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Old March 23, 2018, 02:39 PM   #1
ConRich
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Shooting Patch Lube ?

I've decided to make some shooting patches, but need to make a suitable lube.

I have some Gatofeo which would be too stiff, so I'm wondering if I could thin it down with something ,......any suggestions would be appreciated.

TIA,
Rich
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Old March 23, 2018, 02:46 PM   #2
Hawg
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I use olive oil.
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Old March 23, 2018, 04:00 PM   #3
ConRich
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Hawg

Did you mean that you use olive oil to thin the Gatofeo, or that you use straight olive oil ?

Thank you,
Rich
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Old March 23, 2018, 04:58 PM   #4
mehavey
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"Gatofeo"

Is there really an Ugly Cat BP lube ?

Wow, I gotta make some.
May not ever use it... but great mantelpiece conversation starter
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Old March 23, 2018, 05:04 PM   #5
mehavey
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I gotta make some of that UglyCat lube...
If only to have a container of it on the mantelpiece as a conversation starter.
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Old March 23, 2018, 05:29 PM   #6
Hawg
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Straight olive oil. Been used for centuries.
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Old March 23, 2018, 05:35 PM   #7
ConRich
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Thanks Hawg, that takes all the voo-do out of it, and I have plenty of olive oil.
Oh, would I get tighter groups if I used extra virgin ?

Thanks,
Rich
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Old March 23, 2018, 06:00 PM   #8
Schlitz 45
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Forgot mine one musket season and used buttery crisco in camp to grease my 54 Hawken’s patch & took a deer with it that morning-mmmm good.
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Old March 23, 2018, 06:01 PM   #9
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Quote:
Oh, would I get tighter groups if I used extra virgin ?
LOL
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Old March 24, 2018, 02:21 AM   #10
Model12Win
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ConRich View Post
Thanks Hawg, that takes all the voo-do out of it, and I have plenty of olive oil.
Oh, would I get tighter groups if I used extra virgin ?

Thanks,
Rich
You might get a tighter group but you might also have to pop a cherry or two in the process.
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Old March 24, 2018, 08:41 AM   #11
DD4lifeusmc
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add more tallow to thin down
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Old March 24, 2018, 10:24 AM   #12
Sure Shot Mc Gee
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You can use any of todays marketed cooking oils. Olive oil doesn't have any special patching qualitys over all the other cooking oils other than it will spoil sooner. Thus the need for a Patching grease cover up scent. i.e. (stinker clinker wintergreen.)

I seldom use scented patch lubes myself. Although I've been toying with the idea of using a little Anisette mixed in my Mink Oil patch lube. I find licorice more appealing to the senses of a human & animal than that stinker clinker scent called wintergreen. Ever wonder why so many squirrels bark at humans moving about with B/P firearms? Its the smell of wintergreen that's up-setting em!!

Remember most animals only have Black & White vision but oh so many have a overwhelmingly good smell-er of a nose.
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Old March 24, 2018, 11:05 AM   #13
Erno86
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Simple Green solution works well for me, and also a number of other BP patch & ball shooters on our range as well.
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Old March 24, 2018, 11:21 AM   #14
mehavey
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Simple Green in the Patch Lube ?
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Old March 24, 2018, 11:50 AM   #15
Erno86
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mehavey -


Just lightly spritz the patch with Simple Green solution --- undiluted or diluted with water.

Lubes the bore --- and cleans as it travels down the pipe.
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Old March 24, 2018, 11:59 AM   #16
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I started out using slobber. I would chipmonk some patches (put them in my mouth chipmonk style). They would dry my mouth out something terrible so I tried chewing tobacco and that made me slobber too much. Quit doing that and used crisco to prelube patches. Bore butter gets used now.
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Old March 24, 2018, 12:08 PM   #17
mehavey
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Quote:
Just lightly spritz the patch with Simple Green solution ...
When shooting silhouette I'd see one or two other guys doing that.
Never tried it myself as I either shoot ticking/spit patch (at the range),
and/or ticking/dried-out 7:1 water/NAPA cutting oil in the field.

Guess I now have something new to fool round with....
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Old March 24, 2018, 12:40 PM   #18
Erno86
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mehavey -

After each shot: Besides the occasional BP bore brush...I use a cotton flannel patch spritzed with Simple Green --- Send the patch once to an fro down the bore, turn patch over --- repeat --- then use a dry patch.

For final cleaning after shooting session: Simple Green in hot water pot suction bore cleaning. Then boiling water rinse-out, three dry patches --- let dry --- then oil down.
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Last edited by Erno86; March 24, 2018 at 12:47 PM.
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Old March 24, 2018, 01:51 PM   #19
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Go Jo hand cleaner is good patch lube.
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Old March 24, 2018, 03:38 PM   #20
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Go cheap but consistant !!!

Quote:
I've decided to make some shooting patches, but need to make a suitable lube.
The list of "suitable" patch lubricant is endless. To me, the most important point is that there is not petrochemical products in the mix. Any grade of olive oil, is suitable and can be used to thin down denser waxes. Olive oil has a higher temp rating. If you know a butcher, get some animal Tallow. That is fat from the internal cavity of an animal that has to be renderd down. Keep in mind that any natural fat or oils can get rancid so a little scented oil is added to make it more pleasant to work with. .....

One shooting buddy uses bacon and other greases from meat .... and swears by it

Another shooting buddy uses straight spit. .... and swears by it.

Go cheap, have fun and;
Be Safe !!!
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Old March 25, 2018, 08:10 PM   #21
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I mix a little Ballistol with water, soak my patching material in it, blot off the excess, and then let the water evaporate. This leaves the patching material lightly oiled but not saturated.
Something like five parts water and one part Ballistol is a good starting point. I just mix it until it looks about right to be honest.
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Old March 28, 2018, 02:11 PM   #22
ThomasT
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I have been told before that this will not work but I have been doing it for over 20 years. I use water soluable machinest oil. I mix mine about 12/1 instead of the recommended 20/1 ratio.

I put my patches in one of those plastic snuff cans and add about 10-20 patches. Then I squirt a shot over the patches and let it soak in. Not so much they are runny, just wet.

By doing this I can shoot shot after shot without wiping the bore. This is all I use to clean my barrels now. No more sucking water up and down. And I have made the offer several times that if you are in the Burleson Tx area come by and I will give you a rod and patches and you are welcome to check any of my bores for rust.

I drop the nipple and clean out screw in a little can of this solution and wipe off the outside of the barrel. This is the same stuff Birchwood/Casey used to sell and I think its the same as Dixies Moose Milk.

We used water soluable oil in my dads machine shop. We ran mostly cast iron parts. And nothing rust like cast iron does. Its has water in it but the water evaporates and leaves a slightly oily coating on the metal.

For a harder lube I use Crisco mixed with a toilet ring melted together. Its a little stiffer than straight Crisco. Did you know Crisco was developed by the Germans in WWI to use as a smokeless gear lube in submarines? That was the original formula. It has been changed many times over the years.
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Old March 29, 2018, 09:57 AM   #23
reinert
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I haven't had the need to try it yet, but I've been told by some very seasoned shooters that this mix works very well for patch lube:

50/50 Murphy's oil soap and peanut oil.
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Old March 29, 2018, 12:26 PM   #24
4V50 Gary
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Somewhere I have rendered deer fat and I stopped using it when someone gave me some bear fat. Along with a classmate, I stunk up Trinidad (CO) rendering it. Classmate who was over 1/2 a mile away smelled it as the aroma wafted its way downhill.
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