the load in all season. I use that with the cut at the muzzle method and if I have to reload while hunting I'll use spit and cut at the muzzle since your gonna clean at the end of the day anyhow.

[TenTea]

I use TC Bore Butter/Wonder Lube up to this point, but will experiment with some *homemade* lube this season.
Pre-cut pillow ticking, round patches and lube applied with fingers (by hand so to speak).
This job is best accomplished while watching a movie in the dead of winter. :coffee:
I store the lubed patches in a film canister till loading.
Cleaning after a range session is easy money.

[Fly]

I cut a strip of pillow ticking the same wight of a purcussion cap can.I then use that same can
as a template to cut the patches round.I then lube them in a can of mink oil.I have never found anything
better than mink oil.Track of the wolf has it, & I think Tany leather.

Fly

[Larry Gibson]

I use Bore Butter also for my precut hunting patches. I put some in a baggie along with the patches and micro-wave until it's melted. I knead the baggie and if more lube is needed I add and do again. When done I leave 'em sealed in the baggie and they stay good forever.

Larry Gibson

[iron brigade]

Has any one tried Ballistol as a patch lube? I'm getting good results with it using it straight on precut patches.

I have, 1 part ballistol to 7 parts water. soak the patch material then spread out on a clean flat surface over night. i cut strips of jean material or pillow ticking when using this mix. when dry roll it up and cut as needed or pre cut patches. this dry lube produced many ragged one hole groups with tc hawken/renegade type guns with slow twist barrels.

[mainiac]

Been using straight bear oil on a strip of patching,cutting at muzzle. My favorite lubes seem to very alot,,,,but i seem to be sticking with the bear oil,,,love the stuff!!!

[TenTea]

Mink oil is a great idea to try.

In recent years, I have switched over to SnowSeal for leather treatment which is made of mostly beeswax. I'll bet it would make a great patch/bullet lube...another thing to try.

63499

[Dryball]

I use pre cut that are then soaked in melted mink oil (the real stuff) then the excess is squeezed out. Very accurate in my Peter Baire repro. Some friends got together and did extensive testing with a plethora of lubes, their accuracy and effects if left in the tube for a period of time. Their conclusion, as well as mine...mink oil was the best all-around and was the only one that would not, eventually migrate into the powder. I have left a load in my flinter for over a year and shot it with the same results as if it had just been loaded and just as accurate.

[drhall762]

I am obviously late to this dance. I am relatively new to BP/ML so I spend a lot of time reading what others have to say on the subject. My question is this: Do any of you use an overpowder wad in your rifle loadings? I know that with the shotguns it is common practice and seems to be quite common in BP cartridge loads. I have even run across it to some extent with the LRML crowd.

Is this something that is done with the rest of the ML community and why or why not?

[SchuetzenMiester]

I have shot thousands of round balls in matches and a few hunting. I finally settled on a little dish soap in water. I just have a foot square of pillow ticking or drill tied on my pouch. I wet enough to cut half a dozen shots on the end of the barrel at a time. Back in the days I could see the sights ;-) my flinter would make a ragged 5 or 10 shot hole at 50 yds.

For hunting, I used TC patch lube to prevent rust and not freeze. It shot close enough to the same point of aim, it work fine for hunting.

[SchuetzenMiester]

drhall762, None of the MLers I have known used an over powder wad for RB or bullets. Some of the MLers were shooting bullets in .45s out to 1,000 yards in English style target rifles.

[mainiac]

I am obviously late to this dance. I am relatively new to BP/ML so I spend a lot of time reading what others have to say on the subject. My question is this: Do any of you use an overpowder wad in your rifle loadings? I know that with the shotguns it is common practice and seems to be quite common in BP cartridge loads. I have even run across it to some extent with the LRML crowd.

Is this something that is done with the rest of the ML community and why or why not?

I dont use over powder wads shooting roundballs,cause its an added step that aint needed.UNLESS,,you have a rough neglected bore,then the wad becomes real important,because it saves ya patches from burning/blowing out.

[firefly1957]

I use different vegetable oils my latest is olive oil it works well i put it on the cloth strip and cut the patch after seating the ball with the short starter. I put some dry patching material under the lubed patch for hunting loads this is because it will sit a while before being fired and is to keep the oil from the powder. If your area is dry this has to be watched while rare i have seen patched smolder on the ground.

[Boogieman]

I use a beeswax/olive oil mix for patch lub. just rub it into the patch. My hunting loads get a felt wad over the powder to keep the lub. out of it. You can precut shooting or cleaning patches with a holesaw .grind the teeth off the proper size cutter remove the centerdrill put it in your drill press. staple several layers of material to a scrap board or plywood & go to cutting. yes you do turn the press on. This was not my idea stole it somewhere but it is fast.

[Gary Carter]

I have used both spit patch cut at the muzzle and tailor made pre-lubed patches. I have had to go to tailor made a couple of times when I ran out of pillow ticking and my wife said the pillows on the bed were not worn out enough. The biggest problem is the first time I was using pre-lubed patches, I was so use to having the patch in my mouth while loading my powder I popped the pre-lubed patch into my mouth, not only does it taste bad, it will make you tongue go numb!

If you want a good laugh ask waksupi about using WD-40 deer hunting in Iowa late fall near South English!

[Whiterabbit]

Waksupi,

What was that story about using WD-40 deer hunting in Iowa late fall near South English? I heard it was good for a good laugh!

[waksupi]

Waksupi,

What was that story about using WD-40 deer hunting in Iowa late fall near South English? I heard it was good for a good laugh!


I don't recall, it's been nearly 35 years ago that I lived there. And PBR and I were busy killing brain cells back in those days. Now ask me what I had for supper last night, and I can tell you the same! My memory will be nearly equal! Who did you hear stories about me and that area from? Lived around there until I was around 24-25.

[Whiterabbit]

Heard it from Gary Carter at 6:23 PM Yesterday. He didn't give any specifics, just suggested we ask you, that it would be good for a laugh. Suggestions like that imply a great story! Wanted to know. :)

[waksupi]

Heard it from Gary Carter at 6:23 PM Yesterday. He didn't give any specifics, just suggested we ask you, that it would be good for a laugh. Suggestions like that imply a great story! Wanted to know. :)

Have Gary tell you the story, and remind me! I'm sure I did SOMETHING stupid! I was well known for such things at that age.

Do you work with Gary?

[Whiterabbit]

He mentioned it in post #30

[Hanshi]

Since only my first load of the day (in the hunting woods) is grease, usually "Natural Lube 1000", it is prelubed prior to leaving home. For all other shooting I use Hoppes #9 Plus BP lube and store precut/lubed patches in a cap tin.

[waksupi]

He mentioned it in post #30

Ha! I'd missed it! Refresh my memory, Gary! From the conversation, I probably lubed patches then stuck them in my mouth.

[Gary Carter]

Remember you used WD-40 for patch lube, shot at a real nice doe, in waist-high dead grass. Spent half hour putting out the grass fire before we could see if you hit the deer. And dad cussing the whole time!

[Whiterabbit]

Good story. Definitely did put a broad grin on my face :)

[waksupi]

Oh. Well. Yeah. And that's not the last time I started a fire with a muzzle loader, either!