What is Bore Butter?

[hunter64]

Newbie question. Just getting into BP revolvers and I have aquired some supplies , powder measure, caps, BP, and various other items. What the heck is bore butter? "I use bore butter for this and that", "Put bore butter on the cylinder", "I have even used Bore Butter as a preservative in the barrel" I know you can buy Bore Butter but what is it made from, crisco/beeswax/lanoline etc. Anyone know?

[piwo]

Bore butter is a commercial product: http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/33227-13275-2033.html

It's really good, and smells pleasant.

[44man]

Top secret!!! It works good but will dry out if left on boolits and patches. It must be used fresh. It also gets so hard in the cold it gets hard to use. Most any home made lube works fine and there are a million recipes. Wait a minute and you will get a bunch.

[hunter64]

Well according to the web site it is basically black powder lube so 25/75 beeswax/crisco to keep it soft?

[omgb]

Bore Butter is really bee's wax, vegetable shortening and either pine or menthol scent. Nothing special and certainly nothing magic. If I had a nickle for every barrel I've seen that was full of rust after being "protected" by a coating of BB before storage, I could get a nice sized soft drink at Dodger Stadium. It's a good shooting lube and it does soften fouling and it does come in a convienient tube but, does it really season the bore? Heck no. Your gun is not a cast iron skillet and you are not allowing carbon to bake on with each use. Does it really allow you to shoot 1,000 rounds without cleaing or wiping the bore? Again, heck no, that's pure BS. However, that being said, I'd be willing to bet you could shoot 10 or 15 round balls down a bore lubed with it without wiping because I've seen it done.

Straight crisco is messy but works as well. Melt it down and add some bee's wax, not parafine, and you've got the same deal only cheaper.

[mainiac]

wish i could agree with this,but i cant. When i bought my .32,i decided to get serious with the accuracy. Tested alot of different things,including some home made lubes. I made some lubes with crisco,beeswax,olive oil,etc. and nothing worked as well as the bore-butter.In fact, the amount of lube pushed into the patch makes a tremendous difference. Ive found that to much lube causes fliers. Just anuff lube to dis-color the patch is perfect. Am going to keep experimenting with different lubes, because i really dont want to buy something that i can make myself. What i have found so far, is t/c bore butter is superior to anything else. Maybe it is just this small bore .32 though, my .50 dont care what you use for lube, it does its best with plain crisco!

[44man]

I have to dispute that! I have made a lot of lube with beeswax and vegetable oil and nothing I have made dries out like BB even if left out in the open. No home made lube I have ever made dries out.
Here is bore butter after a short time. As you can see, it doesn't keep lead from oxidizing either and even hastens it.
Want the best store bought? Buy Young Country.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Actually I believe there is some FDA # 2 yellow food coloring in the official recipe in addition the the perfume. It really used to stink up users in the woods when it first came out, but they changed the scent. BvT

[waksupi]

I always seemed to get fouling after maybe ten shots with BB. In the winter, this could pretty much end the days' shooting, as it would harden to the point, I couldn't get a round down, until I could warm the barrel sufficiently.
Over the years, I tried Crisco, Goop, bear oil, whale oil, vasaline, axle grease, motor oil, olive oil, canola oil, probably a few others I now forget. I now shoot Moose Milk, and have for the past 10 or more years. Shoot all day, and bore condition remains the same, from the first shot, to the last.

[DanWalker]

What the heck is bore butter?
It's a lousy feminine lubricant, Not to mention worthless on hemmorhoids.
It was a big hit at the company picnic last year though,once they finished the second keg of beer.
I've heard it can even be used on muzzleloading firearms in some fashion or other.

[hunter64]

waksupi: What is Moose Milk and how do you use it on my Cap and Ball revolver? Isn't it some kind of oil and water?

[Slamfire]

Do y'all prefer the yellow or the green? Actually I don't think there's any bees wax in it. It reminds me of the synthetic toilet gaskets. I use a mixture of bees wax and mineral oil. You can find it under the name Sno Seal.

