Anyone got a homemade recipe for prelubed black powder patches?

For target shooting I use 50/50 water and Murphy's Oil soap. For hunting, I use a patch lubed with plain Crisco. I melt the Crisco in a double boiler and dip the patches with a pair of tongs. Place the dipped patch on top of a dry patch. It will soak up the excess and lube the dry patch. Alternate the patches. (dry, lubed etc). Place all lubed patches in some type of container to keep them clean till use.Anyone got a homemade recipe for prelubed black powder patches?
I have used beeswax, vaseline, and gun grease mixed and melted. Believe it or not, this is about the same combination used for ';cosmolene grease'; from WWII.





I cant remember the amounts I used and what I have left is a little ';stiff'; for my liking so probably have too much Bees wax.





Just make small batches using Outers gun grease, or any other brand. Outers just looks like typical brown grease. Then I would would even go so far as to ';dunk'; pre-cut patches into the still liquid grease( from the melting but dont burn yourself) and then put them in a tin box with lid or whatever you want to hold them. I'd use some container though to contain the grease stain.





Happy hunting.Anyone got a homemade recipe for prelubed black powder patches?
There are as many lube recipes as there people who shoot muzzleloaders. Which lube you use can make a significant difference in how well your gun shoots. You just have to try about everything and anything you can think of until you finally hit on what your particular gun likes. Some people swear by commercial lubes such as T/C Bore Butter. Some have favorite home made concoctions such as the one that you mentioned. Some prefer to use saliva to moisten their patch. Heck, I heard one shooter tell me that he found that urine was a good patch lube. I never have tried that one........ and there is another verse to that song. Mixtures of animal fat, bees wax, petrolium products, machine cutting oils, etc have all been tried at one time or another. One guy that I shoot with likes to use Murphy's oil soap on his patches. He mixes a little bit of water and some rubbing alcohol with it to make his concoction. So, I guess you can use whatever enters your mind until you find the perfect mixture that will give you that sought after five shot single hole in your target.





Me? I just use T/C Bore Butter. It seems to work pretty well in my gun....... and it has a nice smell. I cut long strips of cloth of a width that I like and rub Bore Butter into them evenly until they feel lightly greasy. I roll them up and put them into zip top sandwich bags and keep a bunch in my shooting box. When I go out to shoot or hunt, I hang a strip onto the end of my ramrod and kind of work it between the ram rod and the forestock. It stays there just fine. I lay the end of the strip over the end of my muzzle, press in the ball, use my patch knife to cut off the excess patch and then ram the ball down on the powder. It's a pretty handy way of keeping your patch material at hand.





If you are a member of NMLRA (National Muzzleloading Rifle Association) or know someone who is, there is an article on page 62 of the current (Feb. 2008) issue of Muzzle Blasts entitled ';Lessons in Lubrication for Muzzleloaders'; by Fred Stutzman. It will answer many of your lubrication questions.
Well, originally, old timers just stuck the patch in their mouth to wet it. That's what I used as a kid, but we didn't shoot except to destroy a varmint, or to put meat on the table. And we didn't have a lot of choice back then. but I also know of guys using pure lard (rendered fat) from bears or whatever other animal they could get. A combination of lard and beeswax, as already suggested would work, just clean the firearm well.
here - take your pick.