What type of lube

[vrh]

Getting close to the end of this kit gun building. Was wondering what size of patch to use. Miced the 440 RB mold and it was a constant .438 diam. Ordered some factory made patches in .10 and some .15.
What type of lube is everyone using to lube the patches. Do you also use the same lube on wiping between shots?
Has anyone use this ?
Frontier's Buckskinners Blend Patch Lube - Bore Butter

[Regular Joe]

Hoppes #9 Black Powder Solvent and Patch Lube and I don't wipe between shots.

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

I make the buckskinners blend. You can shoot all day long with it. Its liquid and not meant for hunting, but if you are at rendezvous or on the shooting range and just want to hammer them down range all day long, thats what its for.

I think you built a .45cal CVA Mountain Rifle correct?

I'd highly suggest the .015 patch over the .010.

[Regular Joe]

I might try that buckskinners blend.

[bob208]

I shoot 60 shot matches using only spit and don't wipe between shots. I use .018-.020 patches.

[mooman76]

The patch depends on the gun they are all different. Since you already have two choices, try them both and see what works best. As far as lubes there are many many out there and everyone has their own choice. I still use good ol spit. I can shoot all day without swabbing. Spit does dry out though so no good for long term. For that I use Bore Butter AKA Nature lube 1000.

[indian joe]

Getting close to the end of this kit gun building. Was wondering what size of patch to use. Miced the 440 RB mold and it was a constant .438 diam. Ordered some factory made patches in .10 and some .15.
What type of lube is everyone using to lube the patches. Do you also use the same lube on wiping between shots?
Has anyone use this ?
Frontier's Buckskinners Blend Patch Lube - Bore Butter

440 ball and a calico patch - moose milk lube - no clean between shots
if you like it a bit tighter use a pillow ticking patch. If ya cant shoot a string without cleaning, yr lube is not doin its job properly - forget the bore butter on the range, moose milk beats it. Heavier (greasy) lubes if ya go huntin cuz the moose milk will damp the powder. ....H2O is the number one blackpowder solvent . Theres lotsa fancy expensive "solvents" in the gun shop and they all work ...........about as well as tap water!!!!!

[Reverend Al]

Years ago when I shot in Black Powder muzzle-loading competitions we built our own brass "range rods" for steady, repeat shooting. We'd buy a long brass rod slightly under bore size and slightly longer than the barrel length and add a brass doorknob to the end to give a large smooth surface for our hands when seating the balls. The extra weight of the brass rod helped to make it much easier to seat the balls and we'd slot the end of the rod about 1" back from the ball seating end and put a wet patch through the slot. That way when you loaded your next shot you loaded the powder charge in a dry barrel, started the new patch and ball, and then seated it with the slotted, brass range rod. In between shots we'd leave the end of the rod with the wet patch sitting in a jar of black powder solvent (usually water based and home made). Every shot you were wiping the bore all the way down and all the way back, but the powder charge under the ball was still dry. Never had mis-fires and it kept the bore clean all day long.

[triggerhappy243]

I use bore butter for a patch lube. it works for me real well. all my recovered patches look like i can use them again.

[pworley1]

I use pillow ticking for patches and a very,very light coating of olive oil for patch lube.

[Toymaker]

I use strip patching of pillow ticking. Cut the strips and soak them in a solution of 1 part machinist's oil (water soluable oil - the brown stuff) and 7 parts water. Wipe them between my fingers to remove the excess and spread them out on a piece of steel to dry. Perfectly lubed every time.

I do wipe between every shot. I think about half of the people in our local club do. Windshield washer fluid is popular in February when spit-patched RB and wiping patches freeze half way down the bore, and the frizzens are so cold they won't spark. I use 1 cup Murphy's Oil Soap, 1 cup water and 1 cup Simple Green or Pinesol or Lysol.

[Kuato]

+1 for moosemilk. works great for patch lube for target. I dont use it for hunting tho. Bore Butter works great too and have used for hunting with no issues. Plain ol spit works too for that matter.
as far as cleaning, I clean when i'm done shooting. Plain hot water has always worked for me. clean, dry, lube with BB or ballistol.
If you want a cleaning MIXTURE, I've used 1 part alcohol, 1 part hydrogen peroxide, 1 part Murphy's oil soap. cleans really fast for in between shots.

