Thompsons bore butter

[Doc Hoy]

Whoever came up with the formula for Thompson's Bore Butter ought to be forced to use it on any day when the temperature is above 85.

Last Sunday I failed to pack my normal patch, chamber and bore lube (Crisco and toilet donuts.) The trip back to my house was about on hour. All I had was a tube of Thompson's Bore Butter.

The temperature was somewhere between 85 and 90. What came out of the tube had the consistency of cooking oil.

It was not a good day.

Tnx,

[sc928porsche]

I have a good mixture for you.....50% beeswax, 50% soy wax, and thin with filtered bacon grease. You can filter the bacon grease through a coffee filter. I have used it for years and it works well. Powder build up is kept to a minimum and no leading.

All three componants have NO petroleum products! If you have used cast iron for cooking, then you know that bacon grease seasons the pan better than anything else including Crisco.

The melting temparature of beeswax and soywax are close to the same so they mix well and remain as solid as can be expected from any wax on a hot day.

I mix mine hard and use a heater on my lubrisizer to inject it into my cast bullets. For round ball and to seal the tops of the cyl. on the pistols, I have a much thinner mixture (more bacon grease). It holds up well in heat and provides good lubrication.

Soywax is inexpensive...about the same price as parrifin.

[Doc Hoy]

928,

Roger your lube recipe. I tried a mix including beeswax some time ago and decided that I am not expert enough to tell the difference between that and my mix as described above.

I don't shoot very often (about once every two to three weeks) and I don't shoot very much (probably a hundred rounds in a session) I always take along three to four pistols and I clean them right away when I gets home. So I have probably never shot more than fifty round from one pistol in any given day and probably closer to thirty.

I am just now (actually about 18 months ago) getting back into shooting after a loooong break, and before (early to mid 1970s) I did all of my shooting in Guam (95 dgrees in the Summer and way down to 92 in the Winter) Then I used two donuts and one can of Crisco. I tried backing off to one donut but that got too runny. So I am back up to two.

I am aware that the wax rings I am using are not beeswax any more but a mess of parafin and other undesirables. That is why I clean quick.

I kind of knew this post would turn into a treatice of the various lubes that experts use, all of which engender fierce loyalty in the user.

My intention in initiating the post was merely to moan about Thompson's Bore Butter which would go better on my morning toast than on a lead ball. I'll keep what I have left of the Bore Butter but only because I am too cheap to throw it out.

Tnx,

[Fingers McGee]

Whoever came up with the formula for Thompson's Bore Butter ought to be forced to use it on any day when the temperature is above 85.

Last Sunday I failed to pack my normal patch, chamber and bore lube (Crisco and toilet donuts.) The trip back to my house was about on hour. All I had was a tube of Thompson's Bore Butter.

The temperature was somewhere between 85 and 90. What came out of the tube had the consistency of cooking oil.

It was not a good day.

Tnx,

Doc,

That's one of the reasons I use lubed wads. No muss, No fuss, and I always have a tin of them in my possibles bag with back up supply in the shooting box. Of course, I shoot SASS matches 3 out of 4 weekends a month.

[Hawg]

I'll keep what I have left of the Bore Butter but only because I am too cheap to throw it out.

Winter's coming.

[Pahoo]

Whoever came up with the formula for Thompson's Bore Butter ought to be forced to use it on any day when the temperature is above 85.

It's a good product and there will be many replies of what works better, especially on C&B use. I do appreciate what you are saying and a simple fix is to keep it in the shade and place the tube on it's cap. The oil you are seeing is mostly going to the top of the tube. I run into this situation every summer. I too am too "frugile" to pitch it.

I have a good mixture for you.....50% beeswax, 50% soy wax, and thin with filtered bacon grease.

Will have to try this for hot weather use. I have a bunch of beeswax that I need to use and will mix some of this up. Still might get rancid but will test it and work with it as well. Where can you get Soy Wax? ... Thanks !!

Be Safe !!!

[madcratebuilder]

Try 2 cups beeswax, 2 cups paraffin and 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil. Melt together in a double boiler, pour it out on a cookie sheet about 1/8 inch think. When it hardens use a .38 or .45 shell casing to cut wads.

[tripe1917]

I tried mixing about a tablespoon in my normal mix of bees wax,canning paraffin and mutton tallow. Travelled to the gun range this morning and it worked really well, except the wads acted like a tracer rounds and caught the paper target on fire which then ignited the backing board. I think I will just keep using it to swab the barrel.

[arcticap]

http://www.walgreens.com/search/resu...%20jelly&N=118

For those who find it inconvenient or would rather not make their own lube, some folks have mentioned that they use petroleum jelly as an alternative.
It's an effective lubricant that's safe to use in C&B's and since it also has a higher melting point, then that would help to alleviate some of the problems with using Bore Butter in hot weather.
It's available in bulk packaging at the larger drug store chains like Walgreens where a 13 ozs. container costs $4.19 which is also less expensive than Bore Butter.

For more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_jelly

[Hawg]

I heard on another forum Johnson's Paste Wax was good but I haven't tried it.

[the rifleer]

Its about 110+ here average in the summer. try shooting a BP revolver in heat like that. its was basically like water. i had it running down my hand and arm as i was shooting.

[ClemBert]

That's one of the reasons I use lubed wads. No muss, No fuss, and I always have a tin of them in my possibles bag with back up supply in the shooting box. Of course, I shoot SASS matches 3 out of 4 weekends a month.

