Will bore butter go rancid?

[Dhall_37]

Hello everyone, infrequent poster here, I’m kind of in a pickle right now. I like to make my own bullet lube/ Bore butter for shooting BP cartridges I also use it as a stock wax/ oil.

My recipe is bees wax and olive oil mixed till nice and soft. I’ll also sometimes add crisco or olive oil to experiment. It’s worked very well for me but I will the olive oil go bad in the wax mixture? Also can it go bad and make my rifle stocks stink?

[rancher1913]

the bees wax wont go bad but the olive oil will go rancid.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Maybe use Mineral Oil instead of Olive oil.

[Dhall_37]

Maybe use Mineral Oil instead of Olive oil.

Now that’s a good idea I may have to experiment with.

[Dhall_37]

the bees wax wont go bad but the olive oil will go rancid.

Is there a certain time frame for that?

[Castaway]

Mutton tallow. Makes a superior lube and resists going rancid. By weight; 2:2:1, mutton tallow, paraffin, and bees wax respectively. Called Gato Feo #1 lube for the person who resurrected it from an old NRA magazine article that attributed it to one used by Winchester in black powder days

[gloob]

Mineral oil and beeswax is a very popular finish for cutting boards and salad bowls, so it should be fine for a wood stock. But since you're not going to eat off it, you would get better water protection from tung oil or boiled linseed.

Mineral oil is also a low temp oil. Way lower than even olive oil. Might be ok for lower velocity/pressure bullet lube. Tallow or crisco can stand much higher temps before it burns up.

I will be giving 10W30 + beeswax a try, next outing. Wish me luck.

[T-Bird]

does going rancid harm it's lube properties? You don't have to taste it!

[Dhall_37]

does going rancid harm it's lube properties? You don't have to taste it!

Haha I’m not planning on using my bore butter on my breakfast toast! :) I’d just like to know if the smell would be bad or off putting? I don’t want it to stink up my safe or even the house!

[alfadan]

Im thinking coconut oil is good for not going rancid very quickly and is very slick.

[Dhall_37]

Thanks for all the great replies everyone! After doing some more research I think I got what I needed figured out. I’m going to use the olive oil stuff strictly for bullets and as bore butter as that’s what I intended it for.

I did some research and some folks use raw linseed oil and wax to make a natural wood wax! I just cooked up a jar and will use it after work And place it over top the rifles with the olive oil wax.

However, I also did learn that in the absence of oxygen the olive oil will resist going bad, being incased in wood on a rifle with the wax over top should preserve it for many years, but my anxiety says otherwise…….

I will also make up a batch of butter with walnut oil and see how it will preform, I’ve heard that it will not go bad at all.

This post online helped me form the above conclusion: https://www.quora.com/Does-olive-oil-go-rancid-on-wood

[Gobeyond]

I like commercial bore butter even for my stocks. You could mix it with some beeswax and paraffin.