For patches I use pillow ticking from Wally world. both blue stripe and tan.. LOTS of patches per Yard for like 6 bucks.

[RU shooter]

As you can see there's a big assortment of lubes that work and work well , only your barrel will tell you which it prefers for just target shooting at the range or a woods walk I use plain ole spit ! Stick patch in my mouth for a little while till it's good and soaked Load and shoot all day with no wiping even with the shallow groove barrel I have . Don't want to do this if your out hunting or waiting an hour or so between shots . For that you want a lube that's not gonna dry up or has some sort of oil in it . Any of these kinds I have to wipe every 2 or 3 shot or else it's hard to load the next , if your barrel has deep grooves you can go longer before that happens . Also you can probably even go thicker on those patches say .020

Tim

[rfd]

the bottom line truth is that your gun (and if course, you) will need to see what patch thickness and ball size it will prefer, for consistent accuracy. how you would like to load may bring about a compromise of accuracy and easy loading.

there are are more than a few factors to consider for fouling control and it starts with the powder brand and its granulation.

[indian joe]

Surest way to start an argument is ask a mob of muzzleloader shooters for a recommendation on lube (everybody has a different answer!!) if that dont work then ask em about best method of cleaning (that will surely do it) :D

[triggerhappy243]

surest way to start an argument is ask a mob of muzzleloader shooters for a recommendation on lube (everybody has a different answer!!) if that dont work then ask em about best method of cleaning (that will surely do it) :d

ha ha ha, like the beer commercial. Taste's great.................. Less filling.

[Maven]

the bottom line truth is that your gun (and if course, you) will need to see what patch thickness and ball size it will prefer, for consistent accuracy. how you would like to load may bring about a compromise of accuracy and easy loading.

there are are more than a few factors to consider for fouling control and it starts with the powder brand and its granulation.

vrh, What rfd said! And while I'm hesitant to recommend a particular lube because there are so many products and concoctions that work well, I use 1 Ballistol : 6 water or Stumpy's Moose Snot* and don't need to wipe the bore for an entire range session. As for patch material, pillow ticking is what I use most commonly, but give some thought to 100% cotton denim as well: It's sold by weight, which means you'll have to take a micrometer with you to measure the thickness of a given weight. E.g., the 7 oz. denim I use measures .022" (compressed).


*Easy to make + you can substitute Canola, Olive, or Vegetable oil for the castor oil in the original recipe with no ill effects. (Stumpy himself told me so!)

[Rompin Ruger]

RFD has been my mentor with my newly acquired GPR 50 cal. I use a concoction Rob calls Gato Feo, which is tallow, beeswax and parafin... rub into strips, heat with hair dryer and let dry, roll, and cut at muzzle.

I am still working on refining the patch thickness and the charge volume of BP...recently switched to SWISS powder in 3f reputed to burn cleaner ad a touch faster then some...

I mic'd till I went cross-eyed and find that the way I mic is apparently different then what/how the commercial vendors do it. As my mentor says, "actual doesn't matter as much as the accuracy you get and how hard you want to work to seat the ball".

Finding shot patches was instructive as some were blown out badly... which isn't a good thing, I'm told. So like adult diapers: it depends!

[indian joe]

RFD has been my mentor with my newly acquired GPR 50 cal. I use a concoction Rob calls Gato Feo, which is tallow, beeswax and parafin... rub into strips, heat with hair dryer and let dry, roll, and cut at muzzle.

I am still working on refining the patch thickness and the charge volume of BP...recently switched to SWISS powder in 3f reputed to burn cleaner ad a touch faster then some...

I mic'd till I went cross-eyed and find that the way I mic is apparently different then what/how the commercial vendors do it. As my mentor says, "actual doesn't matter as much as the accuracy you get and how hard you want to work to seat the ball".

