patch grease

[gasmandave]

Had anyone used bacon grease to lube the patches for their muzzle loader? Or to lube the front of the cylinder on their pistol?
I have not tried it but save some grease today, I'm not sure if it might be to thin? And it may make me hungry!

[maillemaker]

I have no idea how well it will perform as a lubricant or anti-fouling agent, but it may contain salt, so you will want to clean your firearms well immediately after shooting them.

Steve

[gasmandave]

I guess you're right, I heard deer tallow used but never thought about three bacon processing with .

[Pahoo]

Just about any animal fat or Tallow will work as a patch lubricant. If you are using BP of Pryrodex of any propellant that has a sulfur base, the added salts will make little difference. There are literally dozens of different lube patches out there and I'm sure you will find plenty of pig fat in some. An important factor, is the melting point. The higher, the better ....

Be Safe !!!

[FrontierGander]

Best patch lube i've used for hunting,
http://patchnball.blogspot.com/2014/...atch-lube.html

[Andy Griffith]

I put all the grease from frying just about anything pork in a big can.
I put the beef grease in another can- usually use it first.

Either works just fine so long as you clean the gun at the end of the day. Even when rancid it works just fine, but doesn't smell as good when fired.

Want to try some bear and possum fat when I can. The heavy rifle shooters from old around here swear by bear grease.

[DD4lifeusmc]

Not recommended .
1. it usually has salt in it from the curing process of the bacon.
Salt is corrosive.
2. bacon grease alone will go rancid.
3. very thin viscosity and will stay somewhat liquid on a very hot day.

Now if you really want a bacon type grease for lube.
Buy heavily fatted porkbelly at the store. Cook it and you have bacon grease without the salt.
Now you can slowly cook this down and make your own tallow. Course you can fo it with any pure fat/ grease. No salt or pepper etc in it.
If you want a good homemade all natural BP lube.
Gatofeo has a good basic formula.
Basically take equal parts of melted fat (hoglard, tallow etc) and melted beeswax.
Stir together thoroughly. Let cool. Check the consistency for your needs.
Need thinner ad more fat/oil/lar/tallow need thicker more wax.
Go slowly and keep a record of what you added so you can duplicate later.

You do not want to add any petroleum based products they don't mix well with BP.
And yes Dennis I do sell Beeswax.

[Doc Hoy]

made from Beeswax and Mutton tallow and compared with a lube from beeswax and lard.

I could not tell the difference in performance but I am not much of a shooter.

I am week aware that shooters who are purists say they can easily detect the advantages of mutton tallow over lard.

[James K]

I suppose historical purists would use animal fat like they did "back then", but they used it "back then" because they had nothing else. Men slicked their hair with animal fat, too, and bathed at least once a year, whether they needed to or not.

But I don't live "back then"; I prefer to shower regularly and use deodorant. And non-smelly lubes on my guns.

Jim

[maillemaker]

I made up a period batch of 8:1 beeswax:tallow per the 1862 ordnance manual and did find it somewhat superior to my 1:1 crisco:beeswax recipe. It was superior in that I could shoot traditional minie balls pretty much indefinitely without fouling causing loading problems whereas with the crisco lube it was crunchier to load.

The tallow-based lube ended up having a more doughy consistency than the crisco lube, which was more waxy feeling. Interestingly, I was given some much-touted SPG lube for Christmas and it has the same doughy feel to it.

I don't know if that means anything but there you go.

Steve

[4V50 Gary]

No to bacon grease. As mentioned, there's salt in it. It's better to render other fats for grease. Some of the mixtures mentioned above are time tested.

[gasmandave]

Thanks, I haven't used the bacon grease yet but was considering it. I have a small amount of bore butter and some vegetable shortening that I've beenthinking about using. I have some bees wax to mix it with but may just go and get some lard for that.

Thanks for all the good info.

[kwhi43]

Some people will put anything in their barrel.

[Rifleman1776]

Well answered already. Yes, it will work. How well remains to be seen. Do clean well after a shooting session.
Currently I use a beeswax/whale oil and/or a beeswax/peanut oil combo.
BTW, yer bacon grease will stink when used.