+1 on the lubed wads. Even if you punch your own felt and dip them in your melted crisco concoction it would seem to be a relatively clean and easy way to do it. The only drawback is the felt wad might take away from your chamber space used for powder...however, it seems that 99.99% of shooters aren't doing full loads anyways.

If I can help it you'll never find me smearing lube over my balls.

[sc928porsche]

I purchaced my waxes from Peak Candlemaking Supplies and they were purchaced online. I found their prices to be quite reasonable with prompt and courtious service.

I do a lot of bullet casting for shooting both BP and smokeless. Between family and friends, I have casted 1000's of rounds in various calibers for our enjoyment at the ranges. The mixture works well in both. Accuracy is very good and leading is almost non exhistant.

[Andy Griffith]

Where's Gatofeo?

He has one of the best lube recipes there is, and no nasty petroleum in it.

A mixture of beeswax, paraffin wax, and mutton tallow.

Here is the link:
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/...1&postcount=22

[Doc Hoy]

My thought is to go to wads as Fingers mentioned. I have a lube recipe that I am happy with and probably won't do much to change it unless I find that it doesn't work in my revised plan.

Here is my revised plan. I am going to go to a thrift shop and get a high wool content felt hat or woolen winter coat. I have the punches to cut the wool or felt into the right size for wads. These wads will be soaked in my lube recipe.

I have never used wads and would be happy for someone to recite the best way to use them. I'll get started by asking some questions:

1) should I cut the wad slightly larger than, slightly smaller than, or the same size as the bore of the chamber?

2) Should I soak the wads after I cut them, or is it better to soak the bits of wool and then cut them?

3) If I use the wad, should I also continue with the lube over the ball? I get a good lead ring out of every ball/pistol combination I use.

4) If I don't use lube over the ball, can I assume that the lubed wad is properly lubing the bore when the pistol is fired?

Tnx,

[mykeal]

Good luck at the thrift shop. It's nearly impossible to find pure wool felt anymore; almost everything is a blend with synthetic fibres in it.

There is a web site where a woman sells the only pure wool felt I know of. She has reasonable prices and a lot of customers, and all are very satisfied: http://www.durofelt.com/

[Doc Hoy]

Mykeal,

Thanks for the tip. I had looked for the stuff online but I don't think I got to her website.

Did you see any faults in my plan?

Tnx,

Barry

[DougP]

What works very well is bees wax and liquid lanolin. Neither will go bad on you. They will not rot, they will not allow mold to grow or mildew. If you get it on your hands it makes them soft and smooth. This mixture will last longer than a twinke- it has been discovered in caves that are 1000's of years old and is still good. You can use it as a lube, or over the ball with a C/B revolver. Its water proof, so you can use it on your barrel, wood, feet , or anything else you like. It also keeps the fouling down to. Easy to mix- for a little , put a small mount into a metal cap container ( CCI or ) heat with a hair dryer or oven -when melted add linolin and stir. If you need more use a altoid tin. Try to eyeball a 50/50 mixture. the bacon goo will rot and draw bugs , with other house hold greasey items it will do the same. It hold up in cold or warm or hot days.
Let me know how it works.....
Have a nice day

[Fingers McGee]

I have never used wads and would be happy for someone to recite the best way to use them. I'll get started by asking some questions:

1) should I cut the wad slightly larger than, slightly smaller than, or the same size as the bore of the chamber? Slightly larger. The dry wads I use for my 36s are .380, same as the balls. The 44s are .462

2) Should I soak the wads after I cut them, or is it better to soak the bits of wool and then cut them? I use precut wads, so I don't know if soaking the felt before cutting would be beneficial.

3) If I use the wad, should I also continue with the lube over the ball? I get a good lead ring out of every ball/pistol combination I use. lubed wads eliminate the need for lube over the ball.

4) If I don't use lube over the ball, can I assume that the lubed wad is properly lubing the bore when the pistol is fired? correct. Using lubed wads, I can go 10 or 12 stages (50-60 rounds) in a Colt style pistol without having to clean or lube the arbor.

Hope these answers help

[W. C. Quantrill]

Parrafin wax is a precipitate of crude oil. My son in law is an oil field pumper and we can go to most tank batteries and guage/rod a tank and find up to 2 feet of parrafin in the bottom. After a while they have to have someone like Halliburton come in and steam the tank and pump the parrafin out.

[Doc Hoy]

Doug,

Thanks for the additional recipe and the mixing method. As I said I will have to grow unhappy with the mix I use now before going to a new one but beeswax is an ingredient that everyone seems to like. I can get it without problems, in fact it may be cheaper than the toilet cookies I use. As far as the amount is concerned, I mix up my mess by the pound. I heat it up in a boiler on the stove. (I am typing very quietly now because my wife is right behind me and she has not yet learned that I use her good pans for bore lube.) I am now on my third batch in about 18 months.

Fingers,

Thanks for answering the questions one by one. I am pretty sure I have punches that will work for both .44 and .36. I won't really know until I use some of the wads I punch out. My thought is to soak the material then lay it down in layers, probably ten plies thick. Let it harden up, and cut the wads with a punch chucked into a drill press. I will probably experiment with putting some weight onto the stack of soaked wool material so as to reduce the amount of lube in the wads. Yes...Your answers help as they usually do.

WCQ,

I knew that parrifin is petroleum based but I haven't seen any negative effects possibly because I shoot fewer rounds in a given day and clean a pistol thoroughly after only about an average of 25 to 30 shots.