[omgb]

Moose Milk is Balistol and water at about 1/10 or so. Some folks even break it down to 50/50 but I think that's too heavy on the H2O... It works very well and really keeps fouling soft but, it won't stick to conicals and is best suited for lubing patches.

[waksupi]

waksupi: What is Moose Milk and how do you use it on my Cap and Ball revolver? Isn't it some kind of oil and water?

That's what happens, when I don't read the full thread!

[Maven]

ombg is correct about Bore Butter not preventing rust in your bbl. (Don't ask me how I know this!). It also smells just like Crisco when your rifle/smoothbore is fired, so I suspect Crisco is a main ingredient. Since oil of wintergreen (methyl salicylate) gives yellow Bore Butter its characteristic odor, I wonder whether it would be cheaper to use Ben Gay or some similar product as a patch lube? Btw, I've had good results with BB, but better ones with the commercial brand of "Moose Milk" (pale green opaque liquid), but then I'm using it in .45cal and .50cal. bbls.

[44man]

I like a thicker lube for the cap and ball. Mathew's BPCR lube works good as does most of the others. Bore butter works too. Some guys use Crisco but after the first shot, all the stuff will be blown out of the other chambers. EVERYTHING is covered with grease!
I tried 4 oz of beeswax, 3 oz of Safflower oil and 1 oz of Ballistol. It worked good. Then I added lanolin and it worked too. Both are a little stiff and it needs to be warmed by kneading between your fingers. I am going to add more Ballistol to soften it more for the cap and ball.
I have shot great groups with bore butter and wonder lube with my patched round balls but if I use it in my loading block for hunting, it dries out bad before the season is half over. It glues the balls into the block and the patch to the balls.
When I used maxi balls, the stuff would dry out and crumble out of the boolits. It also corrodes the lead. Somehow they incorporated either moisture or alcohol into the stuff. It will still lube when dry but it is a pain to use.
Then the tubes they used to put it in had to be put under the truck wheel in cold weather to get any out.

[piwo]

Moose Milk is Balistol and water at about 1/10 or so. Some folks even break it down to 50/50 but I think that's too heavy on the H2O... It works very well and really keeps fouling soft but, it won't stick to conicals and is best suited for lubing patches.

If I read this correctly, it is 1 part balistol and 10 parts water?

Are the patches soaked then allowed to dry, or are damp patches used? On a previous thread I believe this was discussed with Balistol and water, but I believe this was used after allowing the patching to completely dry.

[omgb]

I wet my patches until damp but not dripping. They are wet, they feel wet, but, if squeezed they don't drip. I put them in a baggie and that's it. I can load and let the load sit all day and not have a problem. You are correct in the proportions, 1 part Balistol to 10 parts water. Straight balistol may be used as well but I like the water as it seems to keep fouling even softer than straight balistol.

[piwo]

I wet my patches until damp but not dripping. They are wet, they feel wet, but, if squeezed they don't drip. I put them in a baggie and that's it. I can load and let the load sit all day and not have a problem. You are correct in the proportions, 1 part Balistol to 10 parts water. Straight balistol may be used as well but I like the water as it seems to keep fouling even softer than straight balistol.

Thanks,
I asked because I don't have Balistol, but do have water soluble "jewelers cutting" oil" that should be about the same I would suppose. Can't find Balistol locally. But since I cast some roundball yesterday evening, I think I will try them on Sunday, since no one should be able to complain if I leave for the range that day!

[hunter64]

So what I think I will do to save some time at the range is make up a bunch of paper cartridges with Bp and the ball using rolling papers. I put the paper cartridge into the cylinder and rip the ball/paper off and place a lubed wad over the ripped paper cartridge and push it down with a wood rod and then seat the ball on top. I could also just make up some powder cartridges and then add the felt and then the ball, that way I wouldn't have to pour and measure every shot. I have tried the cartridge as is and just put crisco over the ball but as others have stated it makes a mess. It would be neat if you could put the felt in between the powder and ball and then make a cartridge out of the whole thing together, that would save time but I think the lubed wad would just make the paper gooey and the whole works would come apart.