[DD4lifeusmc]

Crisco is primarily vegetable oil based and thus not the same as tallow which is derived from animal fat.
Basically speaking Tallow and lard are the same.
Tallow normally comes from beef and mutton and to some extent venison and even bear.
Lard on the otherhand is from pork.
Both are rendered in much the same way.
The fat from the animal is cooked down til it becomes liquid, impurities strained out, and continued cooking until it becomes a semi solid again.
I'm sure we've all seen the blocks of hog lard in the carton on the shelf in grocery stores. Normal room temps it tends to remain solid.
Like I said this is generally speaking. You can google more info and how to make your own.
Plain crisco as most have experienced will get runny on a warm day and tend to be blown all over the revolver when used as an overball lube.
When blending tallow or lard with beeswax you can eliminate this and make custom blends for different purposes, thinner and thicker as needed.
Once mixed and used and then shot, I haven't noticed any particular odor.
-------------
I primarily use paper cartridges with lubed conicals. Normally no wad and if I do use a wad it is home cut and dry.
From reading I have done, my conclusion of over ball lube was more of a battlefield use than normal day to day.
Back in those days there naturally were copy cat manufacturers of revolvers and round balls, along with the licensed manufacturers.
Some didn't pay as much attention to tolerance details as the brand names did.
Thus some chambers were larger or even smaller than others.
On the battle field it was known many soldiers were collecting spent rounds and moulding new ones in between battles and skirmishes. These moulds weren't always of best quality and sometimes the ball was a little under size.
Combine that with reloading in the heat of battle. Excess powder on face of cylinder and the sometimes forget to put a ball in, is what led to the crossfires. Thus many came up with the overball lube as a battlefield remedy. Rumors spread then as now. So it was more of a preventative safety measure.
With more safety regulations today, better machining tolerances, better steels, there really is no reason for an overball lube if you pay attention.
If you use bulk powder, a proper fitting wad (lubed or dry) not much chance of a spark getting to the powder.
Add in a properly sized ball or conical that shaves a ring all the way around
then there are no airgaps between the chamber walls and the projectiles, thus no way for a spark to reach the powder.
If I wil be out in rainy weather I add a dab of the mixture over and around the nipples after I cap.
Doing this unless I just plain have a dud cap, mine have never failed to go boom.
I've also had dud primers in rifles and revolvers also.
And in 35+ years of shooting BP, I have never had a crossfire.

[BerdanSS]

I'd think that would be nasty as all get out.

I used TC 1000 for patches, bullets, cleaner and everything in between for years with good results. Last year I started using Mink oil tallow for patch grease. I love it, best I've ever used.

[DD4lifeusmc]

As in all things to each his own and what works best for him.
Also depends on how much of a purist you want to be.

[Hawg]

it also helps if you don't fill the void between chamber mouth and ball. A little bit around the edge of the ball is all you need.

[SIGSHR]

My last few BP sessions, I used store brand shortening. Worked fine and was easy to clean up.

[thallub]

Many years ago i used all kinds of concoctions as round ball patch lube. Got back into conventional muzzleloader a couple years ago and was determined to use something else. A nice gent on another forum was swabbing between shots with GOJO hand cleaner.

Tried GOJO as a patch lube and have never looked back. My best patched round ball groups ever were fired using GOJO as the patch lube. i smear GOJO on and blot the patch with a paper towel. Works for me.

[Pahoo]

As in all things to each his own and what works best for him.
Also depends on how much of a purist you want to be.

All very true and in trying to be a purist, you will wind up chasing your tail. For the most part, the original patch lubricant, was spit. Easy to find, kept the fouling loose and came in it's own handy container. ...

Enjoy and;
Be Safe !!!

[swathdiver]

My summer blend (live in Florida) is 6 parts Mutton Tallow, 1 Part Beeswax and 2 Parts Olive Oil. Use this to lube over the chambers and to lube conicals. Have also melted it down to lubricate wads but Prefer to leave out the Olive Oil for that mix.

Mutton Tallow from what I've heard is tops, it's hard to come by down here so it's ordered from DGW. Bear grease is also very desireable and have heard of fellas of rendering the fat from their deer kills and when done proper it didn't go rancid. My Mutton Tallow is a year old now, whether in the mix or straight from the jar it has not gone rancid and has been kept at room temperature.