Finding shot patches was instructive as some were blown out badly... which isn't a good thing, I'm told. So like adult diapers: it depends!

hmmmm need to sort that out! blown patches = blown shot ----reduce charge? thinner patch? thicker patch? change patch material? use a backer patch, try a wad, maybe the bore is a bit rough and it will stop chewin em up one day soon? you want em comin out almost good enough to reuse .

[Rompin Ruger]

Actually, when others mic their cloth, they show a lot thicker (few thousands) then when I do it. I don't get extreme but when the thimble stops turning easily, there is a teeny extra bit it'll go and then I quit.

The last patching I used I'd mis marked to .010 and it wasn't that... turned out to be half and I got great accuracy at 25 yards but fully blown patches... but they all look "cut" around the rifling but some the center is likely gone.

So I used the JB bore polish and ran it in and out like 100x on a tight patch... Last session I got much better consistent accuracy but used some Joanne Fabric Store ticking that is stiff, nice tight weave and yet, I can't start the ball with thumb pressure but it goes down the tube easily...

So still working on that magic formula... the last of the thicker/stiffer ticking patches were all intact, so next outing I drop back and use some commercial stuff that is reputed to be .010 and .012, but my mic method shows it all to be closer to .010.

When I shot a TC up in PA's flint season I used precut rd patches from CVA and others with Bore butter lube and I shot 100 gr. of Goex 3F...didn't know to check or look for patches back then but I got same accuracy as a recommended reduced 50 cal load but the 100 gr. load shot 8" higher with same tight accuracy so I went with the heavier charge. two shoulder surgeries later, 70 yrs old I see no reason for that especially with the gpr curved butt plate!

[charlie b]

While I love the look of the GPR, the top edge of that butt plate is dangerous (mine cut one of my jackets). I filed it off a little, just so it wasn't razor sharp, and I wear a recoil pad when I shoot. I got a PAST version many years ago when I went from a .45 with PRB to a 50 shooting conicals. Nowdays I use the recoil pad whenever I go shooting rifles any bigger than a .223 Just makes life a little easier. :)

[Rompin Ruger]

Gent offered to "build" my kit. He calls them Screwdriver kits, but he did add that there is often proud wood where the inlet isn't quite right and some wood needs removed.

I am hoping that Charlie, you just found one that missed some production attention, as I've not had that issue with mine, nor a .54 a buddy has... They furniture isn't completely cleaned up but none of my parts were sharp when I got it sent to me after the "screwdriver build" and wood relief. I would have done what you did and altered it.

A good friend sent me some sort of gel that I made a tie on butt cap cover for and inserted the gel stuff inside it on the curved butt plate...it's not a perfect job but then I'm far from perfect, but it helps the 2x repaired right shoulder and I just keep the load to 80 gr. max, so far 70 for RB and 75 for the REALs have sufficed

[reivertom]

All the "what's the best lube" threads I've seen turned into one of those ""get your popcorn" type things. Everybody has their favorite and will defend it to the end. :^)

[Rompin Ruger]

All the "what's the best lube" threads I've seen turned into one of those ""get your popcorn" type things. Everybody has their favorite and will defend it to the end. :^)

Boy, you said a mouthful right there!!!

I like what I got for a couple reasons: 1) someone with way more MZ experience then I has used it for years, 2) I can make it myself and on retirement income that is important; & 3) Unlike some who putter till hell freezes over, I like KNOWING what works (for me) rather then tinkering with unknowns endlessly...

But with forums, there is a plethora of MY WAY OR HIGHWAY, attitude.

Seems whatever works for the person, is affordable in their realm, readily available on a moment's notice, that should be their GO TO lube... and meets their accuracy demands and shot-to-shot fouling control.

Someone made the comment to me that spit, liquid lubes, etc are fine at a range in temperate weather but in a patch block or dead of cold season hunts, that might not work as well...

I've gone on record as having used Bore Butter in another state, which was readily available in my home area for a price and now, using the home concoction GATO FEO made of Tallow, beeswax and paraffin, has worked well, kept fouling to a minimum and I have enough for this lifetime at least... Anyone want to be added to the will? :):)